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Hot Springs AM daytimer

It was years ago when, I think WWES, was for sale. It had been on the air about 3 years but as I understand it the owner had died. It was for sale for $30,000 (around 1985).

The station was running a satellite delivered AC format. The rate card was not bad. They were asking about $2.50 to $3 a spot.

The station billing was in the $12,000 to $15,000 a year (not a typo).

The station plant included an apartment plus studio and office at the tower site.

Hot Springs is a tiny place but there's a good deal of money in that area. Highland and Bath Counties support a rather large weekly newspaper with a very good amount of advertising (out of Monterey).

This station followed WABH moving from Deerfield. The Deerfield station centered on Western Augusta, Bath and Highland Counties. From my understanding WABH did just fine financially even in a little place like Deerfield.

The AM frequency went away. I am unclear if Allegheny Mountain Radio in Frost, West Virginia had the AM before starting the FM currently in Hot Springs. Remember this is real close to the quiet zone you may have heard about.

Can anyone offer details on WWES in it's early days?

By the way, the only tidbit I heard is the station didn't have many advertisers. They used a cart machine to fill breaks. As was the case with satellite delivered formats, if you opted to take a commercial break it was usually 3 or 3.5 minutes (covered with a song if you don't take the break). The complaint I heard is a break was covered with the same sequence of commercials at least every hour (if not every break) for months on end.
 
I found additional notes on the above: the asking price was $45,000, not $30,000. Equipment included the satellite receiver and all the related equipment, a Collins board and 3 cart machines. The transmitter was an RCA BTA 1kw. 200 foot tower, no paint or lights. Grounds with building including office, studio and apartment leased for $300 a month on a 7 year lease.

Billing: 1983: $15,000; 1984: $12,000 and 1985: $12,000. Bath County population (then), 5,300.

Spot Rates; 1x weekly 60 sec. $6.95 30 sec. $4.55 15 sec, (minimum 10x) $3.20
100 spots monthly: 60 sec. $5.05 30 sec. $3.70 15 sec. $2.75
3 months; 5% discount; 6 months 10% 9 months 15% and 1 year 20% off above rates
Above rates are ROS. Fixed position, add 20%

Above information from 1986.

Corrects spot rates and station sale price and when it was for sale.

For grins, go to Google maps, go to satellite view. zoom in and drag the little person icon on the right and let go of the mouse when you have it over a blue line. From this point you can simulate driving through the area. Warm Springs is a lovely little place and I do like Deerfield (look for highway 629 east and slightly north of Warm Springs and follow it north to Deerfield. Do the virtual drive through Deerfield and realize it had a station until, I think, the early 1980s, when it moved to Churchville.

If it looks like nobody lives in this region and there's no money, look at The Recorder Online, the newspaper for Highland and Bath Counties. It is in Monterey, population 136, the county seat of Highland County, population 2,210. Scroll down the page to see their 'special sections' and all the ads in those special sections. The rate card is here: https://www.therecorderonline.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/2020-Rate-card-REV.pdf There's money in this area but it sure looks like a horrible place to do radio!
 
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