Aisling stations for sale

[JOHNNY on the RADIO]

AllAccess.com is reporting that the General Court of Justice in Buncombe County has appointed George Reed, Managing Director of Media Services Group, receiver for Aisling Broadcasting. The report says that Reed will manage the stations while Media Services Group looks for a buyer for Aisling's stations. The group includes News/Talk (1450) WATA/Boone, Southern Gospel (1130) WECR/Newland, AC (Mix 102.3) WECR-FM/Beech Mountain, Country (Highway 106.1) WMMY/Jefferson, Talk (1200) WXIT/Blowing Rock, and Classic Rock (100.7 Mac FM) WZJS/Banner Elk.

 

[knoxbob]

That's a shock. I always thought that WATA was doing well, anyone know any stories behind this?
I wonder if they will split them up or try to sell them as a group? If so WKSK should try to grab the FM for Jefferson.

 

[eacalhoun1]

Ideally, I guess they would like to sell the whole group...but I wonder if a potential buyer can pick and choose?

I also have to wonder what will become of the Newland station. I believe when Aisling first bought them, they wanted to make WECR (1130, Newland) a simulcast of WATA or at least originate operations from Boone. With some effort (at least by staff in Newland and maybe others in the community), WECR remained "local" and in Newland. I guess time will tell...

Eric

 

[JimA]

From looking at the FCC logs, none of any of these stations have any power or potential. All is very weak markets. Only WATA was the one that the Brown's owned to block out of North Wk'boro has any hope.

 

[Mike Sheridan]

A guy I used to work for Tim Baxter moved to Boone and worked on air and in sales at WATA for awhile before starting up the low pwer TV station up there. He said the radio station was doing well but I guess that was a long time ago.

I think Tim has done well selling real estate in the area. You never know, maybe he will buy WATA. I wonder if he'd give me a job? ;D

 

[wncc]

A guy I used to work for Tim Baxter moved to Boone and worked on air and in sales at WATA for awhile before starting up the low pwer TV station up there. He said the radio station was doing well but I guess that was a long time ago.

I think Tim has done well selling real estate in the area. You never know, maybe he will buy WATA. I wonder if he'd give me a job? ;D

The TV station is for sale too. WXIT (1200 AM) has never been a player in the market. WATA would be the only one I would want. It has a very loyal listenership, though I'm sure it's dying. 100.7 is too weak a signal, and cannot even be heard throughout Watauga County.

 

[eacalhoun1]

The TV station is for sale too. WXIT (1200 AM) has never been a player in the market. WATA would be the only one I would want. It has a very loyal listenership, though I'm sure it's dying. 100.7 is too weak a signal, and cannot even be heard throughout Watauga County.

A question and a comment here...is Steve Rondinaro no longer affiliated with MTN (the TV station mentioned in the quoted post above). I do know he is/was anchoring at WWAY-TV, Wilmington. If he is no longer with MTN, he wasn't with them very long. I wonder if he regrets selling the radio stations.

Also, I don't think the FM signals do too badly around Watauga -- though multipath may be an issue and these signals are more listenable off the mountain in places like Wilkes county. WZJS's (100.7) signal was improved within the past 2 years when it moved from a mountain just NE of Banner Elk to atop Beech Mountain alongside co-owned 102.3 WECR's antenna.

 

[fortmill]

Isn't this just about ALL the radio stations in the Boone area? If so, I'd think they'd be a gold mine. I wouldn't think the Charlotte stations do anything there. Or, are the Tri-Cities FMs a factor?

 

[eacalhoun1]

You are correct, fortmill. The Aisling stations are all the stations licensed in Watauga and Avery Counties. WMMY (106.1) is licensed to Jefferson in Ashe. The exception (non-Aisling) is 580 WKSK, West Jefferson which has a killer 5kw day signal. There's also the campus station (WASU) for Applachian State Univ. And if you want to count translators in Boone they are: 90.5 -- I think -- for "His Radio" WLFJ, Greenville, SC; 104.9 for Classic Rock WQUT, Johnson City; a translator for WNCW, Spindale.

Reception-wise, I believe the big Greensboro FMs have better signals than Charlotte...and the big FMs from the Tri-Cities put great signals into Watauga County, especially from Boone then north and west. Then there is 97.3 WKBC, North Wilkesboro which comes in like a local.

Eric

 

[wncc]

I grew up in Boone and WQUT (without the translator) comes in strong. WXBQ is strong. All the Triad stations do come in strong depending on what part of the county. In the house I grew up in, I could pick up WIMZ from Knoxville. My brother could pick up WRFX in his bedroom.

 

[wncmacs]

This is news to me, and I live/work with these stations on a regular basis in my job.

I'll see if I can get some scuttlebutt from "insiders" and I'll let you know more soon.

WECR (the former WJTP) in Newland is live only part of the day now, and is putting up good numbers in Avery County proper. Both FMs are weak to the south (I can't get them well at all in most of Mitchell and a good part of the lower half of Avery County).

You'd think with the University in Boone that at least one of those FMs would be trying to make inroads with the college kids...

wncmacs

 

[wncc]

You'd think with the University in Boone that at least one of those FMs would be trying to make inroads with the college kids...

Yes, you would think that. However, I Think they were always geared towards the locals. I respect that.

 

[eacalhoun1]

Here's a story about the sale from the Watauga Democrat:

http://www.wataugademocrat.com/2008/0303/0314_AislingSale.php

 

[thebroker]

The newspaper story confirmed what I had assumed. They spent nearly $6M acquiring the stations, meaning their debt service was likely close to $50k/month if they had to borrow the entire amount. No matter how well you are doing in a small market, you'll have a tough row to hoe with such significant debt service. I suppose to a certain degree the Aisling folks were caught in much the same cycle as some of the larger companies...they overpaid for stations not expecting the economy to go into a slump. CC and some of the larger companies, being publicly traded, had the advantage of Wall Street financing, and while they've suffered, they haven't gone under. Smaller companies who overpaid have suffered to a greater degree having more shallow pockets backing them. Truthfully, I hate to see this happen. Being a small market owner myself, I always hate to see a colleague having financial troubles.

 

[Mike Sheridan]

Any news on these stations yet? Seems like they would make a nice base for some radio guy wanting to build a base.

Lots of people who are well off have moved to wastern NC to get out of the rat race. There has to be some money to be made there.....

 

[LaidBackJack]

I heard last week someone had bought the whole group. The AM's should do ok with a saavy operator, but the FM's are another story.

 

[awilsonradio]

I work for these stations. I don't think they have been sold as of yet.

 

[jefflaurence]

Mr Sutton...calling Mister Art Sutton!

 

[wncc]

Mr Sutton...calling Mister Art Sutton!

I think the FM's detract from the package. Though I do think he would be the perfect owner for WATA, and I think the native Wataugans would like it too.

 

[Art Sutton]

Mr Sutton...calling Mister Art Sutton!

Jeff, thanks for the compliment. While Boone is a really nice area, you can't get there from where we are.

It's been 10 years since I've been in Boone but at that time, the FM signals didn't cover the market well. In fact, adding a FM to WATA may have been the beginning of the end. I remember some 15 years ago when WATA alone billed as much as the entire cluster does now. It was interesting to note in the recently released Arbitron that WATA was the top rated station in the county.

There is a lot of outside signal penetration into that market which is unusual for mountain areas. Best I can figure is Boone's elevation is much higher than the surrounding region so it sits up on the hill and all the surrounding FM stations have a clear shot up there.

We like the mountain areas where the market is down in the valley and surrounded by mountain peaks such as Sylva and Franklin, NC. Hopefully someone who understands how to operate good community radio stations will end up with those stations. There is certainly a heritage there of strong local radio and the radio station being an integral part of the community fabric.

A good example of it is just across the mountain over in West Jefferson where my friend Jan Caddell operates WKSK which had a AQH share of nearly 55% in the new book.