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Boston Radio Ratings January 2020.
- Thread starter freqlost
- Start date
EMF only slightly looks at ratings; that is why they only subscribe in a couple of markets which I assume they use as "barometers" for the performance in different kinds of market.
But I'll bet they do all kinds of internal analysis tabulations on the donations they receive. My guess is that the first step they take is to determine the ratio of donations to the population and then take it from there.
The "proof" they need involves reaching people with a message. It's not commercial radio.
When I owned commercial stations in Ecuador, I had a number of friends at HCJB, perhaps the largest international religious broadcaster in the world at the time. They measured success with mail received, donations made and such. They were not concerned with ratings or rankings... they wanted to reach people who needed their messages in dozens of languages. What impressed me was that they were very nice people, and they never tried to convert me or preach to me... yet they helped me build equipment, shared a transmitter site for nearly no money and even helped in technical emergencies.
Back to Boston, the loss of a commercial station leaves a few dollars more for the remaining stations to share in, as is true in nearly every US market, an over-radioed environment.
Re:
In some places, it can take a couple years (or even a bit longer) for newly acquired K-Love stations to reach peak listenership.
In the case of 107.3 FM, I suspect they'll wind up with somewhere between 10,000 and 15,000 listeners who donate to the cause. Assuming an average donation of $100 per year that's between $1.0 million and $1.5 million in tax-free cash flow from a radio station whose acquisition price is completely unlevered (i.e. not one dime in debt was borrowed to fund the purchase price).
That's a pretty decent cash-on-cash return if those numbers materialize!
Research for other non-commercial formats, such as NPR, show that about 10% (give or take a few percent) of regular listeners donate, and the average annual donation is around $100.
In some places, it can take a couple years (or even a bit longer) for newly acquired K-Love stations to reach peak listenership.
In the case of 107.3 FM, I suspect they'll wind up with somewhere between 10,000 and 15,000 listeners who donate to the cause. Assuming an average donation of $100 per year that's between $1.0 million and $1.5 million in tax-free cash flow from a radio station whose acquisition price is completely unlevered (i.e. not one dime in debt was borrowed to fund the purchase price).
That's a pretty decent cash-on-cash return if those numbers materialize!
Research for other non-commercial formats, such as NPR, show that about 10% (give or take a few percent) of regular listeners donate, and the average annual donation is around $100.
Just a small correction: cash flow in a for-profit company that is left over after all operating expenses, but before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization... often referred to as EBITDA.
In a non-profit, it is similar to that of a for-profit business. It reports the organization's change in its cash and cash equivalents during the accounting period. It's basically what is left-over after expenses from operating and investing income.
So the non-profit equivalent, which we could call "surplus", is the difference between local donations and operating expenses which are mostly engineering, a local "supervisor", maintenance, insurance, utilities, rent, taxes, etc. However, they could easily be as much as $500 k a year with a leased facility with a high tower rent.
I'd expect that the cash surplus or cash flow would be negative in the first year or so. But I have no way of knowing that for sure, as my experience with non-profits has all been outside the US.
In NYC for the latest ratings K-LOVE's 95.5 WPLJ got a 1.4 and their sister network AIR 1 96.7 WARW got a 0.9
By comparison WAWZ Star 99.1, which has a local format similar to K-LOVE, but a signal that doesn't cover the entire market got a 0.8
https://ratings.****************/content/arb001
By comparison WAWZ Star 99.1, which has a local format similar to K-LOVE, but a signal that doesn't cover the entire market got a 0.8
https://ratings.****************/content/arb001
What was WPLJ getting for ratings before the sale?
Ratings mean nothing to a station that does not have to use them as a tool to sell spots, or brag that " We're number 1 in ( insert city here) for today's ( (insert format here)
The real question is how many "donations" they are getting, in what amounts, and in total.
That is all EMF cares about.
We're #1 for saving souls in The Big Apple !!! WPLJ We Praise Lord Jesus
Here ya go. Remember, it was Cumulus bailing out.
https://radioinsight.com/headlines/...-ppm-ratings-day-1-wplj-goes-out-with-a-bang/
At a 1.4, that means WPLJ is netting over 220,000 listeners. If the numbers above hold true, 22,000 are likely donating around $2.2 million annually. Since EMF bought all 5 stations for $103 million (cash) that would mean NY was $20 million of that, so they would "break even" on their investment in probably 10-15 years, depending on what they pay in rent, power, etc.
Of course, since they are a large broadcaster with economies of scale on their side, they are likely "profitable" even without the additional support in NY. When I was looking at their financials from 2018, I noticed they actually forecast they will pay LESS for engineering, tower rent, equipment, etc. each year.
Bottom line, EMF likely doesn't have to take in many donations to make a station "profitable" (I realize they are non-profit, but likely use any additional funds to expand the organization).
Joe Calgaro and Mistress Carrie had responsibility over a whopping 1 station - WAAF. The opportunity cost wasn't exactly high! Plus, having the relaunch as a "Plan B" wouldn't exactly be a bad thing if talks with EMF were to fall apart.
Valid point, David.
I completely overlooked engineering costs, tower rent, utilities, etc. Sorry for the sloppy nature of my earlier analysis, which admittedly was as back-of-napkin as one can get.
My $1 million to $1.5 million estimate is more than likely too generous by at least a couple hundred thousand dollars...maybe substantially more. You are right to suggest operating costs in the initial year will be greater.
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RKO's ratings spiked because people tuned in to see if Krazy K000nah's eyeball was going to explode on-air.
So what you are essentially saying that his ratings are only good, because those that stand him are the very ones listening then?
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