Cumulus buys WFME 94.7

[recto101]

1010 WINS to Family Radio.

Yes. Sell one of the top billing sticks in the US to Family Radio. Sounds completely sensible. :

I think he meant that 94.7 FM will have an LMA agreement where Cumulus gets 94.7FM and CBS will put WINS or WCBS Programming on 94.7 and Harold Camping Gets 1010 AM.

Look At San Francisco CBS and Harold Camping has had trades for years. in the 1970's CBS Sold 98.9FM San Francisco for Camping's 97.3 FM a Third Party KMPX Inc got 98.9FM and sold 106.9 Fm San Francisco to Camping. So CBS can get 97.3FM San Francisco. Fast Forward to 2005-2006 In able for CBS to get KOVR 13 Sacramento CBS had to have another trade where 610 AM was sold to Camping and CBS got 106.9 FM in that deal.

 

[reelyreal]

The only other alternative would be for Cumulus to purchase 94.3 and take it dark, freeing the way for 94.7 to move to Manhattan.

I believe this has been discussed before, and the FCC would disallow this. The rules for AM and FM are different. Even if the 94.3 license was surrendered, the placeholder exists and must be protected. Scott Fybush can much better explain this...

Very true, you can't delete stations from the FM table of allotments, and you must protect allotments, whether they're on the air or not.

 

[recto101]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/KZDG

Check this out for San Francisco CBS has 1550 AM but the Operations are done by an LMA Agreement by a smaller broadcaster that does Indian Programming in the Market. Maybe Cumulus could buy one more radio station with one condition if they sell KABC-AM in LA and Possibly KSFO-AM, in the process and get another FM in NYC if Both WINS 1010 and WCBS 880 wants to go FM under the Cumulus/CBS LMA Agreement at the Same time. We all know CBS Sports goes to 101.9.

 

[davideduardo]

Look At San Francisco CBS and Harold Camping has had trades for years. in the 1970's CBS Sold 98.9FM San Francisco for Camping's 97.3 FM a Third Party KMPX Inc got 98.9FM and sold 106.9 Fm San Francisco to Camping. So CBS can get 97.3FM San Francisco. Fast Forward to 2005-2006 In able for CBS to get KOVR 13 Sacramento CBS had to have another trade where 610 AM was sold to Camping and CBS got 106.9 FM in that deal.

As Scott Fybush has explained, the KOVR deal and the 620 overlap involved rules that are no longer in place.

LMAs are counted towards market caps. So are JSAs.

 

[davideduardo]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/KZDG

Maybe Cumulus could buy one more radio station

One station where?

with one condition if they sell KABC-AM in LA and Possibly KSFO-AM,

They could buy additional LA or SF stations without selling anything in either market. They are way under the cap.

in the process and get another FM in NYC if Both WINS 1010 and WCBS 880 wants to go FM under the Cumulus/CBS LMA

CBS can not reduce it's market counts by LMAing a station to someone else.

In an absurd situation, if two operators with 8 stations each in a large market LMA two of each other's stations, they each have pushed the other over the cap because the LMAs count!

Agreement at the Same time. We all know CBS Sports goes to 101.9.

No, that's not what Dan Mason said. WFAN goes to FM, and the debate is now how much of the new, unlaunched CBS sports net will go on 660... or whether it might go to an unidentified station... even one from a third party.

 

[GSP163]

Again, I don't see WFME going with a rock format. WDHA already has a rock format and their signal is almost identical to WFME (WDHA is shifted about 10 miles to the west). Plus you already have WAXQ covering this area so I don't see room for 3 rock stations.

WDHA & WFME are quite different signal wise as WDHA is a Class A while WFME is a Class B....On a car radio you can get WFME down to at least Toms River (it starts to breakup near Forked River/GSP Mile 74) while WDHA makes it to the Asbury Tolls on the GSP (granted that is pretty good for a Class A).....However, travel north on I-287 and just north of Boonton, WDHA falls off quickly because of the hills blocking the signal.....Furthermore, anywhere north or east of Paterson and WDHA suffers serious interference from WDBY which makes WDHA pretty much unlistenable in a good portion of Bergen County.....WFME on the other hand covers all those areas perfectly all the way up through Rockland County.....I can't comment how WFME's signal is in Westchester or NYC as I have not listened there but WDHA's signal there is a complete mess.

As far as the rock format, if WFME did an alternative rock format (like WRXP now or WRRV) it would sound much different to WDHA which plays lots of classc rock and artists alternative stations don't play......Just look up in the Hudson Valley where Cumulus owns both WRRV & WPDH and both play rock but sound completly different.

 

[fybush]

Look At San Francisco CBS and Harold Camping has had trades for years. in the 1970's CBS Sold 98.9FM San Francisco for Camping's 97.3 FM a Third Party KMPX Inc got 98.9FM and sold 106.9 Fm San Francisco to Camping. So CBS can get 97.3FM San Francisco. Fast Forward to 2005-2006 In able for CBS to get KOVR 13 Sacramento CBS had to have another trade where 610 AM was sold to Camping and CBS got 106.9 FM in that deal.

As Scott Fybush has explained, the KOVR deal and the 620 overlap involved rules that are no longer in place.

No, those same rules are still in place. When CBS added KOVR, it had to analyze signal coverage over the city of Sacramento (where it already owned KMAX-TV) and the city of Stockton (COL of KOVR). Sacto was under the cross-ownership cap, or right at it. But when you looked at all the signals that were city-grade over the entire city limits of Stockton, that included KFRC 610...and THAT put CBS one station over the limit there, which is why 610 had to be sold. 106.9 does not city-grade Stockton and didn't count against the cross-ownership cap for KOVR. Win-win.

LMAs are counted towards market caps. So are JSAs.

Correct. With the 101.9 acquisition, CBS is at the absolute maximum of 7 radio/1 TV in the "market" defined by WCBS-TV. CBS can't LMA or JSA anything else in New York now. (Under the radio-TV crossownership caps, it actually could sneak in more radio on the East End of Long Island...but under the absolute radio caps, which are based on Arbitron MSAs, I think the best it might be able to do would be one AM out there, which would be highly pointless.)

If Family buys an AM to replace 94.7, it won't be coming from CBS, or Cumulus, or Clear. 620 or 1190 seem to me to be the likeliest bets.

 

[RadioFanBoy]

A signal increase may be possible for WFME if Cumulus intends to sync-cast with WMAS programming wise; the stations would still be far enough apart where both could run separate commercials and traffic inserts. With "Fresh" tweaking more Hot AC, Lite FM is ripe for a serious competitor. Especially at night against Delilah. Who knows, a total format change may be in store for both stations come the new year.

 

[davideduardo]

No, those same rules are still in place. When CBS added KOVR, it had to analyze signal coverage over the city of Sacramento (where it already owned KMAX-TV) and the city of Stockton (COL of KOVR). Sacto was under the cross-ownership cap, or right at it. But when you looked at all the signals that were city-grade over the entire city limits of Stockton, that included KFRC 610...and THAT put CBS one station over the limit there, which is why 610 had to be sold. 106.9 does not city-grade Stockton and didn't count against the cross-ownership cap for KOVR. Win-win.

My misunderstanding; I thought you were referring to the change in market caps to the Arbitron definition such as what forced CBS to divest its San Jose radio properties when CC went private. In that case, the San Jose and San Francisco metros under the old definition were separate markets (which Clear complied with by "downsizing" one of its FMs to avoid overlap). In the Arbitron definition, San Jose is part of the San Francisco MSA and subject to the San Francisco market caps.

 

[davideduardo]

A signal increase may be possible for WFME if Cumulus intends to sync-cast with WMAS programming wise; .

Look back in these threads: the biggest issue with WFME moving to the ESB is the Long Island station.

 

[fybush]

A signal increase may be possible for WFME if Cumulus intends to sync-cast with WMAS programming wise; the stations would still be far enough apart where both could run separate commercials and traffic inserts. With "Fresh" tweaking more Hot AC, Lite FM is ripe for a serious competitor. Especially at night against Delilah. Who knows, a total format change may be in store for both stations come the new year.

There is no provision in the FCC rules to do what you're suggesting. You either meet the mileage spacings (which WFME and WMAS already don't, even without a WFME move), or you're grandfathered in under pre-1964 spacing (which WFME and WMAS are, with their current signals). What's being programmed on each station does not factor into the equation at all.

And as noted, it's 94.3 on Long Island that's the bigger obstacle, anyway.

 

[davideduardo]

To add a little clarification, in case anyone's confused: San Jose is officially an "embedded" metro market--as is Santa Rosa. Therefore, both of them are technically their own markets (with their own ratings) as well as part of the San Francisco metro market.

An embedded market is simply a portion of a metro where the stations... often those that don't cover the complete metro... have collectively paid Arbitron to issue a separate report for a portion of the metro.

Orange County used to be an embedded market that was also part of the Los Angles MSA. Local-to-OC stations paid for the report. When they stopped buying this service, Arbitron stopped issuing it.

The difference between creating a subset of a metro in Arbitron software and a full market report issued separately is that the embedded market has to meet all the sample requirements applied to any metro. Thus, it is more expensive... and it gets the market treated by at least some advertisers as a separate buy.

 

[badjef]

To add a little clarification, in case anyone's confused: San Jose is officially an "embedded" metro market--as is Santa Rosa. Therefore, both of them are technically their own markets (with their own ratings) as well as part of the San Francisco metro market.

An embedded market is simply a portion of a metro where the stations... often those that don't cover the complete metro... have collectively paid Arbitron to issue a separate report for a portion of the metro.

Orange County used to be an embedded market that was also part of the Los Angles MSA. Local-to-OC stations paid for the report. When they stopped buying this service, Arbitron stopped issuing it.

The difference between creating a subset of a metro in Arbitron software and a full market report issued separately is that the embedded market has to meet all the sample requirements applied to any metro. Thus, it is more expensive... and it gets the market treated by at least some advertisers as a separate buy.

I guess, that would explain why when you try to name all of the defined markets, you will find numbers missing since those number rankings are the embedded market absorbed into the larger surrounding Markets. The numbers are probably reserved or removed until such time as the subscribing stations decide to separate their market or the sizes are re-ranked.

Jeff in Sa-ra-so-ta!

 

[davideduardo]

I guess, that would explain why when you try to name all of the defined markets, you will find numbers missing since those number rankings are the embedded market absorbed into the larger surrounding Markets. The numbers are probably reserved or removed until such time as the subscribing stations decide to separate their market or the sizes are re-ranked.

Jeff in Sa-ra-so-ta!

I'm not sure I understand the point.

The two largest embedded markets, Nassau-Suffolk and San Jose, are 19th and 36th in national rank... per the latest Arbitron "Red Book". And the other embedded markets are also ranked, too.

The full market rank includes the entire MSA, while an embedded market is ranked only on a portion of the MSA population.

 

[luperm]

1010 WINS to Family Radio.

Yes. Sell one of the top billing sticks in the US to Family Radio. Sounds completely sensible. :

I think he meant that 94.7 FM will have an LMA agreement where Cumulus gets 94.7FM and CBS will put WINS or WCBS Programming on 94.7 and Harold Camping Gets 1010 AM.

Look At San Francisco CBS and Harold Camping has had trades for years. in the 1970's CBS Sold 98.9FM San Francisco for Camping's 97.3 FM a Third Party KMPX Inc got 98.9FM and sold 106.9 Fm San Francisco to Camping. So CBS can get 97.3FM San Francisco. Fast Forward to 2005-2006 In able for CBS to get KOVR 13 Sacramento CBS had to have another trade where 610 AM was sold to Camping and CBS got 106.9 FM in that deal.

Why would Cumulus put WINS or WCBS programming on 94.7? The companies are unrelated. 1190 and 1600 seem like interesting AMs for Family. Hopefully they're smart enough to stay away from 620. That signal is a real dog.

 

[SonoSational18]

Highly doubtful that 94.7 or any of the other NY Cume-less stations will be picking up anything from CBS Sports. I also doubt that they will simulcast WABC... at least for now. I could see them possibly flipping 94.7 into a simulcast if an attempt or two at some sort of music format fails. As another posted mentioned, don't rule out a swap with Pacifica for 99.5.

As for the 2nd adjacent issue with 94.3, that could be solved. WWSK is currently runnning only 2.6kw off of a 315 ft. stick... not full-power even for an old 3kw Class A. Cumulus could buy out WWSK outright or make a deal with their owners which could involve moving the tower east, a directional pattern, or just a mutual waiver of interference. Here in Ohio we have a station on 98.1 that recently moved to a new tower location. It's only around 19 miles away from 2nd adjacent 98.5 and less than 10 miles away from 3rd adjacent 97.5.

 

[fybush]

There is no such thing as "mutual waivers of interference" when it comes to commercial FM allocations.

 

[Radio-X]

OK...now I'm going out on a limb here, but...

Do you think the reason 103.9 has yet to sign on from the Bronx is simply due to the cost of running a station from NYC? I mean, rent! Chances are, the studios Cumulus currently have for their two stations were designed for two stations. And given the cost of floor space in the area, I doubt they were willing to pay big bucks for extra (unused) studio space. I mean, temporarily, you could probably wire a production studio for one of them, but how about the other? I doubt FR will let them run 94.7 from West Orange for any real period of time given that they still have a media presence in the market.

If space is an issue at WABC/WPLJ's digs, and Cumulus knew they were in the running for 94.7, I'd think 94.7 would be the candidate for studio space. But on the same token, I seriously doubt they would blow a few million to build out 103.9 at the new site just to keep it running to Southern CT.

There is something more to this story we don't quite know yet. But I wouldn't be shocked to see the two stations sign on from Cumulus NYC at around the same time. My top three guesses are 1) Country 2) Rock 3) Talk. Cumulus do the first two well better than the other big radio company.

Radio-X

 

[Giacomo Siffredi]

If space is an issue at WABC/WPLJ's digs, and Cumulus knew they were in the running for 94.7, I'd think 94.7 would be the candidate for studio space.

This is probably an appropriate moment to drop this video into the discussion. It was produced last year, but I just found it on YouTube earlier this evening. It's worth the time you watch it.

I went to Family Radio (WFME) The Camponite liars need to apologize to Jesus! May 21 2011 Failed

There is a rather poignant moment of foreboding at the end :'( While this has been a record year for media transactions throughout the New York City market, we are reminded the news today is not just another transaction. This one is a little something more...

 

[DToTheJ]

Only thing left now is the sale of WBAI!