Peoria Pundit

News and Media from River City

Media: The Community Word is on the Air!

Posted in On the Media with tags , , , on March 31, 2009 by Billy Dennis

It’s still March and the April issue of the Community Word has been put on the Web and is ready for your online reading pleasure. We wanted to make a special effort to get the paper on the SWeb as early as possible because of the elections.

Roger Monroe reports that radio partner Royce Elliott was hospitalized. Roger also has his election predictions. Meanwhile Sara Browning has a wrap-up of who is on ballot. Bill Knight reports on new pollution reporing requirements, while Dale Goodner has a pro-environment message that is thousands of years old. Also, I manage to spew forth some comments about how even accused police officers have rights.

There are letters to the editor and all the regular columnists too. And check out Happenings and Briefly too. And publisher Debbie Adlof operates CW Notes? Check it out.

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Media: Royce and Roger are eating alone now

Posted in On the Media with tags , , , on October 2, 2008 by Billy Dennis

Kelly Communications has shuttered its two Peoria radio stations. Owner Bob Kelly cited financial reasons for closing WOAM 1350 and WPMJ-FM 94.3.

Both stations were mired in mostly computerized oldies formats, but WOAM did feature “Breakfast with Royce and Roger” — Royce Elliott and Roger Monroe. Many people might not be aware, but the pair weren’t employees of the station, per se. They rented time on the station, and their sold commercial time on their own.

I was a guest on the show one morning.

It was the damdest thing I ever saw. The joint was filled with guests waiting their turn. Royce, during the course of his day, would encounter people who wanted to come on the show. Sometimes they were legitimate newsmakers, sometimes they has causes they wanted to promote. And sometimes, they were just cronies of one or the other and just wanted to chat.

As the JS article states, most of the stations’ employees were part-timers, and poorly paid part-timers as well. Kelly had a rep for being the cheapest so-and-so in Peoria radio. WOAM used to go by the call letters WXCL and was a powerhouse of country music in Peoria during the 1960s, ’70s and ’80s. These days, it was considered geezer radio.

I’m sad to see the stations close, probably to never re-open. Who wants to buy a radio license in the era of satellite radio and iPods? Certainly none of the communications companies with which I am familiar, with their devotion to consultants, canned music and utter lack of involvement in their communities.

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