Local AM Radio with Beth Mann

What use is a low-wattage, AM radio station in a town of 2,000 residents?  Indeed, the whole county population is just over 12,200. Is AM radio viable there?  With 500 watts daytime and 18 watts at night what can a new owner do to revive such a station?  Beth Mann, President/CEO of Edge Media Group, wanted to bring WEKT back to a rightful stature in this small, Western Kentucky town.  Beth grew up in Elkton, across from the original WEKT studio and transmitter.  Now she, along with her “digital- and future-oriented” staff are putting WEKT at full throttle with local news, local sports, local weather, and appearances to promote the station on-air and online. On this episode of TWiRT, she along with Josh Claussen and Bill Booth describe the technical operation, but more importantly the community involvement that’s driving Elkton’s embrace of WEKT, resulting in advertising and renewed revenue.

Show notes:

Guest

Beth Mann – President/CEO at Edge Media Group
Bill Booth – Operations Manager at Edge Media Group
Josh Claussen – Program Director at WEKT

Hosts

Chris Tarr – Group Director of Engineering at Magnum.Media
Kirk Harnack, The Telos Alliance, Delta Radio, & South Seas Broadcasting

Follow Kirk on Twitter – @kharnack
Follow TWiRT on Twitter – @TWiRTshow and Facebook

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