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Gadsden State Community College To Sell WSGN 91.5 FM

Well... WBHM (Birmingham's NPR) will no longer have a full-time satellite station.
 
R.D.P. said:
To an undisclosed buyer. The other site and this link is reporting it: https://news.wbhm.org/2018/wbhm-and-wsgn-the-end-of-a-25-year-relationship/. I predict EMF will be the owner(s) and K-Love will be the new format, once the sale is approved.

Dan <><
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Ironically enough, I was discussing WSGN (the original one at 610 in Birmingham and the current noncommercial one at 91.5 in Gadsden) just last night with someone who had commented on a post on our station Facebook page.

More than likely the WSGN buyer is EMF, which buys the vast majority of stations among the christian broadcasters.

It'd be interesting if EMF or whoever buys WSGN will retain the calls. Typically, EMF will change call signs of stations they purchase, so it's a good possibility the WSGN calls will be dropped once the sale is approved. Summit Media might be interested in them to park on one of their other stations just in case they ever wanted to use them again on AM 610. According to wikipedia, the former owners of WSGN in Birmingham did not want another station in town acquiring the calls once 610 became WZZK-AM, so they worked out an agreement with 91.5 in Gadsden (then WEXP) to acquire them. Wondering if there could be a clause in the contract that states that the WSGN calls return to AM 610's current owner if 91.5 ever chose to relinquish them? Granted, AM 610 is now owned by Summit Media and has been through several owners since that contract was put together, but could the contract's terms still be binding for subsequent owners of the two stations?
 
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It's interesting that WBHM says in their press release that they will continue to be heard on 104.5 in Fort Payne. The translator is being fed by WSGN, and I'm not sure what kind of work would need to be done to get a reliable signal from WBHM up there.
 
This makes me worry Mobile's SpringHill College (WHIL) would also consider selling to EMF.
They've already dropped local origination for a simulcast of Alabama Public Radio.

Does anyone know how well Troy's Southeastern Public Radio network in Troy-Montgomery, Dothan and Columbus, GA. doing financially?

As for 104.5 in Fort Payne, I think non-commercial translators can be fed by ISDN.
 
WHIL is owned by the University of Alabama in Tuscaloosa now, so… it's going nowhere. They have a pretty good network going between the stations in Mobile, Selma, Tuscaloosa and Muscle Shoals (plus a translator in Huntsvegas).
 
seedless said:
This makes me worry Mobile's SpringHill College (WHIL) would also consider selling to EMF.
They've already dropped local origination for a simulcast of Alabama Public Radio.

Does anyone know how well Troy's Southeastern Public Radio network in Troy-Montgomery, Dothan and Columbus, GA. doing financially?

As for 104.5 in Fort Payne, I think non-commercial translators can be fed by ISDN.
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As tomservo mentioned, Spring Hill sold WHIL outright to Alabama Public Radio. As for the Troy group (which has since changed to Troy University Public Radio), when I worked there in the '90s, the administration's commitment to radio was lukewarm at best. I doubt that's changed; recently they lopped off some longtime staff. Actually I'm surprised Troy U. hasn't yet sold off their stations.

Another possibility for WSGN/Gadsden - if longshot - is Jacksonville State U. They've wanted to have a station for a long time.

Yeah, the gut says EMF. Hate that.

--Russell
 
rwells2265 said:
As tomservo mentioned, Spring Hill sold WHIL outright to Alabama Public Radio. As for the Troy group (which has since changed to Troy University Public Radio), when I worked there in the '90s, the administration's commitment to radio was lukewarm at best. I doubt that's changed; recently they lopped off some longtime staff. Actually I'm surprised Troy U. hasn't yet sold off their stations.

Another possibility for WSGN/Gadsden - if longshot - is Jacksonville State U. They've wanted to have a station for a long time.

Yeah, the gut says EMF. Hate that.

--Russell
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The WBHM article concerning the sale states WSGN is being sold to a "faith-based" broadcaster. Link below is from insideradio.com but the info itself originates from the WBHM website.

http://www.insideradio.com/free/ano...cle_5ac0f1b2-bb86-11e8-bfc0-67aebbb3a15c.html
 
rwells2265 said:
Another possibility for WSGN/Gadsden - if longshot - is Jacksonville State U. They've wanted to have a station for a long time.
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Jaxonvile State has a radio station. 91.9 WLJS

Interesting... you don't believe the Troy public radio network to expand beyond it's current 3 stations. If Troy merged with Alabama Public Radio we'd have a state network like Georgia and Sissimippi.

I'm wondering how it works out with Alabama Public Television owning Huntsville's NPR.
 
It still wouldn't be a true statewide network, though. They'd lack east central Alabama, Birmingham and Huntsville coverage.

This is one area where I think Mississippi did better. They have a unified TV and radio service that is state-wide. All their FMs run HD, too. It's a great network.

They also implemented the AF feature of RDS, so compatible radios could have one preset for MPB and it'd automagically flip to whichever signal was strongest. I tried it out on a few roadtrips across the state and it worked well, jumping between the four different broadcasts between Tupelo and Greenwood.
 
seedless said:
Jaxonvile State has a radio station. 91.9 WLJS

Interesting... you don't believe the Troy public radio network to expand beyond it's current 3 stations. If Troy merged with Alabama Public Radio we'd have a state network like Georgia and Sissimippi.

I'm wondering how it works out with Alabama Public Television owning Huntsville's NPR.
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1) I am aware of WLJS, but they're a smaller station - 610w versus 6.3 kW for WSGN. What I got (via a now-retired friend in the business who was from the area) was that Jax State wanted in on having a full NPR station. Hence, my speculation ... moot as it is against the ginormous wallet of EMF.

2) I don't ever see Troy expanding, at least not with the power structure in place at TU. As for merging with APR, that would be an interesting outcome.
 
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