100.9 star 94 hd 2 how are they making money?

[jjsmnow]

Can anyone explain how FM 100.9 I think out of Woodstock is paying the bills by being a commerical free nonstop oldies station (which is great).
How do they plan to make a profit on this station?
Also how come they never give any call letters unless I missed it except to say Star 94 hd2?
Dont they have to have call letters since they are broadcasting on their own Fm station, not has an hd 2?
They should call it 94Q which it was when this music was being played.
With a 70s 80s 90s oldie format it is nice to have another choice to 97.1 the River which was the only other oldie station in town.
Thanks for any thoughts.

 

[davideduardo]

Can anyone explain how FM 100.9 I think out of Woodstock is paying the bills by being a commerical free nonstop oldies station (which is great).
How do they plan to make a profit on this station?
Also how come they never give any call letters unless I missed it except to say Star 94 hd2?
Dont they have to have call letters since they are broadcasting on their own Fm station, not has an hd 2?
They should call it 94Q which it was when this music was being played.
With a 70s 80s 90s oldie format it is nice to have another choice to 97.1 the River which was the only other oldie station in town.
Thanks for any thoughts.

Many if not truly most HD2 and beyond HD channels produce any revenue unless leased to a specialty service, such as a religious group or a foreign language service.

The main reason for HD is to allow analog stations to have a digital service. That is why HD-1 must simulcast the associated analog FM.

However, HD2 and beyond have to follow the same ID rules. That means WWWW-HD2, Anytown or KKKK-HD2, Anytown as an hourly ID.

 

[jabba17]

Many if not truly most HD2 and beyond HD channels produce any revenue unless leased to a specialty service, such as a religious group or a foreign language service.

The main reason for HD is to allow analog stations to have a digital service. That is why HD-1 must simulcast the associated analog FM.

However, HD2 and beyond have to follow the same ID rules. That means WWWW-HD2, Anytown or KKKK-HD2, Anytown as an hourly ID.

Do radio stations save money on royalties if they stream an over-the-air station (even an HD one), versus a purely online service? Is this a legacy from the days when radio didn't pay royalties to record companies (just the music publishers via BMI/ASCAP)? Do they pay a reduced rate these days for broadcast vs. purely online?

I've noticed that many of the iHeartRadio niche formats "originate" from various HD subchannels around the country. For example, iHeartRadio's Classic American Top 40 station "originates" as WMMX-HD2 out of Dayton, OH and it's identified as such. I'm assuming it's broadcast as an HD subchannel of WMMX-FM 107.7. Since there's no translator, I'm assuming that iHeart is pitching it strictly as an online service via iHeartRadio, given that HD listenership is likely to be nil. But there must be some advantage to taking the expense to broadcast it by some means. Heck, would this be a good way to repurpose a bunch of marginal AM stations versus paying for the equipment to broadcast it in FM-HD?

 

[TheBigA]

Do radio stations save money on royalties if they stream an over-the-air station (even an HD one),

There is a small discount, due to the fact that stations already are paying royalties to publishers. But they still pay to SoundExchange as per the DMCA.

 

[kf4rca]

To Answer Your Original Question...

They are not. Radio can be a real money pit. Just look at 1550 and 1690 both of which have been operating (pretty much) non-stop oldies for months without a single commercial announcement.
IF they could sell ONE spot an hour, I think they could make the electric bill (and maybe a little left over at the end of the month for a pizza).
BUT then, if they have a catastrophic failure due to a lightning hit (not unusual) that can get expensive.

 

[MCMagicCracker]

99X on their FM 98.9 has much better audio processing than their originating signal on WWWQ-HD2. They don't allocate a lot of HD bandwidth to 99X. That seems to be a station that is only on HD in order to qualify for an FM repeater.

 

[jabba17]

They are not. Radio can be a real money pit. Just look at 1550 and 1690 both of which have been operating (pretty much) non-stop oldies for months without a single commercial announcement.
IF they could sell ONE spot an hour, I think they could make the electric bill (and maybe a little left over at the end of the month for a pizza).
BUT then, if they have a catastrophic failure due to a lightning hit (not unusual) that can get expensive.

TOSOTR got knocked off the air by some weather phenomenon and Cox ponied up to put it back on the air...

 

[WCDukenfield]

Another reason a commercial radio station doesn't do an off-air stream is the different reporting required by the DCMA rules. An on-air radio stream has a set of rules in terms of reporting songs aired to SoundExchange and that same station providing an off-air stream (provided it's a non-subscription service, where you don't have to pay a subscription fee to hear the stream) has a different set. The administration of two different standards - including monitoring how many streams listened to each song - would preclude anyone sane from doing so.

And, by the way, if you don't follow these things, the whole reason we've got these idiotic streaming rules is that the labels and music licensing companies want to make it very difficult for the average person to set up a stream. Increasingly, the ability to stream has fallen into fewer hands and perpetuates a system that favors the huge multinational labels. Another example of American Exceptionalism - the rich get richer.

 

[jjsmnow]

They are not. Radio can be a real money pit. Just look at 1550 and 1690 both of which have been operating (pretty much) non-stop oldies for months without a single commercial announcement.
IF they could sell ONE spot an hour, I think they could make the electric bill (and maybe a little left over at the end of the month for a pizza).
BUT then, if they have a catastrophic failure due to a lightning hit (not unusual) that can get expensive.

Thanks for answering my orignal question kf4rca but

So if they are not making money why do they do it?

Do they do it for a tax write off to save money? If not then why do it?

 

[davideduardo]

Thanks for answering my orignal question kf4rca but

So if they are not making money why do they do it? Do they do it for a tax write off to save money? If not then what else?

All business expenses are "write offs". They are called "expenses" and are deducted from "income" to determine profit. Only profits are taxed, not income.

You'd have to ask the station the "why" question. Likely it is to keep listeners seeming something different in the same house, even if they don't directly make money. If you already have an HD installation, adding a separate channel (or two) running an un-staffed sub-channel is relatively inexpensive.

 

[jabba17]

All business expenses are "write offs". They are called "expenses" and are deducted from "income" to determine profit. Only profits are taxed, not income.

You'd have to ask the station the "why" question. Likely it is to keep listeners seeming something different in the same house, even if they don't directly make money. If you already have an HD installation, adding a separate channel (or two) running an un-staffed sub-channel is relatively inexpensive.

That would explain why these iHeart online streams are on HD subchannels vs, say, random AM Class D daytimers (which can still broadcast after dark at very low power). It's probably cheaper to add a low-bandwidth HD subchannel than maintain an AM station, which target a different audience anyway.

 

[SomeRadioGuy]

They are not. Radio can be a real money pit. Just look at 1550 and 1690 both of which have been operating (pretty much) non-stop oldies for months without a single commercial announcement.
IF they could sell ONE spot an hour, I think they could make the electric bill (and maybe a little left over at the end of the month for a pizza).
BUT then, if they have a catastrophic failure due to a lightning hit (not unusual) that can get expensive.

You have to understands what theyre doing and you dont..... there on the air just to keep the license alive after being silent. There is no effort being spent to sell ads because they just want to eventually sell it. Who would buy an ad on a station thats gonna go dark again?

 

[kf4rca]

The operation of 100.9 bites into Star's profit margin only a little bit. My guess is their tower/space rental is probably $1K a month. (I've never seen anything less but maybe they've got a good deal.) And that probably includes electricity. Those tower slum lords have got a real racket going. But then they do have to pay for insurance, maintenance, etc.
Their sales department seems to have a good cash flow with a stable base of clients whom they probably schmooze with freebies and trips to strip clubs.
Broadcasting is all about sales.

 

[RoddyFreeman]

Thanks for answering my orignal question kf4rca but

So if they are not making money why do they do it?

Do they do it for a tax write off to save money? If not then why do it?

I doubt they had any expectation of making money. I'm guessing they do it to expand the Star brand's presence and possibly for the fun of having and programming it.

Former Star 94-1 PD Tony Lorino, who created the format, referred to the station as "my toy" in a conversation with me. It probably costs virtually nothing to operate.

 

[SomeRadioGuy]

The operation of 100.9 bites into Star's profit margin only a little bit. My guess is their tower/space rental is probably $1K a month. (I've never seen anything less but maybe they've got a good deal.) And that probably includes electricity. Those tower slum lords have got a real racket going. But then they do have to pay for insurance, maintenance, etc.
Their sales department seems to have a good cash flow with a stable base of clients whom they probably schmooze with freebies and trips to strip clubs.
Broadcasting is all about sales.

i doubt its even a grand a month for rent and electricity. the tower theyre on is only 60 feet tall and owned by verizon. if theyre paying a grand for that, theyre over paying.

Id wager it costs about $3000 a month total to run the HD2/100.9 programming, which would also include the lease of the translator from immanuel broadcasting.. music licensing and staff time

 

[BIGSTICK]

Well, the audio is dreadful and flat..