Earl & Jack's future with Citadel/ABC merger

[NotSoSilentBob]

Because Citadel has merged with ABC, and therefore will own the distribution rights to the satellite Jack FM in the coming months, what does this mean for Knoxville?

Will they yank Jack away from 95.7 and move it to Earl's current home? ...or will they leave well enough alone and essentially compete with their own property, albeit on another owner's frequency?<P ID="signature">______________
Bob
Moderator, Nashville board
Radio-Info.com--Always Tuned In

"I don't spread rumors, but I sometimes make outrageous speculations with no factual basis."</P>

 

[RussAllen]

> Because Citadel has merged with ABC, and therefore will own
> the distribution rights to the satellite Jack FM in the
> coming months, what does this mean for Knoxville?
>
> Will they yank Jack away from 95.7 and move it to Earl's
> current home? ...or will they leave well enough alone and
> essentially compete with their own property, albeit on
> another owner's frequency?

Very good point indeed. It would make much sense, but part of the sell job Citadel/Knoxville gave it's clients to prove that Earl was superior to JACK was that Earl was locally programmed by "Award Winning Programmer Mike Hammond".

It will be interesting to see how this will play out over time.
<P ID="signature">______________
Free Lil Kim
April 29, 2005 5pm What a glorious day it was
</P>

 

[wimzfan]

I think I can speak for most of Knoxville with the following statement. If it came down to choosing between Jack and Earl as to which station to keep, I'd pick Earl over Jack anytime hands down. Jack is sounding as stale as the Oldies stations did in their final days. Same songs over and over. Earl keeps the music fresh and it sounds alot more fun to listen too than Jack does. Those fake phone calls they play of people calling "Earl" and leaving him messages on his answering machine are down right hillarious at times. Jack still has those same old smart ass "we play what WE want" comments between songs which gets pretty annoying after a while. The Earl format seems to go together pretty well, while the Jack format sounds like a radio nightmare. Kill Jack, keep Earl.

 

[BRice16]

> Because Citadel has merged with ABC, and therefore will own
> the distribution rights to the satellite Jack FM in the
> coming months, what does this mean for Knoxville?
>
> Will they yank Jack away from 95.7 and move it to Earl's
> current home? ...or will they leave well enough alone and
> essentially compete with their own property, albeit on
> another owner's frequency?
>

There is a long-term plan for Earl in place, and it is centered on the "local" aspect of its programming. They will not go to a satellite feed.

Meanwhile, over at Jack, the station that noone at the SS/Knoxville wanted to flip in the first place, they're having a real hard time selling enough local ads to fill to breaks the satellite provides. I've been told by someone familiar with the finances that they are barely making enough cash to cover the fee they pay for the feed, which is pretty sad considering that it doesn't cost them very much in the first place.

Earl and Jack are very different in both their music and their attitude, so I barely even consider them competitors. Of course, with numbers as low as Jack's, I don't think anyone sees them as a competitor.

 

[radioranch]

I've been told by someone
> familiar with the finances that they are barely making
> enough cash to cover the fee they pay for the feed, which is
> pretty sad considering that it doesn't cost them very much
> in the first place.
>

You need to make new friends. Jack is billing tens of thousands of dollars which is more than enough to pay for a "barter" satellite feed.

They are off from what they were doing as oldies. And it's still a train wreck. And Earl is a better station. But quit coming in here with your "inside" crap that is so obviously crap. You're embarrassing yourself.

 

[TheBootlegger]

> > Because Citadel has merged with ABC, and therefore will
> own
> > the distribution rights to the satellite Jack FM in the
> > coming months, what does this mean for Knoxville?
> >
> > Will they yank Jack away from 95.7 and move it to Earl's
> > current home? ...or will they leave well enough alone and
> > essentially compete with their own property, albeit on
> > another owner's frequency?
>

They'll leave well enough alone because even though the JACK format
isn't doing squat in Knoxville ABC will continue clearing the spots
on that station while also making money on Earl. Why kill 2 stations
to make one?

 

[PTBoardOp94]

> Because Citadel has merged with ABC, and therefore will own
> the distribution rights to the satellite Jack FM in the
> coming months, what does this mean for Knoxville?
Probably nothing, but if it did, I would guess the owners of Jack would simply take their signal to WW1 and Sam (or some other WW1 format)