Been Awhile, so for my four (or so) readers, just stopping by.....

(Obviously) it's been awhile since I've updated this blog. I hope that you've been with us frequently on the morning show.

We've welcomed back Danny Boy's Drive-in Theater to our airwaves, and you can enjoy Bart Lower co-hosting on Thursdays with chances for you to with the FAMOUS "Leave your Wallet at Home" package of admissions, popcorn, Danny Dogs, Cotton Candy, and more! We've already made two winners, and you could be next!  

WION Radio is SO proud of our growth on the internet!  We're heard in towns WELL within driving distance of Ionia, so when we're talking about things like the upcoming Wizard of Oz Festival, or the Ionia Classic Car Show, or the Memorial Day Parade, we're actually inviting more people than ever!  What's really neat is that as we grow, we also track not only amount of hours listened, but...songs played, and...for our advertisers, the amount of commercials actually heard!  That's right! WION's online listeners stay with us through our commercials, without interrupting their streams! We're so proud of this!  To ALL our advertisers, and to those not yet "on the air" this should be HUGE information.

Here's how it works:  For ever listener that stays online through one commercial counts as one "listen."  An advertiser on WION heard by two people at the same time online would be....(drum roll, please) TWO listens! Unlike big city stations that black out commercials, we give our online listeners the FULL FLAVOR of what WION really is....and, you may find it amazing to know that in January, online fans accounted for 25,322  total listens to COMMERCIALS!  That means we're the BEST value around, and we're proud of it! Newspaper can't prove who opens particular pages, but WE can prove the ads were delivered to our listeners, along with "The music you know!" 

It's WONDERFUL to have so many of you tuning in these days. I know you are, because back in the late Winter when my car was wrecked and then repaired locally, I had SO many people asking me at dinner downtown or on the street, "How's Manuel?" (the Green Jeep Liberty) then...an awkward pause, and I'd answer, "by the way, I'm fine, too!"  Perfect proof our listeners are in-touch with WION and we appreciate it. Whether you tune in for music, morning guests and co-hosts, News, Charles Osgood, or just because we're local to you, WION values your loyalty.

We have a new feature that we're VERY proud-of three times each day.  It's from the Michigan Agriculture Information Network, and we get three reports each weekday from our old friend Patrick Driscoll who KNOWS Agriculture. What's different about THIS network? They talk about West Michigan! They talk about the economy, your purchase choices, healthy growing of everything in agriculture, and so much more.  Please give these reports a listen at around 6:35 AM, then again in our noon and 5PM information blocks!  I think you'll like these timely and interesting commentaries!

And finally, We haven't worked on the wakeup call in a while, and it has me a bit in a quandary. I'm not sure if we should give the answer away, or pick it back up!  You may comment here if you like or e-mail morning@i1430.com with your thoughts.   A significant amount of mornings of late  due to (temporary) health issues (I don't think there's many souls who haven't had allergies or chest/voice issues since Winter) I'm afraid it's kept me doing more paperwork behind the scenes and playing more music instead of our regular "engaging" conversations with each of you who regularly listen.  I'm incredibly thankful for every morning I wake up and am clear enough to do the show, and I'm sorry for the loss of our regular visits when it's not as easy. I have hopes that the CRUD is gone soon, and that I'm working 100 percent as summer comes our way.  We're a small company, and that's GOOD, but it means "holes" in our schedule are more likely when we have illness in our ranks.

Join us weekday mornings 6 to 9AM, and please spread the word that we truly ARE "America's Biggest Little Radio Station".....WION!  (Available almost anywhere!!)

--Carlyle