Monday, July 21, 2008

YES, WE ARE MOVING, BUT...


News reports are right, we are switching stations. Starting Monday July 28th, we will be on WAPI-AM 1070. (I love the picture... it was our first promo shoot together and the photographer had us posed like we were going to guard the gates to the castle) Here are some questions you may be asking... keep in mind... we do not have all the answers.
  • So Why the Move? We work for a station group called Citadel Broadcasting. They have big plans for WJOX-FM. We are not part of those plans. With that said, they wanted to give us a different set of teammates where they felt we could continue to grow. Brown and I are committed to keeping the show in it's original playbook. The only place to do that at this time is WAPI-AM 1070. We like the name recognition of WAPI (it was hard for me to even remember WSPZ) and we agree with our bosses that this is a better home for us at this time.
  • Is the DandB Show in trouble? No. The reason we are being moved is the strong ratings we have enjoyed in our first 18 months as an afternoon drive-time show. The ratings are not as great as we would like... but they have been growing since we started 18 months ago. We have a lot of committed sponsors who not only make our show profitable, but believe in what we are trying to do long term.
  • Will I still be able to hear you? Good question. The AM-1070 signal is 50,000 watts just like the AM-690 signal. We cannot guarantee that your radio receives 1070 identical to what you hear currently on 690. Some of you may receive it better on 1070, unfortunately, some of you may not. We will learn as we go on this one. The one upside is a little stronger signal after sunset on AM-1070, something many of you had issues with last December.
  • Why are you not on the FM? Another good question. We have had a chance on three occasions to join the FM staff, but did not feel like it was the right fit for us in the time slots that were available. Was that a good move on our part? Who knows? We pray a lot, and try to follow the path we think God wants us to be on. We still believe we are on that path.
  • Will you guys be doing News? No. The Dunaway and Brown Show will not change. Blake is still with us and hopefully all of the great callers who have made this show so much fun over the last 3 years (18 months in the afternoon) will be with us as well. We will do news updates at the top and bottom of every hour (Blake will not do those, someone who can actually pronounce the political leaders from around the world will handle that). If there is breaking news, we will of course include that in the show (Elections, Hurricanes, Severe Weather, War ending, etc.) This is actually a format that works very well in a lot of larger markets (New Orleans, Cincinnati etc)
  • Will your phone number for callers change? YES, YES, YES. The new number is 944-1070. Please mark that down and put it in your quick dial. Remember, that number isn't ours until July 28th.
  • What about Hannity from 2-4pm on AM-1070? We are big fans of Hannity as well. He will be on right after us starting at 6pm. We will now get his entire show and we will finally get to listen to him again on our drive home.
  • Will this disrupt Jim's return to television? I don't think so. CBS 42 was aware of the changes when they hired me and they seem to be happy with the sports product so far. We will continue to broadcast from the D&B Studio's every afternoon at 5pm and then do the 10pm sportscast from the CBS 42 studio.
  • Bottom line it for us Jim... are you guys happy? Yes and No. Yes we are happy that we can continue to do the show that we think you guys have really grown to love. We do yearn for the day where we can have a stable, long running stint in one location on the dial. Again, Brown and I (and many of our friends) have had many prayerful hours about this move, just like all the others. We really believe that this is just another step on the journey God has in store for us and this show. We want to thank all of our friends who continue to pray for us. Don't stop. This is only a small step to a greater end.
Read Joshua 1:9
-Dunaway Out

6 comments:

Unknown said...

I'm happy to know that 1070 has a 50,000 watt signal; I was worried. I didn't even know that was still a station, and I disagree completely about the name recognition thing. No one listens to WAPI. But as soon as Finebaum starts on a lame Dawson rant, people start channel cruising, and they are way more likely to find y'all at 690 than at 1070.

I'm glad you guys are on the air, and you'll still be the best sports show on the air, local or national.

C.H.H said...

So is the WSPZ experiment shutting down? There was always a question if Birmingham could support two Sports Radio stations.

I'll follow you guys over because yours and Brown's radio show is as unbiased as it could possibly be this close to Tuscaloosa and you all don't seem to try to create the news but report and comment on it.

I wish you guys good luck and I look forward to tuning into your new station.

War Eagle!

Reporter said...

1070 does not pick up well in my area. If you do a seek command on your radio it goes right pass 1070. I sure hate this because I enjoyed your show. I will not be able to listen to you guys.

Anonymous said...

I will follow you and Brownie anywhere. I love you guys!!

Southern Cheesehead said...

Wow...how polite and tactful you were. I'll go ahead and say that it stinks! You guys deserve an FM, but I'm not a radio goob thankfully.

CASEY said...

CASEY IN ELBA,

I ALREADY GOT THE INTERNET FEED READY TO GO! LOVE THE SHOW AND HAVE THE NEW PHONE # I WILL PRAY FOR ALL 3 OF YOU.