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KQGO KZGO Sold to EMF

EMF should not need the downtown K-Love 99.9 and Air1 92.9 translators anymore unless 95.3 needs help in downtown Minneapolis. But the rest of their translators I could see them keeping because they would still seem to help. K-Love's 105.5 Woodbury, Air1's 97.7 north of Minneapolis, and Air1's 92.1 Albertville. I wonder if any of the Air1 translators would flip to K-Love? We will likely find out sometime in January.

I also wonder if K-Love stays on KFXN 100.3 HD3 and Air1 on KTCZ 97.1 HD2?
 
I wonder if EMF will try to upgrade 96.3? 95.3 is pretty sandwiched in, but 96.3 could probably get a decent upgrade with the right engineers.

Sad to see it happen, but they have been seeking a buyer for a few years now. Can’t believe radio has fallen so much that Entercom couldn’t afford 2.4 million for an FM relay for WCCO.
 
mnradiofan said:
Right, but for 2.5 million, you’d think they wouldn’t mind picking up a few signals. Could run them cheap, even if you just throw Alt on one of them
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BTST Minny looks like a market they could just as easily leave. Just as they did in Charlotte.
 
TheBigA said:
BTST Minny looks like a market they could just as easily leave. Just as they did in Charlotte.
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Fair point. WCCO was once an iconic station here that billed well, but their two FM stations probably don’t do much. May have made more sense when CBS owned them, but if the right buyer came around I’m sure they’d rather use the cash to pay down debt.

Not sure who’d by them at this point. Hubbard? Cumulus has room if they can dump the 105’s, but they don’t have the cash.
 
Two little stations that were misprogrammed from day one.

95.3 tried presenting hip-hop like a documentary on NPR. 96.3 picked a succession of formats no one wanted (the CHR format and "B96" branding should have NEVER been dropped).

I, too, am very surprised Entercom didn't make a play for at least one of the stations. A couple years ago, I thought for sure they would.

The WCCO audience by & large isn't going to make extra effort to listen to the station on Radio.com, especially in the car. Picking up an FM signal on which to relay WCCO's programming for cheap would have been a good move, in my opinion.
 
MarkW said:
I, too, am very surprised Entercom didn't make a play for at least one of the stations. A couple years ago, I thought for sure they would.
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A couple years ago, they weren't dealing with a 50% loss of revenue, and buying repeaters won't fix that problem.

The question you should be asking is why didn't someone LOCAL offer to buy the station?
 
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The question you should be asking is why didn't someone LOCAL offer to buy the station?
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That's a fair question. I guess no one wants an FM station (or two) with a disadvantaged signal compared to the 100 kW behemoths in town. Commercial lenders - many of whom have likely suffered heavy credit losses on loans to "old school" media in recent years - are mostly likely extremely reluctant to lend money to a start-up broadcast operation.

WCCO will need to make itself available on FM at some point. I think AM radio as a mainstream broadcasting platform will be dead by 2030.
 
MarkW said:
WCCO will need to make itself available on FM at some point.
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When they air Twins games, they simulcast on the wolf. That's partly why Pohlad sold these stations.

twinsdaily.com

Twins simulcasts on FM radio in 2020

For those radio listeners in the Twin Cities, Twins games will be on both their flagship WCCO AM 830 and FM 102.9 "The Wolf" this season: https://twitter.com/Twins/status/1234855885765300225?s=20
twinsdaily.com twinsdaily.com
 
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I am new as a member, but I have been a forum fan for many years. I have been a frequent on line listener to Go 96.3 since they first flipped to alternative, and was generally impressed with the format and the audio quality of the stream. I liked the unique ideas of "females first", the "link-up" and noted that many if not all of the performances were sold out, which indicates a very loyal following/fan base. I believe the former morning show may have alienated potential listeners by their constant Wisconsin bashing, which was mostly sports-driven, but not listener-friendly nonetheless. I live in Florida, so I am an online observer only, but I have noted most major players do have some low-rated stations that could possibly pick up this format, even though I don't have access to the target audience or day-part data.
I guess my biggest question that arises from this situation is...Why does EMF require so many actual radio stations without providing any local presence? I would be reluctant to donate to an organization that is still rooted in spending so much money on buildings, transmitters, etc. to simply rebroadcast an internet signal. I believe dollars could be more wisely spent opening local outreach offices and funding the installation of hotspots and wi-fi to increase the availability of the internet stream to potential listeners. They could then use this a a promotional tool to illustrate their local involvement in the community (also a tool for online education) and perhaps set up a challenge to new listeners to "try them" for a period of 15-30 days and then provide feedback.
 
theman8410 said:
I guess my biggest question that arises from this situation is...Why does EMF require so many actual radio stations without providing any local presence? I would be reluctant to donate to an organization that is still rooted in spending so much money on buildings, transmitters, etc. to simply rebroadcast an internet signal. I believe dollars could be more wisely spent opening local outreach offices and funding the installation of hotspots and wi-fi to increase the availability of the internet stream to potential listeners. They could then use this a a promotional tool to illustrate their local involvement in the community (also a tool for online education) and perhaps set up a challenge to new listeners to "try them" for a period of 15-30 days and then provide feedback.
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EMF has used the model from nearly every other nation in the world where radio stations are national or regional, with many transmitters carrying the same programming.

EMF has local outreach. They have counselors available by phone who can discuss issues ranging from how to pray or how to get along with a non-believer to moral issues and the need for someone to pray with. And they can refer listeners to local Christian groups for specific issues. They also have, in many cities, local outreach staff who organize groups. If you look at their website, you can see all the things they do for their listeners and followers.

Because they are non-denominational, I believe they can also refer listeners to specific local groups and congregations. What K-Love has become is a companion for a certain type of believer that complements local church membership and encourages what they consider a "Christian lifestyle".

There is nothing they can do on the air that would be better if done locally. In fact, the national service allows any budget a local format would spend to be used for outreach.

90% of American use radio every week. Among people over 30, the figure is higher and it represents more hours of listening. So radio is the primary vehicle and streaming is a supplement or complement to the broadcast service. EMF does lots of research among its donors, and over the air radio is the primary use of the network.

Note: I have nothing to do with EMF. I am not an Evangelical Christian, but I believe in the use of national radio "networking" whether it be EMF or the Seacrest show or Charlamagne Tha God morning show. The US is way behind the rest of the world in national radio broadcasting, yet we do it and have done it since the late 40's on TV!
 
Thank you David, for your response, and it is one I have read several times regarding this topic in other forums. I have been totally aware of EMF's presence in the industry since approximately the year 2000, and I have yet to live an an area (Southern Wi pre Milwaukee & Rockford stations, and Tampa Bay, Fl) where they have a radio station. I even participated in Air1's music research for a number of years (pre P &W) and I have visited their websites on countless occasions. So it sounds like I must be an oddity for my age group (68), since I very rarely use a radio, except in my vehicle, and even then it is usually connected to SiriusXM or my phone/tablet. My home listening consists of computer, phone, or tablet streaming as well as presets, etc. on my Bose device. My comments are totally based on my own experiences, which usually place me outside of the mainstream. I agree that EMF's efforts are best carried out on a national or worldwide level, based on my experience with them I just feel the actual local radio signal is not required.
 
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