2009 Revenues

[aaronread]

Boston Radio Watch has the 2009 estimated revenues for a lot of stations in Boston.

What I'm not sure about is how the changes in formats to 104.1 and 98.5 are reflected on here. Assuming this report draws from all of 2009, then you can't really say anything about whether the new formats are fiscally "successful" or not. Although presumably with $25mil earned between them, CBS is willing to stick with the new formats for at least a little while longer to see if things keep looking up.

However, one thing I am pretty sure about? WMKK ain't changing anytime soon. For such a (presumably) low-cost operation, it rakes in the cash!

 

[rapking]

Boston Radio stations still making millions and showing radio personnel the door, more reasons to love pirate radio .

 

[Don Juan]

Boston Radio stations still making millions and showing radio personnel the door, more reasons to love pirate radio .

Seems like all you do is whine.

 

[fmradio1]

Looking at that list, several stations are doing well, while others are struggling. WMKK does well when you consider they're jockless and promotional expenses are minimal. Kiss 108's biggest expenses are Matty and the Kiss Concert. They have one other fulltime local jock. That's it. WMJX has several personalities on the payroll, but they still rake in decent money considering the economy. WBMX & WJMN are in similar situations.

Then you have the group of stations that have modest talent needs and revenues. WODS, WZLX, and WKLB fall into that category.

WBZ runs the expensive news format and is local virtually around the clock, but they still bill very well considering, so it's a high expense, high reward format.

Next you have the stations that could be looking at some profitability issues. WROR makes just over 9 million, but they have a high profile morning show in Loren & Wally. They're still making money. but not a lot. WAAF has Hillman's crew on their payroll and they're using two frequencies but they're bringing in only around 8 million. There may be more profitable options for those frequencies.

Then you have the local talk stations. On paper WEEI looks impressive, but when you consider their expensive, high profile personality lineup (particularly D&C and the Big O) along with that ridiculous Red Sox rights contract, they are chewing up that 23 million they're making pretty quickly. The Sports Hub is off to a decent start, and their operating expenses are not what WEEI's are. They'll need to grow those revenues further over the next few years. Which leaves us with the two conserva-talkers, WTKK & WRKO. They each have a lot of air talent on their payrolls and minimal earnings to show for it. Heck, Howie Carr's salary may take up close to 25% of WRKO's total revenues! This is not sustainable for either station in the long haul. I think you'll see more syndicated offerings show up on both stations, if not an outright format flip at one of them eventually.