K.M. Richards
Program Director, The Eighties Channel™
Presuming EMF does as they always do, which is change the station's status to non-commercial, they are not allowed to lease HD subchannels for commercial programming.
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K-Love Acquires B93.3 & FM102.1
- Thread starter lanceventa
- Start date
Presuming EMF does as they always do, which is change the station's status to non-commercial, they are not allowed to lease HD subchannels for commercial programming.
K-Love’s engineers can’t touch anything until the sale closes.
It could just be MRA's engineers doing their own oft-delayed maintenance. Seems like they've had plenty of technical issues this year, including the HD signal being wonky, Fonz only airing the left channel, RDS glitches (often, the only thing showing is an ad for a lawyer), etc.
The on-air staff of the stations have done a great job holding it all together over the past year. But it seems like many other things there have been severely neglected. For instance, why launch a country format on two translators, and do nothing to promote it?
K.M. Richards
Program Director, The Eighties Channel™
That doesn't preclude them working with the existing engineers beforehand to put any new equipment in place.
Heres the thing i dont understand... why is so much hate/dislike expressed for EMF and never the sellers?
Let me be clear, i love ...and work in local radio. i support it, i encourage it. But from an industry/business stand apoint, I'm ok with EMF/Klove/Air1 because they pay their people well, take care of things, keep their plants in good shape and operate legally. They meet the standards to be a licensee.
Also, no one is holding a gun to their head to buy. I was told by a former Klove engineer that its often the sellers or the sellers broker who approaches EMF with the pitch to buy... and theyve turned down offers to buy before. They havent sold many signals outright to someone they haven't done business with, but its happened. They donated a signal in Mississippi to another religious broadcast er, because i was once told "Its one of the biggest mistakes we ever made"
They have a very well used formula to figure out if its worth buying.. pop count, expected donations, etc
And whos to say... if someone local or regional bought these stations that t heyd keep the same staff and formats.
Where is the dislike/hate for the seller?
If you needed to sell and you knew EMF might want it, and they had cash and they wouldnt dick you over like some sellers.. wouldnt you consider it? I bet you would.
I know how iconic WAAF and WLUM are/were...... and whos to say if another local buyer bought the boston or milwaukee area signal, they could've kept the vibe going regardless of what they did.
Im guilty, especially early on of looking at things through a radio geeks rose colored glasses. I've since been able to work for some good owners and understand the business side of things.. something i think we could all stand to think about.
Again, I HATE when local radio disappears.. I truly do. But How do we know someone else local didnt make an offer that wasnt accepted or no one local could afford what they knew the price to be?
Let me be clear, i love ...and work in local radio. i support it, i encourage it. But from an industry/business stand apoint, I'm ok with EMF/Klove/Air1 because they pay their people well, take care of things, keep their plants in good shape and operate legally. They meet the standards to be a licensee.
Also, no one is holding a gun to their head to buy. I was told by a former Klove engineer that its often the sellers or the sellers broker who approaches EMF with the pitch to buy... and theyve turned down offers to buy before. They havent sold many signals outright to someone they haven't done business with, but its happened. They donated a signal in Mississippi to another religious broadcast er, because i was once told "Its one of the biggest mistakes we ever made"
They have a very well used formula to figure out if its worth buying.. pop count, expected donations, etc
And whos to say... if someone local or regional bought these stations that t heyd keep the same staff and formats.
Where is the dislike/hate for the seller?
If you needed to sell and you knew EMF might want it, and they had cash and they wouldnt dick you over like some sellers.. wouldnt you consider it? I bet you would.
I know how iconic WAAF and WLUM are/were...... and whos to say if another local buyer bought the boston or milwaukee area signal, they could've kept the vibe going regardless of what they did.
Im guilty, especially early on of looking at things through a radio geeks rose colored glasses. I've since been able to work for some good owners and understand the business side of things.. something i think we could all stand to think about.
Again, I HATE when local radio disappears.. I truly do. But How do we know someone else local didnt make an offer that wasnt accepted or no one local could afford what they knew the price to be?
That's the danger of that kind of thing. It's also why some locals might shy away from stepping into the situation. The "hate" you talk about has to do with change. Any new owner is going to want to make some changes, even if they keep the format. We're seeing that at WMEX Boston, which is now adding Notre Dame sports to the weekends. Obviously the sports will bring in new money. But it's a break in the oldies format the station has been using.
What really needs to happen is for these locally owned stations to have a plan. This was basically an estate sale. The estate is looking to get the most from this asset to share with the family. A great example of having a plan happened in San Jose, where the owner's estate sold KRTY to K-love, and the money was given to the management of the station to fund an online version of the heritage broadcast station. All of the local staff was retained, and they've been operating this way for 2-3 years. That might have been a way to handle this, although the Times-Shamrock part of the alliance wouldn't be interested.
The other approach is something we see in public radio, where a group of listeners forms a "friends" group. They gather socially, raise money, and are prepared to step in if the owner has financial issues. In some cases, the friends group becomes the operator of the station, and has a lot to do with retaining the format. What I'm talking about is more activism on the part of radio users. That's really the only way to keep this from happening.
K.M. Richards
Program Director, The Eighties Channel™
Nice explanation, A, but it still doesn't eliminate my own personal feelings that EMF has gotten too big, they got there because they gamed the system early on (and still do, to a degree, by continuing to ply their listeners for donations, which creates that pile of cash that makes them unbeatable) and have created a playing field in terms of acquisitions that is far from balanced.
I will continue to be opposed to them until either I die, or they do.
I will continue to be opposed to them until either I die, or they do.
My point is that fans of other genres need to develop a strategy. Waiting around for rich local music fans to buy radio stations isn't a strategy.
Otherwise the religious bulldozer will continue unabated.
K.M. Richards
Program Director, The Eighties Channel™
That, I totally agree with. It continues to amaze me how people think posting their dissatisfaction about programming changes somehow think posting here will cause some "white knight" to come in and save "their" station. (Or that the station management will read their posts and decide they have made a mistake.)
That said, if I were the gambling type, I'd buy a few Powerball tickets for tomorrow's drawing. Who knows how many stations I could save from EMF with that jackpot now just under one billion dollars?
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But, why? Because they got there first? Because you disagree with their ideology?
There's nothing that stops you (or anyone) from starting a not-for-profit, raising a bunch of money, buying some radio stations, raising more money from people who like your programming, buying more radio stations, etc., etc...
I'm not a K-Love fan, but rules are rules.
That's a good point - some of the most well run stations on the market are Christian broadcasters. And it's not fair to dunk on them. Their platform makes people happy, feel good, and it generates revenue.
I really think the future of the industry is not supported by traditional ad revenue. The majority of ad spend today goes to Google and Meta, not radio and television. Station owners need to diversify their revenue streams. I realize this is easier said than done, but station owners really need some combination of listener donations, underwriting, brokered time, and maybe even investor relations. No one model will work on its own. It needs to be a blend. Civic Media is an interesting local example.
I really think the future of the industry is not supported by traditional ad revenue. The majority of ad spend today goes to Google and Meta, not radio and television. Station owners need to diversify their revenue streams. I realize this is easier said than done, but station owners really need some combination of listener donations, underwriting, brokered time, and maybe even investor relations. No one model will work on its own. It needs to be a blend. Civic Media is an interesting local example.
What about digital???
As far as listener donations, that may only be the answer for the alternative format. If I'm a now unemployed staffer at WLUM, I'd be talking to the non-coms in the area. Perhaps make some kind of deal of providing guidance to students while adding a level of professionalism to their stations. The future of this format (not the industry) is in non-com radio. That will take more work than people think, because it means creating a product that inspires enough passion to make people pay to hear it. That means more than just a good playlist.
The only non-com, besides NPR affiliates, religious stations and WMSE, which is an eclectic community station run by a technical college, is WYMS (Radio Milwaukee). The format is a typical non-com AAA. WLUM's former morning guy just started working there. That would be the closest in format in Milwaukee. They'll probably pick up listeners from 102.1.
Another option is probably Saga or Audacy. They're not changing their full-power stations (WRXS would be the only possibility, unless Saga is content with oldies), but they own decent translators. Better than nothing.
I think part of the frustration stems from the fact most of us, many of us who might even be connected enough to people who in theory could buy a station, don't know until these deals are announced. We aren't all in active communication with brokers. So it's feeling that they may not have shopped it around that feels worse when EMF buys something - and yes, that's an emotion but it's part of people's reaction to things unexpected.
As to WLUM's format moving elsewhere on a non-comm basis, I don't see the demand. Between WMSE and WYMS, there's just not a lot of room for what was, ultimately, a pretty commercially formatted mix of hit alternative. Those who want to dive deeper have better options and I don't see why a music enthusiast would choose to support what was on 102.1 over WYMS. A lot of the commercial alt personalities are much happier playing a wider list in AAA/indie non-comm if the opportunity presents itself.
I was on Air 1 earlier this afternoon and a Milwaukee caller came on and talked with Ashton (midday jock). He praised God for Air1 coming to Milwaukee. That they needed a worship station on the radio badly and his $10/month helped get the ball rolling for K-LOVE to purchase 102.1.
I really enjoy the Worship music on Air1 especially when I drive to church on Sunday morning. But if I lived in the Milwaukee metro, I'd be giving to 102.5 The Family. That's a Wisconsin-only Christian Contemporary network that cares greatly about spreading the hope of Jesus throughout the Badger State. No matter how many pastors K-LOVE employs and how many people work at the call center praying for people...I will continue to support LOCAL/REGIONAL Christian radio. LOCAL Christian stations should not be a dying breed! Look at how many major markets have no CCM outlet outside of the satellite mothership that is K-LOVE. No local voices, no local people going out and about shaking hands at concerts or local events, no local meetups (like the Latte Da that KTSY Boise does, where the morning host goes to a coffee shop once a month for a ladies meetup), etc. etc. That's Christian radio at its best. I can't support a network that puts on a glitzy million-dollar awards show for TBN.
K.M. Richards and I are on the same page.
I really enjoy the Worship music on Air1 especially when I drive to church on Sunday morning. But if I lived in the Milwaukee metro, I'd be giving to 102.5 The Family. That's a Wisconsin-only Christian Contemporary network that cares greatly about spreading the hope of Jesus throughout the Badger State. No matter how many pastors K-LOVE employs and how many people work at the call center praying for people...I will continue to support LOCAL/REGIONAL Christian radio. LOCAL Christian stations should not be a dying breed! Look at how many major markets have no CCM outlet outside of the satellite mothership that is K-LOVE. No local voices, no local people going out and about shaking hands at concerts or local events, no local meetups (like the Latte Da that KTSY Boise does, where the morning host goes to a coffee shop once a month for a ladies meetup), etc. etc. That's Christian radio at its best. I can't support a network that puts on a glitzy million-dollar awards show for TBN.
K.M. Richards and I are on the same page.
From my personal perspective, there's no hate for the seller(s). In this day and age I completely understand. Get what you can before it's worth nothing at all. Almost the same goes for shopping malls these days (although those days are *really* over for most markets). But imagine for a moment your listeners. Think about how much you once loved radio (in your case SomeRadioGuy, I know that you still do). Take away decades of listeners being able to tune in day after day and year after year to hear their favorite music and personalities. Take all of the business equation out of it!! Do you still not understand the dislike & hate?! Imagine your little station (SomeRadioGuy) being ripped out from under your feet, and then take that times thousands.
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