Pulse is dying

[nd2023]

I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but this article is saying that 87.7 is almost certain to be sold as soon as the end of the month.

http://news.****************/cgi-bin/rol.exe/headline_id=b11809

Creditors Threaten Mega Media's Pulse 87/New York

Mega Media Group's Rhythmic WNYZ-LP (Pulse 87)/New York, which asked for listener's assistance in raising cash a couple of weeks back, could be doomed for foreclosure. Reportedly, WNYZ's owners, Island Broadcasting, have lost confidence in Mega and are convinced the station will not be able to recover and pay off debt, and have decided to sell.

Island CEO Dick Bogner has give Mega until the end of August before creditors close down the station, despite its ten-year lease on the facility. (08-06-09)

 

[cheffo200]

I guess it's going back to Russian Dance music.

 

[d21ofnj]

Get out them mp3 recorders or those casettes and keep a piece of one of the greatest dance stations in NYC. If you feel real adventurous, adapt a transmitter and pop it at Brooklyn, Newark, or Paterson and broadcast dance music that way, because that's the only way dance will get exposed on the FM dial, thanks to the minds of our beloved radio owners who can't spare a dial for a different format but have no problem duplicating the same sound on the air. And to think, I really wanted to be in the business, but not only radio did layoffs and syndications, but....I was "proud" to become a Connecticut School of Broadcasting graduate, as was stated on the audition script.

 

[TonySantiago]

Not shocked at all by this announcement. I knew this.

All I can say is to enjoy the station for as long as you can. And to see it on a positive, I AM glad for the existence for Pulse because it DID get dance music fans together to listen to a brand of music that has been missing for quite a while on the New York dial.

Considering the fact that 750,000 listeners (based on their last cume) tuned in via WORD OF MOUTH, since there was no advertising whatsoever regarding the station, that is impressive. And I'll say this for the 54,230,102nd time here that if the station was above 92 with a regular signal, the station would be in the Top 5 of the market.

Nick, I am planning on something when the last day occurs (that is if there is no one out there that could "save" the station and keep the format intact). I can't tell you what it is now because the last thing I need to see is another post here on the NY area regarding Pulse and causing even more hostilities to those that would love nothing more than to see this station fail.

I will be the one to create that post. Nick, all I can say is..you gotta trust me on this and allow for me to do what I have to do.

Thank you.

 

[instigator]

The sad thing is dance music will suffer because it will be said,"See dance music as a format doesn't work." It was doomed from the start ..people do not go below 92 on the dial often...I'm sure the station would have had more success if it was on above 92. Plus the advertising and promotion dollars were not there. It really hancuffed Pulse from making an impact. Not to mention people that may have stumbled upon pulse by accident and may have kept listening if it had a better single and dial position.

 

[d21ofnj]

The sad thing is dance music will suffer because it will be said,"See dance music as a format doesn't work." It was doomed from the start ..people do not go below 92 on the dial often...I'm sure the station would have had more success if it was on above 92. Plus the advertising and promotion dollars were not there. It really hancuffed Pulse from making an impact. Not to mention people that may have stumbled upon pulse by accident and may have kept listening if it had a better single and dial position.

Let's not forget the dial is also on pirate radio territory, with the increase of power 87.9 is using, Pulse is even more cut out in Jersey. I can pull Pulse fine on I-80 from Parsippany, but ever since 87.9 can be heard all the way to Dover, I can only get Pulse from Wayne.

 

[nd2023]

Pirate radio territory is the entire FM band in Newark and Brooklyn. The pirates outnumber the legal stations.

I would rather have Pulse 87 go jockless and keep playing dance than go off the air for good.
Pulse 87 is basically in a hospice. It is going to die eventually, unless someone bails them out completely. Looking at their income statement, their total debt is way too high even for all 750,000 listeners to bail them out. It's not easy to get 750,000 people to lend $10 each.
The problem is not the format, it's the mismanagement that prevailed in the company even before Pulse launched. Mega Media was millions of dollars in debt on February 11, 2008. If it started with a clean slate on that day, Pulse would be very profitable today. It's similar to how when you make only the minimum payments on your credit cards, you'll never get out of debt, you'll only be paying interest.
Our only hope is that if Island Broadcasting sells WNYZ, the new owners will agree to lease it to Mega Media. But it's doubtful that will happen, unless the new owners are committed to dance.
The most similar station to Pulse 87 is KNGY, a commercial dance station in a major market. I guess I'll have to listen to that once Pulse 87 dies.

 

[theedger]

Why do you have to choose FM streaming stations as your only alternative. There are many professionally run internet-only dance stations that can fill the void.

 

[nd2023]

I like the localism of terrestrial stations. Even if it's not my location. And I like the presentation of commercial stations, including the commercials. You don't get that with Internet radio. I was just saying that Energy 92.7 is the most similar sounding station to Pulse 87.

I'm thinking of starting an Internet station using the playlist and imaging of Pulse 87 to "keep it alive" and to have an instant fanbase at the start. Nothing can replace the real thing though.

 

[TonySantiago]

Why do you have to choose FM streaming stations as your only alternative. There are many professionally run internet-only dance stations that can fill the void.

And once Pulse plays it's last dance track until some company out there can realize the potential of dance here, then the Internet is the way to go. Totally agree.

 

[2Son]

Pirate radio territory is the entire FM band in Newark and Brooklyn. The pirates outnumber the legal stations.

I would rather have Pulse 87 go jockless and keep playing dance than go off the air for good.
Pulse 87 is basically in a hospice. It is going to die eventually, unless someone bails them out completely. Looking at their income statement, their total debt is way too high even for all 750,000 listeners to bail them out. It's not easy to get 750,000 people to lend $10 each.
The problem is not the format, it's the mismanagement that prevailed in the company even before Pulse launched. Mega Media was millions of dollars in debt on February 11, 2008. If it started with a clean slate on that day, Pulse would be very profitable today. It's similar to how when you make only the minimum payments on your credit cards, you'll never get out of debt, you'll only be paying interest.
Our only hope is that if Island Broadcasting sells WNYZ, the new owners will agree to lease it to Mega Media. But it's doubtful that will happen, unless the new owners are committed to dance.
The most similar station to Pulse 87 is KNGY, a commercial dance station in a major market. I guess I'll have to listen to that once Pulse 87 dies.

It is such a shame that stations like KNGY (and KNRJ for that matter while it existed for its 6.5 years) do/did not get the credit due to them for not only providing an outlet for dance artists to have their music heard, but for having longevity and having/had responsible management. I truly believe that dance radio will succeed and CAN with/without a prominent dance station in NYC. After all, it is the "average American" that needs to be convinced that dance music is something worth listening to. Most people could care less whether or not NYC has a great dance music station as there is actually life outside of that city and those who live within that city are generally more concerned about what happens in that city vs. the rest of our country. I say let's educate the "average listener" about dance music. That's a priority. Contrary to some people's popular beliefs, not everyone is concerned about following the trends that happen in NYC. .

 

[theedger]

I like the localism of terrestrial stations. Even if it's not my location. And I like the presentation of commercial stations, including the commercials. You don't get that with Internet radio. I was just saying that Energy 92.7 is the most similar sounding station to Pulse 87.

I'm thinking of starting an Internet station using the playlist and imaging of Pulse 87 to "keep it alive" and to have an instant fanbase at the start. Nothing can replace the real thing though.

So it has nothing to do with the music. Just the localized presentation with stream inserted commercials and imaging. The station I work for in Portland does not have the same commercials on the stream that is heard on the radio.

When I was younger, I loved to listen to out of market stations over local ones just to hear something perceived 'bigger' than it really was. That novelty goes away. With so many professionally run internet stations now, it's raised the bar of what quality dance music is. Something that FM dance stations in the States have yet to grasp. You don't need to have a remixed TI song to get listeners. Good presentation with good music will grow the P1's. Sidenote - I was talking with a co-worker at Clear Channel about joining Energy 98. He listened to us over the weekend along with his teenage daughter. He told me that we're his daughters favorite station now. She had never listened to us before. A few days later, he reports to me that her friends love it too. They didn't care about presentation...only the music.

Radio geeks want cool sweepers and a larger than life presentation. Listeners today want good music. They go where they can find it. FM replaced AM, satellite tried to replace FM and failed. Internet radio is succeeding. Web-based radio is the only delivery system showing growth.

We're living in a great time for inovation. I don't need to record my station anymore to listen to it on the road. Driving to the airport, Energy 98 was blasting in the car live. I got on the shuttle bus, put on my headphones and still listening to the station. Standing in line to check in my bag...still listening. Having a quick meal before boarding...chewing at 124 bpm. Walking around the Philadelphia airport...yup still there. We were treated to another internet station on the drive to Atlantic City. The driver switched to XM for a few minutes and the sound quality was of a 48k stream. I commented "Who would pay for that?" because it sounded like poo poo.

Good luck to Pulse. Some dance on FM is better than no dance on FM in America's number one city.

 

[nd2023]

So it has nothing to do with the music. Just the localized presentation with stream inserted commercials and imaging. The station I work for in Portland does not have the same commercials on the stream that is heard on the radio.

The Pulse 87 stream is 100% of what's over the air, including every commercial and even EAS tests.

 

[socamex26]

So it has nothing to do with the music. Just the localized presentation with stream inserted commercials and imaging. The station I work for in Portland does not have the same commercials on the stream that is heard on the radio.

The Pulse 87 stream is 100% of what's over the air, including every commercial and even EAS tests.

I was looking at their ratings. They have 1.0 share and the cume is over 800,000. It seems like they are growing. I guess its not enough money for them to survive. But it looks like KTU is kicking ass. They are in 3rd place and bill over 5.5 million.

 

[limin]

Okay maybe Alex Swartz(sp) should really put his money and invested something that is more stable. I am assuming every have seen Megamedia Group promotional video about their social networking website and as well as their full state of the art production studio and as well as Pulse 87. It is bullshit! They are out of their mind. During this tough economical situation, no one has the balls than Megamedia Group but it is what they lack. Too much ego and too much investment in the wrong projects.

 

[nd2023]

If you don't already know by now, the Mega Media Group has filed for bankruptcy under Chapter 11 with over 3.5 million in debt. That's $3.5 million, too much debt to be paid for by donations. When I was in Atlantic City, I was looking at some slot machines with a jackpot of 2 million dollars, and I was thinking to myself that not even the jackpot can pay off Mega Media's debt. The stock price is at a fifth of a cent and dropping, the symbol now ends with a Q.

We can only hope that this will allow Mega Media to work out a deal to pay Island Broadcasting over a longer term. So far, I don't believe anyone has been running to Island Broadcasting with $15 million in hand.

 

[TonySantiago]

Nick,

You are a good guy but I will ask this nicely......

STOP IT. Seriously.

For the 1,502,326th time, get off the Mega Media bandwagon. Please. You are not helping us, or our situation, if all you see is that aspect of things and continue to harp on it when in all reality, it's a "dead horse", regarding that company, being beaten over and over again. If and when we lose Pulse, then we all move on. In my life, I've been through this THREE TIMES (the loss of 92/KTU, the loss of Hot 103/97, the format tweak of 103.5/KTU). It may take a while but we'll get something once this occurs. However this time around if we don't, at least you have iPods and Internet streams. Look at countdowns and purchase tracks like that.

It's not the "end of the world" if Pulse goes and Mega Media, as a businesss, shutters.

I had to say it.....for your own good, man.

 

[instigator]

Tony don't discourage Nick he's the only person that sounds remotely like you on the board. you guys have been the official cheerleaders for Pulse forever. Maybe you guys could wear signs at the Dj expo that say "Will work for Pulse" or you guys could forget to shave for a day or two wear some old clothes and sit in front of an open guitar case that is labeled pulse...Seriously guys alot of us love dance music..there are alternatives..Pulse was great but its over. Try BPM or Z889 or one of the many internet stations.

 

[CHRles]

I think that just b/c Mega Media is going under doesn't mean Pulse 87 should die as well. Just as Energy 92.7 San Franciso got bought out by another company the same should happen in NYC. After all, Pulse is climbing (slowly but surely) in the ratings, and I see no reason why the station can't file for a power increase. Either that or move the Pulse format to another frequency above the 92 position.

 

[nd2023]

I think what Tony was saying to me was that I am focusing only on Mega Media and Pulse 87's survival, not on dance music as a whole. If Mega Media doesn't survive and Pulse 87 goes off the air, in this day and age, it doesn't represent the end of dance music. The company is being mismanaged, and it is not the radio station that's forcing it into bankruptcy, it's the mismanagement at the top. For example, trying to expand into 3 other markets when they could see that they would not have the capital to do so.
Tony's trying to get dance music on a bigger stage than just the audio of a low power Channel 6. I had been harping on just keeping it where it is, and not thinking ahead. But what Pulse 87 represented to me was the dance music we love, plus the localism to make it relevant to this area. You're not going to hear a 24/7 dance station on the Internet targeted to New York City, let alone have live jocks most of the day.
So, with that, I will stop beating the dead horse back to life. I will accept that Pulse 87's days are numbered, whether it's gone by the end of this month or by December.