They're the Top
Mon., December 31, 01:25 PM
This post was inspired by a comment from my brother, who is quite knowledgeable about commercial radio broadcasting, as well as my friend Bev, who wrote about top ten lists yesterday. Do you ever look at articles that list “the best of…”? The best restaurants in your town. The best books to take to the beach. (“chick lit”) The best movies of the year that won't get Oscars. (I probably didn't see any of them, nor will I have the opportunity for a year or two.) Ad infinitum. More and more, I stop looking at those lists because they're not talking to me. Their favorite restaurants are either so expensive I wouldn't consider them, or else they're so bad I'd never go there. And all their other favorites are usually irrelevant as well.
So when I came across yet another one, I just glanced at it. Aha, there's a different kind of entry: Local Radio Morning Drive Dee Jays. A quick look tells me that the top program is on a station I used to listen to when I was in college, a station that concentrates on the Hartford-Springfield area. So it hasn't much connection to us in New Haven, except that one of the hosts is Diane Smith. (No, not the Diaryland one. This one used to be a very good reporter on WTNH-TV in New Haven.) So I read on. Dee jays, by definition, play music, but “virtually no one does that any more, especially during morning drive time…” Oh, really? I can name three stations that do, including their favorite in the next category, Best Music Station.
I used to listen to that station before WQUN began broadcasting, so I know what they play. Those stupid — or lazy — journalists just wrote down their own choices without doing any research! And they missed out on WQUN, the best morning radio in Connecticut.
Now, look. I am aware that most local radio stations subscribe to services to build their schedule — non-local news, weather, traffic. Several stations in our area, for example, share the news of weather-related school closings. It's expensive to get that stuff. WQUN has CBS news on the hour and, much of the rest of the time it is indeed subscription stuff, namely, Music of Your Life.
But WQUN is an unusual, maybe unique, radio station. It is a part of Quinnipiac University so, yeah, it's a college station. However, it operates as a community radio station. As a matter of fact, I think that may be part of the curriculum.
I'm not an expert on Quinnipiac by any means, though I've learned a few things over the last ten years of listening. I know its School of Communications, including the Ed McMahon Mass Communications Center, has definite connections to CBS. Grants, maybe? Most educational institutions depend on grants a lot. But there are former CBS people on the teaching staff too.
From six to ten on weekday mornings, it's old-fashioned local radio, headed by Ray Andrewsen, with Greg Little doing the local news. Both guys are experienced in broadcasting, rather than academic journalists; Andrewsen is also the station manager. Local news comes right after the network news. Weather and sports are covered in detail; usually there's an extended chat with the meteorologist as well. (“Dr. Mel” is a nationally known weather expert.) They interview local celebrities or people who are chairing special events. Five mornings a week I can listen to the “Osgood File” if no one interrupts me. And sometimes they chat about nothing at all, just as you might chat over your own coffee and bagel.
They do play music, and it's not just pulling something off the syndicate. I know this because they play some recordings that Music of Your Life doesn't play. (Like my favorite “Firefly,” sung by Tony Bennett and Kermit the Frog.) The day after Peggy Lee died, there was an entire piece about her life, her songs, and her connections with the New Haven area. Similarly, they dedicated a morning to Luciano Pavarotti when he died. (Because the MoYL shows are pre-recorded, it would be several days before any of those hosts put together a similar piece.)
I keep in touch with the station, and I send them comments from time to time. I even arranged to have Ray interview the author of Home; this writer was a childhood friend of Husband's.
I'm always sad when they talk about having some kind of job openings. Not so long ago, I would have applied and accepted lower pay just to have interesting work. It's a good thing I didn't; the drive alone would be too much for me now. (I know; I've been there — to see Charles Osgood.)
I've always been interested in radio, and I will probably write more about it — sometime. But I wanted my little brother to know that “AM radio as we knew it” does still exist.
