WCKJ, the new AM station that has been assigned to the Kearsarge area could possibly be run as a talk station---but perhaps gospel in content. That could explain the low power assignment that would rarely interest commercial broadcasters.
One of the owners Randy Diettrich is an ordained minister of the Ministers of Christ---Assembly of Churches. (Same home address as the license) Their website allows anyone interested in being ordained in their church to complete an on-line easy payment plan course at http://www.ordinationonline.com/ .
According to one poster, Mr. Cardel Eatten of Pittsburgh PA. May have been “an on-air personality from the Erie OIC remote studios (16th & German Sts.?) of WQLN-FM back in the early to mid 1970s who used the on-the-air name of Cardel Soul. This was back when WQLN-FM had first come on the air, and they had remote studios at OIC, Mercyhurst, and Edinboro with programming in each daypart from each of them as well as NPR and shows from the main studios on upper Peach St.”
I checked with Tom McLaren who headed up radio at WQLN and he does confirm Cardel Eatten with the OIC studios but not sure if he used a different on-air name as remembered by the poster.
This is all speculation right now as I have not spoken to either of the prospective owners. The same group has also applied for a license in Harborcreek for 1230 AM but it does not appear that the commission has acted on that request.
As the main blogger in Erie already noted…wouldn’t it be odd if we got another AM station before any commercial TV station went HD? It figures!
One of the owners Randy Diettrich is an ordained minister of the Ministers of Christ---Assembly of Churches. (Same home address as the license) Their website allows anyone interested in being ordained in their church to complete an on-line easy payment plan course at http://www.ordinationonline.com/ .
“OrdinationOnLine.com has recently been acquired by Ministers for Christ
Assembly of Churches, along with the Technology Based Training (TBT)
fully-automated on-line study for Ordination.Technology Based Training (TBT).
TBT is quickly replacing the traditional paper-pencil testing method. TBT makes
the entire testing process easier and the results can be more reliable. ""TBT allows Ministers for Christ Outreach to issue exams on request and score the
results immediately for people all over the world. For the past 12 years we have
been issuing the traditional paper-pencil testing method. With the Lord’s
leading we are now issuing our exams using modern technology.”
According to one poster, Mr. Cardel Eatten of Pittsburgh PA. May have been “an on-air personality from the Erie OIC remote studios (16th & German Sts.?) of WQLN-FM back in the early to mid 1970s who used the on-the-air name of Cardel Soul. This was back when WQLN-FM had first come on the air, and they had remote studios at OIC, Mercyhurst, and Edinboro with programming in each daypart from each of them as well as NPR and shows from the main studios on upper Peach St.”
I checked with Tom McLaren who headed up radio at WQLN and he does confirm Cardel Eatten with the OIC studios but not sure if he used a different on-air name as remembered by the poster.
This is all speculation right now as I have not spoken to either of the prospective owners. The same group has also applied for a license in Harborcreek for 1230 AM but it does not appear that the commission has acted on that request.
As the main blogger in Erie already noted…wouldn’t it be odd if we got another AM station before any commercial TV station went HD? It figures!
"Congress passed a law on February 1, 2006, setting a final deadline for the DTV transition of February 17, 2009. Most television stations will continue broadcasting both analog and digital programming until February 17, 2009, when all broadcasting will stop.." FCC http://www.dtv.gov/
If You Build It….They Will View.
If You Build It….They Will View.
6 comments:
I think the new WCKJ 1590 will be "urban" pogramming. This would make sense if you consider:
(1) the 1590 directional 3-tower antenna patterns as I remember them to be shown in the FCC filing, which protect stations in other cities and throw a narrow figure-8 roughly north/south with the major lobe over central City of Erie and deep nulls east and west. This would roughly correspond to strongest signal over low-to-medium income 'core' with little or no coverage towards medium-to-upper-income areas in Harborcreek, Fairview, etc. along the I-90/lakeshore corridor.
(2) Involvement of Cardell Eaton, who may be demonstrating to FCC that there is significant degree of minority ownership [Mr. Eaton is an African-American gentleman] which never hurts in getting license awarded especially when it is contested by other parties. But more likely he would be directly involved in programming, production, on-air operations, management, etc. in some way given his extensive experience & interest in the format.
IIRC, when Myron Jones turned WJET-AM 1400 over to GECAC as part of switchover to WJET-FM 102.3 in 1986 (or thereabouts), 1400 was programmed as "urban" format at least initially. Since then, that market has not been served in Erie. By the way, "urban" format might not only be rap-centric (for example) but may also include Hispanic and other ethnic programming to address needs of growing # of foreign immigrants in Erie area....I'm not sure about exact demographics or marketing on that, it's just a guess though.
You may be right ('gospel talk' similar to WCTL) but I don't think so based on the reasons above.
Would be most interesting to hear what Joel Natalie (who also has a blog) thinks about the whole situation.
Finally, I did not look at FCC filing for 1230 in Harborcreek but if they were to also get that (or end up LMA-ing it from someone else) then Eaton-Diettrich might simulcast and use it to fill in the holes in the 1590 pattern.
Any word if any new FM stations will be coming to Erie anytime soon. There are such an array of formats that can be played if we had other stations in the Erie area. Is there really a need for more AM stations. Is there really a market/audience for AM anymore. Wouldn't these AM stations do better if they had an FM license. I have a hard time picking up WFNN to hear Otters games and I live in east Millcreek. If they were on FM the signal would be so much better...wouldnt it?
Sounds like a couple of shady charachters with a shady business plan. Should fit in just fine in Erie. Maybe they will also offer online diplomas in broom pushing technology so we can get those $100k janitorial jobs back over at Hammermill.
Jack, in reviewing the application, there's a pretty good chance that the new station will be wall-to-wall Christian talk. Randy Dietterich is affiliated with the Salem station in Pittsburgh, WORD-FM. The path to least resistance for revenue would be to sell blocks of airtime to radio preachers. This kind of flanking move will only benefit WCTL, perhaps giving them more opportunity to play music, than the limited talk they play (3.5 hours a day).
Interestingly, if WCKJ does go religion, that would put the number of different full-time religious sticks in Erie County to 5. The current list:
WCTL - 106.3 (with 105.9 downtown & 99.1 North East translators)
WEFR - 88.1
Calvary Satellite Network - 89.3
Family Life Network - 98.7 (with 95.5 Corry & 97.1 North East)
I like to think that the proliferation of Christian radio in Erie has something to do with the "McDonalds" effect (build a McD's, and Burger King and Wendys is sure to follow). For decades WCTL has held a strong listener base, attracting others who would like a piece of the pie. Good thing that there is plenty of the Good News to spread around!
In addition there's other regional stations like WGOJ 105.5 from nearby Conneaut, Ohio. Another is WVME 91.9 in Meadville which is a repeater for Cleveland area Moody Bible station WCRF 103.3. One more is WCOT 90.9 from Jamestown, NY. which is also a Family Life Network station. There is also a Construction Permit for Erie Christian Broadcasting's new station WXNM-LP at 95.9. The permit expires on December 23rd. It could upset those who listen to FM 96 from London, Ontario. WCTL does a great job with it's local presence in the area. However, the satellite fed Christian stations are not my cup of tea.
Thanks...you added to my education about Christian radio.
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