The only thing Bilbat/WHHO had left to sell was that little piece of paper from the FCC, that they just took away. Other then that, there are NO Assets left. They didn't own a studio, tower site, or transmitter for the last 2 or 3 years. That was all leased back to them. And there is a very long line of people owed by Bilbat with their hands out wanting to be paid. None of them, including myself, will ever see a dime of the money that is owed to them. I have a $5000 judgment, but there is nothing left to attach. I'm one of a few people that was there while this chess match was being played, and I was privy to see and hear some very interesting stuff. It was quite sad to see a mans lifetime of work being taken away from him piece by piece by some slick operators. Was the head of Bilbat partially to blame for the downfall? Absolutely. But only partially, as he was being led down a path by some people who had ulterior motives under the guise of helping him. This was an education in business for him, and many others that were privy to what was happening. This is something that I will never forget for the rest of my life..
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Another One Bites The Dust
- Thread starter JustPastBuffalo
- Start date
This is a perfect example of the result of deregulation.
One time an owner had to prove to the FCC they had the financial resources to operate a station. That's not the case today. I know of several so-called media companies that are maxed out on their credit, yet they continue to gobble up smaller market stations.
And what kind of name for a company is Bill Bat? Sounds like a comic strip character.
One time an owner had to prove to the FCC they had the financial resources to operate a station. That's not the case today. I know of several so-called media companies that are maxed out on their credit, yet they continue to gobble up smaller market stations.
And what kind of name for a company is Bill Bat? Sounds like a comic strip character.
Fybush puts the WHHO story in perspective. The passion for radio and local ownership is clearly expressed by many posters in this thread, but would you really want to own a 5kW daytimer (the nightime power of 22 watts is really inconsequential) in Hornell, a COL with a population under 10 thousand? Even if Wellsville, Dansville and Alfred are included in the station's coverage, the "body count" would barely fill Ralph Wilson Stadium.
Ownership is a wonderful fantasy that comes crashing down to earth when the weekly payroll is due and the bank wants the monthly mortgage payment. Add to that the cost of utilities, taxes and insurance. That hard knocking on the door is Mr. Reality. Bob Savage also provides one line of salient advice that speaks volumes: Buy a translator. Yet another expense.
From what I read in Scott's analysis, WHHO appeared to be running on life support, running Fox Sports. It didn't appear to offer the local programming of WYSL, WBTA or WLVL. (Curiously, the WKPQ webiste offers a button link to Fox Sports 1320.) What we see with the demise of WHHO is a sad end to a storied small town facility and frequency, a story that's likely to be repeated in other small towns across America.
The post by LowPayDJ tells another part of the story that, when read between the lines, is interesting. I know only a few of the facts and have heard a few horror stories, but I'd like to know more. What was the price tag for WKPQ when it was transferred from BilBat to PRG?
From the day in the '70s when Tom Talbot sold WBNY 96.1 Buffalo (to Sunbeam, IIRC) for about $400,000 and retained WJJL-AM 1440, I could never understand why an owner would sell an FM and retain an AM, especially a daytimer. Then again...
Ownership is a wonderful fantasy that comes crashing down to earth when the weekly payroll is due and the bank wants the monthly mortgage payment. Add to that the cost of utilities, taxes and insurance. That hard knocking on the door is Mr. Reality. Bob Savage also provides one line of salient advice that speaks volumes: Buy a translator. Yet another expense.
From what I read in Scott's analysis, WHHO appeared to be running on life support, running Fox Sports. It didn't appear to offer the local programming of WYSL, WBTA or WLVL. (Curiously, the WKPQ webiste offers a button link to Fox Sports 1320.) What we see with the demise of WHHO is a sad end to a storied small town facility and frequency, a story that's likely to be repeated in other small towns across America.
The post by LowPayDJ tells another part of the story that, when read between the lines, is interesting. I know only a few of the facts and have heard a few horror stories, but I'd like to know more. What was the price tag for WKPQ when it was transferred from BilBat to PRG?
From the day in the '70s when Tom Talbot sold WBNY 96.1 Buffalo (to Sunbeam, IIRC) for about $400,000 and retained WJJL-AM 1440, I could never understand why an owner would sell an FM and retain an AM, especially a daytimer. Then again...
aaronread said:
That was a TV thing, and it was an attempt to use a very obscure provision of a quarter-century-old law that was intended for a completely different purpose. It was a tiny little loophole that the FCC has since closed.
The issue of AM moves is a somewhat different one. There were a bunch of apps back in the 2004 (?) major-change window that sought to move class D facilities to different channels hundreds or even thousands of miles away. Most ended up in the middle of big mutually-exclusive groups that are still tied up in the auction process even now.
When the FCC reworked the AM rules in the aftermath of that window, it did indeed make city-of-license changes "minor," allowing them to be filed at any time - but only if those moves are mutually-exclusive to the existing facility. So, yes, you could file a WHHO move as a minor...but only if it's sliding somewhere between 1290 and 1350, and only if it's somewhere relatively close to Hornell.
That creates some chess moves, and even some potentially appealing ones - but most of those involve moving or deleting other existing licenses or CPs along the way, and that gets expensive fast, considering the limited potential for return on that investment.
JP asks, paraphrasing here, why anyone would sell an AM-FM combo and retain the AM, especially if it's a daytimer. You don't have to look farther than outside your home market, Jimbo.
Back when Price shopped WWKB and WKSE in the late 80s the market value of the FM alone was greater than the AM/FM combo, as appraised. (Pause for double-take here.) That's right: The combo was valued at, IIRC, $2.1M while WKSE alone had an FMV pegged at $2.3M. The reason was that the 50kw former AM legend represented mostly expense with not much upside. (For example, the utility costs of running a 24-hour 50kw AM transmitter - even with a solid-state rig - run more than $6500 monthly here in high-electric-rate NYS, which means the juice ALONE costs almost $80 grand a year. I doubt most 50kw DA-1s bill enough these days to wipe out the electric bill, much less pay the other costs like ASCAP/BMI, taxes, insurance, etc., etc.)
So why do sellers of AM/FM combos wind up retaining the AM? Because the buyer doesn't want it.
Back when Price shopped WWKB and WKSE in the late 80s the market value of the FM alone was greater than the AM/FM combo, as appraised. (Pause for double-take here.) That's right: The combo was valued at, IIRC, $2.1M while WKSE alone had an FMV pegged at $2.3M. The reason was that the 50kw former AM legend represented mostly expense with not much upside. (For example, the utility costs of running a 24-hour 50kw AM transmitter - even with a solid-state rig - run more than $6500 monthly here in high-electric-rate NYS, which means the juice ALONE costs almost $80 grand a year. I doubt most 50kw DA-1s bill enough these days to wipe out the electric bill, much less pay the other costs like ASCAP/BMI, taxes, insurance, etc., etc.)
So why do sellers of AM/FM combos wind up retaining the AM? Because the buyer doesn't want it.
Savage said:
After the fact (as when reprimanded by the professor) "Yeah, I knew that."
Didn't even have to reference WWKB, Roberto. I'll offer WGR Newsradio 55 during my tenure as PD/OM when in 1995 Mercury Radio bought WUFX and WGRF from Rich Communications while Rich sold WGR and WWWS to Keymarket. I realize that some operators WANT to hold onto their AM properties because there happens to be a considerable amount of revenue associated with the AM... even daytimers. Although, exception granted for your fine operation which has an established and well-cultivated reputation, such is not the case with most AM daytimers over the last few years. My point, specifically as it was directed to the WHHO-WKPQ sale, which bounced back and forth from Pembroke Pines to BillBat and perhaps even Funtner, is that I would have held on to the FM and spun the AM... or brokered the AM... or simulcast the FM on the AM... or donated it to (pick a college, community group, university) or turned it off, especially if it was a massive drain on the bottom line (as it appears to have been.) Clearly your point holds in this application especially, the buyer didn't want it.
As to WJJL-WBNY, Mr. Talbot most likely thought he was getting rid of a power muching 50kw FM in Buffalo while holding onto his AM daytime cash cow in Niagara Falls. Wow! Then again (as I implied) hindsight is 20-20.
As noted, I'm privy to only a few facts regarding the WHHO-WKPQ fiasco, although rumor abounds. I'd like to know more. Truth be told, I watched the sale-no sale-transfer of control-ordeal from the sidelines and was tempted to jump into the fray (credit card, reputation and pop cans in hand) but came to my senses when I did the math. Always a pleasure reading your contributions here RCS.
Scott is absolutely right about the City of License minor change rule -- I had forgotten that about that part of the change. Not alot of options left for 1320.
We had one of those oddball moves of a station. Many years ago WGTL Kannapolis, NC ( 870 1KW day but a really strong signal) went silent. It remained that way for years.
Then the owner of a Clayton, GA daytimer moved a station to the Charlotte, NC area (Mount Holly, NC). WGHC was a daytimer on 1370 licensed to Clayton, GA the owner applied to move it to Mount Holly, NC on 870 with 5kw Day. That's not the end of the story though. The owner of WGHC knew if he turned off 1370 in Clayton he could apply for a new allocation on 1400 in Clayton and get a full time outlet in Clayton. So he turned off 1370 or he he moved it and sold it to a religious group. The religious group went with calls WTCG and WGHC is now full time a little further down the dial at 1400 still in Clayton, GA.
We in the Charlotte area have another robot operated religious station. I'm not even sure they have local studios.
Then the owner of a Clayton, GA daytimer moved a station to the Charlotte, NC area (Mount Holly, NC). WGHC was a daytimer on 1370 licensed to Clayton, GA the owner applied to move it to Mount Holly, NC on 870 with 5kw Day. That's not the end of the story though. The owner of WGHC knew if he turned off 1370 in Clayton he could apply for a new allocation on 1400 in Clayton and get a full time outlet in Clayton. So he turned off 1370 or he he moved it and sold it to a religious group. The religious group went with calls WTCG and WGHC is now full time a little further down the dial at 1400 still in Clayton, GA.
We in the Charlotte area have another robot operated religious station. I'm not even sure they have local studios.
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