Indiana RadioWatch: July 17, 2013

Facebook Twitter LinkedIn

The 2013 NAB Marconi Radio Awards includes nominees from two Indiana radio stations. IRW tips its cap to the staff and management at WMEE (97.3fm, Fort Wayne), nominated for Medium Market Station of the Year and WTLC (1310am, Indianapolis) early afternoon host Amos Brown, nominated for Large Market Personality of the Year. Winners will be announced on 19 September, in Orlando, Florida, at the NAB Marconi Radio Awards Dinner and Show, during the 2013 Radio Show.

Northeast

At Sarkes Tarzian's Hot AC/WAJI (95.1fm, Fort Wayne) and Classic Hits/WLDE (101.7fm, Fort Wayne) Promotions Director and DJ Randy Alomar exits for afternoons at Oasis Radio Group's 90s Hits/WHPP (106.3fm, Fort Wayne). Mr. Alomar worked for nearly ten years at Oasis Radio Group, before moving to Sarkes Tarzian. With Mr. Alomar in afternoons, Oasis Production Director Chris Cruise moves to mornings on "Rewind 106.3."

Northcentral

Let's try this again: Gray Television's NBC affiliate WNDU-TV (Channel 16, South Bend) investigative reporter and weekend anchor Kevin Lewis will soon leave for WJLA-TV in Washington, DC, where he will be a reporter at WJLA's Montgomery County bureau.

Schurz Communications' CBS-affiliate WSBT-TV (Channel 22, South Bend) adds Annie Chang as a reporter. Ms. Chang graduated from Northwestern University's Medill School of Journalism.

Northwest

LIN Media CBS affiliate WLFI-TV (Channel 18, Lafayette) drops theCoolTV network on its 18.2 and replaces it with local weather radar.

Eastcentral

Former Eastcentral Indiana radio sales rep Rickey Stephens passed away over the weekend. Mr. Stephens sold for then-WWWO (93.5fm, Hartford City), along with WLBC and WMDH, and was a member of the Indiana Broadcasters Association. Services will be held Thursday 11am at The Elm Ridge Funeral Home, located at 4600 W. Kilgore Ave. in Muncie. Share your online condolences and memories with the family at http://www.elmridgefuneralhome.com.

LIN Media MyNetworkTV affiliate WNDY (Channel 23, Marion) drops theCoolTV network on its 23.2 and moves Bounce TV from 23.3 to 23.2, entirely dropping 23.3.

Today in Indiana Radio History

July 17

In 1978, 96.7fm, Bloomington signs on the air. It's still WBWB.

July 18

In 2005, WBOW-FM (102.7fm, Terre Haute) flips format from Soft AC to Hot AC.

Radio Spotlight

This time, we're talking with a former Indiana broadcaster. Meet Brian Giffin.

Over roughly thirty years in radio, he's worked at WFBQ, WNDE, WQFE, WKLU, WXNT and WTLC(AM). What's he up to now?

Name: Brian D. Giffin
Job Title(s): Executive Producer-Engineer
Station(s): WCNN 680AM, 93.7FM, 100.5 FM
Market(s): Atlanta, and 150 affiliates throughout the southeast. (Largest Radio Network in professional sports.)
Owner: David Dickey

Who were your early DJ or radio station influences?

Lots, Henry "the bull" Del Toro WNOR Norfolk, Va. (R.I.P.), Howard David, Pat Summerall, Frank Glieber, Paul Harvey. And many many more.

Who are your mentor(s)?

Howard Kellman, Indianapolis Indians

If you had such a thing as a "typical day," please tell us about yours?

Get to ballpark 1:45, game prep, record and produce several segments for pregame show, email them to network studios, arrange all sponsored live read elements. Test both primary and secondary connections, check all mics. etc. prior to game, then execute game broadcast.

Fill in the blank: I can't make it through the day without _________?

Coffee

What makes your job unique?

Different challenges daily, and being at every single Braves game from Spring Training until end of season.

What do you enjoy most about your job?

Many things, but winning always makes things better.

What's one thing that would surprise many people to learn about you?

I worked on building nuclear submarines in Newport News, Virginia, at 19 years old.

What's the best advice you'd give to those wanting to get into radio?

Be ready to work a long time, at a lot of thankless tasks before you make real money.

What's the most important issue in radio today?

To me, it's the need to upgrade remote platforms from archaeic ISDN to IP. (spots in particular). Perhaps larger, is the need to preserve live, local radio. No better medium than radio....but local is vital to our future.

What's your favorite out-of-market radio station, and why?

700WLW Cincinnati, WBBM 780 Chicago, KMOX St Louis.

What's your philosophy about radio ratings?

Subjective, in the PPM Era, less accurate than ever.

Where do you see the radio industry five years from now?

Hopefully more local programming everywhere and less voice-tracking

Why do you think radio is still important?

Vital link to communities and consumers...on the go, at home. As streaming becomes more readily available, more stations need to develop access to their product on ever improving equipment.

Employment Opportunities

WBCL Radio Network is looking for an energetic, organized and creative person to join the ministry team as Promotions Director. This position will be responsible for supervising and overseeing promotional efforts, contests, interns and volunteers. Person will: work closely with the Development Director to implement strategic promotions that can increase revenue and listenership to WBCL; needs a proven track record in promotions and community involvement; passion for and experience with social media; on-air experience a plus! Details on responsibilities and qualifications listed at wbcl.org. Send resume to Personnel Director, WBCL Radio Network, 1115 W. Rudisill Blvd. Fort Wayne IN 46807 or email to employment at wbcl dot org NO PHONE CALLS PLEASE. Taylor University Broadcasting, Inc. is an Equal Opportunity Employer.

WIMC/WCDQ/WCVL, Crawfordsville, wants to hire a person ready to host a locally based morning show and assist the program director. You will host a morning show (from 6am until 9am), write, edit and anchor daily newscasts, schedule on air guests, identify marketable morning show elements, write and produce commercials and promotional announcements, and make personal appearances at remotes and community events. You must be able to handle multiple projects and meet deadlines. Email resume and references to dapeach at forchtbroadcasting dot com, or mail to Dave Peach, GM, PO Box 603, Crawfordsville, IN 47933. Forcht Broadcasting is an Equal Opportunity Employer.

WIKY is the leader in news and information radio in Southwest Indiana (Marconi, Crystal and local "Best of" award winning station), and we need a News Director and Morning News Anchor ready to lead our department. The ideal candidate has on air experience as a news anchor and reporter capable of being a key part of the number one morning show in the market. This candidate must also have experience as a manager or leader and be able to design and implement a news strategy that includes on air, online/digital and social media delivery. This is clearly not an entry level position and pay is commensurate with experience (and above market average).

To be considered, please send a complete resume along with a sample of your on air performance to Mark Elliott - WIKY Radio mark at wiky dot com.

Please note, if you know of someone who fits the above criteria or can recommend someone at your competitor you'd like to get out of the market, we will pay a $100 finder's fee, if we hire your recommendation.

WIKY / South Central Media is an Equal Opportunity Employer.

A quality multi-station cluster in a beautiful, historic small community is seeking a radio news anchor/reporter interested in informing listeners in multiple counties who depend on the stations to be their primary news source. Additionally, the candidate will have a passion to do high school sports play-by-play. Here is a chance to become an integral part of the lives of listeners by demonstrating skill and insight into their issues and interests. If you are looking for a community to call "home" while doing important work as part of a talented team of radio pros, send a package demonstrating your experience and talent in news writing, reporting, and newscast delivery as well as your play-by-play to: Rick Duncan, Director of Programming, Whitewater Broadcasting, 2301 W. Main, Richmond, IN 47374. Whitewater Broadcasting is an EOE and encourages the hiring of females and minorities.

Do you like bats, bourbon and basketball?? If so, keep reading. Newly formed Summit Media Group's Louisville cluster is on the hunt for the nation's best talent. We need a morning personality/imaging director for top rated 107-7 The Eagle, Louisville's Classic Hits (WSFR). Prepare to be all live, all local and ready to work - show prep, creative content, production, appearances, social media, concerts and more expected. Main focus on live mornings and imaging. Must be willing to accept coaching. 3 to 5 years on-air experience preferred. Experience imaging Classic Hits, Classic Rock, Hot AC a plus. Excellent pay, benefits and resources. Summit Media Group is an Equal Opportunity Employer. Send packages to: loujobs at summitmediacorp dot com.

Eagle Tower Services, Inc., committed to continuing improvement and to being the lowest cost provider of tower services consistent with a high degree of quality, professionalism, and safety, is seeking a BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT REPRESENTATIVE to engage in outside sales leading to growth of our business. Our primary market is Indiana and surrounding states, specializing in AM/FM and television, but also serving customers in paging, wireless Internet and 2-way radio including commercial, utilities and government. We are a full service tower company engaged in routine maintenance, component installation and new tower construction. This is a contract commission position with generous commission and superb customer service support. The ideal candidate will have excellent knowledge of the broadcast industry throughout Indiana with excellent people skills in working with and providing excellent service to broadcast engineers and, often, station general managers. We proudly serve some of the finest names in Indiana broadcasting and wireless communications. If this is of interest, please send your resume to Terry Garrity, Eagle Tower Services, Inc., P.O. Box 387, Arcadia, IN 46030; E-MAIL: terry.garrity at eagletowerindiana dot com and feel welcome to visit our website at www.eagletowerindiana.com to learn more about what we do. Eagle Tower Services is an Equal Opportunity Employer M/F.

Emmis Communications' WIBC/Indianapolis is reloading with more live and local talk programming. Our next afternoon host will talk about things that make others talk about them... someone that understands the difference between displaying/relating conservative sensibilities vs. ideology alone. If you want the job, you'll need to be as comfortable talking about Mark Zuckerberg as Marco Rubio and Ryan Lochte as Paul Ryan. If you can connect the dots on what commonalities make both "The O'Reilly Factor" and "Chelsea Lately" work you could be ready to pull off the kind of show we are looking for. Insatiable curiosity required. Amaze us with your demo, writing examples, and anything else that conveys why your skills and talents will keep us relevant through the next decade. Send to dwood at indy dot emmis dot com.

Hoosier AM/FM is seeking an experienced media Account Executive to join the sales team of our four-station cluster in Muncie-Marion, IN. This person will be responsible for prospecting and developing new business as well as growing and maintaining existing accounts. A positive attitude and excellent verbal and written communications skills are a must. This is a full time position. Hoosier AM/FM offers a competitive compensation package including Medical, Dental, Paid Vacations. Minimum education level is High School diploma or equivalent. Resume and letter of introduction are to be sent to indianaradiojobs at yahoo dot com. Hoosier AM/FM is an Equal Opportunity Employer.

That's all for this issue. Thank you for your continued support.

=============== Indiana RadioWatch ===============

(c) 2013, Blaine E. Thompson

Indiana RadioWatch may not be reproduced, transmitted, or distributed in any way, shape, or form without the permission of the copyright holder (Thompson, above)

Indiana RadioWatch subscriptions are free. To subscribe, send an e-mail to irw@well.com asking to be added. Indiana RadioWatch is archived after publication on the Indiana Radio Archive at http://www.indianaradio.net. Please e-mail us your news stories and employment opportunities.

Finally, we thank you for your continued support.

=============== Indiana RadioWatch ===============

Back to the Archive Index
All pages Copyright Blaine Thompson. Articles, photos, corrections, and other contributions should be e-mailed to the editors.