WLEM 'MORE LOCAL'
Station adjusts AM format
By James Moate Endeavor News
With the 50th anniversary of Emporium's radio station WLEM-1250 AM coming up in March, owner John Salter has made several changes to the station's format to make it a more "local" station.

"He (Salter) wanted to make the station more of what it was 50 years ago," said WLEM newscaster and sales representative Tina Johns. "He wanted to bring back more local disk jockeys (DJs), programs and contests."

The new format was launched last week.

In addition to the news that WLEM has covered in the past, they have added more local news at the top and bottom of every hour. Additional local sports coverage is now aired at 25 minutes after each hour and local weather reports are given twice each hour.

Johns and veteran WLEM radio announcer of nearly 14 years Gary Mitchell told

Endeavor News about some of the changes. Both are DJs for WLEM's sister station WQKY- 98.9 FM "the River" as well.

"We've been focusing more on covering Emporium and Cameron County since Tina (Johns) came on board almost three years ago," Mitchell said. "Now that we've made some equipment changes, we're more able to do that than ever before."

Mitchell elaborated by noting that a new computer system allows 'more local talk' and is more easily 'tapped into' in the event of an unexpected need for live coverage.

"Previously, much of the days' airing had been streamed in via satellite," said Johns. "Many of the programs throughout the day were from syndicated DJs and aired on hundreds of stations across the country. With the new format, we're going to have more local DJs that live in the area and can provide more local coverage."

WQKY-98.9 announcers Johnny Marx and Billy Jo Weyant have joined the AM station. The introduction of these well-known voices will give listeners of both stations familiar voices to make it easier to identify the connection between the two.

According to Mitchell, the radio station has made these changes to better serve the listeners in Cameron County.

"In the past, much of our coverage has included news from outside the area," Mitchell said. "Now that we have better resources, we are more capable of covering Cameron County the way it should be covered and I think a lot of our listeners are going to notice. I think they're going to appreciate the changes we've made."

Johns said that even though sports coverage on WLEM has always covered a wide array of teams, additional coverage is planned.

"The only (high school sports) we don't cover are golf and volleyball," Johns commented. "We follow the high school teams all the way up through district, regional and state championships," said Johns. "And if one of the Little League baseball teams ever advances beyond the state championships, we'll be there to cover that also."

Plans are being made to include several sports radio talk shows as well.

Among some of the new programs is a segment from noon to 1 pm called "Mitch's Memories." During this segment, Mitchell takes requests and gives background information on songs played during the program.

A new segment entitled "Wishing Well" was designed to show empathy for local people who are faced with difficult, painful or unfortunate circumstances.

The program is also intended to recognize people who have achieved great things or who have overcome great odds. During that program, listeners are asked to give a "Hometown Hi" to those who are mentioned.

A community schedule of events called "Hometown Happenings" is broadcasted every hour now as well.

In addition to an increased amount of programming, WQKY-98.9's Marx has a radio show from 6 am to 10 am and Weyant's show goes from 3 pm to 7 pm. Mitchell is on the air between the two.

Mitchell said that more programs and ideas are being formulated for future broadcasting but are still in the early stages of development. One such idea is a talk show focusing specifically on the Cameron County School District and it's proceedings.

"I think we're going to be providing Emporium with more hometown services than ever before," commented Mitchell. "We're going to have much more news that focuses on Emporium and Cameron County. It's always been a local radio station, but now it's really local."