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Debut of ESPN 1450 WASK-AM

I

indifm

Guest
Tuesday, August 1st as I recall, was to be the launch date of Lafayette's newest radio format... ESPN 1450. The news broke about a month ago, but we haven't really heard anything since. Anyone have updates on this project? Will Monday mark the end of an era for Oldies on 1450?
 
Actually, our original target date was Monday August 7th. As it is now, we're gunning for August 11th when we launch the Bears.
 
Mark, why did you pick sports? Other than it is cheap to operate, I can't see any real reason. The sports stations in other markets perform poorly. Wouldn't it make more sense to program similar to WDWS in Champaign-Urbana or WJBC in Bloomington, IL (similar sized markets with large schools located in town). Local News/Talk station with heavy sports committment?

Other than the Bears, what properties do you have? Do you have Purdue? Do you have any of the Indy teams/sports?

The all sports stations in Madison WI, Columbus, OH don't seem to do much in their respective markets, but the News/Talk station with sports do.

Just wondering what your thought pattern is...in my mind it narrows the audience too much. Look at Indy...the all sports stations WNDE and WXLW split the 2 share.
 
This decision wasn't about ratings. It was about being able to use black ink as opposed to red ink at the end of the year.

ESPN Radio is all barter. We need to show a profit on that signal. With ESPN Radio and no overhead, we will.

News-Talk would've meant paying for a morning talent, paying for Rush Limbaugh (which IMO if you don't have Rush, you're not serious about News-Talk) and increasing a non-existant budget past its capabilities.

Doing Sports lets us make more revenue on our AM without a lot of overhead. Launching a station is expensive and can be a scary proposition.
 
Got it. It wasn't losing money with oldies (power bill and it's share of G&A would seem to be the only expenses), but it wasn't generating any on it's own either...correct. Will there be a dedicated sales team/person selling it? I can't see where one of your fm sellers will do anything but give it away unless their compensation is tied to putting real developed billing on 1450.
 
Our Sales team will sell it. We have a veteran sales team with over 100 years experience combined. I'm confident in them.


spark gap said:
Got it. It wasn't losing money with oldies (power bill and it's share of G&A would seem to be the only expenses), but it wasn't generating any on it's own either...correct. Will there be a dedicated sales team/person selling it? I can't see where one of your fm sellers will do anything but give it away unless their compensation is tied to putting real developed billing on 1450.
Click to expand...
 
Im looking forward to hearing this. Still going for the 11TH?
 
donkeypuncher said:
Im looking forward to hearing this. Still going for the 11TH?
Click to expand...

We're going for when we're completely ready.

It could be the 11th. Could be sooner. Or even could be later.
 
thanks for keping us updated sounds good. You must be harder then ten dollars worth of jawbreakers!
 
I've been listening to see how it's going.

I'm no engineer, but the receiver in my office sounds bad when tuned to 1450AM, but when I move it to 1454AM, it's clear as a bell.

Won't this hurt the pre-set listenership when they get the high-pitched whistle in the background at 1450AM?

Otherwise, as predicted, it sounds like ESPN personalities talking about sports. Set it and forget it. NEXT!
 
Lafayette Unplugged said:
I've been listening to see how it's going.

I'm no engineer, but the receiver in my office sounds bad when tuned to 1450AM, but when I move it to 1454AM, it's clear as a bell.

Won't this hurt the pre-set listenership when they get the high-pitched whistle in the background at 1450AM?

Otherwise, as predicted, it sounds like ESPN personalities talking about sports. Set it and forget it. NEXT!
Click to expand...

It is a 1000 watt signal so not a lot of power.

I'll bring that up to our engineer. As for ESPN radio personalities talking about sports, YEP that's it.
 
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