Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, December 30, 1993 TAG: 9312300126
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: B1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: By David M. Poole Staff Writer
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
low-power AM radio transmitters in the Roanoke Valley is to let passers-by know that good times - museums, historical sites and restaurants - are only an exit away.
But nobody knows if the $90,000 radio system would lure a significant number of tourists off Interstate 81 or the Blue Ridge Parkway.
Supporters believe low-band radio will work, even though there are no studies on its effectiveness in a market like Roanoke.
"It's a relatively modest investment," said Roanoke County Supervisor Lee Eddy. "Compared to some of the other things we do to promote tourism, it's inexpensive."
Low-band radio is most effective in situations where motorists on a given road want the same type of information - commuters looking to avoid construction delays; airline travelers trying to find the gate for departing flights; tourists wanting to know about parking as they approach a major attraction, such as Disney World.
For Roanoke Valley tourism boosters, the issue is whether low-band radio can attract a more general audience.
Will signs reading, "For Tourist Information, Tune AM 1610," prompt many of the thousands of truckers and motorists who skirt the valley each day on I-81 to reach for their radio dials?
If they do tune in, how many will pull off the road and spend money in restaurants, shops and motels?
Nobody knows for sure, says the vice president of a company trying to sell low-band transmitters to the Roanoke Valley.
"I'm not aware that any scientific study has been done," said Drew Turner of Digital Recorders Inc., a company based in North Carolina's Research Triangle Park. "It would make my job a whole lot easier if such a thing existed."
Nonetheless, general tourism information is the fastest growing segment of the low-band market, said Turner, a Roanoke native.
Richmond has one. Communities along U.S. 58 recently won a federal grant to set up a series of transmitters to create a "talking highway" similar to a system used in New Mexico.
"If the radio did not work, I don't know why other people would use it," said Wayne Strickland, executive director of the Fifth Planning District Commission in Roanoke.
The commission is asking the three main valley governments - Roanoke, Roanoke County and Salem - to pitch in $30,000 each to buy three transmitters.
Last month, Digital Recorders broadcast a test signal in the valley to demonstrate how low-band radio works.
One of the valley's biggest fans of low-band radio is Howard Packett, an advertising executive and member of Salem City Council.
Packett said the radio signals would be more effective and less expensive than billboards along I-81.
The radio message also could be changed daily to feature festivals, concerts or sporting events, he said.
"It's a message out there all the time that you can't get any other way," he said.
Packett acknowledges that most motorists who tune in probably may not venture into Roanoke, Salem or Roanoke County for a spontaneous visit.
Rather, they may learn about what there is to see in the area and make a stop during a future visit, he said.
"I guess our hope is that people, as they travel, want to find out about a region they are unfamiliar with," Strickland said.
by CNB