So, does WBT-WLNK get to stay at 1 Julian Price Place? Good chance they will move to the Beasley compound at 1520 South Blvd - which will be a sad day in Charlotte broadcast history. However, Beasley must divest of 2 stations - so let the speculation begin on whom those will be...which would also potentially impact WBT-WLNK's physical address.
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Greater Media Sold to Beasley
- Thread starter eacalhoun1
- Start date
I was wondering when someone would bring this up. It was rumored weeks ago but I can't remember where I heard it or read .
In the latest story I heard that Beasley would sell some of the physical assets (towers etc) to pay the bill. So if they sell stations to comply with ownership rules just about anything is possible. Do they want to make a lot of money on the station sale or just comply with the rules? Radio One and iHeart might be interested in one or two. iHeart might be interested in WBT since at one time they liked the big 50kw AM's, that may have changed by now. In any case they will either put together an attractive package of stations or just sell the ratings/revenue bottom feeders whatever they are.
I heard one of the hosts on WBT ranting on and on about the first floor men's room being out of order at 1 Julian Price Place for days. He placed the blame on Raycom so I'm sure they wouldn't mind if those pests in radio went somewhere else. Getting radio out of the building would give TV more room to expand.
In the latest story I heard that Beasley would sell some of the physical assets (towers etc) to pay the bill. So if they sell stations to comply with ownership rules just about anything is possible. Do they want to make a lot of money on the station sale or just comply with the rules? Radio One and iHeart might be interested in one or two. iHeart might be interested in WBT since at one time they liked the big 50kw AM's, that may have changed by now. In any case they will either put together an attractive package of stations or just sell the ratings/revenue bottom feeders whatever they are.
I heard one of the hosts on WBT ranting on and on about the first floor men's room being out of order at 1 Julian Price Place for days. He placed the blame on Raycom so I'm sure they wouldn't mind if those pests in radio went somewhere else. Getting radio out of the building would give TV more room to expand.
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They don't need to sell an AM. They have to sell two FMs. One of those two FMs will definitely be WBT-FM because it is easily the weakest of the two portfolios.
You know they won't be able to give up having an FM signal for WBT, so who gets that?
That's right about the AM's I see a 3 station AM cluster and automatically think monopoly, point taken. It's not like Charlotte has a lot of AM stations. Actually Charlotte doesn't have a lot of FM stations either. Most are move-ins from other cities in the area.
Might be a crazy idea but WKQC. CBS always treated WKQC like a red headed step child, I don't know if Beasley does or not. WKQC has a problem in Rock Hill sometimes due to a Columbia station on 104.7 WNOK.
If WBCN had a good signal to the west at night they could use that. With 1,000 watts at night that's doubtful unless they get the FCC to allow them to move the transmitter further west. Maybe they could change the COL to Gastonia and simulcacast WBT? Naturally it would be better to have WBT on FM but with it's aging demographic I'm not sure they will give up an FM for that.
Nothing is definite here. It's entirely possible they'll unload WBT-FM, but, if they can do a swap of the urbans with Radio One for another market, doing that might make better sense.
If Radio One doesn't do a swap, I tend to agree with Mike that they'll get rid of WBT-FM and merge WKQC into The Link. You don't need two hot AC's, especially when one of them is likely to go to an operator like EMF or Salem.
I think EMF is covered with what they have but who knows? I can hear both stations where I live. Salem might come in and take a maybe a nice AM/FM combo. If it was my company I would unload WBCN. Most people don't even know it exists, oh and WBT-FM would go. I like the idea of trading the Urbans to Radio One but there is a lot of growth potential in that format so I wouldn't be so quick to do that. Well we will just have to see how it all shakes out!
You're in the marker, Mike. So, you have a better idea of who can get what than I do. I'm not aware, however, of EMF having an Air1 affiliate in Charlotte. So, I could see them moving WWLV to 104.7 and doing Air1 on 94.1.
More than anything, though, was that I can't see Beasley selling its excess to anyone who would compete with it. I also can't see very many non-religious commercial operators wanting a single station (or a single full-market station and a weak rimshot) in a market where it can't easily grow beyond that.
More than anything, though, was that I can't see Beasley selling its excess to anyone who would compete with it. I also can't see very many non-religious commercial operators wanting a single station (or a single full-market station and a weak rimshot) in a market where it can't easily grow beyond that.
I thought Entercom might be interested in WBT-FM for their Greenville, SC cluster but it looks like they already have their quota of stations there.
I would think to have any kind of presence in the market Entercom would want at least two FM's and an AM. Maybe they could pick up a FM from iHeart as well as Beasley?
EMF or Salem is a good bet. EMF has K-Love on 94.1 and 91.9 both rimshots but good rimshots. True they don't have an Air 1 station so that would fit, maybe 104.7.
Tom Taylor speculates Beasley will keep its existing cluster and sell WBT AM/FM and The Link. While that seems strange to me, I could see Entercom being interested if that is, in fact, Beasley's plan. He also speculates Don Curtis would be bidding for those stations if they go on the block. He was rumored to have offered LFM a pretty good amount when Greater Media outbid him.
I heard yesterday the same thing Tom Taylor reported this morning. Beasley does not intend to keep the GM stations in Charlotte. I also heard from another person that Beasley may sell the other AMs as well. These are strictly rumors from non-official sources.
Don Curtis would be an interesting play. His Executive Vice President Tripp Savery was General Sales Manager at Greater Media Charlotte for a while.
Interesting times...
t123
Don Curtis would be an interesting play. His Executive Vice President Tripp Savery was General Sales Manager at Greater Media Charlotte for a while.
Interesting times...
t123
I have two comments on what has been said.
I think putting Air1 on a full-power station would be a big waste. K-Love is too similar and Charlotte already has two of those. To the west where those stations don't cover, you have Billy Graham's WMIT, except during the evening when it has preaching.
I think the name "The Link" needs to go. It doesn't even mean anything with the talk-based format gone. One day I had forgotten The Lake even existed and I was in a store playing it, and I heard a voice say The Link plays anything. I realize now it was The Lake.
I think putting Air1 on a full-power station would be a big waste. K-Love is too similar and Charlotte already has two of those. To the west where those stations don't cover, you have Billy Graham's WMIT, except during the evening when it has preaching.
I think the name "The Link" needs to go. It doesn't even mean anything with the talk-based format gone. One day I had forgotten The Lake even existed and I was in a store playing it, and I heard a voice say The Link plays anything. I realize now it was The Lake.
I agree but since when has that ever mattered to an owner?
David Gleason would probably tell us it's time for another Spanish language station in the market. Maybe he'd be right, I don't know. All I know is at my age my radio listening has gone way down and it's usually confined to the lower part of the FM dial.
Your signature explains why.
Why would Beasley buy WBT and WLNK to just turn around and sell them? It looks like they would have bought them to own 2 major market stations, especially a heritage legacy station such as WBT, and a strong full power FM signal on 107.9. But I could definitely see them selling 99.3 to comply with the FCC ownership regulations, as it is a lower power and weaker signal. Although they would likely want to have another FM outlet for WBT since that seems to be a trend now, and of course to be able to transmit their signal west of Gastonia at night. That was the whole purpose of 99.3, as 11.10 barely goes across the Catawba River after the sun goes down.
WSB for example has a strong signal on 95.5-FM which can be heard down I-85 all the way from Anderson, SC into Atlanta. So hopefully they would somehow find another FM signal for WBT.
I listen to WBT on 99.3 on my home receiver here in Greenville, SC, and the HD signal will lock in with the rabbit ears. But car reception past Spartanburg is now problematic since a station down in Georgia increased power on 99.3 last December.
If WBT and WLNK move from Julian Price Place, it will indeed be the end of an era in Charlotte broadcast history, as WBT was the first radio station and gave rise to WBTV on Channel 3. For years, WBT and WBTV were the top broadcasters in Charlotte down through the Jefferson-Pilot years. And they still share some news reporting, although the TV is now owned by Raycom. But if they move out, it will indeed allow WBTV to expand more in the building. But such a fine legacy of broadcasters and personalities this building has seen through the years, both local and nationally prominent.
I thought the Observer said they were only required to sell 1 FM station.
Unloading WBT AM/FM and WLNK doesn't make much sense to me either unless Beasley's worried about the DOJ implications. I suspect, though, that Beasley was more excited about the other Greater Media markets than it was about the opportunity to reshuffle its stations in Charlotte.
As I said earlier, if it were me, I'd either try to swap the urbans to Radio One for its stations in another market (like Cleveland or Cincinnati) or unload WBT-FM 99.3 and WKQC 104.7. Of course, I didn't just spend $240 million on radio stations. So, I doubt Beasley cares about my opinion too much!
As I said earlier, if it were me, I'd either try to swap the urbans to Radio One for its stations in another market (like Cleveland or Cincinnati) or unload WBT-FM 99.3 and WKQC 104.7. Of course, I didn't just spend $240 million on radio stations. So, I doubt Beasley cares about my opinion too much!
WLNK has a very strong full power signal on 107.9-FM, despite a bit of a null to the west that was implemented when they changed their transmitting antenna back in 2005. And their HD Radio signal may be the strongest in Charlotte, as it has a dedicated separate panel antenna exclusively for the digital signal, whereas the other stations seem to use combined analog and digital antennas. So there may be strong value in this real estate. And their music mix seems to have improved recently, and they were just awarded NC Radio Station of the Year. Plus they have strong performing morning drive and afternoon personality shows with Bob and Sheri and Matt and Ramona, both of which are nationally syndicated. I get strong reception of WLNK in Greenville, SC with a rabbit ears antenna, including the HD, although car reception is now problematic due to an aggravating low power signal on the same frequency. And I can also listen to WBT on 107.9-HD2 channel, especially if 99.3 goes away.
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