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Nash signal
- Thread starter BigJimmy
- Start date
Guess you weren't around here for the hundreds of postings on this topic that went up between the time when Cumulus announced it was acquiring 94.7 and the WFME calls and format disappeared from the frequency. The short version is that FCC station-to-station spacing regulations preclude any change in the 94.7 signal. But Cumulus did not pay quite as much for 94.7 as they would have paid for a New York City-licensed full Class B FM transmitting from ESB IF such a signal had existed at the time of the transfer.
NYC itself is not the target market for country music; the surrounding suburban regions are. 94.7 covers central and northern NJ better than the other NYC signals do, so Nash has an advantage there. If they reduced their coverage of suburban NJ in order to get a better signal in Manhattan, it would be a mistake.
No, they actually would not. Country is a format targeted at the suburbs. With the exception of some of the Long Island end of the market, Nash is actually much better where it is.
Sure everyone would love to own an NYC Empire B. But given 2 of the 3 big players are maxed out in the NY market and the price/value and cost acquisition of the station, the list is likely pretty small. Beyond the purchase cost, operating a single station, from Empire no less, and without a cluster becomes even more expensive.
Have you read anything on the board lately?
I agree that covering nearby NJ as well as possible is very important for Nash, and that the current signal does this well.
But probably many potential listeners in central Long Island cannot receive them well.
Perhaps it may be worthwhile for Cumulus to try and buy WLIX-LP 94.7, located in Ridge NY (in Suffolk County), and use it to simulcast Nash. Though this small signal would not solve all of their LI reception issues, turning it into a Nash simulcast would remove a source of interference and boost their signal in part of Suffolk County. In flat LI, WLIX-LP actually gets out quite well. I have heard their signal interfering quite heavily with Nash in Norwalk CT, some distance away.
Only 21 Watts, But it Does Interfere With Nash in Suffolk County and CT: http://radio-locator.com/cgi-bin/pat?call=WLIX&service=FL&status=L&hours=U
But probably many potential listeners in central Long Island cannot receive them well.
Perhaps it may be worthwhile for Cumulus to try and buy WLIX-LP 94.7, located in Ridge NY (in Suffolk County), and use it to simulcast Nash. Though this small signal would not solve all of their LI reception issues, turning it into a Nash simulcast would remove a source of interference and boost their signal in part of Suffolk County. In flat LI, WLIX-LP actually gets out quite well. I have heard their signal interfering quite heavily with Nash in Norwalk CT, some distance away.
Only 21 Watts, But it Does Interfere With Nash in Suffolk County and CT: http://radio-locator.com/cgi-bin/pat?call=WLIX&service=FL&status=L&hours=U
... except that Nash has an inferior signal in the eastern and northern suburbs.
The Cumulus deal with Family specified that an add-on to the purchase price would be paid if the facility moved to a site with better market coverage. That would indicate that both buyer and seller were aware of the desirability of improving the facility. And that is part of the reason why a number of posters have speculated that Cumulus might give $10 million and the Nash facility to Pacifica in exchange for the ESB licensed one.
An LPFM can not rebroadcast a commercial station.
And WLIX-LP's 65 dbu signal covers less than 25,000 persons. Totally useless competitively. Keep in mind that the useful coverage of an FM is about 20% inside the innermost red contour on radio-locator.
It may have a weaker signal by air, but by book it's doing fine. If the facility was upgraded or changed frequency, would a half point gain in eastern end ratings, plus the rebuilding/migration of the audience be worth the $10m+ vs. where they are? Probably not.
This doesn't even cover what the Nash brand is supposed to mean in the big picture or what the core strategy is for the station anyway.
A 25-54 commercial share point in NYC is worth about $10 to $12 million on average. But moving a station from the bottom part of the top 20 stations in a demo to above 15th is likely worth even more, as agencies don't generally buy all the lower level stations, so moving up in rank is of considerable value.
If the ROI on such a move is around 20% or greater, it would be very desirable. That would require only about a $2.5 million increase in billing (the first $500 k going for commissions and other incremental costs).
At present, they can not move for technical reasons. But the fact that such a possibility was written into the contract indicates an interest in doing something along those lines.
WNSH targets the New York City Metro Survey Area. Essentially all of their 65 dbu signal falls in the NY radio ratings metro, and nearly none of it in the NW NJ or Central NJ areas.
"Central NJ" (Middlesex, Somerset, & Union Counties) is actually in northern NJ geographically, and is well within WNSH's coverage contour.
To most media people, the Trenton (WKXW, WPST, etc) market is "Central New Jersey". The counties you mention are part of the NYC MSA.
One would think that Nash's signal would be great in Sussex County...it's complete garbage like the rest of the NYC signals once you enter Franklin. All the NYC signals leave after you exit Vernon. I was shocked that they made it to Vernon! It's a great station however they really need to make it less automated sounding. As for their signal I notice once I enter Manhattan their signal just drops out. I even get 105.9 and 99.5 up near Vernon and their signals aren't that great. Perhaps they could have the signal simulcasted on 103.9? Cumulus could be 99.5 and make it Rock 99.5
WKXW never uses the term "Central Jersey", and all the other stations in Trenton are pretending to be Philadelphia stations. Meanwhile in the Middlesex/Somerset/Union market, WMGQ and WCTC make prominent use of the term "Central Jersey" to refer to those counties as well as the parts of Monmouth, Mercer, and Hunterdon Counties that their signals cover.
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