WZUM on the market
November 5, 2015It seems that WZUM (1550 Braddock) is up on the market. The most recent post (11/2/15) on a two-year-old thread on Radio Discussions from “Sparks” (AKA – owner Ed DeHart) says:
So is it time to find someone who would like to take what we built and step it up to the next level. We love what we are doing with WZUM but it is a side project and we can not find the time necessary to build the station beyond where it is. The new owner would need to be part sales person, promotion director, and on air talent. If you or if your group has an interest in WZUM, let me know.
Aww, that’s a bit sad, they had it all locked up and I was hoping the time it was taking was in anticipation of a big launch.
The great thing is, they’ve kept it local, even if automated, it didn’t fall to syndicated music formats, piped in morning shows, health doctors or other programming with narrow appeal and low fidelity. Soul is a wide range of pop music that a lot of people love.
I always thought they did need air talent though, even if they voice tracked it most of the time. There must be enough dedicated soulies around who could be their voice, at least some parts of the day.
Let’s hope they can find a good owner who will continue the ideals of the Zoom brand. If not, hey, it’s a good piece of history.
Boomer
PS: Surprise, Radio Discussions is still around? I thought they were long Dead!
radiodiscussions.com is back online. It isn’t very active.
We had hoped to have live talent but never had the billing to be able to pay for that service. WZUM has listeners! There is a place for this format and we hope it will stick around.
The one place on the AM dial where I knew I could always get away from James Winer!
Yes, I’ve even heard Dr. Winer on KDKA, on the weekends, so he must be billing pretty well.
Say what you will about his narrowcasting, but he serves his listeners, talking with them about their health concerns and sharing his stories.
Boomer
I rarely drive by Winer’s place when the parking lot is not packed. Apparently terrestrial radio is not
completely dead as a marketing tool.
Love that station bump that Jay Thurber uses with a clip of Winer telling a caller that she should go
and have an MRI done of her brain. The caller responds “I did…..and they couldn’t find nothing!”
Holy crap I\’d love to have that bit of the Doctor too, great capture on Jay\’s part! I\’d put that together with Bones McCoy saying \’His brain is gone\’, and something from The Brain That Wouldn\’t Die.. 🙂
I live right up the road from Winer Wellness, and most of the time when I go by on the weekends no one seems to be there, but then he has wellness weeks, so maybe that\’s when he does his business.
Boomer