How much will 97.5 KFNC bring?

[Rad10]

It might be a shrewd deal. Then again, he's zero for two already. 1-Bad signal AM with sub-standard programming on a local level. 2- a third rate sports network which added absolutely no relative product quality to his station as proven by the lack of ratings growth as KGOW remains at a consistent .1 share with a very sad cume for its 5+ year history.

I don't know him, but it sounds like you do. It also sounds like he's a person with lots of money who wants to be in the radio business without the benefit of professional advice. Or he gets awful advice. Or maybe he gets correct, professional advice (I've been told he does) and he listens and ignores it. Either way, the shrewdness of the 97.5 signal deal will play itself out. As have his aquisitions of KGOW and the sports network. Hopefully he got Dave Tepper as part of the KFNC deal. If so, he has an excellent PD that can benefit the entire organization. Time will tell.

And those Missouri City signals at the Senior Road facility would never go for the $25-30 million range. More like $100 million and up.

It's always interesting to hear people talk who believe that they are the "smartest in the room". I agree with you on the 1560 signal. It did not shape up to be what it was talked up to be. A lot of money was spent to improve that signal but that wasn't really possible. The reliability is much better though. The Yahoo Sports Radio deal is not as bad as you all think. With a network, it's not about any one local market, it's about numbers of affilliates. That's getting better. It is now profitable. The KFNC deal is going to be a win. The price was very reasonable. It makes money now. That is only going to get better. So his move making is coming around. Tepper is going to help 1560 also. It takes time to get away from an image that a lot of people disliked.

 

[radiogooroo]

I wonder how ESPN feels about a competing network owner being the owner of their affiliate in Houston? I have to think if some other company offered them a better signal, or even an equivalent signal, they would drop 97.5 like a hot potato.

 

[WCJ]

Does KGOW "forget" to reduce their power at night? Often times they come in like gang busters in Orange County well into the night. Sometimes all day and at other times not listenable at all for a day or two, or are they having transmitter issues?

 

[johndavis]

Does KGOW "forget" to reduce their power at night?

I know that George set up the remote control to switch the transmitter sites automatically a few years ago, and I've always heard the day site carrier dump on time.

 

[TexasTuner]

Does KGOW "forget" to reduce their power at night? Often times they come in like gang busters in Orange County well into the night. Sometimes all day and at other times not listenable at all for a day or two, or are they having transmitter issues?

I can hear them very clearly (they stop on scan) when I'm driving in NE Oklahoma and SE Kansas around pattern change time. I'll be back up there on Thursday and will make a point to listen.

 

[Rad10]

Does KGOW "forget" to reduce their power at night? Often times they come in like gang busters in Orange County well into the night. Sometimes all day and at other times not listenable at all for a day or two, or are they having transmitter issues?

No, it is 22 kw at night. Very directional, so it will come in like gangbusters somewhere! Not great around Houston at night, but with skywave it has to sound good in far away places at night.

 

[Rad10]

I wonder how ESPN feels about a competing network owner being the owner of their affiliate in Houston? I have to think if some other company offered them a better signal, or even an equivalent signal, they would drop 97.5 like a hot potato.

They don't love it, but they don't hate it either. Really what "better" signal would go the route of sports talk radio in this market? ESPN love's this market and 97.5. They aren't going anywhere. Serious question though, why is it that everyone seems to be so negative when it comes to everything GOW? The man is just trying to do the best he can. Some are always fishing to get fails! I never come on this board and see someone saying something positive about a GOW product. Why?

 

[Mediafrog+]

No, it is 22 kw at night. Very directional, so it will come in like gangbusters somewhere! Not great around Houston at night, but with skywave it has to sound good in far away places at night.

Actually it's 15kw at night, in a very tight pattern to the SE. Center of the beam appears to be aimed right at Barranquilla, Colombia, continuing on past Manaus and Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, before exiting over the Atlantic Ocean. Anyone along that path who could null out co-channel interference might have a shot at hearing KGOW.

In a optimum/theoretical long-path skywave propagation situation, once the signal entered the Atlantic it wouldn't hit land again until it crossed Indonesia, heading into Vietnam and China. ;D

Some are always fishing to get fails! I never come on this board and see someone saying something positive about a GOW product. Why?

Much of the schadenfreude is a result of the arrogant and over-the-top attitude of the KGOW staff and fanboys in the early days, who arrogantly insisted that the station's programming and advertising models were the "future of radio." The often moronic "guy talk" content was an irritant as well. The failure in the ratings showed that the future isn't what it used to be.

Still, I wish Gow good luck with the FM acquisition. ESPN programming is a rational use of the signal, just as Air1 is a good fit for the 103.7 rimshot.

 

[radiogooroo]

They don't love it, but they don't hate it either. Really what "better" signal would go the route of sports talk radio in this market? ESPN love's this market and 97.5. They aren't going anywhere. Serious question though, why is it that everyone seems to be so negative when it comes to everything GOW? The man is just trying to do the best he can. Some are always fishing to get fails! I never come on this board and see someone saying something positive about a GOW product. Why?

My comment about ESPN potentially yanking the affiliation has a lot less to do with Gow and a lot more to do with ESPN. They aren't particularly affiliate friendly as it is. Their model seems to be to move everything they can in house and merely tolerate affiliates in situations where they can't. Knowing ESPN, it just seems to me that an affiliate who owns a competing network would be far less tolerable than one who doesn't.

If it weren't for ESPN's affinity for FM signals, I'd be wondering when ESPN Radio was going to replace Radio Disney on KMIC. It wouldn't surprise me in the least if ESPN leased or bought one of the other market rimshots and moved ESPN Radio there.

 

[johndavis]

In the meantime, some programming changes of note:

1. The Craig Shemon show is finally gone at YSR/1560. Craig certainly loved the sound of his own voice, but it was tough to listen to.

2. Travis Rodgers moves to middays on the network, with an 11-noon local hour on 1560. This puts him up against Rome for a couple of hours, which led to a sweet quote to All Access alluding to Rome not being the show it used to be. Ouch.

3. Peter Brown takes afternoons. I can't find any word on this being permanent or not.

4. While I haven't heard it on air yet, the website now redirects to yahoosportsradio1560.com and the branding on the site is now "Yahoo Sports Radio 1560." That's a bit of a mouthful.

 

[Mediafrog+]

4. While I haven't heard it on air yet, the website now redirects to yahoosportsradio1560.com and the branding on the site is now "Yahoo Sports Radio 1560." That's a bit of a mouthful.

For me, both the old and new URLs still work without a redirect, but go to the same site.

Perhaps a further indication that the AM will be the network while the local shows go to the FM?

 

[socalguy]

Finally, and thankfully, we have the answer to this post's original question: $5.175 million. But the deal isn't official until the paperwork is finalized and signed "by the end of the month." David Barron's got the story in his Chronicle blog this morning.

 

[Ryan Williams]

Finally, and thankfully, we have the answer to this post's original question: $5.175 million. But the deal isn't official until the paperwork is finalized and signed "by the end of the month." David Barron's got the story in his Chronicle blog this morning.

RadioInsight is reporting the price to be 5.05. Pretty close either way and almost exactly what we guessed. I think this will end up being a pretty sweet deal for Gow.

 

[socalguy]

It's a deal Gow had to make. 5 years, a lot of investor capital, and a .1 rating on 1560 proved he couldn't operate his way to success. Too many stations in the format. He had to consolidate and now he has his chance. This purchase is a potential game changer and makes a lot of sense. Congrats to David and his investors for pulling it off. Let's just hope the Beefy Boys don't screw it up. It's a whole other story however for the future of the network...where the opposite is happening.

 

[purpledevil]

It's a deal Gow had to make. 5 years, a lot of investor capital, and a .1 rating on 1560 proved he couldn't operate his way to success. Too many stations in the format. He had to consolidate and now he has his chance. This purchase is a potential game changer and makes a lot of sense. Congrats to David and his investors for pulling it off. Let's just hope the Beefy Boys don't screw it up. It's a whole other story however for the future of the network...where the opposite is happening.

So...is 97.5 becoming "The Game" now, since 1560 is dropping the moniker?

I just don't see how this is a shrewd move for anyone, and a game changer? Hardly. 1560 has been a nightmare since sign on. Has anyone given thought to David Gow going after the cheaply acquired 97.5 in order to dump 1560 altogether? Why would anyone with good business sense do that? Compete against yourself? If that were smart business, Vince McMahon would be running 3 different wrestling promotions right now. Bookmark it. 1560 will be for sale within a year.

 

[Nate Wesley]

I just don't see how this is a shrewd move for anyone, and a game changer? Hardly. 1560 has been a nightmare since sign on. Has anyone given thought to David Gow going after the cheaply acquired 97.5 in order to dump 1560 altogether? Why would anyone with good business sense do that? Compete against yourself? If that were smart business, Vince McMahon would be running 3 different wrestling promotions right now. Bookmark it. 1560 will be for sale within a year.

It's funny that you mention this example: IIRC, McMahon did have some plans to keep WCW going in some fashion after buying it from Time Warner, likely as an alternative, possibly kid-friendly product that didn't air at the same time as WWE's shows. Time Warner executives canceling all of WCW's TNT/TBS shows is probably what kiboshed those ideas.

 

[socalguy]

Say what you will about the content on 1560 (and I agree it's been a nightmare) there are too many sports stations going after the available audience and ad dollars. So either an operator buys one of the other stations and then controls half of the sports ad dollars instead of 1/4 or, as you suggest, the operator then sells off or flips formats on one of the stations. Either way, the market dynamic gets changed. As far as "competing" against oneself, it happens all the time. Is it really that far fetched to think Gow would sell the two stations in "combo"? To the advertisers it's one "buy"...a "2fer"...and considering how miniscule the ratings are for 1560, a combo buy might be their only source of hope.

One other factor probably affects Gow's plans...and that's the financial reality of having bought 1560 for $8 million and spent millions more in operating capital over the last 5 years. It's likely a few of his investor friends would someday like a return on their investment.

So, you're right to suggest one option is selling 1560 and it's also possible they'll combine forces with 97.5, at least for sales. My question is, will Gow's network survive to August 2013? I say no. Bookmark it.

 

[purpledevil]

socal, I didn't necessarily mean the content of the station is bad, although....

The nightmare I reference is the 50kW signal that isn't. Everywhere seems to get 1560 in this state, and Oklahoma, Illinois, Arkansas...except where it was designed to serve. The City of Houston. I've certainly seen and heard of combos and sales packages of 2 or more stations for ad purposes, but of the same format? It's sports reporting, no matter who's spin it is or what network delivers it. This is where I'd give the idea a total fail. A lot of money was spent on that rig...and it just isn't what it should be to me, or your typical listener. If I'm tolerating that much static coming from my speakers it better be from an AM in Kentucky that I'm DX'ing, not a 50/19kW rig from down the road in Bellaire.

You are spot on about the reality of his financial quandry with the station. An ROI there appears to be one that will never come to fruition. I certainly look forward to the both of us revisiting this in the next 6-12 months, as I believe we both see the "writing on the wall". Yahoo Sports will be absorbed by someone else, and 1560 will be speaking Urdu again.

 

[Rad10]

Much of the schadenfreude is a result of the arrogant and over-the-top attitude of the KGOW staff and fanboys in the early days, who arrogantly insisted that the station's programming and advertising models were the "future of radio." The often moronic "guy talk" content was an irritant as well. The failure in the ratings showed that the future isn't what it used to be.

Still, I wish Gow good luck with the FM acquisition. ESPN programming is a rational use of the signal, just as Air1 is a good fit for the 103.7 rimshot.

Those guys are gone. There are all new people there now. They are trying there best to overcome the negative image. It just seems that they can't get a break from folks like many of you here.

 

[jd]

The application for the sale has finally appeared on the FCC site. The lengthy asset purchase agreement confirms the sale price of $5.05M and, as expected, Gow has also signed a local marketing agreement that will run through the closing date of the sale. It goes into effect this Saturday, September 1st.