best city...

[Radio-Bored-Op]

So, with stations being sold more often
( or at least transparency of sale ) is more accessible and stations not getting the
8 - 10 digits,
what city or area would be ideal for a dance channel ?

90s, 2k [ 50 % ]
currents, recently charted [ 40 %]
pop 40 remixes, mash ups [10% ]
In addition to club mix shows, lunch mixes / mash ups, etc...

Again, you can always just go the part 15 route and simply stream, however an actual station ( covering 25 miles or so on the car ) would be ideal.


OK,
what city and .... about how much ????
( station price tag, start up cost ) etc.

cheers.

 

[lanceventa]

So, with stations being sold more often
( or at least transparency of sale ) is more accessible and stations not getting the
8 - 10 digits,
what city or area would be ideal for a dance channel ?

There are less stations being sold nowadays as there's very little in the way of banks or investment firms looking to finance a radio station.

OK,
what city and .... about how much ????
( station price tag, start up cost ) etc.

The only successful recent Dance launches are using the music simply to super-serve a portion of the local LGBTQ+ populations in high density areas with KGAY in Palm Springs and WGAY in the Florida Keys. Revolution in Miami survives because its their owner's passion project and had money to throw at it. The Franken-FM in Las Vegas is on its third leased Dance operator in 18 months. Someone tried launching one in rural upstate New York in 2021 that somehow actually lasted six weeks on-air before the plug was pulled. C89.5 Seattle is the exception to the rule as a high school operated station with decades of brand legacy behind it.

Dance is such a niche format with dozens of sub-niches that many fans argue over what they prefer that it is nearly impossible to build a coalition audience to survive. There is literally nowhere that can e profitable based on what the acquisition and start-up costs would be. Best bet would've been to apply for an LPFM as a passion project and run it with listener support, but even then it would require a lot of financial loss from the operator.

There's a reason the format is not tried anywhere outside of a few niche areas. If you had tens of millions of dollars to throwaway maybe a place like the Hamptons on Long Island but that's probably it. But I'm sure many here will comment saying market XXX "Needs a Danz Stayshun" like its 1999 all over again.

 

[Radio-Bored-Op]

There are less stations being sold nowadays as there's very little in the way of banks or investment firms looking to finance a radio station.


The only successful recent Dance launches are using the music simply to super-serve a portion of the local LGBTQ+ populations in high density areas with KGAY in Palm Springs and WGAY in the Florida Keys. Revolution in Miami survives because its their owner's passion project and had money to throw at it. The Franken-FM in Las Vegas is on its third leased Dance operator in 18 months. Someone tried launching one in rural upstate New York in 2021 that somehow actually lasted six weeks on-air before the plug was pulled. C89.5 Seattle is the exception to the rule as a high school operated station with decades of brand legacy behind it.

Dance is such a niche format with dozens of sub-niches that many fans argue over what they prefer that it is nearly impossible to build a coalition audience to survive. There is literally nowhere that can e profitable based on what the acquisition and start-up costs would be. Best bet would've been to apply for an LPFM as a passion project and run it with listener support, but even then it would require a lot of financial loss from the operator.

There's a reason the format is not tried anywhere outside of a few niche areas. If you had tens of millions of dollars to throwaway maybe a place like the Hamptons on Long Island but that's probably it. But I'm sure many here will comment saying market XXX "Needs a Danz Stayshun" like its 1999 all over again.

why is danz stayshun
< written like that >?

 

[luperm]

why is danz stayshun
< written like that >?

Because this topic has been beaten to death innumerable times on this message board.

To sum up Lance's informative post, except in extremely rare situations (maybe one or two), dance is not a commercially viable format.

So, the answer to your questions are: No City and Zero dollars.

 

[radiofan2023]

Alan Freed, the guy who programmed Beat Radio out of Minneapolis was only able to do it for a few years before the stations he ran it on were sold. There's a great history written by him here about Beat Radio and his fight with the FCC:
Beat World website

It would be even harder now. Beat Radio was great, but as others have mentioned it isn't a realistic format to do today commercially. Even if it was on a noncommercial station, I don't know how well it would work.

 

[lanceventa]

why is danz stayshun
< written like that >?

Running meme dating back to the early days of this site in 1999/2000 when there was someone who didn't know how to spell properly who would always post "Philly Needs A Danz Stayshun"

Alan Freed, the guy who programmed Beat Radio out of Minneapolis was only able to do it for a few years before the stations he ran it on were sold. There's a great history written by him here about Beat Radio and his fight with the FCC:
Beat World website

It would be even harder now. Beat Radio was great, but as others have mentioned it isn't a realistic format to do today commercially. Even if it was on a noncommercial station, I don't know how well it would work.

Beat Radio was a pirate that then filled time at night on AM. Was never a financailly viable station

 

[Radio-Bored-Op]

Running meme dating back to the early days of this site in 1999/2000 when there was someone who didn't know how to spell properly who would always post "Philly Needs A Danz Stayshun"


Beat Radio was a pirate that then filled time at night on AM. Was never a financailly viable station

I do know how to spell and that was me typing like that _ glad to see I'm a joke here,
shows myself out.
Actually did that as a close friend suffered from dyslexia and wanted to see what ridicule he would suffer;
got my answer and so much more.

 

[Radio-Bored-Op]

I do know how to spell and that was me typing like that _ glad to see I'm a joke here,
shows myself out.
Actually did that as a close friend suffered from dyslexia and wanted to see what ridicule he would suffer;
got my answer and so much more.

and no dyslexia isn't just seeing a mirror image. think, then speak.

 

[lanceventa]

I do know how to spell and that was me typing like that _ glad to see I'm a joke here,
shows myself out.
Actually did that as a close friend suffered from dyslexia and wanted to see what ridicule he would suffer;
got my answer and so much more.

I'm not saying anything about you... This site was flooded with comments as a long-term meme about that slogan and has even become known in many industry circles. It was about how I expected others to comment about it and was trying to nip it in the bud.. There's no ridicule meant as the person who did it was fond of being known for it...

Here's an old post thread started by the one who coined it: https://www.radiodiscussions.com/threads/philly-needs-a-danz-station.506051/

 

[Radio-Bored-Op]

Thank you.

There was one of those in Buffalo as well.
It was "supposedly" the ex wife of an AM local owner, but in reality was the morning show host..... and it did not end well.

Thank you for the clarification.