Management,
sales and promotion newsletter for smaller stations
The Small Market
Radio Newsletter was published from late
1982 by Bob Doll and
Barbara Doll from their office in Otsego,
MI. Bob's last issue was in April, 1993. In
May of that year, Jay Mitchell began
publishing and today the newsletter is
digital. The website is
smallmarketradio.com.
If you manage a smaller market station, you
should be subscribed!
Thanks to Rolly
Bornstein for this collection
About the founder.
Bob Doll (1933-2010)
started as a gofer for a radio station in
his hometown of Cincinnati. He became a
part-time announcer at WNOP in Newport, KY;
went full time at WDLB in Marshfield, WI;
then returned to Ohio at WCSI in Columbus.
Originally, Bob had his sights set on
becoming a large-market personality, but he
fell in love with small-town living, and he
moved to WKY in Richmond, KY, where he
ultimately became the manager. He went on to
manage other stations and a radio group
before buying his first stations in Otsego,
WI.Bob spent the next ten years building and
running his Otsego stations, during which
time the idea of starting a newsletter just
for small market broadcasters was hatched.
“Most trade magazines and associations cater
to the larger-market broadcasters who
provide most of their support,” Bob feels.
“The small market guys are forgotten.”So
after Bob sold his Otsego stations, he and
wife Barb took off and spent two months
driving around the country, taking mostly
back roads. Whenever he saw a tower he
stopped in to visit the station, talking up
his newsletter venture.After reading
everything he could find on the subject, Bob
and Barb launched the Small Market Radio
Newsletter in 1983.Bob
and Barb published the newsletter for ten
years, first from Otsego and then from San
Antonio, TX. In 1993 he sold SMRN