March 15, 1963…
On that day, a small town radio station was born. Despite an output of a paltry 250 watts, the radio station — only the second to be established in the area — grew to be influential in the region. This influence was due in no small part to the man hired as the station manager, my father. For the first four years of its existence, Shorty King guided what was then known as WWDS into more than just “that little radio station in Everett”. With a combination of unique programming decisions and a desire to be active and visible in the community, he made WWDS into a successful business.
On May 1, 1967, Shorty became the station’s owner and, along with his wife Sandra, continued to make innovation decisions to grow the business. Now operating under the call letters WSKE, the radio station expanded its audience and increased its coverage area with a jump first to 1,000 watts and, later, 10,000 watts. The station was one of the first in the nation to receive network news programming via satellite… and was also among the first to experiment with AM Stereo transmissions. A few years down the road, an FM station was added. Each progression was challenging, since such expansions required a great deal of time and expense. But each was a step forward in the effort to provide the best possible service to the audience.
Due to terminal illnesses suffered by both of my parents, the painful decision was made to sell the business in 2001. The buyer, a station employee, insisted to the family that the future of the business would be solid, since it was based upon a solid foundation. Despite those assurances, the new owners quickly worked to break ties with the station’s heritage.
Three years ago — March 15, 2013 — marked the radio station’s golden anniversary. 50 years in continuous operation is a significant milestone for any business, yet the date passed without recognition. No special events, no sharing of historical programming achievements, no public acknowledgement of the anniversary… nothing.
To say that the radio station is a pale shadow of its former self would be an understatement.
My biggest regret is that I didn’t add a condition to the sales agreement that, if ever I left the station — voluntarily or otherwise — that the call signs would have to be changed to no longer incorporate any use of the letters “SK”.
Some would suggest that this is sour grapes, since I was purged from my position less than six months after the ownership change. Yes, I was bitter and for good reason.
I was misled. I was given conflicting information. I was flat-out lied to.
I was never given any direction by the owner as to what changes I was to incorporate into my show; I was constantly told to “keep doing what you’re doing”. I found out later that one of the many lies they told about me was that I refused to follow any programming directives.
But in the end, I’m better off. I had the opportunity to earn a college degree and move into a new career direction. Today, with the multitude of competing media available, I’m glad I’m not working in local radio. (In fact, I haven’t listened to terrestrial radio — AM & FM — for several years.)
That’s not entirely true; I occasionally stumble onto the radio dial, more out of curiosity than any other reason. Just a few days ago as I was driving to work, I punched up 1040AM just to remind myself how the station’s technical quality has gone into the dumps. I still can’t believe that anyone would sacrifice blanket coverage — 10,000 watts goes a long way — and settle for much less. You can barely hear it in places where it used to BOOM. Not only that, the audio is horrendous. It sounds like you’re trying to listen with a busted speaker that’s inside a metal bucket with a pillow on the top. Actually, it sounds worse than that. Granted, talk radio may not need the same high fidelity that music demands… but if the audio is so bad that you have to strain to make out the words — and you still miss most of the conversation — you’ve got a useless product.
WSKE-AM used to compete with… and outperform, ratings-wise… many other stations with music formats, including FM. But that was with full power… and equipment that delivered the best quality to the listener.
Local radio isn’t a dead medium, provided it’s run with capable management. That isn’t happening anymore in this town, and the owners only have themselves to blame. Local radio isn’t a 9-to-5 business.
Do I miss it? Some days, yes. I miss providing a valuable service to the audience. I miss the innovation. But I certainly don’t miss the long hours — having to be “on” personally from before dawn until late in the evening — and the constant struggle to compete with corporations that had deep pockets and a gimmick.
I miss my “voice”, the one I worked at creating and maintaining over three decades. Lack of professional use has led to a loss of that sound.
I don’t miss working on-air all morning… then dealing with manager stuff all afternoon… then being told by the evening staff that they had something come up and wouldn’t be able to work.
I also don’t miss the confusion by the low-information listener. I can’t tell you how many times people would tell us they “listen all the time” and how they really like those “live action broadcasts” (our competitor’s slogan).
I really don’t miss the stories my wife would tell me of the abuse she faced during the time she remained employed after I was dismissed. How she was told that her commercial scripts were “shitty copy” (even though those scripts were still used years after she was fired). How the owner would pound on the desk and scream at her til spittle would fly… and his brother (the co-owner) would just shrug and say that there was nothing he could do. How they refused to hand over her personal property like the expensive Rolodex I gave her years earlier… and even insisted that the private contacts in the file (family, friends) were “intellectual property” and that she had no right to any of it.
I certainly don’t miss working in a building where the litter box stunk up the entire workplace.
But all things considered, I am proud of what my parents and my wife & I accomplished. Is it asking too much for the current owners to recognize the history of what was handed to them, if only one day a year?
Maybe it’s best that they don’t.
My father took great pride in his business, not just what the audience could hear but what the public could see. The office was always clean and organized… and the building and its surroundings were kept presentable. My family mowed the grass regularly and made sure that any visitor to the office left with a good impression. After all, to be a professional you have to look like a professional.
Times have changed.
(An earlier draft was originally posted to Facebook on 3/15/15. Updated thoughts are in italics.)
Rants from Earth 