2009 probably won't be a great year for radio and there may be some changes but I think this is exaggerated:
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Comments on DCRTV "RANT - 2009 STORM WARNING?"
- Thread starter congsec51
- Start date
Dave's rant does indeed pack a lot of stuff into one 12-month window, so if he hits all of these predictions we should have him buy our lottery tickets for us. But he also generally has a pretty good handle on radio issues and none of what he's laid out seems terribly far-fetched.
I tend to think Clear Channel is less likely to "meltdown" than Citadel, and DC's position as a Top Ten market should mean that both of these outfits will try to hang onto their local properties as long as they can fog a mirror.
But the notion that a number of local AM signals will disappear is worth betting on. Big bucks.
I tend to think Clear Channel is less likely to "meltdown" than Citadel, and DC's position as a Top Ten market should mean that both of these outfits will try to hang onto their local properties as long as they can fog a mirror.
But the notion that a number of local AM signals will disappear is worth betting on. Big bucks.
My question is..does anyone really believe or care what Dave Hughes' opinion is?
I know in the case of Winchester, Virginia's now-defunct media/radio website it was actually owned by a local radio station in that region (WLTF-FM/Prettyman Broadcasting to be exact ).
Not at all saying its the case with DCRTV but I am sure there is some kind of influence..somewhere.
I know in the case of Winchester, Virginia's now-defunct media/radio website it was actually owned by a local radio station in that region (WLTF-FM/Prettyman Broadcasting to be exact ).
Not at all saying its the case with DCRTV but I am sure there is some kind of influence..somewhere.
The DCRTV website has a good reputation for being independent. Dave to his credit has a much better track record than any other media outlet in the area including the Washington Post, due to the large number of media contacts he has developed.
I doubt that everything that he wrote about in his "rant" for 2009 will come to pass, but there is a grain of truth in all of it. (But then the idea is to promote discussion on the site).
CC's reorganization will cause it to shed stations, Citadel bit off more than it can chew buying the ABC stations, and Nassau has been unable to complete purchases because of cash problems, and Bonneville still has money. Bonneville will not end up with 10 DC/Baltimore stations, but it is reasonable that they could end up with two or three more.
It has been talked about for the past few years that one of the most valuble pieces of property in the entire DC Metro is WMAL's Greentree Road transmitter site... even now it is probably worth far more than the station. So if you are CBS and you have a high cost, low (or no) profit multi-tower directional turkey like 1580 what would you do?
As for changing formats....PPM's are shaking everyones grates. Some of the stations listed are weak sisters and throwaways running the same three or four well-beaten horse formats...so that is a crap shoot.
Some of the things Dave rants about will not come true. Sorry Dave, WHFS ain't never comming back!
I doubt that everything that he wrote about in his "rant" for 2009 will come to pass, but there is a grain of truth in all of it. (But then the idea is to promote discussion on the site).
CC's reorganization will cause it to shed stations, Citadel bit off more than it can chew buying the ABC stations, and Nassau has been unable to complete purchases because of cash problems, and Bonneville still has money. Bonneville will not end up with 10 DC/Baltimore stations, but it is reasonable that they could end up with two or three more.
It has been talked about for the past few years that one of the most valuble pieces of property in the entire DC Metro is WMAL's Greentree Road transmitter site... even now it is probably worth far more than the station. So if you are CBS and you have a high cost, low (or no) profit multi-tower directional turkey like 1580 what would you do?
As for changing formats....PPM's are shaking everyones grates. Some of the stations listed are weak sisters and throwaways running the same three or four well-beaten horse formats...so that is a crap shoot.
Some of the things Dave rants about will not come true. Sorry Dave, WHFS ain't never comming back!
congsec51 said:
I agree that the property would have been worth more a few years ago. However, it is still extremely valuable. Property of that value will still sell regardless of the economic conditions. Yes, they would build houses there, probably in the 3 to 4 million dollar range, and those houses are still selling. The people who would buy property like this do not need a loan...they make them.
DCRTV a few weeks ago ran a story that several years ago that ABC had an offer from a developer to trade the Bethesda transmitter site for a couple of hundred acres around Poolesville northwest of DC. Apparently, there was enough extra cash involved to allow WMAL to build out a new transmitter site and increase power to 50K. According to the story the deal came apart when a suitable transmitter site could not be found for ABC's WWDJ on 640 in Philadelphia that would allow for the WMAL move and power increase.
Do you think Citadel would be as determined to keep a 50,000 watt Radio Disney signal on the air in Philadelphia as ABC/Disney was? Or do you think that they might be cash hungry enough to just take the money and run? Or maybe sell the license, but not the transmitter site, and let the buyer find a new transmitter site.
Old PD said:
You hit it right on the nail as to why DCRTV has that good reputation..it is INDEPENDENT. Even though most of DCRTV's competition are gone now the biggest problem with many of the other media websites in the DCRTV region ( VARTV is one of the exceptions ) was that they were run by people who were still employed in the media when they ran their sites. While on the surface it may seem like a good idea say for a jock to run a website like DCRTV but the results are usually negative such as favoring their own station than the others in the area and forget contacts. Never mind the egos and drama.
If I were an employee say at CBS, would someone at Clear Channel give me "inside information" for my website? Of course not ! ! !
DToTheJ said:
Oh don't forget WJFK !!!!!! Like clockwork it seems every month Dave Hughes goes on about how he would "fix WJFK". WJFK is just one station out of many in the market, why focus so much time on them?
Another thing about DCRTV, has anyone ever had a problem getting their email posted in the mailbag? I never had a problem with that myself but I am beginning to hear more and more from others who have had a problem in getting their email posted in the DCRTV mailbag. Case in point my coworker last month sent Dave an email for the mailbag. It was question about WHUR-FM..it was NOT posted. He re-sent the same email a few days later..again it wasn't posted. He then emailed Dave asking what was up that..no response. I told him to send him a email asking him a question about WJFK and Don & Mike instead...WOW...it was posted !!!!
Very true it is Dave's site and of course he has the right to do anything he wants to it, but on the other hand if he for one reason or another refuses ( orat least limit the amount ) to post emails about some stations in the market like WHUR, WPGC 95 and a few others but has no problem posting a ton of emails about stations like The Globe, WJFK, and the old WHFS, to me thats playing favorites and sooner or later that can drive people away from the site not too mention that in the long run by doing such a thing it could damage that credible reputation.
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