Depends on what you mean by "desirable." KRTY was #1 in the latest book. It will be replaced with a format that will never be #1 in the market. There is no market where EMF is #1. So this is basically the hijacking of a frequency from a format that had a large audience and actively served its community by a company that will instead force a religious ideology from a centralized distribution point with no local community service. This is very different from what happened to Beautiful Music or even oldies. Because all of the other frequencies are spoken for, there is no chance for market adjustment. As I said, this is the hijacking of a successful format and frequency. EMF has done that in several cities, including Washington DC.
-
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
KRTY-FM Los Gatos has been sold
- Thread starter Frequency1
- Start date
Depends on what you mean by "desirable." KRTY was #1 in the latest book. It will be replaced with a format that will never be #1 in the market. There is no market where EMF is #1. So this is basically the hijacking of a frequency from a format that had a large audience and actively served its community by a company that will instead force a religious ideology from a centralized distribution point with no local community service. This is very different from what happened to Beautiful Music or even oldies. Because all of the other frequencies are spoken for, there is no chance for market adjustment. As I said, this is the hijacking of a successful format and frequency. EMF has done that in several cities, including Washington DC.
Here is an interview with KRTY GM Nate Deacon, who explains the situation in detail:
radioink.com
Radio stations are licensed to serve the community. The FCC places numerous requirements on these stations to prove that they do that. Yet a non-profit can come in, buy that license, and all of a sudden can play under completely different rules. This is why I call this a hijacking.
The End of a Very Successful Era is Coming - Radio Ink
It's unknown exactly when San Jose country station KRTY-FM will flip formats now that EMF will become the new owner. Until that day the station will continue to provide live and local programming to the community like it has since 1990. We spoke to GM Nate Deaton about the station. Deaton has...
radioink.com
Radio stations are licensed to serve the community. The FCC places numerous requirements on these stations to prove that they do that. Yet a non-profit can come in, buy that license, and all of a sudden can play under completely different rules. This is why I call this a hijacking.
Again, tax the leeches who are preying on the weak-minded through manipulation of folk tales, superstitions and writings of dubious provenance and EMF will shrivel up and die.Here is an interview with KRTY GM Nate Deacon, who explains the situation in detail:
The End of a Very Successful Era is Coming - Radio Ink
It's unknown exactly when San Jose country station KRTY-FM will flip formats now that EMF will become the new owner. Until that day the station will continue to provide live and local programming to the community like it has since 1990. We spoke to GM Nate Deaton about the station. Deaton has...
Radio stations are licensed to serve the community. The FCC places numerous requirements on these stations to prove that they do that. Yet a non-profit can come in, buy that license, and all of a sudden can play under completely different rules. This is why I call this a hijacking.
Unfortunately it's politically impossible to propose taxing a church or a religious group. Especially now.
But there's no reason why we can't SHAME them into feeling bad about this. As I said, EMF played the vulture, watching as the owner died, and hoped for this station to be bought by the employees. When they couldn't come up with the money in two years (during a worldwide pandemic) they swoop in and get an FM for a lowball price. Certainly, the estate should have been more understanding, but to swoop in and take this license away from these people is a shameful thing. They're doing things that are expedient for the estate, but not in the best interests of the community that is supposed to be served.
Nobody, but nobody, is trusting the January and February numbers in any PPM market due to the huge decrease in panel due to the pandemic and the inability of Nielsen to get replacement meters from Asia.
Normally, the station is around 7th or 8th in 25-54 in the San Jose book. Advertisers see they can buy a variety of stations from SF that have similar demos and are higher rated. That is the issue with the embedded San Jose market: advertisers don't buy it separately and they "get" it via buys on SF stations.
And, in any case, no agency buys 10 deep in a market where most total listening is given to the larger market. They buy the larger market.
San Jose is ranked 38th in population, but 101 in revenue. Buys in markets outside the top 25 seldom go more than a couple of stations deep, and if most of the audience goes to the total market the embedded one gets nothing.
The San Jose FMs get an average of around 18% of the listening in that county/embedded market. It's not worth the effort for buyers to consider it and 38th in population puts it out of Top 10 market buys, to 20, top 25 buys. There is not a lot of "national" business in such a small market.
Or, perhaps, applaud those who believe in the family and social values in the faith that EMF expounds and consider that, perhaps, that is what is lacking today in a society with increasing crime, disintegration of families and even physical aggression on live national TV.
You see, we have different perspectives as to what is beneficial to society. And since this nation has free speech and was founded on the principals of religion (I said "principles of" and not just "on"), I'm allowed to disagree with you. But, on the other hand, I don't want to take any steps to take away your rights to your personal beliefs.
Country music also believes in family and social values. Most of the KRTY listeners like the values, just not the music. They don't want to be preached at. In this case, EMF is taking away a group's values and replacing it with their own because they can.
Okay, but anyone else with money could have bought it. I doubt EMF was Bob Kieve’s estate’s dream deal.
As we’ve covered here in eight pages, a San Jose signal that doesn’t cover the entire Bay Area metro and isn’t programming a format with a significant Bay Area 25-54 appeal is a tough sell.
What’s the solution? Breaking up the market so that San Jose stations have a fighting chance at ad revenue? Banishing non-comms to 91.9 or lower on the dial?
This is where we are right now. We have a world in which a decent rating in a city of a million-plus isn’t enough and very few buyers with better ideas.
You're exactly right. I guess the estate had a time limit, and EMF had the ready cash, so they win. That's a lousy way to do business.
As the articles I've linked state, the staff was trying to raise the money, but the pandemic hit. They needed an extra year.
I get the sense that Nate Deacon is doing all this press so someone else with ready cash can try to get the station away from EMF.
Those are good questions, and I don't think either are going to happen. I'd like to require non-coms to stay in their space. I think that's fair since the opposite isn't allowed by law. So commercial stations can't operate in the lower half, but they can flip stations in the upper half. Seems like something's wrong there, but the precedent has been set, so it's not changing.
We're just screwed. EMF has an unlimited amount of cash and they'll keep buying until they've reached their quota.
That's a good proposal (i.e. no new licensed non comms above 91.9 MHz). Existing ones, of course, should be grandfathered. Exceptions could also be made for mainly rural areas.
I, for one, do think San Jose should be an autonomous radio market from San Francisco - Oakland in much the same way Baltimore is autonomous from D.C. Heck, even Green Bay and Appleton, WI are separate! Might be too late for such a change to do any good, sadly.
EMF putting its programming on 95.3 will mainly cannibalize its other signals in the region, which is one reason why they are paying such a cheap price for KRTY. They paid much more for WAAF and the former WPZR (Detroit).
I, for one, do think San Jose should be an autonomous radio market from San Francisco - Oakland in much the same way Baltimore is autonomous from D.C. Heck, even Green Bay and Appleton, WI are separate! Might be too late for such a change to do any good, sadly.
EMF putting its programming on 95.3 will mainly cannibalize its other signals in the region, which is one reason why they are paying such a cheap price for KRTY. They paid much more for WAAF and the former WPZR (Detroit).
Last edited:
However, this was no different than the restaurant that served typical Greek family food that had to close when the later generations of local Greek immigrants no longer wanted to congregate at the community eatery. It time was past.
The format that works in Amarillo no longer does in San Jose due to the changing way ads are bought and the different demos of the market.
The issue here is what advertisers do: in a mid-30's ranked market, they spend like it was Green Bay.
I suspect that, like Orange County nearly 30 years ago, the San Jose book may end with fewer and fewer subscribers available.
Not a good analogy. The immigrants were still coming to the eatery, but the building it was in got sold out from under them and the family was thrown out. The product was still in high demand.
This has nothing to do with the community or customers. Their interests were ignored. All we have is a willing seller and willing buyer. No one else matters. It's unfair to the community that has lost another locally owned business.
The better analogy---and we see it all the time here in California---is the still-popular restaurant that loses its lease, or can't pay the new market rate, which was triple the old deal.
That's an interesting comparison. D.C. and Baltimore are actually a bit closer geographically to each other than San Francisco and San Jose---40 miles vs. 50---and similar in population---600,000-ish each. How does the separate market situation works in D.C./Baltimore but not SF/San Jose?
The station had been plummeting in revenue for the last 10 years. In terms of real dollars, inflation adjusted, it was billing less than 20% of its Y2K level.
I disagree. Nobody wanted to pay for a limited Class A signal that only covers about 50% of its home county in a market that is considered more than ever by advertisers to be part of San Francisco.
The fact that no group, large or small, came forward following the owner's passing indicates that no group wanted the station as they realized how disadvantageous its location, its signal and its market character have become.
"DavidEduardo, post: 6480136, member: 64380"]
The station had been plummeting in revenue for the last 10 years. In terms of real dollars, inflation adjusted, it was billing less than 20% of its Y2K level.
[/QUOTE]
That was not why EMF got the station. The GM was meeting payroll and expenses even with lower revenues.
Not true. The employees were trying to raise the money from the listeners. Unfortunately the pandemic hit. They needed extra time, and EMF had ready cash.
The station had been plummeting in revenue for the last 10 years. In terms of real dollars, inflation adjusted, it was billing less than 20% of its Y2K level.
[/QUOTE]
That was not why EMF got the station. The GM was meeting payroll and expenses even with lower revenues.
Not true. The employees were trying to raise the money from the listeners. Unfortunately the pandemic hit. They needed extra time, and EMF had ready cash.
But there are no DC ratings and no Baltimore ratings. There is a Metro Survey area called Baltimore and one called Washington, DC.
The City of Baltimore is only 20% of the Baltimore MSA. And the District of Columbia is only 12% of the Washington, DC, market.
Both markets have significant stations, going back to the pre-FM era. Very little listening to the stations of either market ever occurred in the other.
But at that level and due to the decline in total market revenue going back two decades it is obvious that nobody else wanted the station. That is the only possible explanation for the low price... less than the 2020 gross revenue.
The keyword here is "trying". Obviously, they could not justify the purchase to any lender or they would have done the deal themselves.
But if they could not come up with that low amount in nearly three years, it is unlikely they ever would. No broadcast lender today would talk about debt for that facility with a limited signal and a format that was in gradual decline due to declining interested listeners in the market.
Pandemic or not, that station could not have gotten an interested lender.
Last edited:
- Status