92.7 in JAX

[radiobum]

Any theories on ? Last time I was in Jax they were doing what I believe was urban adult but not simulcasting their 101.5. I know they haven't shown up in the ratings since they moved The Beat to 93.3. New home for Lex and Terry and 'normal' classic rock?

 

[cd637299]

92.7 has moved their city of license to Beverly Beach, near Palm Coast I think.....not very listenable in Jax now, I don't think....but then again, I live near Miami. I think they're playing 70s/80s music.

cd

 

[JAWilson]

WBHQ-FM, better known as Beach 92.7 is COL to Beverly Beach, covering the Palm Coast/Flagler Beach/Bunnell areas with a Jack FM type format (Variety Hits spanning from the 60's to the 90s with some currents as well). The station is now owned by Flagler Broadcasting which is located just on the outskirts of Bunnell with sister station WNZF-AM. However it appears that Flagler Broadcasting will have competition in the near future as WPLC-FM at 98.7 has a CP out. As for a format no one knows. But overall that is the nutshell with 92.7.

 

[jmtillery]

The 92.7 move from Green Cove Springs to Beverly Beach was an interesting one. That all came about as a result of Clear Channel being required to dispose of one of its Jacksonville stations due to new local ownership caps established after the original acquisitions but before the Bain Capital Partners "take over" of the company. As a result, WROO 92.7 was placed in the Aloha Trust, seperate from the remaining Clear Channel - Jacksonville stations. Clear Channel essentially wanted 92.7 out of the market since it could no longer own it, so WROO 92.7 was sold to the same company that owns WNZF-AM 1550 Bunnell. WNZF wanted 92.7 as an FM counterpart for the Flagler Beach area, so it was proposed to re-assign 92.7 to Beverly Beach as a first service. The FCC approved the move although the new WBHQ 92.7 is slightly short-spaced with WMFQ 92.9 Ocala. This required a directional antenna for WBHQ.

Considering the move would have left Green Cove Springs with no local service (which the FCC will never allow), Clear Channel re-licensed WPLA 107.3 from Jacksonville to Green Cove Springs, replacing 92.7. If you notice in the legal ID for WPLA, the call letters are now followed by the city of license Green Cove Springs instead of Jacksonville as it was originally.

 

[Parttimer]

The 92.7 move from Green Cove Springs to Beverly Beach was an interesting one. That all came about as a result of Clear Channel being required to dispose of one of its Jacksonville stations due to new local ownership caps established after the original acquisitions but before the Bain Capital Partners "take over" of the company. As a result, WROO 92.7 was placed in the Aloha Trust, seperate from the remaining Clear Channel - Jacksonville stations. Clear Channel essentially wanted 92.7 out of the market since it could no longer own it,

If there's one thing CC does really well, it's manipulating who owns stations they can't own. The Tampa AM market would be a great term paper for someone in business school someday. But literally, some of the lack of competitive balance in the Top 100 markets is because CC managed to arrange ways to have less competition by buying and selling.

The other side of the coin is that the Palm Coast area needed a few signals anyway, so that's a good result.

 

[jmtillery]

If there's one thing CC does really well, it's manipulating who owns stations they can't own. The Tampa AM market would be a great term paper for someone in business school someday.

Although this question is probably better suited for the Tampa Board, I'll ask it here since it seems fitting with the comment recently made here.

How would you describe how Clear Channel may have arranged the Tampa Bay AM market? And what do you see as the positives and/or negatives of the Tampa Bay AM market, as well as the market in general, as it is now?

 

[Parttimer]

The short answer is that they seem to have made sure they sold to operators who would not compete with them directly. My recollection may not be 100% accurate on who held what, but Salem ended up with 570 and 910, and CC sold 820 to Mega.

Also, a broker held and operated 620 after buying it from Cox, simulcasting Bay News 9 for a couple of years, until CC could rearrange their portfolio and get their hands on it.

CC started off only owning 1040 before consolidation began.

The net result is that the most viable signals are either theirs, or owned by companies that won't really take any money out of their pockets.

Nothing necessarily improper in any of this, and you have to make some assumptions about their involvement. Just good business from their point of view I'm sure.

 

[jmtillery]

The short answer is that they seem to have made sure they sold to operators who would not compete with them directly. My recollection may not be 100% accurate on who held what, but Salem ended up with 570 and 910, and CC sold 820 to Mega.

The net result is that the most viable signals are either theirs, or owned by companies that won't really take any money out of their pockets.

Nothing necessarily improper in any of this, and you have to make some assumptions about their involvement. Just good business from their point of view I'm sure.

You summed it up virtually word-for-word how I would have described the Tampa AM radio scene. WTWD 910 has signal issues towards North Tampa Bay, but it has decent coverage over Saint Petersuburg. WTBN 570 probably has the best AM signal out of all the non-Clear Channel owned stations. The former WSUN 620 was a "catch" while WWBA 820 has, in my opinion, the best daytime signal but has issues with its night coverage. That leavse Clear Channel with WDAE 620, WFLA 970 and WHNZ 1250, all of which have decent day and night coverage. Essentaiilly these signals are the "best of the best" on the Tampa Bay AM side.

 

[InSearchOfGear]

The 92.7 move from Green Cove Springs to Beverly Beach was an interesting one. That all came about as a result of Clear Channel being required to dispose of one of its Jacksonville stations due to new local ownership caps established after the original acquisitions but before the Bain Capital Partners "take over" of the company. As a result, WROO 92.7 was placed in the Aloha Trust, seperate from the remaining Clear Channel - Jacksonville stations. Clear Channel essentially wanted 92.7 out of the market since it could no longer own it, so WROO 92.7 was sold to the same company that owns WNZF-AM 1550 Bunnell. WNZF wanted 92.7 as an FM counterpart for the Flagler Beach area, so it was proposed to re-assign 92.7 to Beverly Beach as a first service. The FCC approved the move although the new WBHQ 92.7 is slightly short-spaced with WMFQ 92.9 Ocala. This required a directional antenna for WBHQ.

Considering the move would have left Green Cove Springs with no local service (which the FCC will never allow), Clear Channel re-licensed WPLA 107.3 from Jacksonville to Green Cove Springs, replacing 92.7. If you notice in the legal ID for WPLA, the call letters are now followed by the city of license Green Cove Springs instead of Jacksonville as it was originally.

While all this is factual, the main thrust behind the move was to get 3rd adjacent 92.7 far enough away from jax so CC could upgrade 93.3. It also allowed 92.5 from Folkston to move in.

 

[jmtillery]

While all this is factual, the main thrust behind the move was to get 3rd adjacent 92.7 far enough away from jax so CC could upgrade 93.3. It also allowed 92.5 from Folkston to move in.

Yes, I understood and understand that as well.