Fairfield has some businesses, but I think it's mainly known for the university there.
One Walmart (no local ad revenue most of the time), One new car Ford / Chevy / Lincoln dealership. Limited competition usually means limited advertising revenue. Also "geo political" issues have not helped a lot of farmers.
That's more of a correlation than causation. The proximate cause of the college's collapse was defaulting on bonds. The college had actually lost accreditation in 1967 but regained it in 1970. The college had been in precarious financial shape for several years before closing. Its business model was predicated entirely on reliance on tuition for income; there was no endowment or any other kind of backstop. Interestingly, anyone still at the college in May 1973 (the closure announcement occurred just before graduation ceremonies) was automatically transferred to the University of Iowa, which was (and is) no slouch as an institution.
Radio Ottumwa is the dominant operator in the area, so that was probably a factor, too. The Albia station seems to be doing OK, having shed its albatross, highly-directional AM years ago; Centerville is still pursuing a big FM upgrade and is spinning off the AM to another local operator that has a robust online business; Bloomfield is part of the cluster based in Memphis, Missouri. So there was not much to support a small AM-FM combo, something too small for Connoisseur to want to deal with.
If the local GM can make a deal, then one should assume by he / she knowing the market and the stations have a future. I doubt the GM will pay too much.
I wouldn't have assumed it would be too much anyway. Alot of these stations now are pretty cheap compared to even a decade ago.
If you want a comp, at least for the AM station, there's a very recent one, also in southern Iowa: KCOG Centerville, including FM translator, which went for $100,000 including the land for the AM tower. That didn't include the FM, KMGO, which wouldn't have been a comp, since that's a class C1 with a CP to upgrade to a C0. The KCOG sale was by a local owner to a new local owner, so there's that factor, too.
Are you sure the average adult is paying for their music?
www.iowasource.com
I would say, probably moreso than you'd think. I know of several people in their early to mid 50's who regularly pay for streaming services. I am 45, turning 46 this year. While I dont use paid services 'yet', many of my friends do. Also, my wife is 52 and her favorite genre is Rock/metal. (Not death metal though. But she loves Disturbed, Five Finger Death Punch, etc.) She regularly streams stuff as well. Remember it's 2026. So those who were born in the 1970's are already entering or well into their 50's, those born in the 80's are already in their 40's and so on. A couple decades ago your average 55 year old never would've dreamed of paying for streaming or using it regularly. But those people are now already in their mid 70's today.
I don't want to agree with this.....but sadly I do. Plus most get their community information from electronic sources anymore online. Social media for example.
