They were at 100kw from Hollywood, MN when Blue Chip bought them and were at 96.3. The signal went forever (you could pick them up in Iowa and they had a good signal in St Cloud as well!). But the problem was, it was so far west that you could barely pick it up in St Paul and the east Metro. Radio One left it there, but when Pohlads bought the station, someone convinced them the reason they couldn’t crack a 3 share 12+ was St Paul, so they downgraded and moved closer to the core metro.
-
Get involved.
We want your input!
Apply for Membership and join the conversations about everything related to broadcasting.
After we receive your registration, a moderator will review it. After your registration is approved, you will be permitted to post.
If you use a disposable or false email address, your registration will be rejected.
After your membership is approved, please take a minute to tell us a little bit about yourself.
https://www.radiodiscussions.com/forums/introduce-yourself.1088/
Thanks in advance and have fun!
RadioDiscussions Administrators
KQGO KZGO Sold to EMF
- Thread starter TheBigA
- Start date
That’s still most likely cheaper than most commercial stations, especially smaller groups like Go. And none of that is required when breaking into a new market.
I don’t mean to imply they don’t invest in what they do, clearly their financials show they do, and from what I’ve heard they invest quite a bit in making sure their broadcast equipment is best in class. But when you run hundreds of signals with such a small airstaff, 2 office buildings, etc. it’s much easier to make your money back on a signal (and then free that capital up for more purchases).
When you benefit from years of tax exemptions and local studio waivers (before that requirement was removed) it certainly doesn't hurt the budget. Plus streaming rates and music royalties are lower for nonprofits.
Sure, that's part of it, and gave them a solid footing early on. But the other aspect is, operating debt free. When you spend a good amount of money on interest, that is all money that can't be reinvested in the business. By making sure they kept debt low or non-existent, they ensured they could keep growing.
Yes, it would take $$$$$$$ to pay out those owners, if they're interested.
This is the same reason 105's never got better coverage, the corporations were not going to spend the $$$$$$ to make the difference.
Either way, my take is, the signal is not going to improve much if any, it came to late to the game.
I'm surprised that Entercom or Hubbard broadcasting didn't purchase KZGO and KQGO. I know iHeartMedia and Cumulus are maxed out in the Twin Cities since Cumulus Love 105 counts as 3 stations instead of 1 in the Twin Cities. When EMF starts taken over KZGO and KQGO you will have these full market commercial signal format hole. (CHR-Rhythmic/Urban, Alternative, Mainstream AC, Classic Hip-Hop, Regional Mexican, Spanish Contemporary, etc).
Besides Twin-Cities like Boston, Atlanta, and Pittsburgh doesn't have lots of full FM marketwide signal coverage. Twin-Cities could have more FM signals in the market. I could think of moving 98.5 to 98.7 and put 97.9 in the Twin Cities by moving 98.1 from St. Cloud MN. Move 101.3 KDWB, 102.1 KEEY, 102.9 KMNB, move .2 mHz down and move 104.1 KZJK and move up .2 mHz to add 103.5 into Minneapolis and move 105.3 to 105.5 and 105.7 to 105.9 and 106.1 to 106.3 and make 105.1 and 105.9 a full wide market signal coverage.
Besides Twin-Cities like Boston, Atlanta, and Pittsburgh doesn't have lots of full FM marketwide signal coverage. Twin-Cities could have more FM signals in the market. I could think of moving 98.5 to 98.7 and put 97.9 in the Twin Cities by moving 98.1 from St. Cloud MN. Move 101.3 KDWB, 102.1 KEEY, 102.9 KMNB, move .2 mHz down and move 104.1 KZJK and move up .2 mHz to add 103.5 into Minneapolis and move 105.3 to 105.5 and 105.7 to 105.9 and 106.1 to 106.3 and make 105.1 and 105.9 a full wide market signal coverage.
That thought was mentioned much earlier in this thread, and in post 36, someone said the stations have been "on the market for some time." You would think a commercial broadcaster would be interested in a full market signal in NYC or DC, but they also ended up going to EMF. Part of it is that EMF offers a price that is based on potential audience rather than cash flow. So perhaps Hubbard made an offer that was lower than EMF.
I’m sure the signal is worth more to EMF too, since they operate on donations instead of commercials.
Commercial revenue is down, and I’m sure there is also little appetite to take on more debt too. Could also be a situation where Hubbard is waiting for Entercom to exit the market to get better signals.
They now own more signals than iHeartMedia. Now, this counts all those translators too, but nonetheless shows the shear power of the organization. And the way they are growing (little or no debt last I checked) means it will just continue to grow, as they are the only company that can afford to pay more than any other owner.
The way the groups grew in the 90's and early 2000's, is now starting to come back to bite them. Combine that with an ever shrinking piece of the revenue pie due to competition from other platforms (with more measurable results) and radio will really need to "reinvent" themselves. The thing is, I don't know how you do that. I USED to think that live and local mattered, but after seeing ratings go UP in markets where Entercom cut most or all of the "local" programming makes me rethink that.
What makes the "Go" situation more heartbreaking is that they WERE live and local, and very engaged with the community they served. But the stations never served the purpose that the owners saw for it (an FM home for the Twins) due to a limited signal. Frankly, I am surprised they stuck with it so long after the Twins went back to WCCO in 2017. The Pohlads invested a TON of money into that venture, and frankly, took a huge loss in the sale (to the tune of almost $35 million dollars). What surprises me is that EMF doesn't seem excited to take over programming through an LMA. The stations are going to sound more and more "stale" since they seemingly let everyone go. The stream for 96.3 seems to have gone down today, I wonder if they have anyone that knows how to get it back up, or if it will stay down indefinitely.
I sense it wasn't by choice.
The websites for both stations have all but disappeared, with Facebook and Twitter being the only complete links left. I tried to bring up 96.3's website on my phone and it showed "Domain expired". Is the station still on the air locally?
Www.goradiomn.com still loads for me. The 95.3 stream is still up but the stream for 96.3 was down as of yesterday.
The FM stations are still on the air. What is strange is you still sometimes hear prerecorded bits (music intros) featuring the talent that used to work there.
What about the various other stations you'd be affecting? KWNG, WEVR, et al.
Yeah...that’s not going to happen.
Does anyone on this board know if the sale of the Go Media stations includes the signal for Praise Live! that is broadcast on 96.3 HD2? I realize this is a EMF competitor, so I am wondering how likely it is that the signal remains there or must it find a new home? Also, I noticed yesterday that Salem now has a Fish Minneapolis online only format, and in Dallas they are experimenting with a Latino Fish channel on a KLTY HD sub-channel. There could exist the possibility that at least one of these channels could end up on an HD channel and on one of the signals that EMF is currently using.
The sale includes all HD subchannels, but not the programming. Its future depends on the terms of the lease.
Salem has had an online Fish station for years targeted at Minneapolis. Salem is also a competitor to EMF, so I doubt that would happen.
Praise being on the HD2 channel was part of the sale agreement for 95.3, and I have no idea how long that lasts, or if it even lasts at all after the sale. They also lease the HD3 channel out. I would imagine as soon as EMF is able to get out of those lease agreements, they will, as they have other formats they wish to grow on their HD subchannels (two new streams launched on Friday).
Nobody has any idea what they will do with their existing translators. Will they lease them to iHeartRadio? Sell them? Put programming on them from their online streams? I do doubt they would lease or sell them to a competitor.
Looks like the online stream for GO 95.3 is down now as well. Both FM stations are still on air for the time being at least. Very sad to see these stations go. They influenced a lot of my music taste, even if I usually listen to KXXR nowadays.
Does anybody on this board know when the sale will be completed and the station's final day of broadcasting will be, or where to find out once it is finalized?
Does anybody on this board know when the sale will be completed and the station's final day of broadcasting will be, or where to find out once it is finalized?
- Status