First Energy, now this

[ajhenderson]

If you couldn't afford $3 million for 101.1, you could have had this one. Seems like a good price, although when your company name is a website and said website redirects to an ebay listing, I can't imagine the local full-service format will stay around. Hope I'm wrong.

But just think what this station will be worth in 2030!

Arizona
KBSZ-AM/Wickenburg (Phoenix)
PRICE: $500,000
TERMS: Asset sale for cash
BUYER: 1TV.Com Inc, headed by president John Low. Phone: 650-856-6622. It owns no other stations. This represents its entry into this market.
SELLER: Peterson, Richard and Joann, headed by joint owner Richard Peterson. Phone: 928-668-1250
FREQUENCY: 1250 kHz
POWER: 350 watts day/100 watts night
FORMAT: Country
COMMENT: Richard A. & Joann R. Peterson's KBSZ-AM/Wickenburg, AZ to 1TV.Com for $500K. $10K escrow deposit plus $115K cash at closing plus $375K promissory note.

 

[KeithE4]

Format to be Spanish-language, religion, or both?

With a signal radius of maybe 20 miles in the daytime and 10 at night, I just can't see this station making it with an English-language secular/commercial format in a "metro" of about 10,000 people, most of whom are either Mexican/Mexican-American or white and elderly.

The current owners apparently felt the same way. Nice try at a community-oriented format, but I'm guessing they weren't making much money if any.

 

[ajhenderson]

I'm not an expert on Wickenburg other than having passed through to go to Vegas and stopping in at the Circle K, but seeing that the stations' COL is in Maricopa county which classifies it as a Phoenix station, I wonder if the station could be used, either separately or with future stations, as the start of some sort of radio network equivalent to Spirit Airlines... you know, where service into "Los Angeles" takes you to Palmdale airport... KBSZ could be some sixth-tier network's "Phoenix" affiliate.

 

[ajhenderson]

Oh, and you're right, Keith... I've had a passing interest in this station for some time and have tried to get it while driving... you have to leave Sun City West/Surprise before you get a signal any casual listener would put up with. So you've got no city-grade coverage over any of what is considered the Phoenix metro area.

 

[KeithE4]

Oh, and you're right, Keith... I've had a passing interest in this station for some time and have tried to get it while driving... you have to leave Sun City West/Surprise before you get a signal any casual listener would put up with. So you've got no city-grade coverage over any of what is considered the Phoenix metro area.

I'd be surprised if any casual listener in metro Phoenix knows that Wickenburg even has an AM station, let alone where it is on the dial. If KBSZ went off the air today, I doubt too many people would notice, even in Wickenburg. It's not a Phoenix station, nor can it ever be moved in (even to, say, Buckeye or Circle City) due to KOY being only 20 kHz away.

 

[oldiesfan6479]

...as the start of some sort of radio network equivalent to Spirit Airlines... you know, where service into "Los Angeles" takes you to Palmdale airport...

Do you mean Skybus Airlines?

http://www.skybus.com/

See the "real" airports by putting your cursor over the names on the map.
Chicopee, MA? St. Augustine, FL? Punta Gorda, FL? East Buttcrack, MT?
(OK, I made the last one up.)

 

[davideduardo]

Oh, and you're right, Keith... I've had a passing interest in this station for some time and have tried to get it while driving... you have to leave Sun City West/Surprise before you get a signal any casual listener would put up with. So you've got no city-grade coverage over any of what is considered the Phoenix metro area.

The Phoenix metro for radio is 100% of Maricopa County. Wickenburg is inside the metro.

Soon the metro will also include Pinal County, as well.

 

[KeithE4]

The Phoenix metro for radio is 100% of Maricopa County. Wickenburg is inside the metro.

The Phoenix metro as defined by the Census Bureau is 100% of Maricopa County as well (plus a bit of Pinal). But even if Arbitron uses the same criteria, that doesn't mean that a flea-powered radio station 50 miles NW of Phoenix will reach "the metro" even though its city of license is considered part of said "metro." In practical terms, KBSZ is not a metro-Phoenix radio station. KSWG is borderline, kind of like KCDX on the other side of the world.

The same could be said if there were stations in Gila Bend, Arlington, Harquahalla Valley, or any other Maricopa County one-horse town west of White Tanks. They're part of the Phoenix metro in name only. If they had AM stations, they would not reach Phoenix unless they were running 10 kW or more.

Soon the metro will also include Pinal County, as well.

Apache Junction & the Gila River reservation have always been included AFAIK. I'm surprised Maricopa, Casa Grande, Coolidge, and Florence aren't as well.

 

[davideduardo]

The Phoenix metro as defined by the Census Bureau is 100% of Maricopa County as well (plus a bit of Pinal).

Arbitron is very selective about split counties except when they need to divide a county into smaller portions to control proportionality, such as the division of LA County, CA, into 6 subsets. There are rare splits where mountains divide a county into parts which fall into two different markets, like Contra Costa, CA. Then there are cases of counties so big that they encompass several separate markets, such as Riverside and San Bernardino counties in CA, which contain the namesake market, the Victor Valley market and the Palm Springs market.

In most cases, Arbitron definitons are whole "all or none" definitions, starting with all the base county plus surrounding counties that make the 50/15 requirement for listening to the "main county" stations.

But even if Arbitron uses the same criteria, that doesn't mean that a flea-powered radio station 50 miles NW of Phoenix will reach "the metro" even though its city of license is considered part of said "metro."

If the station meets the MRS rule (Minimum Reporting Standard) and gets the bare minimum of diaries and listening, it will show in the Phoenix booki, as it used to in the past. It would simply have to get enough listening in its particular area to "make the book."

In practical terms, KBSZ is not a metro-Phoenix radio station. KSWG is borderline, kind of like KCDX on the other side of the world.

In Arbitron terms, a station is a metro station if it is licensed to the metro, anywhere. In addition, a station can choose to be part of a metro even if it is not, but it sacrifices being considered home to where ever it is license. An example is KLYY, Riverside, CA, sonsidered home to the LA metro by virtue of selection. Several of the Yavapai county ultra rimshotters are also home to the Phoenix metro, even if they are not licensed to the metro.

The same could be said if there were stations in Gila Bend, Arlington, Harquahalla Valley, or any other Maricopa County one-horse town west of White Tanks. They're part of the Phoenix metro in name only. If they had AM stations, they would not reach Phoenix unless they were running 10 kW or more.

There are a lot of markets where ultra suburban stations exist, and they are always considered home to the metro.

Apache Junction & the Gila River reservation have always been included AFAIK. I'm surprised Maricopa, Casa Grande, Coolidge, and Florence aren't as well.

Arbitron does not create markets based on towns, only counties. The market, today, is 100% of Maricopa County, which is what it has been for decades. It does not include Apache Junction and anything outside the county limits.

 

[ajhenderson]

You're right oldiesfan... I guess when I got an email from Spirit offering to pay me to fly from LAX to any number of destinations, I lumped them in with Skybus and 1 or 2 others that fly into nowhere-villes.

I was not disputing that Wickenburg isn't part of the Phoenix market according to Arbitron standards, but that it's not a part of the Phoenix market as far as anyone living even in Surprise is concerned. Yes, it is a Phoenix station, just like when you see seventh-rate shows' ads in Talkers proclaiming their new NYC affiliate when it's a station no one in talk radio has heard of... and turns out to be a 250-watt station in distant New Jersey.

 

[icebreaker]

KBSZ and John Low...

The guy who just purchased this station is John Low, former owner of KQST in Flagstaff.
He ruined that station, and the Loudradio affiliate as well on 100.1fm. He just got it to re-sell at a higher price as he did with his sale to Yavapai Broadcasting. He also just picked up KIKO AM/FM in Miami, AZ.
He plans to build the 1tv.com empire and sell it for millions... yeah I know... the guy is nuts!
He is already telling agencies he has full coverage in Phoenix metro with this combo.... what bull!

 

[EricStein]

Re: KBSZ and John Low...

The guy who just purchased this station is John Low, former owner of KQST in Flagstaff.
He ruined that station, and the Loudradio affiliate as well on 100.1fm. He just got it to re-sell at a higher price as he did with his sale to Yavapai Broadcasting. He also just picked up KIKO AM/FM in Miami, AZ.
He plans to build the 1tv.com empire and sell it for millions... yeah I know... the guy is nuts!
He is already telling agencies he has full coverage in Phoenix metro with this combo.... what bull!

Willard Shoecraft must be spinning in his grave by now, given all that he had done to build the KIKO stations. If this goes through (as well as the KRDE-Sunburst deal), is Bill Taylor ready to be the only local radio service in the Globe/Miami area?

 

[billtaylor]

I am ready, willing, able and would be proud to be the only local radio service to Globe and Miami. KQSS was 20 years old april 1st 2007. I gave up my translators to concentrate on this community. The translators were nice, however there is no point in having a signal where there is no income and only expense in serving the area.. Sales costs are way up and collections tend to be down. The only blessing is translators effect the county book . KRDE (we call it Kruddie) selling for 6.5 mil and KIKO going for a million plus is encouraging not because somebody might offer me a million for mine, But encouraging because there is not enough retail business in Globe/Miami to support the rates they'll have to ask to get their investment back. So let them raise the rates and go to the valley for business. Don't let the door hit ect. Tom Low called me several months back to see if I wanted to sell. I said no. He called back a few weeks ago to "chat" and I pointed out that I have some goals before I retire. I was not aware that as he was talking to me, he was already closing the sale of KIKO. I'm 72 and I've been in radio since 1955. I spent most of that time in major markets, This station is as much a hobby as a business because I don't know what else to do with myself. Radio is not a profession, radio is a disease and I am terminal. Thanks to The Mayo Clinic, I'm able to deal with Myasthenia Gravis and can continue doing the mornings. I enjoy pissing off the privileged and being a sounding board for attitudes local government would rather not have aired. I consider those in the public limelight as fair game. As the owner I say what I want, play what I want, When I get calls threatening to sue me I give them the address of the Court House. The other morning during the news we joked about the bullet hole in the front window. It may be a small station, but it's all mine and as long as the medication keeps me moving, I will be the horse's ass that built the station. Thank you Ronnie for killing the Fairness Doctrine. I am not a prisoner of wall street bean counters. Cheap Channel cannot fire me on Christmas Eve. I got that treatment 40 years ago at WITH in Baltimore.
Streaming at www.gila1019.com.