Even though they've been playing the loop for all these months, that's, not, good.
-
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
1110 New Format
- Thread starter amos1001
- Start date
Even though they've been playing the loop for all these months, that's, not, good.
The loop is back.
The only sensible response was to tune your radio to 107.9 FM or tell your phone/smart speaker to "tune to WBT radio" and go on with your day.
Roger on that, thanks for the update. I don't like the loop, but it is better than dead air.
The difference is 750 WSB provides a market covering signal day and night, not like the horrible directional pattern 1110 WBT has at night. 750 is a much better and more viable signal than 1110.
WSB is non-directional, WBT is 3 tower directional but only at night. Compare that to Florida where the entire state for many years had only one full time 50KW AM station WGBS 710 (most others were 10KW night). It was 3 tower directional day and 6 tower directional at night. Most of the signal going southeast to Cuba. It was okay at the coast but didn't cover the northwestern suburbs of the South Florida market. Many of them established after the transmitter site was built.
My point is there is no comparison between a DA and non-DA. Luckily 1110 is only DA at night, a time when fewer people listen anyway.
At the end of the day, you have to ask yourself...Is it really a very good idea to go out and try to raise the millions of dollars necessary to buy the property, and turn the transmission building into what? A museum?
Fundraising is extremely hard work. Will people in this group who want to save WBT have the resources, experience and knowledge to pull this off. The hardest part will be finding those interested enough to open up their pocketbooks, and donate. I can't even find a North Carolina broadcasting preservation society or group already in place to help with this.
Fundraising is extremely hard work. Will people in this group who want to save WBT have the resources, experience and knowledge to pull this off. The hardest part will be finding those interested enough to open up their pocketbooks, and donate. I can't even find a North Carolina broadcasting preservation society or group already in place to help with this.
I don't see the point of it myself. Yes, to broadcasting hobbyists, it would be of interest, but how many of those would there be? And as long as those towers stand, they have to be lit up at night, for air safety reasons. There is also maintenance to ensure they don't just rust and decay.
Sad to say, it's not the highest and best use of the property, and even granting that Charlotte is overdeveloped, at the end of the day, Charlotte is going to be Charlotte. It's just what they do up there.
Out of all the markets in the country why did Urban 1 buy stations like 610, 1110, 100.9 and 99.3 only to sell them or plow them under? So all that's left is 107.9 and 105.3? How does a two station group compete with Beasley and iHeart?
If anything about their recent history says anything: they were just "wingin' it" (not the strong game plan they thought it was).
That doesn't seem like a very sound business plan. If I were investing that much money I'd research everything about the market and the stations I was buying.
Let's see how 107.9 does in the ratings this summer. I know they might make some money on political ads during the mid terms but summer isn't the best time for news/talk.
That's the name of a guy I shared an apartment with for a semester when I was at UNCC. Same guy?
92.7 has done quite well. Sports talk doesn’t have to have high ratings to bill well, and its ratings have been more than acceptable.
Radio One bought 100.9 in 2004. At the time, they only had 92.7, which was a Class A back then. They tried to exit the market in 2011 because they were not profitable and couldn’t compete on such limited signals, but the deal fell through, and they didn’t start making a profit until 2016 after they acquired 105.3.
When they acquired the Entercom properties, WBT led the market in revenue, 107.9 is the strongest signal in the market, it gave them scale and an opportunity to diversify their format offerings. Unfortunately, AM continues to die a slow death, and revenue continues to decline, so it makes sense to consolidate and sell off underperforming assets.
Radio One has two full market signals in 107.9 and 105.3, a limited C3 in 92.7 and the 102.5 translator. They also have 1110 and 610, but those are going away whenever the land sells. Beasley and iHeart each have 5 full market signals and a translator, so Radio One is not on the same scale.
I don't think Urban1 is that bullish on Charlotte. At the same time they sold the Charlotte stations, was when they purchased the 3 FM's in Dallas/Ft.Worth (with one being spun off).. Expansion into DFW is the priority right now, not Charlotte. The sale in Charlotte may have also helped finance the purchase of the Dallas stations.
Now those, Mike, are some very good questions and I'm afraid we (or nobody) will get an honest/straight answer to them, from this armchair. Seems like I'm saying that last part a lot these days, but reckon it needs to be said though.
You’re correct that the sale of WLNK, WMXG and KZMJ financed about half of the KKDA/KRNB acquisition, but I wouldn’t say that Radio One isn’t bullish on Charlotte. The stations they sold are low power and will never be competitive from a ratings perspective. The sales were about reducing expenses and generating short term cash. Radio One poured a lot of money into Mix, Block and Praise and wasn’t seeing the return to justify keeping Mix and Block. They’re also spending less with on Praise with the 102.5 translator, and making up some of the lost revenue by selling brokered time slots to churches outside of prime. Radio One has also attempted to acquire KKDA/KRNB several times over the past 20 years, and was always turned down. That’s nothing new.
Last edited:
I forgot about 92.7. If a sports station doesn't need high ratings there's your format for 1110. Then 92.7 The Link?
What's the rent at 1 Julian Price Place? Could U1 move the remaining 3 stations to the U1 location? At this point the others could operate out of a closet.