POTTSTOWN PA – Five weeks after its owner unceremoniously pulled the plug and closed Pottstown’s only radio station, WPAZ-AM, the local airwaves are still quiet and initial attempts to revive the station or launch a replacement seem to have languished.
Station owner Great Scott Broadcasting, formerly headquartered in Pottstown but now located in Delaware, flipped the off-switch at WPAZ, 224 Maugers Mill Rd., Pottstown PA, on Dec. 10 (2009), during mid-morning programming. On-air personality and station manager Jay Warren was still talking to his audience when the station went dark.
Company President Mitchell Scott told the media Great Scott could no longer afford to keep WPAZ operating, and instead would focus efforts on running its more profitable radio properties covering Maryland, Delaware and Virginia.
There was a flurry of activity during days immediately following the shut-down, which ended WPAZ’s 58-year run.
Made official. Great Scott officially notified the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), the government agency that oversees radio and television broadcasting, of the station’s closure. The FCC now lists WPAZ as “licensed and silent,” although its permit under Great Scott to operate on frequency 1370 AM extends through Aug. 1, 2014.
Local interest. A small group of local potential investors, including some former WPAZ employees, tried to find financial backing to buy the station and re-open it. That talk, for the most part, has died down, although Great Scott said it would actively try to sell the property. It reportedly retained Rosenblum Media Brokers of Pittsburgh PA, headed by Ray H. Rosenblum, to market the license and other assets. An asking price has not been publicly announced, but chatter on the message boards of Radio-Info.com – where those in radio broadcasting often vent their frustrations – speculated “it can be picked up for less” than $250,000.
Online successor? Amateur and professional broadcasters alike explored the possibility of hosting a part-time, Internet-based station to replicate what they considered to be WPAZ’s best programming. The Post was among those contacted to determine its interest in participating in the venture. Nothing’s happened with the idea so far.
Although its audience was perpetually tiny compared to other radio stations in the Greater Philadelphia market, WPAZ’s listenership usually peaked during bad weather. That’s when Pottstown area residents depended on it for information about school closings and delays, and other cancellations. Some former listeners said they missed it most during last month’s snow storm.
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