WGFT radio changes formats; boasts top national talk shows

By Guy D’Astolfo

Skip Bednarczyk took over at the station last month.

YOUNGSTOWN — After switching formats, a Mahoning Valley radio station is offering what its general manager calls the strongest lineup of nationally syndicated talk shows in the country.

For years, WGFT AM 1330 was lacking a clear identity, mixing gospel, talk and urban music in its daily programming.

Skip Bednarczyk, who took over as general manager March 3, has reshaped it into 1330 Talk, which was unveiled March 17.

“Reaction has been very positive,” said Bednarczyk.

Anchoring the lineup is Don Imus in the morning drive slot (6-10 a.m.). Imus resigned from radio last year in the wake of racist on-air comments he made that set off a national brouhaha. He returned to the airwaves later in the year. WGFT is the only Ohio station carrying his show, said Bednarczyk.

The rest of the lineup is Laura Ingraham, who lends a woman’s viewpoint to politics, the media and Hollywood, 10 a.m. to noon; Dave Ramsey, who offers advice on living debt-free and amassing wealth, noon to 3 p.m.; Sean Hannity, Fox News pundit, 3 to 6 p.m.; and Mark Levin, 6-8 p.m.

Bednarczyk said WGFT is not going head-to-head with WKBN AM-570, the market’s entrenched talk radio station. “It’s an alternative, in that it’s all nationally syndicated programming,” he said. “These programs have all been proven in other markets.”

With the exception of “The Rush Limbaugh Show,” WKBN’s programming is local.

WGFT fills its night and weekend time slots with repeats of the daytime programs, as well as shows on home improvement, pets, travel and automobiles.

Bednarczyk is a native of Cuyahoga Falls, who has a long track record in radio management, having worked in Los Angeles, Phoenix, Dallas, Cleveland, Miami and Columbus. He and his wife, a Steubenville native, wanted to return to Northeast Ohio to reconnect with their families and get back to their roots.

He admitted bringing Imus to a station that previously had a mostly black audience was a gutsy move. “We got some complaints,” he said.

The move reflected a marketing philosophy imparted to Bednarczyk by none other than Arnold Schwarzenegger, for whom he worked as publicity manager in the late ’70s and early ’80s.

“Arnold said, ‘Always look at a situation at every angle that it is not, instead of what it is,’” said Bednarczyk.

Another change took effect this week at WGFT’s sister station, WRBP-101.9 Jamz.

Bednarczyk added the nationally syndicated Steve Harvey show, which is one of the hottest urban shows in the country.