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103.7 SA Move-in

They will not sell it off. They are going to a lot of effort to move it in and have in recent years been the biggest buyer of single station FMs. 97.7 is not a good signal in most of Bexar, so i would expect it to maybe be a simulcast. However there have been rumors of EMF launching a new national format. If that rumor is true and that format fits the demographics of San Antonio (such as something targeting hispanic listeners), then i would guess that might be where it lands.
 
AnyHuman said:
You 100% sure? That sounds like an opinion unless you know their plans...
Click to expand...
I have no inside information about their plans for 103.7, so yes, it is an opinion. But, what fits the facts of the situation and EMF's strategy over the last decade?

The facts are SA was one of EMF's earliest big markets and has historically been one of K-Love's strongest. Unlike some other markets such as Sacramento or Houston or Nashville, as far as CCM goes, K-Love/Air1 are the only game in town.

91.3 is a descent signal in most of Bexar County, but it is only a C2 and the tower is way out near Lytle. I'm sure they would love to have a stronger signal in Hill Country Village/Boerne/ Alamo Heights/etc. 97.7 is not a good signal at all in most of Bexar and could use an in town simulcast. So either way they could definitely use the additional coverage.

EMF is going to substantial effort and expense to move this signal into San Antonio. They don't need the money. Why would they go to such lengths only to sell for 1.5-2.5 million in a market they like but are signally deficient in? This isn't First Broadcasting we are talking about.

As for strategy, can you think of any market of size where they have ever sold an FM, because I can't. I can think of a couple of places where they have unloaded or leased out an extra FM (such as Boise) or an AM they ended up with because of a package deal (Toledo?). We've also seen them swap in a few places where they had an extra signal. But do they sell full power FMs in places they could use them? Like Buffett, they buy and hold (and upgrade).
 
EMF is a big , money-making charity. In 2019 they pulled in over $201 million dollars and sat on roughly $690 million in assets. If you look are the top people there EMF cannot plead poverty. The retired CEO was compensated over $1.2 million. Their current president nearly raked in $500,000. Another half dozen of the leadership exceed $300K/year. Come on!

If you don't believe me here's their 2019 IRS Form 990:

projects.propublica.org

Educational Media Foundation - Form Form 990 for period ending Dec 2019 - Nonprofit Explorer - ProPublica

Since 2013, the IRS has released data culled from millions of nonprofit tax filings. Use this database to find organizations and see details like their executive compensation, revenue and expenses, as well as download tax filings going back as far as 2001.
projects.propublica.org

Of course - if one dangles some greenbacks in front of EMF they'll gladly sell a property. I am just worried about all those paycheck-to-paycheck families sending away their last dollars to fund these guys' vacation homes.
 
Why don't they pay the CEOs a decent sallary so they can live comfortably, or even slightly above that. Paying them millions doesn't help out the poor who are donating to this organization. One person doesn't need millions of dollars donated to them.
 
RF101 said:
EMF is a big , money-making charity. In 2019 they pulled in over $201 million dollars and sat on roughly $690 million in assets. If you look are the top people there EMF cannot plead poverty. The retired CEO was compensated over $1.2 million. Their current president nearly raked in $500,000. Another half dozen of the leadership exceed $300K/year. Come on!
Click to expand...
The asset value is mostly the value of the licenses. They have been building that up for several decades now, and the values seem to be adjusted to current market values.

As to salaries, those are in the low range for comparable radio and non-profit organizations. I think the managers take lower pay than they could get in the private sector because they believe in the goals of the company. For example, the city managers of the metro area communities where I live make between $200 thousand and $350 thousand a year for towns that are, mostly under 50 thousand population.

A radio sales manager in LA makes more than most of the EMF employees. And the retired CEO got bonuses based on corporate growth over his long career as they rewarded him for growing the group so well. Still, he made just a bit over what the manager of the PBS/NPR station in NYC makes; hundreds of stations for EMF, just a couple in NYC.

www.cityandstateny.com

The corporatization of WNYC

New York Public Radio markets itself on the presumption that as a nonprofit alternative to the corporate media, it is driven by the public interest instead of a self-serving profit motive. But how well is it living up to its high-minded reputation?
www.cityandstateny.com www.cityandstateny.com

The salaries of executives, whether city managers or radio managers is based on experience, abilities, and the number of comparable persons available for the job.

EMF, if anything, underpays.
 
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Ryan Williams said:
They will not sell it off. They are going to a lot of effort to move it in and have in recent years been the biggest buyer of single station FMs. 97.7 is not a good signal in most of Bexar, so i would expect it to maybe be a simulcast. However there have been rumors of EMF launching a new national format. If that rumor is true and that format fits the demographics of San Antonio (such as something targeting hispanic listeners), then i would guess that might be where it lands.
Click to expand...
The demographics of the San Antonio Metro Survey Area show that less than 20% of Hispanics are Spanish dominant. The majority are English only, some are bilingual and very few are Spanish dominant... which is why all the Spanish language stations in the market don't add up to more than about 10 shares on average.
 
AnyHuman said:
You 100% sure? That sounds like an opinion unless you know their plans...
Click to expand...
They very seldom sell a station. With several formats and no concern for the borders of ratings survey areas, they are just as interested in non-metro areas as in metros. If any of the signals provides unduplicated coverage areas, history shows they will keep it.
 
Sorry but I disagree on compensation. Much of EMF is based in Rocklin, California, a suburb of Sacramento. In these times of COVID the non-profits need to be doing some serious belt-tightening.

In the DC area and elsewhere the Spanish HD channel on the EMF station is offloaded to Radio Nueva Vida so I am not sure if EMF would ever want to launch their own Spanish language service. (There are so many regional and national competitors in that sub category already.)
 
RF101 said:
Sorry but I disagree on compensation. Much of EMF is based in Rocklin, California, a suburb of Sacramento. In these times of COVID the non-profits need to be doing some serious belt-tightening.

In the DC area and elsewhere the Spanish HD channel on the EMF station is offloaded to Radio Nueva Vida so I am not sure if EMF would ever want to launch their own Spanish language service. (There are so many regional and national competitors in that sub category already.)
Click to expand...

Radio Nueva Vida works together with EMF, unrelated companies but they work closely together so EMF wouldnt launch a competing service, and if they were to do all spanish music, i think theyd partner with, rather then push our Radio Nueva Vida
 
I am always amazed that if you are a religious station, you can't do what other stations do. Let's see, if the religious station is listener supported it is wrong to offer decent pay for the job and employees must accept a lower than usual salary, right? Don't you love working for less money than you're worth? Go to EMF and get hired on so you can sacrifice the quality of your life for religion.

If a religious station holds a fundraiser in Covid times, they are lowlife scum but if your NPR or College station does, that's okay. So, explain why that is wrong for the religious station to fundraise? EMF operates music stations. They fundraise EXACTLY like NPR or your favorite college station you listen to for the songs they play. No guilting you with religion just using a professional fundraising firm like many NPR stations use to coach your staff to get people to give on an annual basis to support the station they love. They offer the same 'gifts' at certain levels too.

The mentality concerning religious stations versus all others is way off base and unfounded. Stations like EMF's are no con artist preachers, they're radio stations with formats and air talent (many of whom were hired out of non-religious radio). They run like any station. Nobody is suckered in to giving dollars they need to live on any more than your local NPR station suckers money from those that listen and cannot afford to give to the station they listen to.

And finally, if the religious station is successful, the thinking is they have to be shady. If your NPR or college station is a success, you think that's great.

I'm making accusations here but working at a station that had a format of Christian programming, it is something I heard every day. I was a lowlife because I demanded a salary where I could pay my bills and not sweat buying a new set of tires on the old clunker to get it to pass state inspection. I didn't ask for a life of luxury but a living wage. In the same shoes, wouldn't you demand the same?
 
@RF101 You clearly have a huge chip on your shoulder regarding EMF. The logical presumption is because they are engaged in a mission you personally don't agree with. That's your problem, not EMF's and not anyone else's. Do you have the same contempt for big non-profit corporations like NPR and PBS?
 
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