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Evansville WGBF Evansville going silent.

WGBF has been a dead man walking for a long time. It has a few problems:

1. Low ratings, as Lance pointed out in his piece.
2. The transmitter site is leased.
3. No FM translator.

Back when I worked in the Evansville market, WGBF AM often had a 4 or 5 share. That has been declining for years. Back then they had a local newsroom and a local public affairs program and aired some local sports in the evenings.

But the transmitter site lease is probably the biggest factor that is pulling WGBF under. They were an early mover in monetizing the transmitter site. They had a business park built around their towers in the 1990s, and now 30 years later it is pulling them down. I heard about 5 years ago that they were considering not renewing the tower lease, and I guess this year is the year.

Every other choice on the Evansville dial is on FM. 1330, 1400, 860 and even 820 all have translators. That certainly didn't help them retain their audience.
 
What I found interesting was Townsquare's noncommitment to placing WGBF's lineup on one of its FM signals. What that says to me is that the company doesn't think that the AM format would do any better if it were placed on FM. In some ways, that makes sense. First, Evansville is a college town with the University of Evansville being at the town's center. Second, although @Lance Venta doesn't note this, nearby AM station WRAY in Princeton on 1250 kHz (owned by a different company) carries many of the same programs as WGBF and appears to be more receivable in Evansville than Owensboro's WOMI.

I also find it interesting that Townsquare, like Cumulus, is preferring to use silent STAs rather than automatically cancelling the license. The company did not do this in the past with its Savannah (Georgia) and August/Waterville (Maine) properties. However, I'm guessing that, because of the tower situation (as noted above), Townsquare will be hard put to find much interest in this property.
 
Wow.

Its history is tied up with 630 in St. Louis and KFRU in Columbia, Missouri. I worked for KFRU in the 1980s, and learned of some of the history then. KFRU and WGBF used to share time at night on 630 before the St. Louis Star-Times came along, looking for a better frequency for KXOK. The St. Louis newspaper had bought KFRU before starting KXOK. The newspaper worked out a deal to shuffle KFRU off to a local channel, 1370, and trade the 1250 frequency to WGBF in return for full-time on 630. This happened in 1940, just before NARBA reshuffled the dial in 1941, with KFRU landing on 1400 and WGBF on 1280.

None of the three stations I've mentioned has done particularly well in recent years. KXOK is now KYFI, a religious station. KFRU still manages to have some local programming, but it's owned by Cumulus.
 
ted chittenden said:
What I found interesting was Townsquare's noncommitment to placing WGBF's lineup on one of its FM signals. What that says to me is that the company doesn't think that the AM format would do any better if it were placed on FM. In some ways, that makes sense. First, Evansville is a college town with the University of Evansville being at the town's center.
Click to expand...
Evansville is not a college town, in the sense of being a reliably liberal place. The University only has enrollment of 2500 or so.
The city itself is politically competitive, and the surrounding counties are reliably Republican. So there should be an audience for conservative talk of some sort.


ted chittenden said:
Second, although @Lance Venta doesn't note this, nearby AM station WRAY in Princeton on 1250 kHz (owned by a different company) carries many of the same programs as WGBF and appears to be more receivable in Evansville than Owensboro's WOMI
Click to expand...
That information is out of date. 1250 has been simulcasting the WRAY-FM country format for years. I just double checked and 1250 is airing the syndicated country show "Big Time with Whitney Allen."
 
ted chittenden said:
What I found interesting was Townsquare's noncommitment to placing WGBF's lineup on one of its FM signals. What that says to me is that the company doesn't think that the AM format would do any better if it were placed on FM. In some ways, that makes sense.
Click to expand...

Townsquare seems to have largely disinvested in its AM's. I'm not sure when it started, but the Townsquare AM near me has very little local presence. I believe it still has a newsperson, but I don't hear anything but syndicated right wing talk when I turn it on. The schedule on the website shows no local shows. Since it's about an hour west of me, I used to tune it in when storms were coming, but it stopped being useful for that a long time ago.

ted chittenden said:
I also find it interesting that Townsquare, like Cumulus, is preferring to use silent STAs rather than automatically cancelling the license. The company did not do this in the past with its Savannah (Georgia) and August/Waterville (Maine) properties. However, I'm guessing that, because of the tower situation (as noted above), Townsquare will be hard put to find much interest in this property.
Click to expand...

I was thinking it applied for an STA for the Maine property it took dark, though it quickly surrendered the license. Whatever the case, I agree with you. I can't imagine it getting much interest in this day and age.
 
PTBoardOp93 said:
Evansville is not a college town, in the sense of being a reliably liberal place. The University only has enrollment of 2500 or so.
The city itself is politically competitive, and the surrounding counties are reliably Republican. So there should be an audience for conservative talk of some sort.



That information is out of date. 1250 has been simulcasting the WRAY-FM country format for years. I just double checked and 1250 is airing the syndicated country show "Big Time with Whitney Allen."
Click to expand...

Thanks for the corrections.
 
i was told awhile back from someone, i honestly forget who after i saw my cross town competition at townsquares KOWB 1290, didnt apply for a translator.... that unless local management could justify it to corporate and provide reasonable proof it would raise revenues, they werent allowed to apply
 
ted chittenden said:
What I found interesting was Townsquare's noncommitment to placing WGBF's lineup on one of its FM signals.
Click to expand...
Where are you getting noncommitment? There's simply nothing announced publicly by the station one way or another. After shutting down AMs in Oneonta NY earlier this year, Townsquare did flip an FM to Talk.
ted chittenden said:
I also find it interesting that Townsquare, like Cumulus, is preferring to use silent STAs rather than automatically cancelling the license. The company did not do this in the past with its Savannah (Georgia) and August/Waterville (Maine) properties. However, I'm guessing that, because of the tower situation (as noted above), Townsquare will be hard put to find much interest in this property.
Click to expand...
If you have a year to find someone who may want to take a non-core asset off your hands and you can get some money back, why wouldn't you do it?
 
lanceventa said:
Where are you getting noncommitment? There's simply nothing announced publicly by the station one way or another. After shutting down AMs in Oneonta NY earlier this year, Townsquare did flip an FM to Talk.

If you have a year to find someone who may want to take a non-core asset off your hands and you can get some money back, why wouldn't you do it?
Click to expand...

I wish Cumulus had done that with KVEN/1450 in Ventura CA, which was located less than two miles from my childhood home.

Instead, they took it silent less than two years before the station would have had its 75th anniversary. The studios were no longer at "Tower Square" by then anyway, and despite some speculation that the towers would be quickly dismantled in favor of adding to the industrial park type of development that had grown around it in the 60 or so years it was located there, they remained standing for close to another four years.

They are gone now, though:
1766268311842.png

No one even saw it coming. The first anyone heard about it was the day after it happened. Cumulus didn't even take the 12 months they could have to find a potential buyer while silent.
 
To me, this move seems like just a commentary on the current state of the AM band. Best overall AM signal in the market, yet doubtful any of the other existing AMs would want the frequency. They each have translators, WSON remains focused on Kentucky, USWI isn’t going to give up their donated frequency, and the non directional WEOA is fairly easy to maintain to feed the translators. The content, while less popular than 10 years ago, is still viable, which leads me to think it will show up on the FM band.
 
oxford777 said:
The content, while less popular than 10 years ago, is still viable, which leads me to think it will show up on the FM band.
Click to expand...

Remember that "viable" = "amount of ad revenue". When stations go silent, it is usually the lack of that revenue that causes the decision to be made.

If you have a different definition of the term, please explain your logic, taking into account what I just said.
 
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oxford777 said:
The content, while less popular than 10 years ago, is still viable, which leads me to think it will show up on the FM band.
Click to expand...
There aren't very many markets without a conservative talk station. But if it was going to be Townsquare doing it, you'd think they would have announced "WGBF is moving to FM," not that it is going away.

That leaves Midwest. Three of their four signals are locked in (WIKY, WABX, WSTO). The fourth, WLYD has been doing well enough in the ratings that I would think it is safe.

The AMs and their translators (1190, 1330, 1400, 860, 820) seem firmly ensconced in their niches.

Which leaves a wild card... 107.1 WJPS. I don't know who is running things there since old man Lange died a few years back.
 
WGBF is indeed off the air this morning. I did a few checks (especially 93.5 and 107.1) and did not find that anyone has picked up conservative talk.
 
BIBLIOBRARIAN said:
Here were the final moments of WGBF-AM:

Microsoft OneDrive

1drv.ms 1drv.ms
Click to expand...
Thanks for taking the time to record/upload. Got 'em on one of my ID tapes, from years ago, probably fifteen to twenty, had no idea I'd only get one ID and now they're gone. Of course, I have been out of the hobby for some time LOL. Sad to see/hear the sign-off, but it is what it is or was what it was. Again, thanks.

Romans 11:33-36 KJB

Josh

Church Podcast: Pleasant View Baptist Church | SermonAudio
Personal Podcast: Back To The Old Paths
TIBPF Podcast: https://www.tibpf.sermon.net
 


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