KMCQ now 80's?

[radioguybroadcasting]

At one station I worked at, the cows were allowed to roam the site after the station purchased the land.... boy did it stink.. you also had to watch where you stepped.

Aaaah yes the good old days of taking the daily base current reading. Some of you don't know about base current readings....ask your station engineer. Also ask them about AM stereo and Quadrophonic FM....technology that went no where...like HD radio will end up

This wasn't the good ole days you think Im referring too... lol, this wa sjust 6 months ago.. went out to the AM/FM tower (AM Unipole on a tower with FM bays on it) to remove some FM bays laying on the ground that were zapped by lightning.

I came very close to stepping in some cow patties....lol

 

[mightymoose]

LOL!

 

[Bongwater]

LOL!

I actually DID step in cow patties while in Eastern WA! Bringing a can of cleaning wipes from Costco was MANDATORY!

 

[crainbebo]

Well the station ID is:
"You're listening to 104.5 FM. KMCQ, Covington. The greatest hits of the 60s and 70s.", so why would have 80's hits like Borderline on the station? In the future, this might suck: "You're listening to 104.5 FM, KMCQ, Covington. The greatest hits of the 70s and 80s."

-crainbebo

 

[radioguybroadcasting]

LOL!

I actually DID step in cow patties while in Eastern WA! Bringing a can of cleaning wipes from Costco was MANDATORY!

At one transmitter site I walked through, the second I saw an alligator, I ran in the other direction back towards the building.

the Chief Engineer once told me a story, "When the FCC inspectors came by and wanted to inspect the towers out back in the field where it's always wet and marshy, the female inspector told me to follow her.. i told her... Here are the keys, put on your boots and have fun, I aint going out there, but I'll be here when you get back"

 

[LITTLEBOYBLUE]

"When the FCC inspectors came ... Here are the keys, put on your boots and have fun, I aint going out there, but I'll be here when you get back"

I would have gone with "I'll be here IF you get back".
Inspection over.
Passed.

 

[radioguybroadcasting]

"When the FCC inspectors came ... Here are the keys, put on your boots and have fun, I aint going out there, but I'll be here when you get back"

I would have gone with "I'll be here IF you get back".
Inspection over.
Passed.

Oh, it was a given the station would recieve a visit from "The Cuban B*&ch" in The Tampa office once a year.. this group had less then a stellar history.


Im not sure she went out to the towers that day!

 

[Janet Wilson]

I have to admit I really liked KMCQ when they first came on because they played some songs NOONE plays anymore like "Moonlight Feels Right" by Starbuck. I knew the song but had to look up the group in my Joel Whitburn book, it was actually a big hit in the mid 70's.

I have always been a huge Doobie Brothers fan but KMCQ plays "What a Fool Believes" every 5 minutes or it seems like it and now I hate the song. They also have beaten "Margaritaville" to death. And they are playing a lot of 80's. So they started out with playing some forgotten gems and now are playing the same short playlist over and over. Their "voice guy" does sound like a puker. Makes me laugh that somewhere in American radio, DJ's still talk like that. I also don't remember the last time I lost an FM station when driving through the Mount Baker Tunnel, and reception at home is not good.

So who is programming the music and where is it actually coming from Covington? The Dalles? I mean is there an actual studio somewhere The Dalles? Some banking group trying to find a buyer? Good Luck!!

 

[KCRadionut]

OK, look carefully in the transmitter pixs (posted earlier) and you'll see two big eyeballs staring back, to the left of the shack, confirming the presence of cows.

K

 

[radioguybroadcasting]

I have to admit I really liked KMCQ when they first came on because they played some songs NOONE plays anymore like "Moonlight Feels Right" by Starbuck. I knew the song but had to look up the group in my Joel Whitburn book, it was actually a big hit in the mid 70's.

I have always been a huge Doobie Brothers fan but KMCQ plays "What a Fool Believes" every 5 minutes or it seems like it and now I hate the song. They also have beaten "Margaritaville" to death. And they are playing a lot of 80's. So they started out with playing some forgotten gems and now are playing the same short playlist over and over. Their "voice guy" does sound like a puker. Makes me laugh that somewhere in American radio, DJ's still talk like that. I also don't remember the last time I lost an FM station when driving through the Mount Baker Tunnel, and reception at home is not good.

So who is programming the music and where is it actually coming from Covington? The Dalles? I mean is there an actual studio somewhere The Dalles? Some banking group trying to find a buyer? Good Luck!!

If youve been paying attention to this thread, youd know that the owners, First Broadcasting, a bunch of investors, not bankers are trying to sell it and the will.

The studio is no longer in The Dalles.

 

[Janet Wilson]

Thanks, I will definitely go back and read through the entire thread. Don't get much time on the computer these days.

 

[LITTLEBOYBLUE]

I also heard the presence of "talent" yesterday. Well, one for two....first break was not recorded and computer gave it 5 seconds of silence before deciding to "move on....". Second break had a track...but left me comparing it with the benefits of the silent track.

With all this amazing talent being sidelined these days .... they could get SOMEONE to lay down tracks for the station and make it sound much more professional. I think in that whole buyer's market it's called CURB APPEAL. Not meant to be a slam on the Green River student or whomever is doing the tracks for them....but a new-bie doing daytime tracks in this market to me just lowers the value of the property ... or at least their advertisement of what the owners think it's worth.

 

[radioplayer]

With all this amazing talent being sidelined these days .... they could get SOMEONE to lay down tracks for the station and make it sound much more professional. I think in that whole buyer's market it's called CURB APPEAL. Not meant to be a slam on the Green River student or whomever is doing the tracks for them....but a new-bie doing daytime tracks in this market to me just lowers the value of the property ... or at least their advertisement of what the owners think it's worth.

LittleBoy, you sure got this one right! I'd only add this: before you go about "trying out talent", you really ought to get some big city PROCESSING in there....

This station is already scratchy in terms of real signal coverage in the metro core and the processing currently in use is just making things worse. The station sounds like something low budget, something that I'd expect to hear in eastern Wa or remote parts of Oregon. (where they just don't have 20K for a good Omnia or Orban)

Forget the talent!

The First Owners have got to put some new paint on this house if they ever hope to get a decent price from their potential buyer.....

 

[radioguybroadcasting]

With all this amazing talent being sidelined these days .... they could get SOMEONE to lay down tracks for the station and make it sound much more professional. I think in that whole buyer's market it's called CURB APPEAL. Not meant to be a slam on the Green River student or whomever is doing the tracks for them....but a new-bie doing daytime tracks in this market to me just lowers the value of the property ... or at least their advertisement of what the owners think it's worth.

LittleBoy, you sure got this one right! I'd only add this: before you go about "trying out talent", you really ought to get some big city PROCESSING in there....

This station is already scratchy in terms of real signal coverage in the metro core and the processing currently in use is just making things worse. The station sounds like something low budget, something that I'd expect to hear in eastern Wa or remote parts of Oregon. (where they just don't have 20K for a good Omnia or Orban)

Forget the talent!

The First Owners have got to put some new paint on this house if they ever hope to get a decent price from their potential buyer.....

I've said it all along and I'll say it again, they won't put any more money into the place.. they are going to do the bare minimum to keep it going.

Just think, the license alone in Covington is worth more then the whole station in The Dalles.. so they've already made their money back, guarenteed.

 

[mightymoose]

they are going to do the bare minimum to keep it going. Just think, the license alone in Covington is worth more then the whole station in The Dalles.. so they've already made their money back, guarenteed.

I agree the Covington license is more valuable and doing the minimum makes sense. I think someone used the term "curb appeal" in this thread and the owners could make this place look more attractive by installing some modest upgrades; talent, sweepers or bumpers and DAMN IT they could run a very few spots to cover the cost of fuel, tower space, etc.

 

[radioguybroadcasting]

they are going to do the bare minimum to keep it going. Just think, the license alone in Covington is worth more then the whole station in The Dalles.. so they've already made their money back, guarenteed.

I agree the Covington license is more valuable and doing the minimum makes sense. I think someone used the term "curb appeal" in this thread and the owners could make this place look more attractive by installing some modest upgrades; talent, sweepers or bumpers and DAMN IT they could run a very few spots to cover the cost of fuel, tower space, etc.

First Broadcasting invest in talent? NEVER! Have you ever traveled to FOrks, WA to listen to 96.7 or 1490? They are all off the satelitte.. First won't spend money on talent as that isn't an absolute necessity.

To run some spots, theyd have to hire a sales person.. and no one wants to work there if they arne't sure wether the enw owner would keep them on or not.

 

[mightymoose]

LOL! Forks, WA just isn't on my list of vacation destinations. Thought after Twilight hits the movie theaters they may have to build a Marriott or a Hilton to handle the influx of movie goers....

But I understand what you're saying. I guess First Broadcasting is just like the type of radio owner I always tried to avoid. The owner who simply wanted to "be" as opposed to the owner who wanted to "be the best". Hell, half the reason radio is in the fix it's in now is because of owners who just want to spend the tiniest amount possible on product while cluttering the airwaves with huge numbers of commercials.

 

[Steenman]

So the hits just keep rolling on at the mightly KMCQ, and conceivably the propane bills as well!

My question: what are the economic metrics of running a station at this (albeit "economic") level with zero revenue coming in the door to support it?

My conversation starter: The days of bankers (or anyone else for that matter) having "deep pockets", well, they just can't be as deep as they used to be, if they still have pockets at all! Looking at it today, these guys probably couldn't have picked a worse time to launch a station (from what I've read they ran out of time and didn't have a lot of choice).

So now what? Do you (a) hang onto the sucka, hope to move it to Cougar, Tiger or whereever or at least hope to get a better price in the future by waiting for better times, (b) take what you can get for it, turn some kind of profit and move on?

If it's "hang onto it, at least for now" can you do a six month or one year LMA with one of the station groups, to get some kind of revenue on the books, or do you hire a couple of people to go sell spots and hire one traffic person/billing person/every other kind of person to get them on the air? Yeah, even if it's a short term gig, there are lots of qualified people on the beach who might be in for year hoping THEIR career opportunities get better, as well. Good people who could add to the bottom line.

Hooking in with an existing group might also give you some needed promotional clout or exposure. Then again, it might make it harder to sell, to anyone else.

Coda: I just don't see how ANYONE in this economy can continue to just (literally) "burn money". Notwithstanding the insults and rediculous behaviors I've seen on some of the posts here recently, there really are some knowledgable folks that read and post to this board. I'm an ad guy, so help em understand the metrics here (and thanks in advance for keeping it courteous and professional).

 

[TVradioguru]

At the risk of becoming flypaper to you knows who, I'll comment on your questions:

First Media has had several of these applications and construction permits for move-ins all over the country for a while. There are other stations just like KMCQ waiting for a buyer.
First isn't going to market or sell the station or risk deflating the value. They would rather just put something generic on as a placeholder while their broker trolls. Whomever buys the station will essentially get a startup.

I'm sure First Media has the budget to keep the transmitter on and buy music from ITunes until a suitable sugar daddy makes them an offer.

 

[FMSteve]

First isn't going to market or sell the station or risk deflating the value. They would rather just put something generic on as a placeholder while their broker trolls. Whomever buys the station will essentially get a startup.

I'm sure First Media has the budget to keep the transmitter on and buy music from ITunes until a suitable sugar daddy makes them an offer.

Interesting post, Guru. My strong hunch is that this station is not yet sold because financing has all but dried up. I am not in that world of media financiers and Wall Street geeks, but based on some knowledge of this crazy business, any buyer is going to have to put a lot more money down, as private equity has pretty much disappeared.

I like the LMA or Sales Agreement idea, too.

And I think we've all but exhausted any upgrade of KMCQ to Cougar............except............if KAFE would agree to downgrade to a C2. Then KMCQ could move up to the big hill.