The international future of Washington radio, the internet and 50,000 watts

by Lavinia Rachal
Photos: Julie Wiatt

Home of WMET

Since WGAY’s demise, Silver Spring has not been known for radio. But now the World Building--that monolithic structure that towers over Georgia Avenue--is living up to its name by housing WMET 1160 AM, “World Radio,” where the combination of a 50,000 watt signal, a unique programming format and the internet make the station a symbol of the international future of Washington radio.

WMET moved to downtown Silver Spring in January of 2007. The station’s format is paid programming with the exception of “The Greaseman Show” in the morning. Paid programming offers anyone with an idea and the finances the opportunity to purchase air time to broadcast his or her own show.
“There is a tremendous market in Washington, Maryland, and northern Virginia for people to have a forum and a place to air their programs, and I felt that any local station that was doing paid programming, be that Hispanic or be it anything else, were very small local stations,” said WMET General Manager Dennis Israel. “Nobody had an audible signal that would cover the entire marketplace.”

Dennis Israel, general manager of WMET has the world on his shoulders and the future on his mind

“This radio station, during the daytime hours, has a huge signal that reaches clear as a bell into Baltimore and all the way down into West Virginia, so it was an opportunity to widen the coverage and to widen the horizon of paid programs that are audible, that people could listen to.”
Radio go-getters have seized the chance to create and produce their own shows that will be broadcast within a four state radius, and the result is a multicultural gumbo of programming.

Weekdays start with the Greaseman. Longtime fans can get their morning doses of naughty euphemisms and sketch comedy to go with their cup of coffee.
From there, audiences have a variety of options: Voice of Hagerfiker - an Ethiopian public affairs show hosted by Negussie Woldemariam and broadcast mostly in the Amharic language, Ruta Libre - a Spanish-language music and community show hosted by Washington Villacis, The Book Squad -, a book discussion program hosted by writers Karyn Langhorne and Wendy Coakley-Thompson, or Culture Shocks with Barry Lynn, executive director for Americans United for Separation of Church and State. During soccer season, the station is the English-language broadcaster for the D.C. United soccer team.

WMET’s format was the chance for Heather Taylor to create and host “The Heather Taylor Show”, which covers topics aimed at baby boomers. For Taylor, it was the perfect opportunity to formulate the show she wanted. “WMET was appealing because it allowed me to take the leap and to become an entrepreneur, creating my own talk show from scratch,” Taylor said.

Carlos Fernandez and many of his colleagues came to WMET after their former radio station, WLIC, Radio Borinquen, was sold. Now several of them have shows on 1160. “It’s like a radio station inside a radio station,” said Fernandez, who hosts what he says is the longest-running Spanish-language talk show, Viva Mi Patria Bolivia.

According to Israel, about 50 percent of the station’s programming is foreign language.

In 2005, Israel, who has done international broadcasting consulting for Voice of America, went to Addis Ababa to help establish the first non-government-owned radio station in Ethiopia. This year, Israel invited the owners, Meaza and Adie Birru to spend two weeks observing WMET’s operations. The station, Sheger 102.1, went on the air in October. Negusie Woldemariam, who knows the Birrus, said that he will be exchanging programs with the couple as they build their schedule.

Doug Tract, the “Greaseman”, vivid as ever

The Greaseman has taken the new multicultural ball and run with it. Familiar to Washington listeners for his raunchy and sometimes scandalous on-air banter, the shock jock pioneer is at home in the bilingual atmosphere of WMET. Fluent in Spanish, he is a sometime-guest on several of the Spanish language shows. The Greaseman is still in love with radio, “It’s an outlet for immediate creativity.” His show has changed a little--with more commentary on current affairs—but, according to him, “The thrust of the show is wacky and will always be wacky.”

The Greaseman thinks paid programming is a great learning experience. “If you have an idea for a radio show, and you think you can make it successful, you can come to WMET, buy an hour, and see.”

With the popularity of live streaming audio and podcasts, WMET’s shows are building fan bases all over the globe. WMET’s June 2007 web and streaming statistics report recorded 1,225,241 hits on its website, with 15,508 streaming sessions and 124,310 downloads of podcasts. In 2006, the station recorded visits to its website from from 58 countries.

The Greaseman has seen the global impact of the accessibility of the web. “I get mail from Russia, from Brazil, Costa Rica.” He adds, “There’s an English teacher in Japan who e-mails me to correct my grammar.”

For Fernandez, WMET’s mix of languages is a source of pride. “We’re the only bilingual radio station in the Washington metropolitan area.” “We like that” Fernandez adds, “the diversity of countries.”

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