1 00:00:01,199 --> 00:00:04,639 Mike Dell's World, number four twenty two for 2 00:00:04,639 --> 00:00:07,940 11/16/2025. 3 00:00:11,279 --> 00:00:12,820 When I was a young boy, 4 00:00:13,359 --> 00:00:14,740 there wasn't any Internet. 5 00:00:15,759 --> 00:00:18,315 There There wasn't any World Wide Web. 6 00:00:20,295 --> 00:00:21,355 There wasn't any 7 00:00:21,655 --> 00:00:24,054 egghead sending me texts saying those are the 8 00:00:24,054 --> 00:00:25,894 same thing. You don't have to say Internet 9 00:00:25,894 --> 00:00:27,994 and World Wide Web. They're the same thing. 10 00:00:29,815 --> 00:00:32,100 There weren't any video games when I was 11 00:00:32,100 --> 00:00:32,759 a boy. 12 00:00:33,619 --> 00:00:35,000 Well, there was Pac Man. 13 00:00:35,460 --> 00:00:36,920 That was a game, I guess. 14 00:00:37,700 --> 00:00:38,679 And Asteroids, 15 00:00:39,859 --> 00:00:41,079 Wizard of War, 16 00:00:42,100 --> 00:00:44,340 Scramble. Defender was a hell of a lot 17 00:00:44,340 --> 00:00:45,000 of fun. 18 00:00:45,664 --> 00:00:47,204 Those were what we called 19 00:00:47,745 --> 00:00:48,645 video games. 20 00:00:49,585 --> 00:00:51,524 Did I say we didn't have video games? 21 00:00:51,984 --> 00:00:53,445 Because that would have been a mistake. 22 00:00:54,545 --> 00:00:56,804 But there is one thing you have now 23 00:00:57,024 --> 00:00:59,339 that we didn't have when I was a 24 00:00:59,339 --> 00:01:01,119 boy that I wish we did. 25 00:01:02,859 --> 00:01:04,159 Mike Dell's World. 26 00:01:06,379 --> 00:01:08,399 Of course, if you guys recognize 27 00:01:08,700 --> 00:01:11,519 the the voice there, that was, Brett Butt, 28 00:01:12,355 --> 00:01:13,094 who is 29 00:01:13,474 --> 00:01:17,155 a famous comedian in Canada and, also the 30 00:01:17,155 --> 00:01:19,094 creator of Corner Gas, 31 00:01:20,034 --> 00:01:21,254 which is a Canadian 32 00:01:21,795 --> 00:01:23,015 sitcom, which, 33 00:01:23,314 --> 00:01:23,814 was 34 00:01:24,515 --> 00:01:25,015 absolutely 35 00:01:27,530 --> 00:01:28,349 my favorite 36 00:01:28,650 --> 00:01:30,510 sitcom of all time. And, 37 00:01:30,969 --> 00:01:32,890 he did a podcast for a while, so 38 00:01:32,890 --> 00:01:33,549 I kinda, 39 00:01:35,049 --> 00:01:36,090 lifted his, 40 00:01:36,730 --> 00:01:37,230 intro, 41 00:01:38,569 --> 00:01:39,469 except for I 42 00:01:40,275 --> 00:01:42,775 finished the last with Mike Dole's world. 43 00:01:43,234 --> 00:01:43,734 Anyway 44 00:01:44,355 --> 00:01:46,534 so, yeah, today, we're gonna talk about 45 00:01:46,995 --> 00:01:47,495 radio, 46 00:01:49,314 --> 00:01:50,775 and I'm talking broadcast 47 00:01:51,234 --> 00:01:51,734 radio. 48 00:01:52,195 --> 00:01:52,695 And 49 00:01:53,899 --> 00:01:57,019 another nice thing about being up here in 50 00:01:57,019 --> 00:02:01,280 Northern Michigan is we don't really have 51 00:02:02,619 --> 00:02:04,539 big radio groups up here. 52 00:02:05,179 --> 00:02:07,659 You know, we don't have clear channel. We 53 00:02:07,659 --> 00:02:08,139 don't have 54 00:02:09,094 --> 00:02:10,854 you know I don't know. There's a whole 55 00:02:10,854 --> 00:02:12,715 bunch of different big 56 00:02:13,014 --> 00:02:15,275 conglomerate radio groups, but 57 00:02:16,055 --> 00:02:18,375 the vast majority of the radio stations around 58 00:02:18,375 --> 00:02:19,275 here are locally 59 00:02:19,574 --> 00:02:20,074 owned 60 00:02:20,854 --> 00:02:22,235 and locally operated. 61 00:02:22,854 --> 00:02:24,840 You know, they do play some syndicated 62 00:02:25,299 --> 00:02:25,799 shows, 63 00:02:27,060 --> 00:02:28,599 especially the talk stations. 64 00:02:29,060 --> 00:02:30,919 You know, they they play some 65 00:02:31,539 --> 00:02:32,280 some definite, 66 00:02:33,060 --> 00:02:36,199 syndicated stuff, but, there's also some 67 00:02:37,335 --> 00:02:40,534 local programming, which a lot of places don't 68 00:02:40,534 --> 00:02:41,275 have anymore. 69 00:02:43,895 --> 00:02:45,574 You know, at least not not any of 70 00:02:45,574 --> 00:02:48,615 the small town areas. I mean, I I 71 00:02:48,615 --> 00:02:51,415 would say I guess that's probably not true. 72 00:02:51,415 --> 00:02:52,235 There's probably 73 00:02:52,810 --> 00:02:55,129 at least one station everywhere, but, you know, 74 00:02:55,129 --> 00:02:57,549 all these radio groups up here are pretty, 75 00:02:59,930 --> 00:03:00,909 locally owned. 76 00:03:02,009 --> 00:03:03,389 The big one in town, 77 00:03:04,009 --> 00:03:04,509 WTCM, 78 00:03:05,449 --> 00:03:07,914 and, of course, the call sign stands for 79 00:03:07,914 --> 00:03:09,294 Traverse City, Michigan, 80 00:03:10,314 --> 00:03:10,814 WTCM 81 00:03:11,354 --> 00:03:14,474 AM five eighty, and FM one zero three 82 00:03:14,474 --> 00:03:17,614 point five with other translator stations, 83 00:03:18,794 --> 00:03:19,854 all over the place. 84 00:03:20,560 --> 00:03:22,659 And I won't go into the super geeky, 85 00:03:23,280 --> 00:03:26,019 details, but five eighty is a 50,000 86 00:03:26,079 --> 00:03:26,579 watt 87 00:03:26,879 --> 00:03:27,379 directional 88 00:03:28,400 --> 00:03:31,299 AM station that reduces power at night. 89 00:03:32,319 --> 00:03:35,680 So during the day, it's 50,000 watts, and 90 00:03:35,680 --> 00:03:39,555 its signal is directional towards the Northeast, 91 00:03:40,735 --> 00:03:41,794 which makes it 92 00:03:43,134 --> 00:03:45,314 kinda nice pretty much anywhere 93 00:03:46,495 --> 00:03:48,194 North of Traverse City, 94 00:03:49,500 --> 00:03:51,739 you know, and even into the Eastern Upper 95 00:03:51,739 --> 00:03:52,239 Peninsula, 96 00:03:52,620 --> 00:03:53,840 and I'm I'm assuming, 97 00:03:54,459 --> 00:03:55,519 Southern Ontario, 98 00:03:56,379 --> 00:03:59,579 you can listen to w c t yeah. 99 00:03:59,579 --> 00:04:00,079 WTCM. 100 00:04:00,699 --> 00:04:03,019 I'll I'll talk about another station here in 101 00:04:03,019 --> 00:04:04,079 town too. But, 102 00:04:04,914 --> 00:04:06,675 yeah, at night, they flip it down to 103 00:04:06,675 --> 00:04:08,514 1,100 watts so it doesn't, 104 00:04:09,074 --> 00:04:10,055 get out very, 105 00:04:10,514 --> 00:04:11,334 very far. 106 00:04:12,275 --> 00:04:12,675 That, 107 00:04:13,074 --> 00:04:15,814 four tower array that makes it directional 108 00:04:16,274 --> 00:04:16,774 is 109 00:04:17,199 --> 00:04:18,819 right, by my folks' place, 110 00:04:19,360 --> 00:04:20,500 at my mom's house. 111 00:04:21,279 --> 00:04:23,620 I remember when they were building that array. 112 00:04:24,240 --> 00:04:26,580 It was fun watching them build that. 113 00:04:27,040 --> 00:04:29,139 But, they've got four, 114 00:04:30,014 --> 00:04:31,375 I don't know how tall they are, a 115 00:04:31,375 --> 00:04:34,334 couple 100 feet, 300 foot towers, something like 116 00:04:34,334 --> 00:04:34,834 that. 117 00:04:35,535 --> 00:04:35,935 And, 118 00:04:36,415 --> 00:04:37,555 it's very distinctive, 119 00:04:38,254 --> 00:04:40,334 when you're driving around the area. You can 120 00:04:40,334 --> 00:04:41,154 see the 121 00:04:41,535 --> 00:04:43,455 the the box towers there, 122 00:04:43,935 --> 00:04:44,995 west of town, 123 00:04:45,910 --> 00:04:47,290 up on the hill. It's 124 00:04:48,629 --> 00:04:50,089 a little bit away from 125 00:04:50,629 --> 00:04:51,529 Green Hill. 126 00:04:53,350 --> 00:04:55,830 Green Hill is, like, the main big hill 127 00:04:55,830 --> 00:04:57,449 up on Silver Lake Road. 128 00:04:58,154 --> 00:05:00,634 And you get over that and pass the 129 00:05:00,634 --> 00:05:03,455 Crown Golf Course, turn up Secor Road, 130 00:05:03,995 --> 00:05:06,875 and that transmitter array is off on the 131 00:05:06,875 --> 00:05:07,375 right. 132 00:05:07,754 --> 00:05:10,574 The towers are probably a 100 yards apart, 133 00:05:10,795 --> 00:05:12,634 and there's four of them in kind of 134 00:05:12,634 --> 00:05:14,389 a box pattern. And, 135 00:05:14,930 --> 00:05:16,550 somehow that makes it directional. 136 00:05:17,490 --> 00:05:18,389 I don't know. 137 00:05:18,930 --> 00:05:20,870 I I I guess I do understand 138 00:05:21,250 --> 00:05:22,770 the theory behind it, but, 139 00:05:23,810 --> 00:05:24,129 it's, 140 00:05:24,850 --> 00:05:26,069 very techy geeky. 141 00:05:27,074 --> 00:05:30,435 But, yeah, you can, definitely, during the day, 142 00:05:30,435 --> 00:05:32,595 hear them, you know, just all the way 143 00:05:32,595 --> 00:05:33,095 up, 144 00:05:33,475 --> 00:05:35,714 you know, the Northern Half Of The Lower 145 00:05:35,714 --> 00:05:37,974 Peninsula and the Eastern Half Of The 146 00:05:38,274 --> 00:05:39,095 Upper Peninsula. 147 00:05:40,310 --> 00:05:41,769 And, yeah, it's, 148 00:05:42,149 --> 00:05:44,250 it's quite a station, and they play 149 00:05:44,709 --> 00:05:46,709 a lot of the syndicated stuff. They were 150 00:05:46,709 --> 00:05:48,009 the home of Rush Limbaugh. 151 00:05:48,709 --> 00:05:50,789 Now I don't know what they have on 152 00:05:50,789 --> 00:05:52,729 from twelve to to three. 153 00:05:53,245 --> 00:05:54,225 Haven't really listened 154 00:05:55,084 --> 00:05:57,024 too much, but they, 155 00:05:59,245 --> 00:06:01,104 you know, they had Dan Bongino 156 00:06:01,485 --> 00:06:03,345 on there until he became the 157 00:06:04,764 --> 00:06:06,625 assistant director of the FBI. 158 00:06:07,324 --> 00:06:07,824 And 159 00:06:09,139 --> 00:06:10,980 I forget who the other guys were they 160 00:06:10,980 --> 00:06:12,899 had on there that took over for Rush 161 00:06:12,899 --> 00:06:14,439 when Rush passed away. 162 00:06:15,300 --> 00:06:17,060 But, they had them on there for a 163 00:06:17,060 --> 00:06:19,079 while. But, you know, they have the usual, 164 00:06:19,139 --> 00:06:22,019 you know, conservative talk radio suspects in the 165 00:06:22,019 --> 00:06:24,254 afternoon. But in the morning, they have a 166 00:06:24,254 --> 00:06:24,754 local 167 00:06:25,215 --> 00:06:26,754 show, Ron Jolly show, 168 00:06:27,215 --> 00:06:28,915 and then, Vic McCarty 169 00:06:29,215 --> 00:06:29,715 show. 170 00:06:30,495 --> 00:06:33,955 And that goes basically from seven until noon, 171 00:06:34,574 --> 00:06:37,634 those two shows. And those are definitely local 172 00:06:37,694 --> 00:06:38,194 and 173 00:06:39,129 --> 00:06:41,050 very cool. And on the weekends, they have 174 00:06:41,050 --> 00:06:42,029 some some 175 00:06:43,050 --> 00:06:44,110 buy your time 176 00:06:44,410 --> 00:06:46,250 radio shows. You know? I don't know if 177 00:06:46,250 --> 00:06:47,229 you know in radio 178 00:06:48,009 --> 00:06:50,169 and some of the smaller stations, you can 179 00:06:50,169 --> 00:06:51,789 buy an hour or two 180 00:06:52,305 --> 00:06:53,045 on the weekends 181 00:06:53,504 --> 00:06:56,404 and, put on your own radio show. So 182 00:06:56,865 --> 00:06:58,705 there's a couple of those. I think there's, 183 00:06:58,705 --> 00:07:01,125 like, an estate planning show and 184 00:07:01,745 --> 00:07:04,964 some sort of automotive show. And, Leo LaPorte 185 00:07:06,519 --> 00:07:07,319 used to have, 186 00:07:07,719 --> 00:07:08,539 his syndicated 187 00:07:10,199 --> 00:07:10,699 talk, 188 00:07:11,319 --> 00:07:13,959 you know, his syndicated talk, the tech guy 189 00:07:13,959 --> 00:07:14,459 show. 190 00:07:15,479 --> 00:07:17,800 I think they have Kim Commando on there. 191 00:07:17,800 --> 00:07:19,579 She's a national talker, 192 00:07:20,785 --> 00:07:21,605 on the weekend. 193 00:07:22,144 --> 00:07:24,485 But, you know, kind of a interesting 194 00:07:26,144 --> 00:07:26,644 interesting 195 00:07:26,944 --> 00:07:27,444 setup. 196 00:07:29,345 --> 00:07:31,584 And and right now, they're on AM five 197 00:07:31,584 --> 00:07:33,665 eighty. Five eighty is an act you know, 198 00:07:33,665 --> 00:07:36,800 really good frequency on AM. The lower the 199 00:07:36,800 --> 00:07:37,300 frequency, 200 00:07:37,759 --> 00:07:38,420 the better. 201 00:07:38,879 --> 00:07:40,800 And so they're down at five eighty, but 202 00:07:40,800 --> 00:07:42,560 they started out in, 203 00:07:43,439 --> 00:07:44,720 1941. 204 00:07:44,720 --> 00:07:48,339 They were Traverse City's first commercial radio station, 205 00:07:49,875 --> 00:07:51,335 and they were on thirteen 206 00:07:51,795 --> 00:07:52,295 seventy. 207 00:07:53,314 --> 00:07:54,615 But that only lasted 208 00:07:55,074 --> 00:07:57,714 a little bit of time before they bumped 209 00:07:57,714 --> 00:07:59,095 to 1,400, 210 00:08:00,995 --> 00:08:03,235 kilohertz or 1.4 211 00:08:03,235 --> 00:08:03,735 megahertz. 212 00:08:05,699 --> 00:08:07,459 From 1941 213 00:08:07,459 --> 00:08:09,220 until 1982. 214 00:08:09,220 --> 00:08:11,300 I was in high school when they made 215 00:08:11,300 --> 00:08:12,839 the switch to five eighty. 216 00:08:13,699 --> 00:08:16,259 And at the time before the switch, they 217 00:08:16,259 --> 00:08:17,240 were simulcasting 218 00:08:17,699 --> 00:08:19,480 their FM signal. And 219 00:08:20,904 --> 00:08:21,404 WTCM 220 00:08:21,865 --> 00:08:24,584 FM is the big country station here in 221 00:08:24,584 --> 00:08:25,084 town, 222 00:08:26,024 --> 00:08:27,324 which is colocated, 223 00:08:29,144 --> 00:08:31,245 with the with WTCM 224 00:08:31,785 --> 00:08:34,365 AM in the Paul Bunyan Building, 225 00:08:34,745 --> 00:08:35,565 which is a 226 00:08:36,259 --> 00:08:38,200 kind of smallish looking building, 227 00:08:38,899 --> 00:08:41,080 right on Front Street, Traverse City. 228 00:08:41,860 --> 00:08:42,360 And 229 00:08:42,899 --> 00:08:45,240 also in that building is WKLT, 230 00:08:46,179 --> 00:08:47,240 the rock station. 231 00:08:47,779 --> 00:08:50,019 So and that's a a pretty recent thing, 232 00:08:50,019 --> 00:08:51,955 but I'll I'll get to that in a 233 00:08:51,955 --> 00:08:53,254 bit. But, TCM 234 00:08:53,634 --> 00:08:54,134 FM, 235 00:08:56,034 --> 00:08:56,934 when did that 236 00:08:57,475 --> 00:08:59,794 come in? I'm just looking through some of 237 00:08:59,794 --> 00:09:01,575 the my fact sheet here. 238 00:09:03,235 --> 00:09:05,174 I wanna say it was 239 00:09:05,850 --> 00:09:08,269 it was a little bit later on. 240 00:09:08,809 --> 00:09:10,829 Oh, 1975. 241 00:09:10,970 --> 00:09:11,949 There we go. 242 00:09:12,730 --> 00:09:14,909 I I believe that that started. 243 00:09:15,370 --> 00:09:15,870 And 244 00:09:16,730 --> 00:09:19,549 but another thing that, that company, it's Midwestern 245 00:09:19,850 --> 00:09:20,350 Broadcasting. 246 00:09:21,875 --> 00:09:24,455 That's a locally owned group by the Biederman's. 247 00:09:25,315 --> 00:09:28,595 Les Biederman started started the station, and then 248 00:09:28,595 --> 00:09:31,875 Ross Biederman took over. And I think he's 249 00:09:31,875 --> 00:09:33,254 retired now, and 250 00:09:33,649 --> 00:09:36,129 and somebody else is running it, but, it's 251 00:09:36,129 --> 00:09:37,830 still owned by the the family. 252 00:09:38,929 --> 00:09:42,070 And they also, you know, have WATT 253 00:09:42,610 --> 00:09:43,429 in Cadillac, 254 00:09:44,370 --> 00:09:44,870 WATZ 255 00:09:45,970 --> 00:09:46,710 in Alpena, 256 00:09:48,074 --> 00:09:48,574 WMBM 257 00:09:49,995 --> 00:09:52,235 in Petoskey where they started it, and then 258 00:09:52,235 --> 00:09:54,235 that that got switched. I'll tell you something 259 00:09:54,235 --> 00:09:55,534 cool about that too. 260 00:09:57,274 --> 00:09:59,274 But, you know, so they had quite a 261 00:09:59,274 --> 00:09:59,774 few 262 00:10:00,410 --> 00:10:03,370 stations. They also started the first TV station 263 00:10:03,370 --> 00:10:05,149 here in Traverse City, WPBM 264 00:10:06,170 --> 00:10:06,830 or PBN, 265 00:10:08,809 --> 00:10:12,250 channel seven. And my mother used to work 266 00:10:12,250 --> 00:10:14,269 there when she was in high school. 267 00:10:15,205 --> 00:10:17,845 She worked as a receptionist at the TV 268 00:10:17,845 --> 00:10:19,684 station up there, and then I worked at 269 00:10:19,684 --> 00:10:21,924 the TV station for a couple of years 270 00:10:21,924 --> 00:10:23,304 as a master control, 271 00:10:24,325 --> 00:10:26,184 guy on the weekends and evenings, 272 00:10:27,500 --> 00:10:30,139 you know, putting in the commercials and helping 273 00:10:30,139 --> 00:10:30,960 with the news 274 00:10:31,659 --> 00:10:32,399 and whatever. 275 00:10:32,860 --> 00:10:33,360 And 276 00:10:34,460 --> 00:10:37,039 but, that was all part of the Midwestern 277 00:10:37,259 --> 00:10:37,759 Broadcasting 278 00:10:38,220 --> 00:10:40,399 family. And here in the 279 00:10:41,340 --> 00:10:42,559 I forget when 280 00:10:43,154 --> 00:10:43,894 this happened. 281 00:10:44,434 --> 00:10:46,294 In fact, I'll have to look. WKLT, 282 00:10:47,475 --> 00:10:50,855 which was known as double rock KLT 283 00:10:51,235 --> 00:10:53,414 for a while because they had two, 284 00:10:54,995 --> 00:10:56,294 they had two transmitters, 285 00:10:57,394 --> 00:10:57,894 and 286 00:10:59,710 --> 00:11:01,950 they were owned by a a different group. 287 00:11:01,950 --> 00:11:02,450 But 288 00:11:03,629 --> 00:11:05,170 Ross bought them up 289 00:11:06,429 --> 00:11:07,570 a few years ago. 290 00:11:08,110 --> 00:11:09,809 A good friend of mine, Omelette 291 00:11:10,110 --> 00:11:11,649 is his name, Steve Nordsman, 292 00:11:12,509 --> 00:11:13,009 and 293 00:11:14,024 --> 00:11:15,485 omelette on the air. 294 00:11:15,865 --> 00:11:19,325 And, he he was working for KLT, 295 00:11:19,784 --> 00:11:20,284 and 296 00:11:20,745 --> 00:11:22,904 when they ran into hard times, he jumped 297 00:11:22,904 --> 00:11:24,985 over to another station owned by another friend 298 00:11:24,985 --> 00:11:25,565 of mine, 299 00:11:27,389 --> 00:11:28,129 the bear 300 00:11:28,429 --> 00:11:29,889 ninety eight one. 301 00:11:30,429 --> 00:11:30,929 And 302 00:11:31,470 --> 00:11:33,230 he was over there for a couple of 303 00:11:33,230 --> 00:11:35,649 years. And then when Midwestern bought, 304 00:11:36,429 --> 00:11:36,929 WKLT, 305 00:11:37,309 --> 00:11:38,610 they brought him back. 306 00:11:39,389 --> 00:11:41,569 And now he's teamed up with his former 307 00:11:43,815 --> 00:11:45,595 former morning show guy, 308 00:11:48,215 --> 00:11:50,534 Finster, I guess, is his name. Sean is 309 00:11:50,534 --> 00:11:52,615 his is his name. I haven't really met 310 00:11:52,615 --> 00:11:53,514 Sean, but, 311 00:11:54,294 --> 00:11:56,615 the omelette and Finster show, it's, you know, 312 00:11:56,615 --> 00:11:58,009 one of those rock 313 00:11:59,350 --> 00:12:02,309 station things. I've I've filled in, for the 314 00:12:02,309 --> 00:12:04,389 news guy a couple of times on his 315 00:12:04,389 --> 00:12:04,889 show 316 00:12:06,470 --> 00:12:08,889 just because. Why not? It's kind of fun. 317 00:12:09,509 --> 00:12:09,910 But, 318 00:12:10,914 --> 00:12:13,715 anyway, so KLT is now also in the 319 00:12:13,715 --> 00:12:17,095 Paul Bunyan Building, but Midwestern also has WCCW, 320 00:12:19,315 --> 00:12:22,274 which has two stations as well as an 321 00:12:22,274 --> 00:12:23,414 AM and an FM. 322 00:12:23,940 --> 00:12:24,440 WCCWAM 323 00:12:26,179 --> 00:12:29,000 was the ESPN Sports talker. 324 00:12:30,419 --> 00:12:31,879 They're at thirteen 325 00:12:32,660 --> 00:12:33,960 twenty, I think. 326 00:12:34,740 --> 00:12:36,759 And now they're, WTCM 327 00:12:37,299 --> 00:12:40,075 Gold. They play old country music on AM, 328 00:12:40,075 --> 00:12:42,174 which is kinda cool. You you you know, 329 00:12:42,235 --> 00:12:44,315 riding around in the car. I kinda like 330 00:12:44,315 --> 00:12:47,774 listening to that because it's, country music from 331 00:12:47,995 --> 00:12:49,615 the fifties, sixties, seventies. 332 00:12:50,589 --> 00:12:51,089 And, 333 00:12:52,269 --> 00:12:53,970 I guess it's going pretty good. 334 00:12:54,589 --> 00:12:55,409 Jack O'Malley, 335 00:12:55,789 --> 00:12:58,350 who was the morning guy on the country 336 00:12:58,350 --> 00:12:59,330 station for, 337 00:12:59,950 --> 00:13:02,690 well, at least twenty or thirty years, 338 00:13:03,004 --> 00:13:06,225 and then he became a congressman for 339 00:13:07,084 --> 00:13:07,825 two terms, 340 00:13:08,445 --> 00:13:09,424 down in Lansing, 341 00:13:10,365 --> 00:13:12,865 a state congressman or state, 342 00:13:13,485 --> 00:13:15,504 representative, I guess you'd call it, 343 00:13:15,830 --> 00:13:18,070 in the state house. And then, he came 344 00:13:18,070 --> 00:13:20,330 back, and now he's the morning show guy 345 00:13:20,389 --> 00:13:21,850 on WTCM Gold, 346 00:13:22,309 --> 00:13:23,289 which is CCWAM. 347 00:13:25,190 --> 00:13:26,250 And then CCW 348 00:13:26,870 --> 00:13:29,049 FM is the oldies station. 349 00:13:30,315 --> 00:13:32,634 And what's funny about that now is, I 350 00:13:32,634 --> 00:13:33,934 guess, I'm getting old. 351 00:13:35,195 --> 00:13:36,794 They're playing a lot of the stuff I 352 00:13:36,794 --> 00:13:38,894 remember as as current. 353 00:13:40,154 --> 00:13:41,615 The old joke with WCCW 354 00:13:42,554 --> 00:13:43,375 FM was 355 00:13:43,929 --> 00:13:46,350 they bought all their music in the seventies 356 00:13:46,809 --> 00:13:49,370 and then just, they don't change any of 357 00:13:49,370 --> 00:13:52,009 the music. They just change their what they 358 00:13:52,009 --> 00:13:52,990 call their format 359 00:13:53,850 --> 00:13:57,095 as it gets longer. You know? But, that's 360 00:13:57,095 --> 00:13:58,875 always funny. But, WCCW 361 00:13:59,495 --> 00:14:02,075 stands for Cherry Capital of the World. 362 00:14:03,414 --> 00:14:03,654 And, 363 00:14:04,855 --> 00:14:07,830 but, they're they're part of the Midwestern group, 364 00:14:08,149 --> 00:14:10,070 And I know there's at least a couple 365 00:14:10,070 --> 00:14:11,990 other stations. I by the way, this is 366 00:14:11,990 --> 00:14:13,910 not gonna be a comprehensive list. This is 367 00:14:13,910 --> 00:14:15,690 just gonna be what I know about. 368 00:14:17,509 --> 00:14:17,910 But, 369 00:14:18,629 --> 00:14:19,370 but WCCW, 370 00:14:19,990 --> 00:14:21,850 I the thing I remember is 371 00:14:22,824 --> 00:14:23,804 was a guy named 372 00:14:24,345 --> 00:14:25,164 Lynn McNett, 373 00:14:25,865 --> 00:14:26,684 and his, 374 00:14:29,544 --> 00:14:32,125 what was his on air name? I forget. 375 00:14:32,504 --> 00:14:35,384 Michael O'Shea. There we go. I remember him 376 00:14:35,384 --> 00:14:36,684 for the longest time. 377 00:14:37,160 --> 00:14:38,299 He was kind of 378 00:14:38,920 --> 00:14:39,820 the, the personality 379 00:14:40,759 --> 00:14:43,340 behind CCW. He's since passed away. 380 00:14:44,120 --> 00:14:44,620 But, 381 00:14:45,240 --> 00:14:47,639 yeah, I remember, remember him when I was 382 00:14:47,639 --> 00:14:50,125 a kid, listening to him. And there was 383 00:14:50,125 --> 00:14:53,424 a guy on w c TCM AM, Merlin 384 00:14:53,485 --> 00:14:53,985 Dummerow, 385 00:14:54,605 --> 00:14:56,544 and he was there right from the beginning. 386 00:14:56,605 --> 00:14:58,365 I think he was, like you know, he 387 00:14:58,365 --> 00:15:00,125 signed on in 1941, 388 00:15:00,524 --> 00:15:01,345 with the station, 389 00:15:02,199 --> 00:15:04,440 and he would do a thing called farm 390 00:15:04,440 --> 00:15:06,860 and orchard time every day at noon. 391 00:15:07,799 --> 00:15:08,379 And it 392 00:15:09,159 --> 00:15:10,620 reminded me of 393 00:15:11,320 --> 00:15:12,779 the guy on 394 00:15:13,959 --> 00:15:14,459 w 395 00:15:15,264 --> 00:15:17,924 k r p in Cincinnati, the the 396 00:15:18,464 --> 00:15:20,084 the news guy. I 397 00:15:20,945 --> 00:15:22,704 can't think of his name right now, the 398 00:15:22,704 --> 00:15:24,164 one that had the fake walls 399 00:15:24,704 --> 00:15:25,684 in his office. 400 00:15:26,384 --> 00:15:29,664 But, anyway so Mer Merlin was kinda that 401 00:15:29,664 --> 00:15:30,884 way, but he was cooler. 402 00:15:31,559 --> 00:15:32,940 And, he retired 403 00:15:34,759 --> 00:15:36,779 probably at least ten years ago, 404 00:15:38,200 --> 00:15:38,700 and 405 00:15:39,639 --> 00:15:42,540 I went to school with his, his kid, 406 00:15:42,600 --> 00:15:43,100 Dale. 407 00:15:44,120 --> 00:15:44,620 And 408 00:15:45,715 --> 00:15:47,475 and my mom knew him when he, you 409 00:15:47,475 --> 00:15:49,475 know, when she worked at the TV station 410 00:15:49,475 --> 00:15:51,075 because he had something to do with that 411 00:15:51,075 --> 00:15:52,434 as well, and they used to call him 412 00:15:52,434 --> 00:15:52,934 Zeke. 413 00:15:54,034 --> 00:15:56,134 I don't know why he got that nickname. 414 00:15:57,740 --> 00:15:59,259 But, you know, there's a whole bunch of 415 00:15:59,259 --> 00:16:02,620 other stations. It's kind of crazy, you know, 416 00:16:02,620 --> 00:16:05,259 flipping through the the, AM band or the 417 00:16:05,259 --> 00:16:07,740 FM well, the AM band isn't that crowded. 418 00:16:07,740 --> 00:16:10,404 There's, like, four or five stations. But on 419 00:16:10,404 --> 00:16:13,205 the FM band, I swear it's, every little 420 00:16:13,205 --> 00:16:16,105 bit. There's also a couple of public radio 421 00:16:16,164 --> 00:16:17,304 stations here. 422 00:16:18,325 --> 00:16:21,365 There's, Interlochen public radio, which I had talked 423 00:16:21,365 --> 00:16:23,465 about in a previous episode, but 424 00:16:24,370 --> 00:16:27,409 its claim to fame was, Kate Patello's, their 425 00:16:27,409 --> 00:16:28,309 morning DJ 426 00:16:28,689 --> 00:16:30,149 on the classical station. 427 00:16:30,529 --> 00:16:32,769 They also have a news station, so they 428 00:16:32,769 --> 00:16:33,589 have two different 429 00:16:34,610 --> 00:16:36,149 frequencies. And then, 430 00:16:37,195 --> 00:16:37,695 WCMU, 431 00:16:39,355 --> 00:16:39,855 radio 432 00:16:40,394 --> 00:16:43,134 out of Mount Pleasant for Central Michigan University, 433 00:16:43,754 --> 00:16:45,534 they also have two stations, 434 00:16:46,235 --> 00:16:48,794 here. They got translators here. They're all over 435 00:16:48,794 --> 00:16:51,720 the state, but they have two translators here 436 00:16:51,720 --> 00:16:53,179 in Traverse City. One, 437 00:16:53,959 --> 00:16:57,000 is their news talk, NPR station, and then 438 00:16:57,000 --> 00:16:59,079 the other one's another classical. So we have 439 00:16:59,079 --> 00:17:01,240 lots of classical, plus there's a whole bunch 440 00:17:01,240 --> 00:17:03,339 of religious broadcasting stations. 441 00:17:04,244 --> 00:17:05,605 The old 1,400 442 00:17:05,605 --> 00:17:06,105 frequency, 443 00:17:06,644 --> 00:17:07,785 that WTCM 444 00:17:08,085 --> 00:17:09,144 AM was on 445 00:17:09,845 --> 00:17:12,964 got sold to a religious broadcaster, and, 446 00:17:13,684 --> 00:17:15,205 I I don't know if it's the same 447 00:17:15,205 --> 00:17:17,625 transmitter, but it's the same antenna 448 00:17:18,160 --> 00:17:20,180 that they used way back in the day, 449 00:17:20,640 --> 00:17:21,619 on that station. 450 00:17:23,440 --> 00:17:25,039 But, yeah, we have you know, if you're 451 00:17:25,039 --> 00:17:27,119 into listening to radio, there is a lot 452 00:17:27,119 --> 00:17:29,039 of radio around here, and some of it's 453 00:17:29,039 --> 00:17:29,940 even local. 454 00:17:30,494 --> 00:17:32,255 And that's, you know, kind of the problem 455 00:17:32,255 --> 00:17:33,634 with the radio business. 456 00:17:35,615 --> 00:17:38,095 Again, I've talked about this in, you know, 457 00:17:38,095 --> 00:17:40,835 long time ago in previous episodes, but, 458 00:17:41,375 --> 00:17:43,295 you know, a lot of it, they listen 459 00:17:43,295 --> 00:17:45,740 to the consultants and they have the playlists, 460 00:17:46,039 --> 00:17:47,500 and they're playing syndicated. 461 00:17:48,440 --> 00:17:50,359 Even the DJs. You know, around here, there 462 00:17:50,359 --> 00:17:52,279 are some DJs. Not a lot, but there 463 00:17:52,279 --> 00:17:52,940 are some. 464 00:17:53,559 --> 00:17:54,059 WKLT 465 00:17:54,519 --> 00:17:57,079 has live live DJs. I I know at 466 00:17:57,079 --> 00:17:58,859 least during most of the day. 467 00:17:59,315 --> 00:18:01,154 I don't know what they do at night. 468 00:18:01,474 --> 00:18:03,575 The country station has live DJs, 469 00:18:04,835 --> 00:18:05,974 throughout the day. 470 00:18:06,835 --> 00:18:09,315 The AM station, of course, you know, has 471 00:18:09,315 --> 00:18:09,815 live 472 00:18:10,194 --> 00:18:10,694 programming 473 00:18:11,075 --> 00:18:11,974 during the day, 474 00:18:12,835 --> 00:18:13,734 during the morning. 475 00:18:16,150 --> 00:18:18,309 But like I said, I'm not sure. You 476 00:18:18,309 --> 00:18:18,809 know? 477 00:18:19,190 --> 00:18:20,869 I frankly don't listen to a lot of 478 00:18:20,869 --> 00:18:22,710 it anymore. I get I get in the 479 00:18:22,710 --> 00:18:24,630 vehicle, and most of the time, it's a 480 00:18:24,630 --> 00:18:25,130 podcast. 481 00:18:30,305 --> 00:18:32,005 Sorry. I had to take a drink there. 482 00:18:32,384 --> 00:18:32,884 But, 483 00:18:34,465 --> 00:18:35,984 you know, most of the time when I'm 484 00:18:35,984 --> 00:18:37,904 driving around, it's that. But, like, you know, 485 00:18:37,904 --> 00:18:40,404 if I just wanna go for a ride, 486 00:18:40,465 --> 00:18:42,465 you know, and sometimes I'll just take the 487 00:18:42,465 --> 00:18:44,164 dog and just go 488 00:18:44,680 --> 00:18:46,619 drive around out in the woods and 489 00:18:46,920 --> 00:18:48,940 and then I'll put on WTCM 490 00:18:49,400 --> 00:18:49,900 Gold 491 00:18:50,200 --> 00:18:52,599 and listen to Old Country. That's kind of 492 00:18:52,599 --> 00:18:54,680 fun and, you know, the the AM has 493 00:18:54,680 --> 00:18:57,000 a certain sound quality to it that, 494 00:18:57,559 --> 00:18:59,674 I I guess you wouldn't call it quality, 495 00:18:59,674 --> 00:19:01,695 but it's a it's an attribute 496 00:19:03,035 --> 00:19:03,535 that 497 00:19:03,914 --> 00:19:06,494 just sorta reminds me of the old days. 498 00:19:07,035 --> 00:19:07,535 And 499 00:19:07,914 --> 00:19:10,735 always wanted to get into antique radios. 500 00:19:11,720 --> 00:19:14,599 There's an outfit around here that restores old 501 00:19:14,599 --> 00:19:17,000 radios, but I'd like to get one and 502 00:19:17,000 --> 00:19:19,240 try to restore it myself. And I'd probably 503 00:19:19,240 --> 00:19:21,880 just put it on TCM Gold and and, 504 00:19:21,880 --> 00:19:23,880 you know, that sound really cool on a 505 00:19:23,880 --> 00:19:27,134 nineteen forties four model radio of some sort. 506 00:19:27,695 --> 00:19:29,775 I do have a pretty cool radio I 507 00:19:29,775 --> 00:19:31,234 got from my grandfather, 508 00:19:33,214 --> 00:19:34,835 a Zenith Transoceanic. 509 00:19:35,695 --> 00:19:37,714 It's a shortwave AMFM 510 00:19:39,450 --> 00:19:41,529 radio, and it has a little thing that 511 00:19:41,529 --> 00:19:44,250 flips up. And there's a wheel there so 512 00:19:44,250 --> 00:19:46,589 you can figure out the time zones and 513 00:19:46,970 --> 00:19:47,450 and, 514 00:19:47,769 --> 00:19:49,929 a little map of of where the time 515 00:19:49,929 --> 00:19:53,134 zones are. So if you're listening to Radio 516 00:19:53,275 --> 00:19:55,515 Moscow, you can see what time zone they're 517 00:19:55,515 --> 00:19:58,075 in and whatever. It's kinda cool, but I 518 00:19:58,075 --> 00:20:00,315 don't know how much shortwave is even out 519 00:20:00,315 --> 00:20:01,535 there anymore either. 520 00:20:02,315 --> 00:20:04,815 Again, you know, radio is, you know, 521 00:20:05,179 --> 00:20:08,539 podcasting and YouTube and all this other stuff 522 00:20:08,539 --> 00:20:11,420 is sort of, eclipsing a lot of radio 523 00:20:11,420 --> 00:20:13,119 first for a lot of people. 524 00:20:14,059 --> 00:20:16,140 But you know? And I'm kind of one 525 00:20:16,140 --> 00:20:17,980 of them. I still, you know, love the 526 00:20:17,980 --> 00:20:19,039 magic of radio. 527 00:20:19,424 --> 00:20:21,025 And I am a ham radio operator. And, 528 00:20:21,025 --> 00:20:23,184 again, we're gonna have an episode about that 529 00:20:23,184 --> 00:20:23,924 coming up, 530 00:20:24,545 --> 00:20:26,705 but, you know, that's there's a little bit 531 00:20:26,705 --> 00:20:28,545 of difference. But, you know, even ham radio 532 00:20:28,545 --> 00:20:29,684 is kind of dying. 533 00:20:30,225 --> 00:20:31,845 A lot of the local VHF, 534 00:20:33,650 --> 00:20:36,150 repeaters and whatnot are pretty, 535 00:20:36,849 --> 00:20:37,349 well, 536 00:20:37,730 --> 00:20:40,130 not very busy anymore like they used to 537 00:20:40,130 --> 00:20:42,549 be in the in the eighties and nineties 538 00:20:43,250 --> 00:20:43,750 because 539 00:20:44,130 --> 00:20:47,044 everybody's got a pocket computer and 540 00:20:47,424 --> 00:20:49,605 can communicate with the entire world 541 00:20:50,384 --> 00:20:51,204 with their phone. 542 00:20:51,505 --> 00:20:54,065 You know? With and phone, I I use 543 00:20:54,065 --> 00:20:56,144 in air quotes because it's not really a 544 00:20:56,144 --> 00:20:58,144 phone. It's a pocket computer. It just happened 545 00:20:58,144 --> 00:21:00,884 to happens to have a phone function. 546 00:21:01,349 --> 00:21:01,849 But, 547 00:21:02,789 --> 00:21:03,849 yeah. So 548 00:21:04,230 --> 00:21:06,809 the world is changing, but, broadcasting 549 00:21:07,509 --> 00:21:08,410 in this area 550 00:21:09,190 --> 00:21:09,690 is 551 00:21:09,990 --> 00:21:11,849 seemingly alive and well. 552 00:21:13,269 --> 00:21:15,274 And, you know, back in the day, 553 00:21:15,815 --> 00:21:17,414 you know, when I worked at the TV 554 00:21:17,414 --> 00:21:19,815 station, they had to have somebody there twenty 555 00:21:19,815 --> 00:21:20,634 four seven. 556 00:21:21,174 --> 00:21:22,634 You know, even with automation, 557 00:21:23,014 --> 00:21:25,595 there was always at least the master control 558 00:21:25,654 --> 00:21:26,875 person in the station 559 00:21:27,254 --> 00:21:28,234 at night to 560 00:21:28,589 --> 00:21:29,650 monitor the transmitters. 561 00:21:30,029 --> 00:21:31,230 And, you know, we had to have a 562 00:21:31,230 --> 00:21:34,029 general radio telephone license, which wasn't hard to 563 00:21:34,029 --> 00:21:35,730 get. You just had to get one, 564 00:21:36,669 --> 00:21:39,230 you know, to operate the station and same 565 00:21:39,230 --> 00:21:41,250 thing with the with the, radios. 566 00:21:41,825 --> 00:21:43,204 But now there's 567 00:21:43,984 --> 00:21:45,204 all kinds of unattended 568 00:21:45,505 --> 00:21:47,845 transmitters all over the place and 569 00:21:48,785 --> 00:21:49,845 and master control 570 00:21:50,305 --> 00:21:51,924 for the TV stations. 571 00:21:52,625 --> 00:21:54,704 Well, at least the ones on the hill 572 00:21:54,704 --> 00:21:58,130 here because it's an ABC, NBC combined now. 573 00:21:58,589 --> 00:22:01,390 They do, they have two different stations out 574 00:22:01,390 --> 00:22:03,230 of there, but they have multiple channels. You 575 00:22:03,230 --> 00:22:05,470 know, with digital, they can have multiple channels 576 00:22:05,470 --> 00:22:06,609 on each of the transmitters. 577 00:22:07,630 --> 00:22:08,130 And 578 00:22:09,234 --> 00:22:11,234 I don't believe there's a person in the 579 00:22:11,234 --> 00:22:13,474 building after a certain hour. I think after 580 00:22:13,474 --> 00:22:16,294 the 11:00 news, it goes on automation, 581 00:22:17,315 --> 00:22:19,974 and, nobody's there until the morning news. 582 00:22:20,674 --> 00:22:22,835 So there's a few hours there where there's 583 00:22:22,835 --> 00:22:24,294 just nobody in the building. 584 00:22:24,829 --> 00:22:26,269 But I yeah. When I used to work 585 00:22:26,269 --> 00:22:28,430 there, I would work the overnight. So, you 586 00:22:28,430 --> 00:22:30,430 know, after the 11:00 587 00:22:30,430 --> 00:22:33,390 news, everybody left and it was just me 588 00:22:33,390 --> 00:22:36,690 in the building. I'd take hourly checks on 589 00:22:36,910 --> 00:22:37,890 the two transmitters 590 00:22:38,269 --> 00:22:41,075 that we had. They were both remote transmitters, 591 00:22:41,134 --> 00:22:43,394 but we had a remote control set up 592 00:22:44,335 --> 00:22:46,255 and and all that. So, you know, and 593 00:22:46,255 --> 00:22:48,515 and nowadays, I don't think they do that. 594 00:22:49,535 --> 00:22:52,194 And master control is no longer local. 595 00:22:52,679 --> 00:22:55,980 Their master control is in Flint, and, the 596 00:22:56,039 --> 00:22:58,220 person that's operating the station 597 00:22:59,559 --> 00:23:00,299 is operating 598 00:23:00,759 --> 00:23:02,299 10 or 12 stations 599 00:23:02,599 --> 00:23:03,500 around the state 600 00:23:04,039 --> 00:23:05,419 remotely from Flint. 601 00:23:05,799 --> 00:23:06,299 So 602 00:23:07,174 --> 00:23:09,414 way different than it used to be. I 603 00:23:09,414 --> 00:23:11,174 used to I used to enjoy that. It 604 00:23:11,174 --> 00:23:12,154 was kind of fun. 605 00:23:12,694 --> 00:23:14,454 Of course, we would play it in the 606 00:23:14,454 --> 00:23:17,035 middle of the night. They'd play this, news 607 00:23:17,335 --> 00:23:18,794 program from NBC, 608 00:23:20,160 --> 00:23:21,059 and it was 609 00:23:21,600 --> 00:23:22,900 twenty five minutes 610 00:23:23,759 --> 00:23:26,400 of nothing for me to do every half 611 00:23:26,400 --> 00:23:26,900 hour. 612 00:23:27,279 --> 00:23:29,759 And then I would run a, two minute 613 00:23:29,759 --> 00:23:30,660 local break 614 00:23:31,519 --> 00:23:33,380 and then go back to the network, 615 00:23:33,944 --> 00:23:35,944 and that's what I did most of the 616 00:23:35,944 --> 00:23:37,625 night. So a lot of the times, I 617 00:23:37,625 --> 00:23:38,365 was watching 618 00:23:39,224 --> 00:23:42,044 Star Trek next generation, which we had on 619 00:23:42,664 --> 00:23:43,164 videotape 620 00:23:44,585 --> 00:23:46,265 on one of the side monitors, and I'd 621 00:23:46,265 --> 00:23:48,044 be watching episodes of that 622 00:23:48,430 --> 00:23:50,109 except for, when I had to do a 623 00:23:50,109 --> 00:23:50,609 break 624 00:23:50,990 --> 00:23:52,750 and a little alarm clock that would go 625 00:23:52,750 --> 00:23:55,170 off about a minute before the break and 626 00:23:55,309 --> 00:23:57,089 and make sure I have all my commercials 627 00:23:57,309 --> 00:23:57,789 in and, 628 00:23:58,430 --> 00:24:00,769 you know, trigger the break, do the IDs, 629 00:24:00,990 --> 00:24:01,490 and 630 00:24:02,109 --> 00:24:03,490 send it back to the network. 631 00:24:04,184 --> 00:24:05,404 But I was there, 632 00:24:05,704 --> 00:24:06,924 and I looked at 633 00:24:07,544 --> 00:24:09,244 the looked at the, transmitters, 634 00:24:10,505 --> 00:24:12,664 and the lights. You you also had to 635 00:24:12,664 --> 00:24:15,244 monitor the lighting system. It was remote. 636 00:24:15,865 --> 00:24:17,565 But, you know, if one of the lights 637 00:24:17,625 --> 00:24:20,299 went out, it would indicate on the panel, 638 00:24:20,299 --> 00:24:22,700 and then I'd have I had a 800 639 00:24:22,700 --> 00:24:24,619 number to call the FAA to let them 640 00:24:24,619 --> 00:24:26,220 know that the light's out on the tower, 641 00:24:26,220 --> 00:24:28,460 and they'd put out a NOTAM for the 642 00:24:28,460 --> 00:24:28,960 airplanes 643 00:24:29,340 --> 00:24:31,740 to say, hey. Tower lights are out on 644 00:24:31,740 --> 00:24:33,279 this tower here. And, 645 00:24:33,924 --> 00:24:35,765 Yeah. It was a whole thing. But, 646 00:24:36,484 --> 00:24:38,105 one of the one of the cool stories, 647 00:24:38,404 --> 00:24:39,464 there there was this 648 00:24:40,644 --> 00:24:41,144 phenomenon 649 00:24:41,605 --> 00:24:44,244 because all these thing these remote transmitters were 650 00:24:44,244 --> 00:24:45,305 connected via 651 00:24:47,525 --> 00:24:48,025 microwave. 652 00:24:49,000 --> 00:24:51,259 Yeah. That's just really super high frequency, 653 00:24:52,119 --> 00:24:54,440 signals that went between towers. And there was, 654 00:24:54,440 --> 00:24:55,419 like, three hops 655 00:24:55,960 --> 00:24:57,179 up to the Sheboygan 656 00:24:57,480 --> 00:24:59,799 transmitter, which was, you know, way up north 657 00:24:59,799 --> 00:25:00,619 by the UP. 658 00:25:01,559 --> 00:25:02,059 And 659 00:25:02,975 --> 00:25:06,015 so but from our tower at the station, 660 00:25:06,015 --> 00:25:06,994 we could watch 661 00:25:07,855 --> 00:25:10,734 channel four out of Sheboygan. We could see 662 00:25:10,734 --> 00:25:13,394 it off air because we had 500 foot 663 00:25:13,455 --> 00:25:13,955 tower. 664 00:25:14,670 --> 00:25:17,250 And then we'd also watch the channel seven 665 00:25:17,470 --> 00:25:19,330 transmitter, which was down in Harietta, 666 00:25:20,110 --> 00:25:22,769 you know, half hour south of Traverse City. 667 00:25:23,470 --> 00:25:25,410 So I had a monitor for each. 668 00:25:26,269 --> 00:25:26,769 And 669 00:25:27,744 --> 00:25:29,444 another interesting thing, 670 00:25:30,384 --> 00:25:31,125 side note, 671 00:25:31,744 --> 00:25:34,325 there's another channel four NBC 672 00:25:35,744 --> 00:25:37,444 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. 673 00:25:38,384 --> 00:25:40,704 So that's why, you know, channel four was 674 00:25:40,704 --> 00:25:41,605 way up north 675 00:25:41,984 --> 00:25:43,044 because of that. 676 00:25:44,200 --> 00:25:47,019 So I'm going into the, half hour break. 677 00:25:47,960 --> 00:25:48,460 And 678 00:25:48,919 --> 00:25:50,380 when I went into the break, 679 00:25:51,240 --> 00:25:54,039 channel seven was playing the commercials I was 680 00:25:54,039 --> 00:25:54,539 playing. 681 00:25:55,480 --> 00:25:57,319 And then I looked up at the channel 682 00:25:57,319 --> 00:25:57,819 four 683 00:25:59,234 --> 00:26:02,134 monitor, and it was playing different commercials. 684 00:26:02,674 --> 00:26:04,755 Like, well, that's weird. How did they get 685 00:26:04,755 --> 00:26:05,654 different commercials? 686 00:26:06,355 --> 00:26:08,515 And then just about that same time, I 687 00:26:08,515 --> 00:26:10,615 still I got an alert that the transmitter 688 00:26:11,154 --> 00:26:11,894 in Sheboygan 689 00:26:12,434 --> 00:26:13,174 went down. 690 00:26:13,549 --> 00:26:14,750 And what had happened is they had a 691 00:26:14,750 --> 00:26:17,789 power outage, and the generator didn't kick on 692 00:26:17,789 --> 00:26:19,329 like it was supposed to. 693 00:26:19,710 --> 00:26:21,890 So they had a power outage up channel 694 00:26:22,029 --> 00:26:22,529 four, 695 00:26:22,990 --> 00:26:25,150 but I didn't notice it on air because 696 00:26:25,150 --> 00:26:27,409 I was picking up the Milwaukee station 697 00:26:28,115 --> 00:26:29,654 on the channel four monitor. 698 00:26:30,355 --> 00:26:30,855 And, 699 00:26:31,315 --> 00:26:33,715 like I said, I only noticed it because 700 00:26:33,715 --> 00:26:34,375 the commercials 701 00:26:34,674 --> 00:26:37,575 were different, and then the monitoring system finally 702 00:26:37,955 --> 00:26:40,434 caught up and told me the transmitter was 703 00:26:40,434 --> 00:26:41,154 down. But, 704 00:26:41,955 --> 00:26:42,615 that was 705 00:26:43,349 --> 00:26:44,569 that was quite entertaining. 706 00:26:44,950 --> 00:26:45,429 And, 707 00:26:45,829 --> 00:26:47,769 one other adventure in broadcasting, 708 00:26:50,150 --> 00:26:53,289 it was Christmas Eve, and I actually volunteered 709 00:26:53,509 --> 00:26:55,609 to do a shift on Christmas Eve, 710 00:26:56,305 --> 00:26:58,065 which was fine. We did our, you know, 711 00:26:58,065 --> 00:27:00,705 family Christmas on Christmas Eve, and then we 712 00:27:00,705 --> 00:27:02,964 had another one on Christmas day 713 00:27:03,345 --> 00:27:05,045 with the other side of the family. 714 00:27:05,825 --> 00:27:08,305 So, you know, me being up all night 715 00:27:08,305 --> 00:27:10,964 running a TV station won a huge deal. 716 00:27:11,190 --> 00:27:12,889 But I had missed the, 717 00:27:13,750 --> 00:27:15,990 there was this farm program that played at, 718 00:27:15,990 --> 00:27:18,069 like, 06:30 in the morning. So, you know, 719 00:27:18,069 --> 00:27:19,909 I'm just gonna be watching that at 06:30 720 00:27:19,909 --> 00:27:21,049 in the morning on 721 00:27:21,429 --> 00:27:21,929 on 722 00:27:23,509 --> 00:27:24,649 Christmas Day. 723 00:27:25,615 --> 00:27:27,454 But I had to record it off the 724 00:27:27,454 --> 00:27:27,954 satellite 725 00:27:28,654 --> 00:27:30,255 at you know, it was like two in 726 00:27:30,255 --> 00:27:31,375 the morning. So that was some of the 727 00:27:31,375 --> 00:27:32,815 other things we did is, you know, we 728 00:27:32,815 --> 00:27:33,954 would record syndicated 729 00:27:34,974 --> 00:27:35,474 programming. 730 00:27:36,255 --> 00:27:39,054 And this farm show was supposed to go. 731 00:27:39,054 --> 00:27:40,755 It was their holiday special, 732 00:27:41,460 --> 00:27:41,960 whatever, 733 00:27:43,220 --> 00:27:45,799 and I missed the recording somehow. 734 00:27:46,179 --> 00:27:48,339 So I didn't have anything to play from 735 00:27:48,339 --> 00:27:49,720 seven to eight in the morning. 736 00:27:50,740 --> 00:27:52,900 You know, I could've thrown anything in there, 737 00:27:52,900 --> 00:27:55,159 I guess, and nobody would've noticed. But 738 00:27:55,684 --> 00:27:57,384 I thought to myself, well, 739 00:27:57,765 --> 00:27:58,884 I don't know. Maybe, 740 00:27:59,365 --> 00:28:01,224 you know, let's see what other stations 741 00:28:01,845 --> 00:28:04,164 that program was on, and maybe I could 742 00:28:04,164 --> 00:28:05,785 get it from one of them somehow. 743 00:28:06,644 --> 00:28:08,505 And it turned out that WGN 744 00:28:09,285 --> 00:28:10,585 in, Chicago 745 00:28:11,740 --> 00:28:13,679 played it, and they played it an hour 746 00:28:13,740 --> 00:28:14,799 and a half early. 747 00:28:16,220 --> 00:28:18,380 Yeah. Hour and a half earlier. So I 748 00:28:18,380 --> 00:28:20,940 went into the production manager's office, and they 749 00:28:20,940 --> 00:28:23,039 had cable TV, and we had WGN 750 00:28:23,419 --> 00:28:26,059 on the cable. And at the appropriate time, 751 00:28:26,059 --> 00:28:26,799 I recorded 752 00:28:27,904 --> 00:28:29,284 their version of it. 753 00:28:29,744 --> 00:28:31,845 And then all I had to do was 754 00:28:32,865 --> 00:28:35,924 take their commercials out and, and put our 755 00:28:36,464 --> 00:28:39,525 station ID over top of their station ID. 756 00:28:40,304 --> 00:28:40,804 And 757 00:28:41,710 --> 00:28:43,869 I was able to pull that off. So 758 00:28:43,869 --> 00:28:45,789 I actually got to play the right program 759 00:28:45,789 --> 00:28:47,730 even though I missed the satellite feed. 760 00:28:48,670 --> 00:28:49,170 So, 761 00:28:49,710 --> 00:28:50,210 anyway 762 00:28:52,910 --> 00:28:55,070 okay. One more. Jeez. I'm on a roll 763 00:28:55,070 --> 00:28:55,570 here. 764 00:28:58,085 --> 00:28:59,045 Used to be that, 765 00:28:59,684 --> 00:29:00,184 Jeopardy 766 00:29:00,644 --> 00:29:03,144 would, come down in one bulk, 767 00:29:04,244 --> 00:29:05,305 satellite feed 768 00:29:05,605 --> 00:29:07,445 in real time, so we had to record 769 00:29:07,445 --> 00:29:09,285 it real time. It wasn't like a now 770 00:29:09,285 --> 00:29:10,825 they just send you a file. 771 00:29:12,480 --> 00:29:14,080 But back in the day, we had to 772 00:29:14,080 --> 00:29:16,180 record it off the satellite in real time. 773 00:29:17,039 --> 00:29:17,940 And so 774 00:29:18,559 --> 00:29:20,640 I think that was, like, Friday night or 775 00:29:20,640 --> 00:29:21,140 Saturday 776 00:29:21,680 --> 00:29:23,440 in the middle of the night or something. 777 00:29:23,440 --> 00:29:25,575 I I don't remember exactly when it was, 778 00:29:25,575 --> 00:29:27,015 but it was, you know, two and a 779 00:29:27,015 --> 00:29:27,755 half hours 780 00:29:28,375 --> 00:29:29,195 of recording 781 00:29:29,815 --> 00:29:32,055 for Jeopardy for the week. And then, you 782 00:29:32,055 --> 00:29:34,154 know, the editors would cut it apart 783 00:29:35,015 --> 00:29:35,515 and, 784 00:29:36,630 --> 00:29:39,190 you know, get it ready for broadcast, you 785 00:29:39,190 --> 00:29:40,009 know, every 786 00:29:40,470 --> 00:29:40,970 evening. 787 00:29:41,990 --> 00:29:42,890 And so 788 00:29:43,349 --> 00:29:45,849 I recorded, you know, the jeopardy, 789 00:29:46,150 --> 00:29:47,750 and I knew I was gonna be out 790 00:29:47,750 --> 00:29:48,970 at my dad's house, 791 00:29:49,750 --> 00:29:51,130 and he loved jeopardy. 792 00:29:51,884 --> 00:29:53,484 And I knew I was gonna be up 793 00:29:53,484 --> 00:29:55,724 out there while he was watching Jeopardy. And 794 00:29:55,724 --> 00:29:57,964 you don't you're disturbing. You watch it with 795 00:29:57,964 --> 00:29:58,464 him. 796 00:29:59,164 --> 00:30:01,585 So, anyway, I watched that 797 00:30:02,205 --> 00:30:02,705 Jeopardy 798 00:30:03,900 --> 00:30:05,440 six or seven times 799 00:30:05,980 --> 00:30:07,920 just so that I had all the answers. 800 00:30:08,779 --> 00:30:10,559 I mean, all the answers 801 00:30:11,259 --> 00:30:13,500 for that one that was gonna play on 802 00:30:13,500 --> 00:30:15,019 the night I was gonna be at dad's 803 00:30:15,019 --> 00:30:15,519 house. 804 00:30:16,755 --> 00:30:19,555 And, anyway, so we played that, you know 805 00:30:19,875 --> 00:30:22,115 or they played that while I'm sitting there. 806 00:30:22,115 --> 00:30:24,355 Dad's watching Jeopardy, and I call out the 807 00:30:24,355 --> 00:30:25,955 answer. Call out the answer. Call out the 808 00:30:25,955 --> 00:30:27,475 answer. And I did that for the whole 809 00:30:27,475 --> 00:30:28,215 half hour, 810 00:30:29,039 --> 00:30:31,680 and he thought I was a genius until 811 00:30:31,680 --> 00:30:32,980 I told him what I did. 812 00:30:33,840 --> 00:30:35,880 I couldn't couldn't but it was funny while 813 00:30:35,880 --> 00:30:38,720 it was going on. Alright. Enough of that. 814 00:30:38,720 --> 00:30:39,220 So 815 00:30:41,654 --> 00:30:42,154 tomorrow 816 00:30:42,615 --> 00:30:44,394 what am I gonna talk about tomorrow? 817 00:30:45,414 --> 00:30:47,195 Let me look at my little master 818 00:30:48,134 --> 00:30:50,695 list. Oh, yeah. We're gonna talk about heating 819 00:30:50,695 --> 00:30:51,515 with wood. 820 00:30:52,455 --> 00:30:53,734 I don't know if any of you guys 821 00:30:53,734 --> 00:30:54,960 ever did that, but, 822 00:30:55,519 --> 00:30:56,960 when I the whole time I was growing 823 00:30:56,960 --> 00:30:58,500 up, I didn't even know the furnace 824 00:30:58,960 --> 00:30:59,460 worked 825 00:30:59,919 --> 00:31:02,319 because we never used it. We heated with 826 00:31:02,319 --> 00:31:05,299 wood and the wood stoves. We had two, 827 00:31:05,599 --> 00:31:07,785 one in the one downstairs and one up 828 00:31:07,865 --> 00:31:09,465 stairs. The only time we ran the one 829 00:31:09,465 --> 00:31:11,224 downstairs is, you know, when it got real 830 00:31:11,224 --> 00:31:12,664 cold or if we wanna go down there 831 00:31:12,664 --> 00:31:14,684 and do something, we'd fire it up. But, 832 00:31:15,065 --> 00:31:17,465 yeah, we heated with wood the whole time 833 00:31:17,465 --> 00:31:19,244 I was growing up. So 834 00:31:19,785 --> 00:31:21,404 let's talk about that. 835 00:31:21,959 --> 00:31:22,779 Anyway, catch 836 00:31:23,239 --> 00:31:23,979 me tomorrow.