K
Kevin
Guest
So do you think most 50,000 watt AM stations need to move to FM before 2030? And what do you really envision the future of AM radio?
-
Get involved.
We want your input!
Apply for Membership and join the conversations about everything related to broadcasting.
After we receive your registration, a moderator will review it. After your registration is approved, you will be permitted to post.
If you use a disposable or false email address, your registration will be rejected.
After your membership is approved, please take a minute to tell us a little bit about yourself.
https://www.radiodiscussions.com/forums/introduce-yourself.1088/
Thanks in advance and have fun!
RadioDiscussions Administrators
KQGO KZGO Sold to EMF
- Thread starter TheBigA
- Start date
The problem is two-fold.
First, there are few AMs with a good enough signal to compete with full FMs. So only a few will survive.
Second, the existing AM formats will do no better on FM than AM. They are old people formats. Moving to FM will not help.
50,000 watt stations needed to move to FM 10 years ago in most markets. The problem is that programming on AM is now pretty niche, and listeners who fall out of the habit of switching to AM (or in the case of most under age 40, never had such a habit), it will be a real chore to bring them back.
As Scott mentioned, 95.3’s on the IDS. 96.3’s stick is in New Hope on the old KTCR/KTCZ tower.
I suspect many auto manufacturers will discontinue inclusion of the AM band on OEM head units by that time. Of course, the FCC could always step in and force such units to include AM reception capability.
As time passes, the AM band will continue to sound increasingly like the shortwave band from a content perspective - I expect plenty of fire & brimstone preachers, other religious programming and foreign language programming.
We might not necessarily see a transition of existing AM dial station "brands" to FM, but certainly spoken word programming will become more widely available on FM, I suspect.
I just cannot picture AM 830 and AM 1130 being solely available on AM over the long-term with regard to over-the-air analog reception. As FM becomes less & less relevant as a music source, I think spots will naturally open up for importation of successful programming currently found on AM.
Pretty unlikely
Agreed.
Would like to know where they git their money. EMF has been on a buying spree for quite some time.
Also, both frequencies will not be making any significant changes to improve coverage, everything is locked in and the Polhads would have done so if it was possible.
I wonder if their translators would be sold or if iHeart will add another 75 more in the TC market.
There are a few AMs that would benefit.
Also, both frequencies will not be making any significant changes to improve coverage, everything is locked in and the Polhads would have done so if it was possible.
I wonder if their translators would be sold or if iHeart will add another 75 more in the TC market.
There are a few AMs that would benefit.
Donations.
K
Kevin
Guest
I have heard that some of the older Jesus people are donating their entire estate when they die to EMF. What a rich non-profit, sorta like the IHeart of Christian Radio as far as the number of radio stations that they own. It’s also funny that EMF is leasing a lot of IHeart sub-channels on HD Radio.
Last edited by a moderator:
There's also the concept of tithing, which is very big among the fundamentalists. They believe 10% of your income should go to the church:
What is the Defintion and Meaning of Tithe in the Bible?
The Old Testament tells us God’s people followed the law of tithing. To accomplish this commandment, Church members give one-tenth of their income (the tithe) to the Lord through His Church. These funds are used to grow the Church and promote the truth of the Lord throughout the world.
www.christianity.com
Yes... back in the 60's when the FCC required the cessation of AM/FM simulcasts by most fulltime AM/FM combos, there was a suggestion of a requirement that FM be included in every radio. It never happened.
It is even less likely to happen with today's administrative environment; the FCC's idea of revitalizing AM stations involves giving them low power FM facilities!
It was eventually going to come to this. Northern Lights has really been struggling since the start of COVID. They also cut the morning crew on 96.3 back in July. My guess iHeart will try Alternative on K244FE 96.7, as they are trying to build up BIN, so no way it's going on 93.3. While chances are low, Entercom may also try Alternative on 102.9 KMNB, as they've recently been struggling in the ratings.
I miss the original Cities 97, not the Cities 97.1 "We're trying to be KS95".
I have to admit, the TCs is not known for having great radio to listen to.
I have to admit, the TCs is not known for having great radio to listen to.
Yeah, apart from Jazz 88, KFAI, KMOJ, Radio K, The Current, MPR News & Classical, WCCO, The Fan, KYMN in Northfield, and for the moment, Go 96.3, there's a real absence of quality and diversity in the Twin Cities. And it wasn't like they had stations like Rev 105, KJ104, or Beat Radio make their mark either.
I wouldn’t be so quick to throw out the idea. At one point, 96.3 was at 100kw from the west. It didn’t cover St Paul well, so the Pohlads moved it closer at a lower height and reduced the power.
EMF has some pretty good engineers that have done some creative things, look at what they did in Boston. I’m not saying it will happen, but it certainly could.
Also, the Pohlads have a history of mismanaging companies, and radio was no exception. As much as I loved Go for what it was, the station should have never abandoned B96/Hip Hop. It had better ratings, and when they resurrected the format at 95.3, that little 900 watt station performed better than Alternative ever did. They were never quite able to replicate the success they had with B96. And when they hired a good morning show guy (Cane) that has a history both here and nationally as a strong Alt Rock host, they wasted his talent on a Modern AC brand. They had a chance at other strong talent that could have put the station on the map (Weasel, who started on The Edge was available!) and they passed.
Rumor is, the station had been for sale for years. It’s currently an automated husk that EMF could easily take over with an LMA, so clearly it’s more “sure we will take it off your hands” than a “please can we have your signals”.
If it's been on the market a while, that means it's very likely all in-market owners were aware and either didn't make an offer, or made an offer that EMF was able to top.
No doubt there. They paid something like $37 million for the pair. 96.3 is a decent "metro" signal, but 95.3 is more of a "core city" signal that can really just target MSP and inner ring suburbs. The fact that the pair sold for $2.4 million means the owners lost quite a bit of money on this deal. I'm thinking they started out by asking way too much for the stations, and desperation set in with COVID-19. Since all other broadcasters are in the same spot nobody was looking to invest the money into them knowing that they likely needed new formats and would operate at a loss for at least a few years.
As it stands, they aren't great signals, and likely not EMF's first choice to get into the MSP market. They also have some really well established competition with KTIS, which is consistently a top 10 station in the market and is live and local (although that increasingly doesn't seem to matter). All that to say, unless they can get an upgrade for 96.3 they are operating at a huge disadvantage which again is unlikely to matter seeing as how they can run the stations so cheap.
There is a misconception about EMF running stations "so cheaply". They spend huge amounts of money on outreach, including live people you can call and talk and pray with and local activities and support groups.
While that is certainly not what most listeners seek, it has value (and costs money) so saying that they run the stations "so cheap" is really not the truth.
Wasn't the station on 96.1 when it was 100 kw from the west?
Unless EMF can do something about WLKX 95.9 and, I believe, KZRV 96.7 in St. Cloud, 96.3 is pretty well shoe-horned in where it is. Even the best engineer can't overcome the frequency allocation table and the laws of physics!
- Status