Keep in mind it's just one station in one market. The only place it matters is in NY, and the only people affected will be the 2% of the market who listen to ESPN Radio.
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ESPN 98.7 FM to be no more come August 31, 2024
- Thread starter NYAZSporty
- Start date
Keep in mind it's just one station in one market. The only place it matters is in NY, and the only people affected will be the 2% of the market who listen to ESPN Radio.
How about a brokered format: Have an EDM block, a Country block, an Alternative block, Polka, Gregorian chant, etc.
Anyone who has $50 million will know what they want to do. They won't play format roulette.
What about Radio One? They are said to be in buying mode. And if they already intend to purchase one of the urban stations (as rumored), perhaps they may be interested in a second within the market.
Perhaps another possibility is Connoisseur Media. They may want to make the leap from operating suburban stations to having one in New York. Apparently they’re not lacking cash; not long ago they made an offer to buy Cumulus Media.
Perhaps another possibility is Connoisseur Media. They may want to make the leap from operating suburban stations to having one in New York. Apparently they’re not lacking cash; not long ago they made an offer to buy Cumulus Media.
Mentioned much earlier in this thread:
Next:
Also mentioned much earlier.
There is plenty of speculation about them having an Urban A/C and an Urban hits station.
They already own 5 FMs in the New York MSA. They could not buy another without selling on Long Island.
A whole group buy would interest investment bankers... a single station would not.
I thought the sarcasm was implied.
That would be the perfect format to make everyone on these boards happy, but just about nobody else.
One format that ought to be considered is talk aimed at younger demos. It has been done successfully in Orlando at WTKS. I don't know how much billing it does, but the station is consistently in the top 10. Whenever I have heard it, the talk seems to have an FM morning show feel that goes on all day long. They don't hit politics too hard, more often talking about what Millennials would be interested in - where's a good burger joint, or what's a good movie. I would suggest that would be a good candidate for 98.7, but not knowing about the billing, is $50 or 35 million too high a price to make the attempt?
Such a format could work, but it's generally difficult to execute. Most attempts at younger skewing talk haven't done well, and the startup costs are high.
If talk radio has a future after the boomers and older Gen X die off, it will probably be something more like WTKS-FM rather than the endless diet of politics on your average AM talker today.
Personally, I don't think standalone stations are viable much of anywhere. If 98.7 is to continue as a commercial station, it will need to go to someone already in the market or someone independently wealthy.
What Will The Future 98.7 New York Sale Tell Us About The Radio Business Going Forward?
What happens following Tuesday's revelation that Good Karma Brands will conclude its LMA of Emmis Communications’ “98.7 ESPN” WEPN-FM New
radioinsight.com
My thought is that EMF will grab 98.7 for a better Air1 signal, but who really knows at this point.
*bangs head against wall*
🙄
Not happening, for many reasons that have been explained as nauseum on this board.
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No it isn’t. It’s still there, especially in smaller markets and some mom and pops. You just have to be willing to spend the time to find it.
Once again, the person who has that kind of money for radio already knows what they're going to do. They're not looking around for format holes. It's easy to spend someone else's money. The hard part is getting the money in the first place.
You know what people who invest millions in a business really like? Getting money out of their investment. Paying the bills. Things like that.
As I recall it was basically a pirate station, operating illegally on a frequency that was meant for video. So yes, a lot of pirate operators are very passionate about what they do. They're also breaking the law. The operator didn't pay $50 million for the frequency. There are lots of very passionate hobby broadcasters around the country. They love a certain genre of music, and they want to share it with everyone. Some even form non-profit organizations and apply for LPFMs. That's real passion.
You are all correct. Everyone play Don't Stop Believin' with a voicetracked intro again and count your money while you wonder where the audience is going.
Funny. Not much passion or creativity in the streaming services. No local DJs. Just ipod on shuffle. Yep, if I'm looking for passion and creativity, that's where I'm going. Not. But yes, they're owned by trillion dollar technology companies, so that's OK.
Or AI deejays if you pay $14 a month to Spotify
Pulse 87 wasn't "basically a pirate station". They were, and still are, a legally licensed low-power TV station, WNYZ-LP (now -LD), on channel 6, whose 87.75 MHz audio carrier coincides with the low end of the FM band on most radios.
There were dozens of these so-called "Franken-FMs" around the country, some of which have been granted permission by the FCC to continue transmitting an analog audio carrier, including WNYZ-LP.
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