• Get involved.
    We want your input!
    Apply for Membership and join the conversations about everything related to broadcasting.

    After we receive your registration, a moderator will review it. After your registration is approved, you will be permitted to post.
    If you use a disposable or false email address, your registration will be rejected.

    After your membership is approved, please take a minute to tell us a little bit about yourself.
    https://www.radiodiscussions.com/forums/introduce-yourself.1088/

    Thanks in advance and have fun!
    RadioDiscussions Administrators

Better days coming?

S

secondchoice

What is the status of the “Big Talker”? I thought Citadel was going to throw them overboard? It is June 1st so I guess they are waiting till July 1st to do the deed. This does give 100.3 ownership more time to plan. I can only guess there are multiple layers of lawyers collecting fees so this might drag on until someone quits paying hourly fee to lawyers. Sooner or later something has got to give. This has to mess with the sales (and sales people). Would you sign a multimonthly contract to run on 100.3? I know the next statement will make some people mad but it is not directed at any person or company, but LMA’s should be issued only for the time it takes to close the sale of the station. Either you own and operated a station of you don’t! LMA’s for a decade or more, unless there is a health or legal cross ownership issues are bogus. While I am making enemies with the big national operators, once a station goes into a trust (Aloha) because of a group going over limit it should be sold with in two years to an operator that is not in the market. This will “broaden” the ownership some and could stop the new group of low power FM interference generating stations (class D).
 
I would venture a guess that the entire ordeal is unwinding and they will part company very shortly. It takes time to switch the transmission out so we may see something *new* very soon.
 
If this is all true, could be one of the most interesting things to happen in local radio in years. It's been yawn-city on the dial for a long time!
 
Citadel is now officially out of bankruptcy, and according to the Taylor@Radio-Info newsletter, may even be looking to acquire....but also to sell off its smaller markets. My Las Vegas odds are that the LMA stays in place. What might be more interesting is what happens if the Knoxville cluster sells. Does a new buyer make the Pirkles an offer on 100.3, keep LMAing it does it get sold separately (unlikely)?
 
My sources say we'll be hearing the "big talker" on a new frequency very, very soon.
 
I would tend to agree with gr8oldies; I would think Citadel would be a fool to let the LMA go. I think they'll find the cash somewhere and pony up and things will stay as is.

Personally, I wish Citadel would sell and move out of the market completely. I know others gripe and moan about some of their voicetracking and so forth, but I'd love to see Clear Channel buy into the market. Musically, they tend to do a better job with a lot of their formats, especially younger formats that they don't try and lean adult like many other companies do. I'd love to see a Clear Channel CHR or Rhythmic AC in the market someday. As far as their bad rap on voicetracking, etc; it isn't that big of a deal anymore since everyone is doing it now (or carrying syndicated personalities in many dayparts). Sure they may not be the best at localization, but I tend to think their stations have more of a "big market" sound, and I prefer that.

Anyway, it doesn't really matter to me I guess. I spend 90 percent of my time streaming radio from elsewhere on my computer and iPhone. About the only time I listen to anything locally in Knoxville is in my car (and I have satellite radio as an option there as well). Also, I'm about to pick up one of the Squeezebox internet radios to move around the house and use for streaming stations while I'm working, cooking, etc. There was an NPR story yesterday predicting that internet radio would probably virtually replace broadcast radio in 5 to 10 years. Based on my preferences and use, I would tend to agree. Localization just isn't a big deal to me anymore. Anything I need to know about news, weather, traffic, events, etc., I can easily find out much quicker on my smart phone anyway.
 
Clear Channel stations suck quite frankly. I know how they run, I worked for them for many years. If Clear Channel were to open up shop here, get ready for Elvis Duran mornings, Ryan Seacrest middays, voicetracking the rest of the day and homogenized playlists. You always put down Star 102.1 but at least they are putting together a local product that reflects the Knoxville lifestyle very well. You say voicetracking isn't a big deal because everyone does it. Well it is a big deal to me. I don't want to hear Robo-jock all day. Since you mentioned you spend 90% of your time listening to the internet and iPhone, it's no wonder you don't appreciate "local" radio. And I don't mean this response as a slam against you, so don't take it personal. I'm just saying Clear Channel programming is a poor example for radio to follow.
 
Clear Channel isn't buying anything, let alone in markets the size of Knoxville. They have stations they've been ordered to sell that they can't (2 in Dayton OH). CC wouldn't be the best thing or the worst thing to happen. As for WNOX..when I hear the promo announcing the move, I'll believe it. Until then I call wishful thinking. If Citadel now has the cash to expand, they can keep the Pirkles happy..no matter how much saber rattling may be going on.
 
secondchoice said:
LMA’s should be issued only for the time it takes to close the sale of the station. Either you own and operated a station of you don’t! LMA’s for a decade or more, unless there is a health or legal cross ownership issues are bogus.
Click to expand...

That's an interesting thought. In the years before 1996, LMAs were seen as the wave of the future. Everyone was doing it. The thought was: Why own when you can rent. Then the FCC changed the rules, and conventioonal wisdom became: Why rent when you can own. Now, nobody has any money anymore, so we're back to life before deregulation. No one's buying anymore. If the law allowed it, all radio stations would be owned by foreign investors, and local folks would just do LMAs.

secondchoice said:
While I am making enemies with the big national operators, once a station goes into a trust (Aloha) because of a group going over limit it should be sold with in two years to an operator that is not in the market.
Click to expand...

Whatever happened to that big rush of local ownership everyone was predicting? There are hundreds of stations on sale at any price from CC, and they haven't been able to get rid of them in 4 years. I was led to believe there are a lot of local entrepeneurs that can't wait for the big boys to sell, so they can swoop in and go 24/7 live and local and return radio to what people imagine it was in the 60s. I know everyone wants to get rid of the current crop of owners, but no one seems interested in replacing them.
 
Big A, that's why folks on this board are hoping against hope that the local owner of WNOX, who hasn't run it in 16 years will throw Citadel's butt off of it (a talk format that does include live morning and afternoon drive) and ride in on a white horse with a re-creation of the signal's CHR glory days, hire live jocks 24-7, have no need for consultants because they "just know" what to play,etc.
 
gr8oldies said:
Big A, that's why folks on this board are hoping against hope that the local owner of WNOX, who hasn't run it in 16 years will throw Citadel's butt off of it (a talk format that does include live morning and afternoon drive) and ride in on a white horse with a re-creation of the signal's CHR glory days, hire live jocks 24-7, have no need for consultants because they "just know" what to play,etc.
Click to expand...

Actually it's been closer to 13 years. (Where does this "16 years" business come from?) And, if you do some research you'll see that they have been active in the local market, as well as other regional markets the whole time. It is not as if they are have been called in off of their plows to a market which has changed and they are unaware of.

Another thing is if the programming side does revert back to them it is not by their hand, would be as a part of the Citadel bankruptcy. As far as them "riding in on a white horse with a re-creation of the signal's CHR glory days", well, if they can bring it back to the 10-12+ range it was cruising at while CHR then more power to them. I personally think they would be very smart to program it with a true CHR format and capture that large portion of the market which is not being served at this time.
 
16 was a number that another poster mentioned; I don't know the exact year. The bankruptcy is over, and reports I've read indicated Oak Ridge FM withdrew their objections and got paid. Would seem to me if Citadel wanted out they'd have gotten out during the process.

If Oak Ridge did end up programming 100.3 again and went CHR, true or otherwise, they'd be in a 3-way split among 102.1 and 104.5. That was very similar to a similar size market I'm very familiar with. 3 CHRs had a 2 share apiece, and even though the previous owners helped kill the heritage CHR in favor of their hip-hop format (Radio One), as soon as Radio One sold it, they flipped the once heritage CHR. The Knoxville CHR audience of today has no memory of the I-100 days thus no points for "heritage".
 
gr8oldies said:
16 was a number that another poster mentioned; I don't know the exact year. The bankruptcy is over, and reports I've read indicated Oak Ridge FM withdrew their objections and got paid. Would seem to me if Citadel wanted out they'd have gotten out during the process.

If Oak Ridge did end up programming 100.3 again and went CHR, true or otherwise, they'd be in a 3-way split among 102.1 and 104.5. That was very similar to a similar size market I'm very familiar with. 3 CHRs had a 2 share apiece, and even though the previous owners helped kill the heritage CHR in favor of their hip-hop format (Radio One), as soon as Radio One sold it, they flipped the once heritage CHR. The Knoxville CHR audience of today has no memory of the I-100 days thus no points for "heritage".
Click to expand...

I don't think they would be going for "heritage" points, unless those heritage points were pictures of dead presidents. And let us not forget that the basic format on Star is that same format that once ran on I-100. Remember when WWST was country and WOKI was pop, then one day they swapped formats? Yessir. It's the same CHR format and it's still tick, tick, ticking away.

But after some real soul searching I think you're right. I think they'll go country with it.
 
Status
This thread has been closed due to inactivity. You can create a new thread to discuss this topic.


Back
Top Bottom