KSBJ Educational Foundation Buys KSHN 99.9 Liberty

[stevenNOLA]

Following the purchase of 92.3 KETX-Livingston, KSBJ snaps up KSHN, removing 2 locally owned signals in East Texas that serve their smaller communities. LMA & programming change starts July 2nd.


https://radioinsight.com/headlines/178386/ksbj-continues-growth-around-houston-with-kshn-purchase/

 

[stan]

KSHN has seen the future and it is not terrestrial radio.

 

[BamaTX]

Well, that sucks. How many bloody stations does KSBJ need?

 

[johndavis]

KSHN has seen the future and it is not terrestrial radio.

During a FB live broadcast today where Bill talked about selling, he said that he does not plan to keep the station doing news when it goes online. It sounds like it's going to be a jukebox except for when they're doing high school sports. (Assuming, of course, that the high schools will go along with being online only; he said he hadn't talked to them about it yet.)

Listening to him talk, he wants to retire and a key staffer that kept the station running while others were out on the street gathering news and selling passed away and that made it harder for him to keep the station on the air. He said that once he realized it would take 5 years to train someone else to fill that role he decided to sell, and this was the only offer out there.

I don't think Bill did this because he thinks online is the future. I think it has everything to do with the grind of running a small town radio station for 40-something years and realizing you can't survive on as little sleep as you used to.

 

[ContinuousWave]

Well that's a shocker...shame to see Bill sell out..there goes more localism...and of course no more two channel high school football either...

 

[joebtsflk1]

Regret to say this pattern will be repeated. The local revenue pie is getting splintered too far. And locally controlled retailers continue to decline.<br><br>And if I were the KSHN owner, for his online station I would find some sort of spoken word audio service to be his "placeholder" when it isn't doing HS sports.  If people want music online, let them pay for Spotify.

 

[BamaTX]

Listening to him talk, he wants to retire and a key staffer that kept the station running while others were out on the street gathering news and selling passed away and that made it harder for him to keep the station on the air. He said that once he realized it would take 5 years to train someone else to fill that role he decided to sell, and this was the only offer out there.

Props to him for holding out for as long as he did. It's not easy to run a privately owned radio station in today's corporate-run radio. Especially with how crowded the dial is and how he focused on Liberty and Dayton.

I do wonder what KSBJ plans to do with the station. Is this really an attempt to fill in the coverage lost by the KSBJ move? Or is KVST in their cross hairs as well?

 

[johndavis]

Well that's a shocker...shame to see Bill sell out..there goes more localism...and of course no more two channel high school football either...

I could be glib and say that KSBJ should put 89.3 in the left channel and 91.7 in the right on a Friday night in the fall for old time's sake - Split Channel Praise!

But go watch the Facebook Live where he talks to the audience about how everything happened. You can see that he feels like he has the weight of the town on his shoulders running that radio station and he flat out needs some rest.

Running a radio station has always been hard, but business is rougher today than when he started. My hat is off to Bill. He's been an asset to his community and served them well.

 

[Mediafrog+]

Props to him for holding out for as long as he did. It's not easy to run a privately owned radio station in today's corporate-run radio. Especially with how crowded the dial is and how he focused on Liberty and Dayton.

IIRC the old KPXE 1050 was the original station that spawned KSHN around 1991. The AM was shut down, eventually moving west and relaunching under new ownership as KCHN. Was KSHN completely new in 1991 or some sort of move/upgrade? Can't remember. I don't think the current C2 signal can be upgraded with first adjacent KVST in the way.

I do wonder what KSBJ plans to do with the station. Is this really an attempt to fill in the coverage lost by the KSBJ move? Or is KVST in their cross hairs as well?

This will fill in the eastern coverage that was reduced by the move of 89.3 to NW Harris County, the same reason KETX-FM is being purchased. I often wonder abut the future of KVST, though I don't see how a purchase by KSBJ would do anything to add to their overall coverage. Eventually New Wavo might want to take the money and run, just as they did with the 103.7 license. But I've long thought 99.7 would wind up as a northern simulcast of a Houston station with coverage issues (92.1 perhaps?)

This also got me wondering if KJIC might be a future KSBJ target, perhaps for NGEN.

As I said in another thread: With the aggressive expansion of the KSBJ operation, EMF (or maybe WAY-FM) should not be shy about adding stations in Houston.

 

[tb_]

I often wonder abut the future of KVST, though I don't see how a purchase by KSBJ would do anything to add to their overall coverage. Eventually New Wavo might want to take the money and run, just as they did with the 103.7 license. But I've long thought 99.7 would wind up as a northern simulcast of a Houston station with coverage issues (92.1 perhaps?)

Given how KVST has been changing lately, it wouldn't surprise me if they end up selling soon. They have changed their playlist to be primarily burnt out stiffs rather than music from local artists, cut local news in favor of "Remote News Service", and seem to be tracking a lot of on air breaks now. Sad to see the demise of yet another locally owned station.

 

[b-turner]

Back to the AM, 1050. As I recall, Bill turned in the license versus selling it. Somehow Arthur Liu wound up with the frequency, moving the station to the west side of Houston. I'm not sure how the transfer happened (I don't recall an AM filing window). Surrendering the AM license versus selling it is used as a way to preserve what you have in markets where income potential is limited. In income limited markets you don't want to sell when the buyer might grab a percentage of your advertising income leaving both of you struggling to make ends meet.

 

[b-turner]

There was mention of KVST. KVST, I think is still with the Amato family. Ben was my previous employer's best friend. I can tell you KVST is not cheap to operate and I suspect profit was minimal in percentage given the operating costs. Given the changes in Houston's country music signals and the local merchant budgets for advertising being affected by increased online sales and national chains, the pool of dollars for revenue is smaller now than a mere decade ago. Even population growth produces more businesses which typically does not mean more revenue for existing businesses but rather a bit more competition. It would be likely some moves would have to be made to reduce overhead a bit. KVST is no pushover. There's plenty of talent and knowledge at KVST to keep it performing at it's true potential. Whatever changes would likely be undetected by the average listener and any playlist changes would be positioning to strengthen the audience base they have established. I'd say they're evolving to match their audience base versus on a downward spiral.

 

[SomeRadioGuy]

Back to the AM, 1050. As I recall, Bill turned in the license versus selling it. Somehow Arthur Liu wound up with the frequency, moving the station to the west side of Houston. I'm not sure how the transfer happened (I don't recall an AM filing window). Surrendering the AM license versus selling it is used as a way to preserve what you have in markets where income potential is limited. In income limited markets you don't want to sell when the buyer might grab a percentage of your advertising income leaving both of you struggling to make ends meet.

It appears KPXE filed for that move to Brookshire, He sold the license to Art Liu and Art Liu built out the new facilities.... it shows as KPXE till 1997 when it became KCHN

 

[b-turner]

It is not too unusual for a licensee to turn in their license and then a potential buyer comes forth. In most cases,if the renewal date has not come and gone, the FCC will let you take back the license to sell it to another party. This happened about a year or so ago with a CP for an FM assigned to Comstock, Texas. After surrendering the CP to the FCC, I think it was KHCB that showed interest and the FCC allowed the CP to be active again so it could be transferred to a new owner (maybe Formby was the guy that originally had that CP). Possibly this is how Arthur Liu got the frequency. I do recall Bill turned in the AM license because I remarked to my owner that he should have sold it. My station owner explained the concept of tuning in a license in order to prevent a new local competitor. I recall that pretty vividly as I learned something that day.

 

[JustinT]

As I said in another thread: With the aggressive expansion of the KSBJ operation, EMF (or maybe WAY-FM) should not be shy about adding stations in Houston.

Not sure how these two are connected -- because KSBJ is acquiring stations, EMF should feel entitled to acquire stations?

EMF seems to have no hesitation in taking on local noncommercial CCM competitors as of late -- considering their purchase of WPLJ going head-to-head with WAWZ in the New Jersey suburbs, and WRQX going head-to-head with WGTS in Washington DC (and to some extent, WRBS in Baltimore). But KSBJ knows this market well, and these purchases further their hold -- which will make it more challenging when K-Love finally makes its way in.

 

[SomeRadioGuy]

It is not too unusual for a licensee to turn in their license and then a potential buyer comes forth. In most cases,if the renewal date has not come and gone, the FCC will let you take back the license to sell it to another party. This happened about a year or so ago with a CP for an FM assigned to Comstock, Texas. After surrendering the CP to the FCC, I think it was KHCB that showed interest and the FCC allowed the CP to be active again so it could be transferred to a new owner (maybe Formby was the guy that originally had that CP). Possibly this is how Arthur Liu got the frequency. I do recall Bill turned in the AM license because I remarked to my owner that he should have sold it. My station owner explained the concept of tuning in a license in order to prevent a new local competitor. I recall that pretty vividly as I learned something that day.

As i understood it to be, if an owner turns in the license. .you have 30 days to see a reprieve.. otherwise, its gone

 

[stan]

EMF has one too many stations in Houston already.

These ‘tax exempt’ entities need to be taxed like everyone else.

 

[davideduardo]

EMF has one too many stations in Houston already.

These ‘tax exempt’ entities need to be taxed like everyone else.

Taxed on what? They don't have a "profit" to tax.

 

[b-turner]

That 30 days sounds about right unless there are some compelling reasons otherwise...very compelling. I think a few have been beyond the 30 days but as I recall that was due to changes that the licensee had no control over.

 

[Mediafrog+]

Not sure how these two are connected -- because KSBJ is acquiring stations, EMF should feel entitled to acquire stations?

The thinking has been that EMF kept K-Love out of the Houston market as to not go against another Christian broadcaster with a very similar format. Air1 was musically different enough that it got the nod over K-Love when the 103.7 signal was acquired. However there are so many religious operations popping up everywhere that the "deference" thinking is going out the door, and the mission now is to have as many signals as possible broadcasting a Christian message.

KSBJ has greatly expanded its reach, and I imagine they have much bigger dreams to go statewide, regional, or even national. Look at another Houston example: KHCB, which now has stations all over Texas and has expanded into Louisiana, Oklahoma, Arkansas, and Florida. Also their Spanish language service has over a dozen stations.

EMF is raking in a lot of money, which they need to spend, as they are a "not-for-profit" business. And that spending will involve buying more stations. I just don't see them passing up the #6 radio market, especially when two of their programming services aren't on the air here (yet.) Thus the speculation on what they might buy in Houston (KROI.)

WAY-FM is another similar national programmer that seems to be doing well with its DFW station. Would think they would want to add Houston to that coverage.