Hey is 680 going up for sale?

[jefflaurence]

I got one of those unsolicited faxes from an un-numbered fax machine Thursday that said that a "WRMD" was going to be "available for consideration" whatever that might mean. Not knowing what WRMD was I overlooked it, but then I saw that it's the old WWBA-AM.

Are they really running under 700 watts Day and 125 Night? What is the signal like? It used to be 1kw with a 5/8 wave tower on 54th Ave I think..Good coverage.

I wonder what they might want for it...Hey "SBE" what's the chance for a modest power upgrade? Could it be moved to, say Tierra Ceia? (hint hint)
Palmetto?...Ruskin?

How are they doing? Are they fixing to bail out because of 92.5?

What could "someone" do with this?

I'm curious...are the WLCY-AM calls available?

Anyone got any good records left?

Would Ben Friedmann make us a few PAMS resings?

How can I get my hands on an Audimax III with the resistor snipped out?

Where's Ron Parker, and Howard Hewes?

 

[sbe]

This is the station that the Bayflite helicopter flew into a couple years ago and knocked down the tower. If I recall, they were using a folded unipole on a much higher tower. 5/8 at 680 is a pretty tall tower. The signal gets trashed at night here in Sarasota by Raleigh, NC and Cuba, but is pretty solid in Tampa bay itself. If the current power is just a STA, you might be able to go back to original power without ratchet requirements. I see 620 was able to get by without ratcheting. 1490 in Bradenton had to ratchet down to 500 watts when they moved off the Bradenton Pier out to the old 1420 site in Samoset. Still trying to get that Terra Ceia station, I see? 6 towers if I recall, parallogram?

You could still put that 780 on in Mulberry if you want... Last I saw, the CP was for sale on Ebay.
I have a Volumax, I'll give you if you want it.... 150% modulation, easy...


> I got one of those unsolicited faxes from an un-numbered fax
> machine Thursday that said that a "WRMD" was going to be
> "available for consideration" whatever that might mean. Not
> knowing what WRMD was I overlooked it, but then I saw that
> it's the old WWBA-AM.
>
> Are they really running under 700 watts Day and 125 Night?
> What is the signal like? It used to be 1kw with a 5/8 wave
> tower on 54th Ave I think..Good coverage.
>
> I wonder what they might want for it...Hey "SBE" what's the
> chance for a modest power upgrade? Could it be moved to,
> say Tierra Ceia? (hint hint)
> Palmetto?...Ruskin?
>
> How are they doing? Are they fixing to bail out because of
> 92.5?
>
> What could "someone" do with this?
>
> I'm curious...are the WLCY-AM calls available?
>
> Anyone got any good records left?
>
> Would Ben Friedmann make us a few PAMS resings?
>
> How can I get my hands on an Audimax III with the resistor
> snipped out?
>
> Where's Ron Parker, and Howard Hewes?
>

 

[FloridaBear1776]

WRMD is a Class D, therefore no protected interference free contour.

Still, even on a short stick, it gets out well at night -- better in North Pinellas than some of the higher powered, directional stations.

I think Genesis would be better off with this facility than 1040 way back there in Seminole. It would deliver more juice around the bay, where most of the people are concentrated. Its daytime coverage at 0.7 kW is actually bigger than 1040 with 3.6. I wonder if they could move to a nearby site (WTIS?), diplex, and add a tower at night to improve on that 125 watts. Atlanta and Raleigh would have to be protected, but perhaps they could squeeze a little more toward Brandon, where there's no shortage of Republican talk-radio fans.


Plus 680 would have its old call letters back! <P ID="edit"><FONT class="small">Edited by FloridaBear1776 on 09/25/05 12:46 PM.</FONT></P>

 

[Frank_Ferreri]

>Jeff....need the Volumax to go with the Audimax (minus resistor) and a Fisher Spacexpander as well...

I got one of those unsolicited faxes from an un-numbered fax
> machine Thursday that said that a "WRMD" was going to be
> "available for consideration" whatever that might mean. Not
> knowing what WRMD was I overlooked it, but then I saw that
> it's the old WWBA-AM.
>
> Are they really running under 700 watts Day and 125 Night?
> What is the signal like? It used to be 1kw with a 5/8 wave
> tower on 54th Ave I think..Good coverage.
>
> I wonder what they might want for it...Hey "SBE" what's the
> chance for a modest power upgrade? Could it be moved to,
> say Tierra Ceia? (hint hint)
> Palmetto?...Ruskin?
>
> How are they doing? Are they fixing to bail out because of
> 92.5?
>
> What could "someone" do with this?
>
> I'm curious...are the WLCY-AM calls available?
>
> Anyone got any good records left?
>
> Would Ben Friedmann make us a few PAMS resings?
>
> How can I get my hands on an Audimax III with the resistor
> snipped out?
>
> Where's Ron Parker, and Howard Hewes?
>

 

[PassDutch]

> I got one of those unsolicited faxes from an un-numbered fax
> machine Thursday that said that a "WRMD" was going to be
> "available for consideration" whatever that might mean. Not
> knowing what WRMD was I overlooked it, but then I saw that
> it's the old WWBA-AM.
>
> Are they really running under 700 watts Day and 125 Night?
> What is the signal like? It used to be 1kw with a 5/8 wave
> tower on 54th Ave I think..Good coverage.
>
> I wonder what they might want for it...Hey "SBE" what's the
> chance for a modest power upgrade? Could it be moved to,
> say Tierra Ceia? (hint hint)
> Palmetto?...Ruskin?
>
> How are they doing? Are they fixing to bail out because of
> 92.5?
>
> What could "someone" do with this?

Go Air America.

 

[jefflaurence]

Raleigh could be dealt with. There is a 680 in nearby Sylva, NC that protects WPTF, AND they have to protect Atlanta also..Talk about an expensive deal. WCNN has to have 8 towers to run 10k at night. 2 for daytime at 50k. For what that station is making for Cox as an LMA'er it would be a lot more profitable to cut down those sticks and sell that residential land in North Atlanta. So who's to say someone could not buy WRMD and go 5k day and 1k night with maybe 3 towers..(WTIS has to protect Charlotte and it's sort of close)

Got a phone call on my voice mail today that said that the owners are looking for nearly 2 million for this signal. No land or property. WOW!

SBE what station in Samoset?

Mulberry? HAH..isn't that the 250 watter with 3 or 4 towers or some dumb thing? And as much as Air America might work in Tampa, those guys are begging for money. It would be best to let one of the CC cluster AMs take that chance.

 

[altsped]

I would not move it. For the power they are running, they have a terrific signal.

 

[Oldiesgal]

> Raleigh could be dealt with. There is a 680 in nearby
> Sylva, NC that protects WPTF, AND they have to protect
> Atlanta also..Talk about an expensive deal. WCNN has to have
> 8 towers to run 10k at night. 2 for daytime at 50k. For
> what that station is making for Cox as an LMA'er it would be
> a lot more profitable to cut down those sticks and sell that
> residential land in North Atlanta. So who's to say someone
> could not buy WRMD and go 5k day and 1k night with maybe 3
> towers..(WTIS has to protect Charlotte and it's sort of
> close)
>
> Got a phone call on my voice mail today that said that the
> owners are looking for nearly 2 million for this signal. No
> land or property. WOW!
>
> SBE what station in Samoset?
>
> Mulberry? HAH..isn't that the 250 watter with 3 or 4 towers
> or some dumb thing? And as much as Air America might work
> in Tampa, those guys are begging for money. It would be
> best to let one of the CC cluster AMs take that chance.


Why not Adult Standards? This area does have an older demographic.
>

 

[sbe]

The Samoset station is the former station on the Manatee River at the memorial pier. Formerly WTRL, now WWPR 1490. Formerly heard on the rigging of every sailboat in the yacht basin. They are using the former site of WBRD on 26th Ave. East in Samoset now. One of the towers was still standing. So they had a built in ground and site ready to go.
RE: WRMD, anything under 200 watts at nite does not get any protection. When WTIS signs off at sunset, WBT is right there, usually just as loud as WTIS was. WBT puts a good signal this way at nite. If it got any nite authorization it probably would be less than 50 watts, and would be useless considering the strength of WBT. WRMD, has a good tx location for good Tampa Bay coverage. If you went with a DA, you would probably have to put it north of Tampa Bay, like 570 is, and aim the signal south to cover Tampa Bay and still protect Atlanta and Raleigh. But Raleigh will still trash it at nite. Speaking of CC and Air America, wonder if they are successful with the monster signal out of Covington KY on 1530 running Air America. Sure miss the great oldies they used to play. Wish I could get WKBW out of Buffalo here at nite. Two mil is mucho dinero for this station....

> Raleigh could be dealt with. There is a 680 in nearby
> Sylva, NC that protects WPTF, AND they have to protect
> Atlanta also..Talk about an expensive deal. WCNN has to have
> 8 towers to run 10k at night. 2 for daytime at 50k. For
> what that station is making for Cox as an LMA'er it would be
> a lot more profitable to cut down those sticks and sell that
> residential land in North Atlanta. So who's to say someone
> could not buy WRMD and go 5k day and 1k night with maybe 3
> towers..(WTIS has to protect Charlotte and it's sort of
> close)
>
> Got a phone call on my voice mail today that said that the
> owners are looking for nearly 2 million for this signal. No
> land or property. WOW!
>
> SBE what station in Samoset?
>
> Mulberry? HAH..isn't that the 250 watter with 3 or 4 towers
> or some dumb thing? And as much as Air America might work
> in Tampa, those guys are begging for money. It would be
> best to let one of the CC cluster AMs take that chance.
>

 

[bossmsx]

Call Letter Vengeance

> I'm curious...are the WLCY-AM calls available?

Call it WHBO....They took 680's call letters, now you take theirs...

Just kidding....But I always thought that would be funny.

 

[hustler]

> How are they doing? Are they fixing to bail out because of 92.5?

With 92-5 sounding great, the market for AM Spanish radio has been sliced deep. ZGS would be wise to dump WRMD if they can really get the supposed $2 million asking price for it, even if it means breaking up the AM cluster. I'd counter offer with $750K and meet somewhere in the middle.

> What could "someone" do with this?

Standards seems like an immediate possibility. I'm not sure how much the format was billing per month for WGUL, but even a bare-bones MOYL sat format I'd think could pop a number. Selling the number, well that is another story.

Some might point to Air America, and that might be a secondary possibility, but this is the same company that is begging people to sponsor them in exchange for bumper stickers (or mentions on their website).

> I'm curious...are the WLCY-AM calls available?

Sort of... An FM station in Blairsville, PA owned by Renda has them. They'd have to agree to it, and agree to take on an FM suffix as WLCY-FM. Or you would have to get Hearst-Argyle to agree to let them have WLKY (H-A owns the TV calls) and give you the WLCY calls. WHBO is available, though.

> Anyone got any good records left?

Joe DiMaggio's MLB consecutive game hit streak is standing the test of time quite well. And I don't think anyone will break Wilt Chamberlain's 100 points in one game NBA record in my lifetime.

If you mean vinyl, I've got a Mammas and the Pappas album that I like to break out sometimes. And if you like the show Lost, they had a guy playing an album on there in last week's episode. I never liked trying to find songs on vinyl, but to listen from beginning to end, there's a certain charm to it that you just can't get with digital. I did enjoy the time in radio when I actually played records on-air (with two turntables no less, so you could cue up one song while the other turntable was playing).

 

[FloridaBear1776]

> ZGS would be wise to dump WRMD if
> they can really get the supposed $2 million asking price for
> it, even if it means breaking up the AM cluster. I'd
> counter offer with $750K and meet somewhere in the middle.

I'd pay $2mil if they would throw in 1300, which I would immediately take dark, unless it came with the land, in which case I'd sell the land and then go dark.
AMs will never be worth more than they are right now, but fewer AMs in the metro will mean each one becomes more valuable and offsets that inevitable decline.

 

[jefflaurence]

Okay I think adult standards would be easy, cheap, and fun. However 2 million is too much for this station. I will make a few calls and let you know what I sniff out. WHBO is a cool idea...What about standards all week, and a specialty car-show doo-wop "greasy gold" show on weekends from Biff Burger? Do they still do that crazyness? Again, cheap and fun..and a format that doesn't take itself too seriously..We could put listeners on as jocks and pick them up in a traded out limo for thier shifts..who would advertise on adult standards in Florida?

Banks, Car Dealers, Restaurants, Supermarkets, Assisted Care Facilities, Car Washes, Car Repair, Pool Suppplies Stores, Golf Courses, TV Stations, Computer Repair, and many more I am sure..Just got to get to them.

Think maybe under a million might get it?

 

[hustler]

> I'd pay $2mil if they would throw in 1300, which I would
> immediately take dark, unless it came with the land, in
> which case I'd sell the land and then go dark.
> AMs will never be worth more than they are right now, but
> fewer AMs in the metro will mean each one becomes more
> valuable and offsets that inevitable decline.

The 104.1 FM signal in St. Louis sold for $20 million yesterday. Somehow I'd see that as a much, MUCH better investment than $2 million for 680 in Tampa. Granted, $2 mil is a starting point, and you can probably work them down to half of that (unless they're going with a take-it-or-leave-it mentality). But with the major players in town maxed out on ownership, it will be interesting to see how it plays out.

But consider this: Salem paid $9.5 million for 860 WGUL/Dunedin and 930 WLSS/Sarasota. WGUL is a 5000/2500 watt station, whereas WRMD is a 690/250 watt station. Salem would still like to put (force) its Cont. Chr. format into the market (even though the non-comm Cont. Chr. presence here makes that a non-necessity), but to do that Salem would need to get an FM station. But as Salem showed recently with its trade of WBOB Cincy and another station to get an AM in Detroit, it is willing to wheel and deal to get market presence, and I could see that company doing something similar here if it could get WRMD for the right price. Put something like Sporting News Radio on as temporary filler programming until a deal could be worked...

 

[hustler]

> Okay I think adult standards would be easy, cheap, and fun.
> However 2 million is too much for this station. I will make
> a few calls and let you know what I sniff out. WHBO is a
> cool idea...What about standards all week, and a specialty
> car-show doo-wop "greasy gold" show on weekends from Biff
> Burger? Do they still do that crazyness? Again, cheap and
> fun..and a format that doesn't take itself too seriously..We
> could put listeners on as jocks and pick them up in a traded
> out limo for thier shifts..who would advertise on adult
> standards in Florida?

I like that idea. A lot. Maybe not the "listeners as jocks" idea, but get people willing to work on the very cheap for the thrill of it and have fun with it on weekend nights (Fri/Sat) as a specialty show. The WHBO calls, for nostalga sake, would work great. Biff Burger is still open to fun promotional type stuff, from my interactions with that establishment. And I'm sure they'd love the pub. With WRBQ doing the dance party stuff, plus no doo-wop stuff really existing anywhere else, it would make for some fun.

Now... who has the bankroll to make this happen? I wonder what it would cost to LMA the station with an option to buy for six months to see the financial feasability of it?

 

[Ivan]

I like the idea of a 50s and 60s station with Doo Wop Saturday nights. The previous idea of listener as DJ could work. Example: you could put recordings of listeners doing their own dedications. They could explain what memories their requested song gives them. You could have all kinds of memories, from tear-jerker of lost first loves in Viet Nam to good times on the Alafia River.

You could also have contests where the winner can sit in and help program the station for the air shift of their choice.

Unfortunately, I ran this by a potential financier (with no radio experience)and it was rejected. I hope somebody can pull it off.

Good luck.

 

[Oldiesgal]

> > I'd pay $2mil if they would throw in 1300, which I would
> > immediately take dark, unless it came with the land, in
> > which case I'd sell the land and then go dark.
> > AMs will never be worth more than they are right now, but
> > fewer AMs in the metro will mean each one becomes more
> > valuable and offsets that inevitable decline.
>
> The 104.1 FM signal in St. Louis sold for $20 million
> yesterday. Somehow I'd see that as a much, MUCH better
> investment than $2 million for 680 in Tampa. Granted, $2
> mil is a starting point, and you can probably work them down
> to half of that (unless they're going with a
> take-it-or-leave-it mentality). But with the major players
> in town maxed out on ownership, it will be interesting to
> see how it plays out.
>
> But consider this: Salem paid $9.5 million for 860
> WGUL/Dunedin and 930 WLSS/Sarasota. WGUL is a 5000/2500
> watt station, whereas WRMD is a 690/250 watt station. Salem
> would still like to put (force) its Cont. Chr. format into
> the market (even though the non-comm Cont. Chr. presence
> here makes that a non-necessity), but to do that Salem would
> need to get an FM station. But as Salem showed recently
> with its trade of WBOB Cincy and another station to get an
> AM in Detroit, it is willing to wheel and deal to get market
> presence, and I could see that company doing something
> similar here if it could get WRMD for the right price. Put
> something like Sporting News Radio on as temporary filler
> programming until a deal could be worked...

Tampa Bay need "the Fish" like a fish needs a bicycle! I consider every non-commercial save WMNF and WUSF a wasted frequency.
>

 

[flwfg]

I was listening to 680 last night around SR 64 and I 75.. and actually their signal was better than 930 (WLSS - Sarasota), 1220 (WIBQ - Sarasota) or even WWBA - 1040) No flutter or fading at all... don't know how far south that would extend, but.....

walt - bradenton