Name: WKLT
Age: 38
Occupation: shitty rock station
Last Seen: Traverse City, MI
Bee-otched For: entering a downward spiral
Age: 38
Occupation: shitty rock station
Last Seen: Traverse City, MI
Bee-otched For: entering a downward spiral
Last week, I gave WKLT the Bee-otch of the Day, and the floodgates opened.
Since that blog was published last Thursday, I've gotten several responses in regard to KLT and the shit they've been pulling. In case you missed it, Smitty, the afternoon jock at crosstown Rock 105/95-5 is now accusing KLT for ripping off segments of his show. Originally, Smitty was part of an afternoon duo on the station. KLT responded by creating "The Afternoon Trainwreck", which was also an afternoon duo. Since then, The Trainwreck has moved to mornings after the dismissal of longtime morning man Steve "Omelette" Normandin while Smitty now does his show solo. Smitty does a segment on his show called "The Box" where he plays songs that rarely get played on the radio anymore. Now, his competitor, KLT's Tom Dipshit-er, Devitt has been ripping him off with his own take called "The Bag".
Yeah, an Arab man whose last name sounds like a Don Martin sound effect in Mad Magazine stabbed a cop at Flint's Bishop Airport, the GOP wants to take away our healthcare and Michigan's water is in jeopardy because of Enbridge and Nestle. But living in a town with an absolutely shitty rock station is also a dire matter.
One of those who responded to KLT's BOTD was a former station employee who told me that since Omelette's dismissal, the station has been in a downward spiral. Shortly after the announcement was made that Omelette was let go, one of the station's advertisers, who spent $50,000 per year on spots pulled out. Not to mention that several long-time ad execs at the station and owner Northern Broadcast, Inc. all quit over the frustration of not being able to sell ads on the station.
Even though Nielsen no longer embargoes most ratings books for radio, Traverse City is a notable exception even though three out of the big five radio groups up north subscribe to the books. Then again, ratings can be misleading, especially in smaller markets like Traverse City that still use paper diaries instead of personal people meters. Ad revenue is how a station succeeds up north. Since KLT is losing money now, one can wonder on how long they can last during its current state.
Hell, even their advertising page on their website is a joke. Heritage Rock with 3-decades of market leadership with adult fans of 70s & 80s Classic Rock along with mainstream New Rock. Ummmmmm.... "New Rock"? I just checked their playlist and the newest song on the list was "Lie To Me" by Jonny Lang, which came out in 1997. How about "a whole bunch of shitty white trash rock best suited for the assholes who live out in Manceltucky?" Makes perfect sense.
Personally, KLT is now as useless as tits on a bull. Yeah, their shtick was OK back in the 1990s when they were practically the only rock station in town (and they DID play SOME new rock, though it was pretty much what the local CHRs were playing), but with Rock 105/95-5, The Bear, Q100, Sirius/XM, Pandora, Slacker and other services out there, who needs KLT? Apparently, people who don't mind hearing Foreigner, Styx, Lynyrd Skynyrd, The Eagles, Boston and other other schlocky 1970s band that ever existed.
What might be even sadder is that according to one of my sources, the NBI/Blarney Castle deal fell through, which means that the Gokeys - who have owned KLT since 1983 - still own it, but they're phoning it in even more. Blarney Castle owns Q100 and had planned to merge that station's operations with KLT. Just imagine: no more Morning Trainwreck, Terri Ray or even Tom "RadioDudSTD" Devitt. But now, it's becoming less of a reality.
Oh, well. It's not 1995 anymore, and Rock 105/95-5 has bigger balls than they do.
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