Asking Listeners to Donate to the HD Radio Initiative
WEEC, a Christian non-commercial radio station, in Springfield, OH has asked their loyal listeners to help them in the digital upgrade. They call it “Mission: High Definition.”
WEEC is the first on record to broadcast Southern Gospel music on their HD2 channel. You’ll hear groups like Gold City, Gaither Vocal Band, The Happy Goodmans, Legacy 5, Janet Paschal, The Talley Trio, Ivan Parker and many more. WEEC-HD1 is a combination of Christian talk programming and music, but WEEC HD2 “The Rock” is primarily music with one minute ministry drops sprinkled in. The playlist includes over 1,850 songs, but familiarity is strong because some songs are charting with Singing News Magazine, the premiere publication for Southern Gospel music.
There was a demand for Southern Gospel music because it was played in churches in the community. The station started a weekly feature called Quartet Time that included a lot of Southern Gospel and the interest kept building. Chris Grindrod, PD, says “It just seemed like a given. People have said for years that we needed to play more southern. The response has come back from listeners immediately. Our listeners love the variety, the digital quality has replaced the need to listen to vinyl and cassettes and the fact that it’s on 24/7 allows WEEC to add our name into the proverbial hat of high quality media that is available for our loyal listeners.”
WEEC has created a one minute daily feature, the “Southern Gospel Update” which is followed by a promo encouraging people to check out the HD2 channel. It also partnered with Radiosophy to offer radio discounts on its website, put an ad in the community newspaper, and is involved with southern gospel artists and fan clubs.
By including the HD Radio upgrade in its fundraising drives, the station is able to engage listeners by asking for financial support and educating at the same time.
As of June 2009, WEEC has raised nearly $40,000 directly related to helping with the HD Radio transition.
