Local AM radio station goes dark as it bites the dust

[Towntalk]

I have often dreamed of having a weekly show that would spotlight my collection of old time radio shows over a four hour time period since most of them are a half hour long.

[jay]

Also, there's Rookery Radio.
www.rookeryradio.com

[jay]

This is the web address for a local internet radio station.
www.goldenstringradio.org

[Towntalk]

We could have a local radio station that could do all those things without having to get a FCC license by setting up a streaming internet station, and with all the devices that are both available you could listen to it anywhere. Do you know of several folks that would team up to run the station and go to City Council meetings and do all the other tasks that would be needed?

[jay]

I wish we had a radio station that was strictly for Youngstown.  It would have local news and happenings in the city.  Local music would also be included.  I would really like to hear live audio coverage of city council committee meetings, city council meetings, and cover any other meetings of our government.

[Towntalk]

It's sad to see any of our local stations go off the air, but the harsh reality is that unless a station can generate profitable revinue, the costs involved are so high that no operator can afford to absorbe all the costs.
A major problem for WYCL is the fact that it is in a saturated market with most stations more powerful than it is which means that they have larger listener bases. The second problem is a shrinking number of businesses using radio advertizing as opposed to television and newspapers. The third centers around WYCL's rate card ... what it can charge sponsors. The rates depend upon the station's listener ratings, and WYCL's listener ratings are among the lowest in this market.
Finally, being a daytime station limits the stations ability to pull in a larger listener base as opposed to the 24/7 stations.

[Billy Mumphrey]

It is with great regret that, as of sunset on October 1, 2013, WYCL 1540 AM has signed off permanently.

This unfortunate turn of events has come as the time-leased operator for WYCL, Ben Slagle, had chosen to terminate the lease at that time. Consequently, the owner of WYCL's broadcast license, Chris Lash (d/b/a Whiplash Radio of Ohio, LLC) has chosen to take the station dark.