If you could, would you buy...

[Surfer]

...WGST! If so, what would you pay for it and what would you do with it? Be serious please. I'm interested in the responses, NOT THE OBVIOUS COMEDIC REFERENCES. Thanks.

 

[jabba17]

I think that any AM without a proper night signal is going to struggle. Maybe not back in the day when most of metro ATL was ITP.

 

[mr. positive]

i would buy WGST and turn it very local - not atlanta, but maybe lawrenceville and be strictly local, with gwinnett/ne georgia news, weather, traffic and local talk show hosts. if you can attract an audience, with the only english-speaking station in gwinnett proper - an area with a million people - you'd be good.

 

[taylorengineer]

I would do game show radio.
You would need some creative people - but not expensive people - who could come up with(every day!)clever ways to game out cash and promotional giveaways - kind of like the "Let's Make a Deal" of the radio airwaves.
Sorry corporate radio......can't do this one with a NexGen computer.
Would a radio station with actual people really work?
Probably not.......

 

[fussbudget]

If I could, I would not. There are better investments out there than AM radio stations with signal issues. If I did purchase it, at a fire sale, I agree with Mr. Positive. Local, local, local. For nearly 90 years WGST identified with the community it served. Now, it is just a repeater for the same programming you can hear anywhere in the country. I would also have a strong internet presence and an FM simulcast.

 

[TheRealOtherNeil]

I would buy WGST and turn it into a condo. At least some moeny would be coming in, plus it's an ideal location.

 

[jabba17]

Y'all bring up an interesting idea. Why not take an "Atlanta" AM station, one with a night signal that could cover a county if not the whole metro, and move it out to the suburbs to provide a local coverage alternative?

Then again, the obvious counterpoint is why hasn't anyone made WFOM a "Cobb County local" station. No move needed there...the heritage, day/night signal, and all the other pieces are there. Maybe an idea for the Dickeys.

Similarly, WPLO (610, not 590) served that role in Gwinnett before they went Latino (and apparently has had greater success in having done so).

 

[Goat Rodeo Cowboy]

i would buy WGST and turn it very local - not atlanta, but maybe lawrenceville and be strictly local, with gwinnett/ne georgia news, weather, traffic and local talk show hosts. if you can attract an audience, with the only english-speaking station in gwinnett proper - an area with a million people - you'd be good.

Am I missing something? Are the coverage maps in Radio Locator wrong? WGST is located WEST of downtown Atlanta. It doesn't look like the night time coverage would reach Gwinnett County... even when the wind is blowing the right direction! ;D

 

[trusty]

i would buy WGST and turn it very local - not atlanta, but maybe lawrenceville and be strictly local, with gwinnett/ne georgia news, weather, traffic and local talk show hosts. if you can attract an audience, with the only english-speaking station in gwinnett proper - an area with a million people - you'd be good.

Am I missing something? Are the coverage maps in Radio Locator wrong? WGST is located WEST of downtown Atlanta. It doesn't look like the night time coverage would reach Gwinnett County... even when the wind is blowing the right direction! ;D

I believe he's talking about moving the xmtr & towers (remember title of thread) while keeping them in the market. Of course, if money were no object, then invest in local PROGRAMMING (imagine that). Make it 24 hr. news: national and area news during the day / national and city (urban & midtown) news during the night. Gain respectability in all neighborhoods. Promote heritage heavily and be proud of it. Promote Atlanta heavily and be proud of it. Concentrate on service - and be proud of it.

I could go on....