KFNC to become a KSBJ Simulcast?

[rgradio]

Do you think is really happening? Especially since they just got bought by GOW and that they're the only ESPN affiliate in the region.

 

[rbrucecarter5]

Gosh I hope not! An NGEN station, now THAT would be great! ESPN and other sports belong on AM, where limited bandwidth isn't an issue.

 

[Mediafrog+]

Any credible source for this, or just wild speculation?

However keep an eye on Liberman. Their rimshots might go on the market if the money troubles continue.

A second signal for KSBJ would almost certainly carry NGEN.

 

[rgradio]

I'm really hoping it's some NGEN station targeting Beaumont. I know NGEN is trying to "go national" in the coming years. But sigh, all signs keep telling me that it's some KSBJ main simulcast targeting Beaumont.

 

[Ryan Williams]

I have no inside information and stranger things have happened, but this rumor doesn't pass the sniff test to me.

For starters, Gow just acquired 97.5 in August of 2012, less than a year ago, for $5,050,000. While I think we all know the deficiencies of the 97.5 signal in the western half of the market, it would be pretty hard to fail completely with the ESPN franchise in market 6 on FM in such a short amount of time, especially when he already had a sales team selling sports in the market on a sister station.

Also, KSBJ acquired 96.9 in El Campo early last year for $2,100,000. That's a sizable purchase for them. While I suspect they have the means to borrow $5 million, I am skeptical they have the willingness to do so. 97.5 doesn't cover much new territory in the Houston market for them outside of the Clear Lake and Galveston areas. They would pick up coverage in Beaumont and Port Arthur, but that's an awful lot of money just to reach those areas with the KSBJ format (I would think 105.3 in Winnie would make a much cost-effective purchase to reach the "Golden Triangle").

I'm even more doubtful about a $5 million dollar purchase to install the more limited appeal NGEN format (I know you will disagree with the appeal part, rbrucecarter5). It's also not a secret that younger listeners are both less likely to make charitable contributions and have less financial ability to do so.

If Gow were to sell 97.5 it would almost certainly be for an amount in the same ballpark he paid for it. The lenders are not going to take a huge haircut on such a new loan.

Not to hedge, but it is worth point out that KSBJ paid more than a $1,000,000 for 92.5 in Navasota back in 2007 or 2008, which is a very rich price for the signal.

 

[rgradio]

I have no inside information and stranger things have happened, but this rumor doesn't pass the sniff test to me.

For starters, Gow just acquired 97.5 in August of 2012, less than a year ago, for $5,050,000. While I think we all know the deficiencies of the 97.5 signal in the western half of the market, it would be pretty hard to fail completely with the ESPN franchise in market 6 on FM in such a short amount of time, especially when he already had a sales team selling sports in the market on a sister station.

Also, KSBJ acquired 96.9 in El Campo early last year for $2,100,000. That's a sizable purchase for them. While I suspect they have the means to borrow $5 million, I am skeptical they have the willingness to do so. 97.5 doesn't cover much new territory in the Houston market for them outside of the Clear Lake and Galveston areas. They would pick up coverage in Beaumont and Port Arthur, but that's an awful lot of money just to reach those areas with the KSBJ format (I would think 105.3 in Winnie would make a much cost-effective purchase to reach the "Golden Triangle").

I'm even more doubtful about a $5 million dollar purchase to install the more limited appeal NGEN format (I know you will disagree with the appeal part, rbrucecarter5). It's also not a secret that younger listeners are both less likely to make charitable contributions and have less financial ability to do so.

If Gow were to sell 97.5 it would almost certainly be for an amount in the same ballpark he paid for it. The lenders are not going to take a huge haircut on such a new loan.

Not to hedge, but it is worth point out that KSBJ paid more than a $1,000,000 for 92.5 in Navasota back in 2007 or 2008, which is a very rich price for the signal.

You are right on the money with the $$$$ purchases that both GOW and KSBJ had to make. Which would make this rumor unlikely. However the facts that have keeping this rumor alive is the ratings of KFNC are horrible and GOW isn't happy about them, KSBJ is trying to find a signal for the Beaumont-Port Arthur area ("Golden Triangle") and is NGEN going national.

 

[stan]

They could be considering using KFNC-HD2 for NGEN, since I now have a HD radio in my car

And who doesn't have a HD radio these days?

 

[rbrucecarter5]

They could be considering using KFNC-HD2 for NGEN, since I now have a HD radio in my car

And who doesn't have a HD radio these days?

Sarcasm noted ---- but a grain of truth with NGEN, oldies, smooth jazz, etc only available on HD-2. I probably wouldn't have put HD in my car if the formats on the main signals didn't suck in Houston.

If KSBJ were to buy 97.5, I'd see them putting their main format on 97.5 and putting NGEN on 89.3, for the simple fact that the 97.5 signal is slightly better than 89.3.

 

[purpledevil]

You are right on the money with the $$$$ purchases that both GOW and KSBJ had to make. Which would make this rumor unlikely. However the facts that have keeping this rumor alive is the ratings of KFNC are horrible and GOW isn't happy about them, KSBJ is trying to find a signal for the Beaumont-Port Arthur area ("Golden Triangle") and is NGEN going national.

I can't find anything about this anywhere. I'd bet this is bravo sierra with my last dime.

 

[rbrucecarter5]

I agree. Bovine Excretion. KSBJ needs a signal in North and Northwest Harris county for NGEN, to cover the Woodlands, Tomball, Cypress, Jersey Village, etc. Especially with the grand parkway opening to 290 in December, growth on that side of town will be explosive. These are affluent areas, full of young professionals who will likely support NGEN in preference to KSBJ. They are more likely to try to squeeze in a translator than they are to buy a stick that essentially matches the coverage of Air-1.

 

[rgradio]

You are right on the money with the $$$$ purchases that both GOW and KSBJ had to make. Which would make this rumor unlikely. However the facts that have keeping this rumor alive is the ratings of KFNC are horrible and GOW isn't happy about them, KSBJ is trying to find a signal for the Beaumont-Port Arthur area ("Golden Triangle") and is NGEN going national.

I can't find anything about this anywhere. I'd bet this is bravo sierra with my last dime.

NGEN Going National: http://mikemcguff.blogspot.com/2013/02/ksbj-taking-ngen-national.html

KFNCs' ratings: http://ratings.****************/cgi-bin/rol.exe/arb033 (they're 4th to last)

 

[johndavis]

I would expect a station owner who is unhappy with the performance of their new acquisition to fix the programming before I would expect them to just unload the signal.

I would also suggest that they put a limiter somewhere inline to keep the board ops from clipping the hell out of the mics during their live shows or teach the board ops how to read the meters. It's really hard for me to listen to KFNC when every other word is distorted.

Also, keep in mind that sports outbills its numbers. After all, KILT-AM has a 0.8 to KFNC's 0.5 and KBME's 0.7, so it's not like any of them have huge numbers. The real numbers that count are on the balance sheet.

As for whether sports belongs on FM or not... it does, and KFNC will not be the last to do it in this market. Watch.

 

[metroneck]

The distortion is from thinning out the signal to reach deeper into Houston. Nothing to do with ops. I worked on KFNC processing when Cumulus flipped it to ESPN. They wanted into Houston so bad, they didn't care if their drink was watered down. If you thicken it back up, you'll lose Sugarland/Katy etc, but you'll also lose the distortion.

 

[rbrucecarter5]

The distortion is from thinning out the signal to reach deeper into Houston. Nothing to do with ops. I worked on KFNC processing when Cumulus flipped it to ESPN. They wanted into Houston so bad, they didn't care if their drink was watered down. If you thicken it back up, you'll lose Sugarland/Katy etc, but you'll also lose the distortion.

If a sports or talk FM wants to maximize their signal - drop HD, drop RDS, SCA, blind reading, even drop stereo to put every ounce of deviation into the mono. Coverage will absolutely improve.

 

[metroneck]

The distortion is from thinning out the signal to reach deeper into Houston. Nothing to do with ops. I worked on KFNC processing when Cumulus flipped it to ESPN. They wanted into Houston so bad, they didn't care if their drink was watered down. If you thicken it back up, you'll lose Sugarland/Katy etc, but you'll also lose the distortion.

If a sports or talk FM wants to maximize their signal - drop HD, drop RDS, SCA, blind reading, even drop stereo to put every ounce of deviation into the mono. Coverage will absolutely improve.

I agree, but when I initially set it up, we were stero, but all other options turned off for your exact reasoning. Don't know how its set today

 

[rgradio]

I would expect a station owner who is unhappy with the performance of their new acquisition to fix the programming before I would expect them to just unload the signal.

I think they sort of did that by putting The Blitz on during Drive Time. It hasn't been working.

 

[Ryan Williams]

If a sports or talk FM wants to maximize their signal - drop HD, drop RDS, SCA, blind reading, even drop stereo to put every ounce of deviation into the mono. Coverage will absolutely improve.

Isn't KFNC mono today?

 

[Kent]

KFNCs' ratings: http://ratings.****************/cgi-bin/rol.exe/arb033 (they're 4th to last)

Keep in mind that, while you can certainly lose money doing sports talk, you don't need ratings to sell it. So, KFNC could be doing much better financially than you might think.

 

[purpledevil]

NGEN Going National: http://mikemcguff.blogspot.com/2013/02/ksbj-taking-ngen-national.html

KFNCs' ratings: http://ratings.****************/cgi-bin/rol.exe/arb033 (they're 4th to last)

Great links, but I'm still not making the association. Nowhere in the article is there a mention of a potential buy of KFNC by KSBJ for NGEN. We all know KFNC's current ratings are abysmal, that's just common knowledge. Are you assuming since KFNC's ratings are in the toilet and KSBJ is going national with NGEN that the writing is on the wall? To tell you the truth, the only signal I'm aware of that KSBJ has shown any interest in purchasing whatsoever was KPTY, and there hasn't been any movement one way or another on that front in awhile.

 

[notmenoti]

They could be considering using KFNC-HD2 for NGEN, since I now have a HD radio in my car

And who doesn't have a HD radio these days?

Sarcasm noted ---- but a grain of truth with NGEN, oldies, smooth jazz, etc only available on HD-2. I probably wouldn't have put HD in my car if the formats on the main signals didn't suck in Houston.

I've considered getting an HD radio to try out at the house, just see how it would go. I've got XM in the car because I agree with you about the formats on Houston's main signals.