Will WFRH at 91.7 in Kingston, NY will be the next one to sell?
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At What Point Will 94.7 WFME Be Sold?
- Thread starter DToTheJ
- Start date
w9wi said:
At some point, though, it seems to me like Public Radio Capital would start shopping some of Family's frequencies. Potentially Family's stations could be bought by public radio entities for those second music signals in markets (and allow the main NPR signal to be converted to an all-news/talk signal) and without the potential bad publicity from the press that acquiring or trying to acquire a college station has seemed to receive in Houston, San Francisco and Nashville, among other cities. And it does seem to me that in some markets there is an overabundance of religious signals below 92.
Mark Jeffries said:
The hubbub here in Nashville has pretty much died down... but I get your point.
I think if Family were to start selling non-coms, an awful lot of them would end up running EMF's Air 1. Except in the few markets that don't have a K-Love yet...
But again, I haven't seen anything yet to suggest Family is looking to divest non-coms.
Family Stations, Inc. needs cash to sustain itself, and this is the reason Family made the decision to sell its three remaining commcerially licensed FM stations: WFSI Annapolis, WKDN Camden (Philadelphia) and soon to be sold WFME Newark (New York). As for the Non-coms, I suspect Family will retain those outlets for as long as it financially can keep them in an effort to keep the Family ministry operating.
w9wi said:
Nor have I - and when and if they do, their practice thus far has been to avoid selling to other religious broadcasters. Their commercial-band stations have all sold to secular broadcasters, and their lone noncomm sale (89.3 in Sacramento) was to San Francisco's KQED public radio.
What Family has left after WFME goes is a pretty motley bunch of fourth-tier AMs (only the AMs in San Francisco and LA are of any real value) and smallish noncomm FMs in small and medium markets. A few of those FMs - Sacramento, Des Moines, Long Island, Milwaukee, Salt Lake - have enough coverage of decent-sized markets to be of some cash value. At least for now, most of the rest probably produce more in ongoing listener donations than they'd bring on the open market.
I'd imagine WCTF (1170) Vernon, CT, falls into the latter category. There's so little evangelical Christian radio in the Hartford market that this little station probably has a loyal little following that's been donating for years.Scott Fybush said:
Clear Channel is full up on FMs, CBS is full of stations, and Cumulus probably wouldn't, unless they wanted to try country or something... so who would? 
Well, it's safe to say that we can rule out CBS, Clear Channel and ESPN. So among the list of possibles, here's who I think could be in the running:
Univision - Even the NJ stick would be an upgrade over 92.7 and they'd be able to broadcast to Latin American customers in Union and Hudson counties. Perhaps combine 94.7 with 92.7 to enhance coverage of their Regional Mexican format
Greater Media - People here dismiss them but they already have stations in Boston, Philly and NJ. WFME would just add another NJ stick for them and they'd have greater (no pun intended) access to the NYC market through this purchase
Cumulus - Not my favorite but I'll add them to the list. No idea what they'd do with a second FM station but some here would hope that they would fill up one of the big music format holes in the city. Maybe they take a risk and see if 99.5 is truly available for sale but that risk is huge. There may never be another opportunity like 94.7 for a long time
WNYC Foundation - Can't be ruled out. They already would check the box for a secular broadcaster. Problem is the stick is in NJ and can't be moved into the city w/o tremendous difficulty, which would be a problem if they want to service city residents
New York University - Way out of left field but they'd gain a real 24/7 station and they wouldn't have to share the stick with another station. NJ stick would pose problems with servicing city residents
Yankees/YES - Crazy suggestion from someone at this board but it's possible. However, I doubt they Yanks need to own a radio station at this point
Wall Street Journal - They do have a radio network of sorts. It'd be a glamour buy but they'd have a FM signal against Bloomberg's 1130 AM
Townsquare Media - Their stations are in small cities but they do have NJ 101.5. Buying 94.7 would enhance their coverage in the northern part of the state and into New York
Goldman Sachs - Not as crazy as it first sounds. They bought WPST in the Philly area not long ago. Buying WFME would give them a platform to sell airtime to whoever wants to put programming on FM without needing to buy the station. More likely scenario would be a buy-and-flip business action
YMF Media - Possible, even after taking over WBLS. They could buy the station and market it to residents in Newark, East Orange and other norther NJ urban areas. Rise of WBLS' numbers after Kiss-FM went away may encourage them to go this route
Radio One - Has experience in running urban formats elsewhere but entering the New York market would be a big risk for them
Finally, even though it may annoy certain readers, another Spanish broadcaster could enter the market. This would be about serving the growing Mexican population in the city, something that WQBU can't completely cover at the moment. Unless Univision passes on bidding, I see it as not likely
Univision - Even the NJ stick would be an upgrade over 92.7 and they'd be able to broadcast to Latin American customers in Union and Hudson counties. Perhaps combine 94.7 with 92.7 to enhance coverage of their Regional Mexican format
Greater Media - People here dismiss them but they already have stations in Boston, Philly and NJ. WFME would just add another NJ stick for them and they'd have greater (no pun intended) access to the NYC market through this purchase
Cumulus - Not my favorite but I'll add them to the list. No idea what they'd do with a second FM station but some here would hope that they would fill up one of the big music format holes in the city. Maybe they take a risk and see if 99.5 is truly available for sale but that risk is huge. There may never be another opportunity like 94.7 for a long time
WNYC Foundation - Can't be ruled out. They already would check the box for a secular broadcaster. Problem is the stick is in NJ and can't be moved into the city w/o tremendous difficulty, which would be a problem if they want to service city residents
New York University - Way out of left field but they'd gain a real 24/7 station and they wouldn't have to share the stick with another station. NJ stick would pose problems with servicing city residents
Yankees/YES - Crazy suggestion from someone at this board but it's possible. However, I doubt they Yanks need to own a radio station at this point
Wall Street Journal - They do have a radio network of sorts. It'd be a glamour buy but they'd have a FM signal against Bloomberg's 1130 AM
Townsquare Media - Their stations are in small cities but they do have NJ 101.5. Buying 94.7 would enhance their coverage in the northern part of the state and into New York
Goldman Sachs - Not as crazy as it first sounds. They bought WPST in the Philly area not long ago. Buying WFME would give them a platform to sell airtime to whoever wants to put programming on FM without needing to buy the station. More likely scenario would be a buy-and-flip business action
YMF Media - Possible, even after taking over WBLS. They could buy the station and market it to residents in Newark, East Orange and other norther NJ urban areas. Rise of WBLS' numbers after Kiss-FM went away may encourage them to go this route
Radio One - Has experience in running urban formats elsewhere but entering the New York market would be a big risk for them
Finally, even though it may annoy certain readers, another Spanish broadcaster could enter the market. This would be about serving the growing Mexican population in the city, something that WQBU can't completely cover at the moment. Unless Univision passes on bidding, I see it as not likely
WDHA does well for GM. If they had the cash and the will, it would be a good move to put it on 94.7 and gain coverage of all of northern NJ.
Goldman didn't "buy" WPST. They inherited the former Nassau stations due to the tremendous debt they were holding for Nassau. As soon as they get a good sale price on it, it's going to the highest bidder. They don't want to be in the radio business.
Goldman didn't "buy" WPST. They inherited the former Nassau stations due to the tremendous debt they were holding for Nassau. As soon as they get a good sale price on it, it's going to the highest bidder. They don't want to be in the radio business.
B
Bob1370
Guest
All the possibilities mentioned by 'stationless listener' could be live...but something else has been added to the mix. There is a distinct possibility that WBAI, which is pulling Pacifica Foundation toward the financial rocks, is about to be put up for sale, probably for stick value and no more. That IS a full class B, transmitting from ESB and licensed to NYC proper. Anyone who buys it is basically buying a start-up and would need to build audience from scratch, but in NYC there are fewer stations than ever with strong and loyal audience bases that can't be readily budged loose.
My money would be on the Yankees, who have the deepest pockets among the above-mentionrd contenders and a stable of broadcasters available.
My money would be on the Yankees, who have the deepest pockets among the above-mentionrd contenders and a stable of broadcasters available.
Yanks don't need a sports station... why when you have bidders paying to air your games?
There's not enough going on in the off season to get any ratings or traction, and there are already two well established sports stations in the market.
WABI would be perfect for Cumulus to migrate WABC to in a counter move against CC's acquisition of WOR. But that all depends on the radicals actually selling the stick. Things move at the speed of Pacifica there, so it could be years before anything is actually done. All the radicals will chain themselves to the transmitter too; it will be one of the more interesting sales.
Cumulus should look to buy 94.7 and then swap it with WBAI for the stick and some cash. The rent on the new tower in West Orange is considerably lower than on Empire, and the communists and old hippies can still have their station that nobody listens to.
There's not enough going on in the off season to get any ratings or traction, and there are already two well established sports stations in the market.
WABI would be perfect for Cumulus to migrate WABC to in a counter move against CC's acquisition of WOR. But that all depends on the radicals actually selling the stick. Things move at the speed of Pacifica there, so it could be years before anything is actually done. All the radicals will chain themselves to the transmitter too; it will be one of the more interesting sales.
Cumulus should look to buy 94.7 and then swap it with WBAI for the stick and some cash. The rent on the new tower in West Orange is considerably lower than on Empire, and the communists and old hippies can still have their station that nobody listens to.
My guess is that Cumulus is the most likely buyer for WFME. The fact that they are one of the larger radio companies, yet have relatively few stations in New York, may lead to their interest in this one. Deficiencies that its signal may have eastward towards Nassau County could be compensated for by moving WFAS into the Bronx and using it to simulcast WFME.
Their nearby country station, Kicks 105.5/106.3 seems to be doing well, as it is now loaded with (mostly local) commercials. That could encourage them to try this genre in New York. WFME's strong NJ signal should reach many of the places in this area where there is strong interest in country music
But as we have seen recently, station sales often go down in ways that are quite surprising.
Their nearby country station, Kicks 105.5/106.3 seems to be doing well, as it is now loaded with (mostly local) commercials. That could encourage them to try this genre in New York. WFME's strong NJ signal should reach many of the places in this area where there is strong interest in country music
But as we have seen recently, station sales often go down in ways that are quite surprising.
Okay, playing radio station chess here...
What if Greater Media bought 94.7, put WDHA on it and then sold 105.5 to Townsquare for a 101.5 simulcast. That's the closest class A in NJ to NYC and northeastern NJ. The rest are up in Sussex or too close to 101.5's primary coverage to matter.
But that's unlikely to happen.
What if Greater Media bought 94.7, put WDHA on it and then sold 105.5 to Townsquare for a 101.5 simulcast. That's the closest class A in NJ to NYC and northeastern NJ. The rest are up in Sussex or too close to 101.5's primary coverage to matter.
But that's unlikely to happen.
That's very true as a simulcast, but with PPM ratings you could run the same Jersey-centric content on both stations but measure their audience separately, and sell spots on each station separately.
That way a car dealer in Bergen County, wouldn't be paying to reach listeners in Mercer. And the North Jersey station might do respectably well in the NY Radio market, just by drawing a big share in North Jersey.
WNTIRadio said:
Remember it was the Yankees who left MSG Network and started their own regional sports network, which has become only the most-watched RSN in the country. They might be thinking about translating that success on cable onto radio. And who said a radio station owned by the Yankees has to be all-sports? They can operate a country format.
While anything is possible, I can see two interesting scenarios:
1) Someone (Cumulus?) enters into a 3-way deal with WFME and WBAI. WBAI gets a ton of cash for 99.5 PLUS 94.7 thrown in so that WBAI would continue to operate PLUS have a ton of cash to prop up Pacifica. I don't know where most of WBAI's audience of iconoclasts reside, but I would guess they are mostly in NYC proper, which WFME reaches with a reasonable signal. Cumulus simulcasts WABC on 99.5 FM to head off the new Clear Channel WOR. Revenue? The new WABC-FM splits on commercial breaks, so that you have a second revenue stream.
2) WFME is just bought outright by someone (Cumulus, Radio One, an Hispanic group). If Cumulus makes this WABC-FM, then they can go to mono and probably improve the signal somewhat.
1) Someone (Cumulus?) enters into a 3-way deal with WFME and WBAI. WBAI gets a ton of cash for 99.5 PLUS 94.7 thrown in so that WBAI would continue to operate PLUS have a ton of cash to prop up Pacifica. I don't know where most of WBAI's audience of iconoclasts reside, but I would guess they are mostly in NYC proper, which WFME reaches with a reasonable signal. Cumulus simulcasts WABC on 99.5 FM to head off the new Clear Channel WOR. Revenue? The new WABC-FM splits on commercial breaks, so that you have a second revenue stream.
2) WFME is just bought outright by someone (Cumulus, Radio One, an Hispanic group). If Cumulus makes this WABC-FM, then they can go to mono and probably improve the signal somewhat.
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