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Metro Radio Buying WINC 105

D

DXingRadio

Another nail in the WINC FM coffin? First the station loses it's huge FM signal, now it's being sold to a Spanish language operator. Interesting enough Metro bough another signal in the area years ago, Berkley Springs WV's 92.9. They tried Spanish programming on it for a little while, but then ultimately leased it to a local programmer until West Virginia radio bought it.

radioinsight.com

Metro Radio Inc. Acquires WINC-FM - RadioInsight

radioinsight.com

 
Interesting.. It looks like Centennial has been running the same programming on WINC and WZFC, since WINC has a directional to the NW, and WZFC sort of, to the NE. Considering the number of ownership changes for both stations over the years, my guess is the communities that both play aren't large enough, or advertiser-supportive enough, to be viable. Just the sale price alone flashes that like a big neon sign. I love that area around Berryville, Luray and Winchester, but they are pretty sleepy little towns. The pandemic probably killed a lot of the local businesses that would have advertised on those stations.
 
WINC 105.1 and WZFC 104.9 are non-directional licenses. Perhaps you are seeing effects of terrain.

A general comment- An owner can have their own reasons for a business decision and I think that should be respected.
I know message boards are home to judgements, verdicts, opinions and pontification, and that's cool. Unless a poster is the owner they don't have all the information.
 
Greg Strickland said:
WINC 105.1 and WZFC 104.9 are non-directional licenses. Perhaps you are seeing effects of terrain.
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True, I went back and took a look at the surrounding terrain. That hill range to the West of Berryville blocks any field to the East toward the beltway. Natural-directional.

Greg Strickland said:
A general comment- An owner can have their own reasons for a business decision and I think that should be respected.
Click to expand...
Selling these two signals at what could be considered "stick value" is interesting. Centennial is known for being a pretty good operator of small/medium market stations yet it looks like they, for the lack of another explanation, 'unloaded' these two.
Greg Strickland said:
I know message boards are home to judgements, verdicts, opinions and pontification, and that's cool. Unless a poster is the owner they don't have all the information.
Click to expand...
On the surface if it looks like a curious business transaction, albeit from the outside looking in, what are discussion boards for?
 
Kelly A said:
Selling these two signals at what could be considered "stick value" is interesting. Centennial is known for being a pretty good operator of small/medium market stations yet it looks like they, for the lack of another explanation, 'unloaded' these two.

On the surface if it looks like a curious business transaction, albeit from the outside looking in, what are discussion boards for?
Click to expand...

As I understand it, Centennial has some investors who would like to cash out. The company has been steadily selling off stations for several years now, though it will still have a handful in its portfolio after this deal.

The release I read on the transaction says Metro intends to keep the Hot AC format. I suppose that's what all operators say when they take over, and I believe Metro is mostly known for operating brokered stations.
 
Kent said:
As I understand it, Centennial has some investors who would like to cash out. The company has been steadily selling off stations for several years now, though it will still have a handful in its portfolio after this deal.
Click to expand...
That makes sense. Since 2008 smaller groups haven't seen any growth, let alone the ability to pay back investors. Many times the investors are family members who need that money for retirement or healthcare, or just need to cash out. Especially true when the industry has remained depressed for the past thirteen or so years.
Kent said:
The release I read on the transaction says Metro intends to keep the Hot AC format. I suppose that's what all operators say when they take over, and I believe Metro is mostly known for operating brokered stations.
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Provided the local demographics can support the format, Hot AC is a relatively safe bet. My hunch is that the population runs older/white, though. If commuters are driving into the WDC area from Berryville, it's more than likely they listen to a D.C. station during their commute.

I wasn't able to find much demographic data on the Berryville area, but here's what DataUSA says:

The 5 largest ethnic groups in Berryville, VA are White (Non-Hispanic) (75.1%), Black or African American (Non-Hispanic) (8.85%), White (Hispanic) (7.48%), Two+ (Non-Hispanic) (4.59%), and Other (Hispanic) (2%). 0% of the households in Berryville, VA speak a non-English language at home as their primary language, and 97.8% of the residents in Berryville, VA are U.S. citizens.
In 2018, the median property value in Berryville, VA was $309,500, and the homeownership rate was 59%. Most people in Berryville, VA drove alone to work, and the average commute time was 31 minutes. The average car ownership in Berryville, VA was 2 cars per household.
 
The FCC granted the transfer on June 17th. Final sales price was $225K. Considering in 2014 EMF paid $425K for nearby flea-powered WTCF 103.3 that shows you just how fast the station prices have fallen in the area.

(WTCF might be worth $75K now at best.)
 
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WINC 1400 is now WZFC after the sale closed, with WZFC 104.9 becoming WKDV-FM.

It makes you wonder if WZFC 1400 is a Viking Funeral callsign…
 
Nathan Obral said:
WINC 1400 is now WZFC after the sale closed, with WZFC 104.9 becoming WKDV-FM.

It makes you wonder if WZFC 1400 is a Viking Funeral callsign…
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And I guess it’s not, Todd Bartley’s Colonial Radio Group is taking over WZFC 1400 via LMA. Bartley’s a former radio sportscaster who’s operated several small stations in Pennsylvania and briefly operated two tiny AMs in Youngstown.

Had Bartley not emerged, AM 1400 would have been surrendered to the FCC. Centennial offered AM 1400 free of charge to Metro Radio and Metro refused to take it.
 
DXingRadio said:
Can't even give away an AM station in Winchester now. Winchester's other AM, WXVA 610, was sold 10 years by iHeart for $5,000.
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It’s a cold reality. History and heritage (which AM 1400 has a ton of; heck, their Wikipedia page is the lone article on the entire platform to reach Featured Article status!) doesn’t matter if you’re stuck on Ancient Modulation.

It’s a shame, but it’s also reality.

I really want to see Bartley’s group succeed but there’s so much that they need to do just to stay alive, and even then, they need to get the format on FM if it’s to stand any sort of a chance.
 
The Winchester paper had better coverage of this story , complete with tower photo.

www.winchesterstar.com

Winchester's oldest radio station under new management

WINCHESTER — Under new management, the Northern Shenandoah Valley's oldest radio station has a new name but is keeping its longtime news/talk format.
www.winchesterstar.com www.winchesterstar.com

Historical ties: "Not only does the station on 1400 AM in Winchester have a place in local history, but also music and radio industry history. The late Patsy Cline, a Winchester native, sang live on the station on Saturday afternoons before she became a country music star. A former engineer there developed an alert tone used for CONELRAD, a predecessor to the Emergency Alert System."

(This begs the question... Was Patsy Cline the inspiration for the CONELRAD tone ?)

And as a final reminder, Metro Radio's WKDV-AM Silent STA expires in August. No word yet on a new tower site or other temporary solution.
 
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RF101 said:
And as a final reminder, Metro Radio's WKDV-AM Silent STA expires in August. No word yet on a new tower site or other temporary solution.
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I see this ad on DCRTV, looks like Metro is trying to sell WKDV. I predict another silent STA.


With this and Metro's mention of a WINC relay in NoVA, I guess 106.3 will be it. Question is whose HD Radio subchannel will be the translator's parent?
 
RF101 said:
106.3 is apparently fed by 107.7, the Hubbard all-news news station that relays WTOP.
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Thanks for the find, been awhile since I've been in the NOVA area. WWWT-HD2 is now the 106.3 translator, use to be a Bollywood music station through the 102.9 translator. Now 102.9 is tied to AM 730 WTNT with a Spanish language hits format (along with 92.9 and 97.5 translators).
 
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