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Audacy changes—any Houston impact?

I'm not seeing how this ties back to Houston so much, other than the HD subchannels. Houston has long been an opportunity for Audacy to add a signal from either Radio One or Cumulus. Hard to see them downsizing in such a major market when all of the FMs are fairly solid performers. If they had to downsize, hard to see a buyer dumping a format they'd inherit -- only exception being KRBE and KHMX coming together. DFW is another story.
 
A few weeks ago, I had heard rumblings of Cumulus and Audacy talking about a station swap. Which stations and markets weren’t mentioned, and I'll be the first to say Memphis and Buffalo weren’t on my radar.

I actually thought the long rumored Minneapolis for Houston swap might have been coming to fruition. Now that we would seem to know that’s not happening, I can’t imagine two stations in two declining markets around #50 in rank would equate to the value of KRBE. I don’t have access to the data I once did, but Detroit would seem a more likely target for Audacy with those properties being trade bait. That’s purely a guess on my part, though.
 
JustinT said:
I'm not seeing how this ties back to Houston so much, other than the HD subchannels.
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On the AM side I could see Audacy selling KIKK 650 or turning in its license. The call letters might be worth a few $$$. 650 is small potatoes in the bigger scheme of things, but every dollar earned or saved makes a difference when you are trying to deal with debt.

Note that Audacy is shutting down BetQL KXST in Las Vegas.
 
Mediafrog+ said:
On the AM side I could see Audacy selling KIKK 650 or turning in its license. The call letters might be worth a few $$$. 650 is small potatoes in the bigger scheme of things, but every dollar earned or saved makes a difference when you are trying to deal with debt.
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More than likely a sale, rather than a surrender. There's still value in that 250 watt facility, and its not in that set of calls, which haven't had any relevance since KILT became its sister. Moreso if the buyer is someone who has a translator already available that can be attached to it. Not hard to realize exactly who in Houston would be standing first in line for 650, if and when the for sale sign is one day erected.
Mediafrog+ said:
Note that Audacy is shutting down BetQL KXST in Las Vegas.
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Apples to oranges comparison here. KXST is higher up on the dial, in a terrain that further inhibits its 10kW capabilities, and in a market nowhere near the sheer size of the Houston metropolitan area. Last time I performed a real world test of KIKK's signal reach in an automobile, it spanned from Seguin to near Lafayette. Let it run all night, like it did during CBS's ownership on occasion, and it reaches clear up here to I-20, duking it out with WSM. Flat terrain, and a low dial position. Daytimer or not, Audacy would simply be foolish to just surrender the license, and it's even arguable that it might cause Leroy Gloger to rise up from the grave in protest.
 
iHeart seems to be doing some similar consolidation of HD* centric channels. I've noticed a few streamed HD2/HD3 only stations have disappeared from iHeart app. Notably AAA "iHeart eclectic" and "classic alternative" ( it had much overlap with their "Smells like the 90s" but had a deeper playlist).
 
Fieldtech1 said:
iHeart seems to be doing some similar consolidation of HD* centric channels. I've noticed a few streamed HD2/HD3 only stations have disappeared from iHeart app. Notably AAA "iHeart eclectic" and "classic alternative" ( it had much overlap with their "Smells like the 90s" but had a deeper playlist).
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I was just in New Orleans and a couple of their stations don’t have HD2 anymore very recently. Also KCOL out of Beaumont dropped HD2 a few months ago and HD1 was actually off a couple of days ago
 
HTX said:
I was just in New Orleans and a couple of their stations don’t have HD2 anymore very recently. Also KCOL out of Beaumont dropped HD2 a few months ago and HD1 was actually off a couple of days ago
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the only iHeart station in the triangle with HD now is KKMY, which makes no sense at all.
 
stan said:
the only iHeart station in the triangle with HD now is KKMY, which makes no sense at all.
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The HD2 on there is being fed to the 103.3 translator there. I hope KCOL HD being off is temporary
 
HTX said:
The HD2 on there is being fed to the 103.3 translator there. I hope KCOL HD being off is temporary
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Yes, which seems pointless as well. Better to put KLVI on HD2 and feed the translator. At some point they abandoned that idea.
 
stan said:
Yes, which seems pointless as well. Better to put KLVI on HD2 and feed the translator. At some point they abandoned that idea.
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I believe the translator is sold in combo with KKMY. If I'm being completely honest here, I am more surprised that KLVI and KTRH haven't already been merged together in one of the infamous cost cutting rounds. Regardless, it is hard to imagine a world where KLVI would receive an FM partner before KTRH.
 
>>>On the AM side I could see Audacy selling KIKK 650 or turning in its license. Note that Audacy is shutting down BetQL KXST in Las Vegas.<<<

Let's remember, Audacy is only shutting down KXST and KDWN to sell the land where the four towers sit in North Las Vegas. A $40 million payday.

Audacy is NOT turning off its AM stations to save money. If the Vegas tower site weren't worth a small fortune, both stations would stay on the air. KIKK is non-directional, a single tower in Pasadena. Not worth anywhere near $40 million.
 
I doubt the music subchannels would go away. Each one is just a computer running automation, so the only real cost is the software licensing and the maybe 500 watts in electricity.
 
tb_ said:
I doubt the music subchannels would go away. Each one is just a computer running automation, so the only real cost is the software licensing and the maybe 500 watts in electricity.
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Music licensing, running HD uses a lot of power for a class C FM.
 
HTX said:
I doubt a station would save much on electricity taking away HD subchannels if they’re still going to have an HD1
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The savings aren't in electricity. They're in the licensing fees paid to Xperi for the HD2 licensing and also, believe it or not, in what they have to pay to WideOrbit for the licensing and support fees for the automation that runs the HD2.
 
I know there have been cuts in the HD sub channels in other markets, but surprisingly it appears no such cuts in Houston so far… just checked 95.7, 96.5, 100.3, and 101.1 and all HD channels are in tact.
 
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