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PLJ SOLD

CTListener said:
He obviously has a beef with Christianity, but his real beef should be with the Founding Fathers and succeeding lawmakers and justices who have carved out a special place for codified folk tales and superstitions in this country's institutions. No one should be persecuted for belief in any faith, but allowing companies like EMF to operate tax-free just because they play songs championing only one of the world's myriad religions doesn't strike me as a logical extension of the founders' original intentions.
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There are very strong historical reasons for the tax-free status of religious organizations. This country was founded initially by protestant dissidents from England and other European nations who came to the American colonies to escape persecution for their beliefs.

Because of that desire for religious tolerance and acceptance of different belief systems or variants, the framework of the new nation was based on a belief that taxation could be used to control, punish or restrict belief systems and that any taxation on religious and social and fraternal organizations that did not distribute profits was dangerous for the future of the nation.
 
It seems odd that WPLJ's website and social media were shut down almost immediately, following the switch to K-Love. I believe that stations leaving the air usually keep these up for at least a few days, with messages thanking their listeners.
 
Hey everyone. aj_ here.

Quick question. If WPLJ stayed rock instead of all those format changes over the years, (Mojo Radio, Power 95, etc.) and especially the Hot AC format, would we be talking about PLJ being sold today?

- aj_
 
aj_ said:
Quick question. If WPLJ stayed rock instead of all those format changes over the years, (Mojo Radio, Power 95, etc.) and especially the Hot AC format, would we be talking about PLJ being sold today?
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Only if the current rock is as good as it was 30 years ago. The best option would have been to go classic rock before Q104.

WNEW stayed rock later than PLJ and you see what happened there.
 
TheBigA said:
Only if the current rock is as good as it was 30 years ago. The best option would have been to go classic rock before Q104.

WNEW stayed rock later than PLJ and you see what happened there.
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WPLJ seemed to somewhat parallel Toronto's CHUM-FM's evolution from AOR to Hot AC in the 80s (albeit CHUM-FM never went straight CHR like PLJ did for a while). CHUM-FM has been extremely successful ever since as Hot AC; WPLJ never seemed to get great ratings.
 
Barry said:
It seems odd that WPLJ's website and social media were shut down almost immediately, following the switch to K-Love. I believe that stations leaving the air usually keep these up for at least a few days, with messages thanking their listeners.
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Ditto for the removal of WYAY's website and social media accounts. The Atlanta market manager ordered the engineering department to remove the studios and newsroom of WYAY by Sunday night.
 
Lee Linwood said:
The dentist has a God-complex.
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The dentist is a joke. rules his board with an iron fist, and really isn't all that knowledgeable. honestly shocked it's lasted so long..but he does have a cult following.

As For K Love.....

I'd love to see the PPM's of the listeners dropping off one by one as the switch over happened. I bet they went from 2 million + to almost 0 in the fastest time ever.
Looking at their FB Page, it also seems to be an audience of devoted religious nuts (as someone who celebrates christmas but isn't religious in the least, I can say that ;o) ). I don't think EMF realizes this does not make up NYC's main audience.
It'd be interesting if they have to sell again in a years time...but who'd buy it ? Entercom this time?
 
Shredder said:
It'd be interesting if they have to sell again in a years time...but who'd buy it ? Entercom this time?
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EMF operates in a very different way from other broadcasters. They're not interested in attracting advertisers, they're not interested in PPMs, they have no real operating expenses (other than transmitter), and they have a small but dedicated following, very similar to WBAI. As you've seen, WBAI has weathered many storms. Same with these folks.
 
TheBigA said:
EMF operates in a very different way from other broadcasters. They're not interested in attracting advertisers, they're not interested in PPMs, they have no real operating expenses (other than transmitter), and they have a small but dedicated following, very similar to WBAI. As you've seen, WBAI has weathered many storms. Same with these folks.
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This is a different animal from WBAI. I think you’d be surprised to see how well K-Love performs in various markets. Again, I’m not a fan of EMF, but they know what they’re doing and listeners respond.
 
luperm said:
This is a different animal from WBAI. I think you’d be surprised to see how well K-Love performs in various markets. Again, I’m not a fan of EMF, but they know what they’re doing and listeners respond.
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It's different, but in some ways the same. Replace politics with religion. And yes, they're well programmed for what they do.
 
Shredder said:
It'd be interesting if they have to sell again in a years time...but who'd buy it ? Entercom this time?
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I honestly don't see WPLJ going back on the market in the near or distant future. EMF does good enough business as a non-profit, non-commercial broadcaster that I don't see this being a possibility.

Hypothetically, if WPLJ were back on sale, I don't know who'd bite. Entercom is after all now maxed out in NY with the addition of WNSH to the cluster so unless they swap for PLJ, it's not happening. iHeart has no reason to swap any of their FMs for 95.5. Emmis is riding the wave at this point (while their situation in NYC is much different from Cumulus, I wouldn't be terribly shocked if the Emmis stations are put up for sale in 2-3 years based on how that company is going). Cumulus is basically out of the picture too, so that leaves you with the multiple ethnic broadcasters such as Univision or SBS.
 
Roughly 10 years ago, EMF did a little over $90 million in donations. I remember that being for a one-year period, and most of that was during a recession. With more markets and stations, I'd have to think it’s bringing in more than that now.
 
Kent said:
Roughly 10 years ago, EMF did a little over $90 million in donations. I remember that being for a one-year period, and most of that was during a recession. With more markets and stations, I'd have to think it’s bringing in more than that now.
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In 2017 they collected $188.5 million.
 
TheBigA said:
In 2017 they collected $188.5 million.
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If only someone could convince the powers that be that a beilief that listening to deep playlist oldies will get your soul to Heaven someday constitutes a legitimate religion, then maybe posters here could pool their resources, form a nonprofit, get a station on the air and watch those donations roll in!

Come to think of it, nobody ever answered Don McLean's question of "Can music save your mortal soul?"
 
CTListener said:
Come to think of it, nobody ever answered Don McLean's question of "Can music save your mortal soul?"
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I think it can. The Supreme Court has been fairly loose with what constitutes a legitimate religion. I know quite a few people who are mail order ministers. This issue isn't convincing the court. It's convincing millions of people to mail in checks.
 
Too bad these non-comms don't report. It would be interesting to see how the new WPLJ affects WAWZ, Star 99.1.

Jeff in Sa-ra-so-ta!
 
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