I will be among the first to admit that radio isn’t like it used to be. Additionally, I cannot refute that the Internet radio landscape has changed as audiences have become bored of terrestrial AM/FM radio.
I’ve worked in various forms of media over the years, especially in radio. My first start in radio was at a college LPFM station in Canton, Mo., home of Culver-Stockton College’s KCSW-LP. I was originally in college for religion and philosophy, but looking at my course load in August 2005, it became instant regret that I should have selected a different major like communications, with a track on broadcast journalism.
I really started to despise most of my classes: psychology, physical fitness, and public speaking. The classes were boring, despite some of the instructors being cool. I ultimately gave up or half-assed completed those classes. But in that one communications course that involved working in an actual radio studio, I knew I was hooked for life. Probably the only class that I passed in my only semester at Culver-Stockton.
I’ve done filler gigs on AM and FM, but they were ultimately soul-sucking and unfulfilling. It was around 2009 that I realized I needed to opt for something else.
It was around February or March of 2010 that I needed to launch my own Internet radio station. A $300 investment, a few months’ time, and barebones equipment resulted in launching WWPM MediaNet in April 2010.
Three years later, major technical issues with the broadcast computer resulted in its demise. Until recently, I didn’t realize the website for that operation still existed. The only difference was that when it was in operation, it had an actual domain address attached to it: wwpmmedianet.info.
The void was felt and impacted what I do
For just over five years, that void from Internet radio was felt. No matter what I did, I felt like I was missing out on something. I loved having control of the programming of my own Internet radio station. No FCC regulation. Hosts can use the seven dirty words if they were so inclined to.
It was my experience in Internet radio that led to my overseeing broadcast affiliate relations for a syndicated radio program and its flagship radio network. (Of course, I will not specify the names, as I have ongoing litigation against both entities on the issue of nonpayment for services rendered.)
Even my work in journalism was dragged down for a while.
All because I wanted to have a presence on Internet radio once again.
The resurgence and radio revival
Most people who know me personally knew that I was planning to return to Internet radio. They knew this shortly after I launched this news platform on New Year’s Eve 2016.
I really wanted to revive WWPM MediaNet to its former glory with the same variety of programming I aired. There was only one major difference: broadcast royalties for music from 2013 to 2018 had skyrocketed. This means I would have to abide by the “fair use” copyright rule and not use more than 20 seconds of audio.
Most of the programs I aired during that era discontinued production. That was a bummer.
So, with that, I had already decided by the year before its revival that it was to be a news/sports talk station. The goal: to be like what TalkSuperstation.com was for talk radio on the Internet from 2006 to 2015.
Then, on New Year’s Eve 2018, the former station rebranded as Heartland Newsfeed Radio Network made its debut.
To date, as we near the radio network’s third anniversary and mark this platform’s fifth anniversary, I could not be happier with the radio product. Do I wish I had more listeners? Without a doubt! Am I going to bed or grovel for listeners? Nope!
We’ve made programming changes over time and even featured players from our sister podcast network on occasion. We will adapt to situations as necessary, and our programming will reflect that.
Back to the old website
It’s funny how time passes. The former website for WWPM MediaNet has seen better days. But taking into consideration the website has not aged well, it was time to update the page.
All other pages have been hidden except the homepage and About Us page. The main page ultimately includes a link to our radio streams.
Sometimes, your past ventures ultimately need to give credence to their ultimate successors.
Jake Leonard, a broadcast media and journalism veteran, is the editor-in-chief of Heartland Newsfeed. Leonard is also GM and program director of Heartland Newsfeed Radio Network, wrestling editor and contributing writer for Ambush Sports, a contributing writer for My Sports Vote and Midwest Sports Network, and a former contributor to Bleacher Report and Overtime Heroics. He resides at home in Nokomis, Ill. with his dog Buster.
