Matt Buckler: WJMJ's Spring Radiothon starts Thursday
Jun. 1—There's a phrase that you'll never hear on WJMJ-FM88.9 — "and now a word from our sponsors."
That's because WJMJ doesn't have any sponsors. It airs classic music, news, weather, and inspirational messages seven days a week commercial free. Without commercial advertising, however, the station has come up with another way to stay on the air — by asking its listeners to help.
WJMJ will be holding its Spring Radiothon starting Thursday and ending Sunday. The goal is to raise $200,000 to pay for operating expenses for the next six months.
In the last radiothon, in November, the listeners came through and donated more than $200,000. Station program director Steve Savino is hoping that the WJMJ audience comes through again.
Because of its unique format, the Catholic station of the archdiocese of Hartford has developed a loyal following. Not only is the music familiar, but so are the voices of the announcers. Long-time personalities in the Hartford market such as Jerry Kristafer, Glenn Colligan, and Joe D'Ambrosio are just a few of the voices that people enjoy hearing from again.
Listeners can make a donation during the Radiothon by calling 860-242-8800. They can also call toll free at 1-877-342-5659.
According to Savino, WJMJ is growing in popularity as listeners discover an alternative to commercial radio. Station listeners know that they'll never hear an ad on WJMJ. That's one of the reasons the station has been so successful. And legendary broadcasters can't hurt either.
'Yellowstone' strikes gold
The question might baffle even the most knowledgeable TV expert — what was the most-watched scripted show on television this year?
Here are some clues. It wasn't "NCIS" or any of its "NCIS" cousins. It wasn't any of Dick Wolf's "FBI" shows, or any of his "Chicago" shows.
The most-watched show wasn't even on a broadcast network — it was on a cable network that most viewers didn't even know about until this show made its debut.
"Yellowstone," was the top scripted series, averaging more than 11 million viewers per episode. Only NFL football averaged more viewers.
According to the Top 100 shows released by the Nielsen Ratings Service, NBC's "Sunday Night Football" was No. 1 in the total viewer category, averaging 18.1 million viewers per game, while "Thursday Night Football" on Fox and the NFL Network was next at 15.6 million.
That was followed by Kevin Costner's "Yellowstone," which doesn't receive the large amount of publicity that the broadcast networks receive. Viewers, however, still managed to find it.
The Paramount Network is a mom-and-pop store compared to the broadcast network Big Box stores. Quality, however, matters more than network size.
""Yellowstone" also finished fifth in the important 18-49 demographic, finishing only behind football.
In the total viewer category, CBS racked up five of the next six shows. "NCIS" finished fifth for the season, followed by "FBI." Chicago Med" nailed down seventh for NBC, while three CBS shows — "Blue Bloods," "The Equalizer," and "60 Minutes" — filled out the rest of the Top 10.
The top ABC show was "American Idol," which was 29th. Fox's most popular show was "911," which landed in 20th.
There were only two comedies in the Top 25 shows. "Young Sheldon" finished 12th while newcomer "Ghosts" was 16th. Apparently because of gas prices and inflation, people didn't feel like laughing much this year.
The 18-49 list had some sharp differences from the total viewers chart. NBC's "This Is Us," which finished sixth among the 18-to-49 crowd, was 22nd among total viewers. That means that "This Is Us" attracted the young audience that advertisers appreciate. It also generated a lot of tweets.
"Grey's Anatomy" on ABC was 36th in total viewers, but finished tied for 11th in the 18-49 age category.
Follow Matt Buckler for more television, radio, and sports coverage on the JI's Twitter @journalinquirer, and see his articles on the Journal Inquirer Facebook page.
