- East Carolina Radio's 98.1 WOBX-FM "98-1 The Score" has flipped from sports to AAA "98.1 The OBX", challenging JAM Media's longtime AAA-formatted WVOD "99.1 The Sound".
- The Score format replaces the news/talk format on WOBX 1530/103.3 (W277DO).
- JAM Media lost their tower lease for WCXL 104.1 "Beach 104", so that station has gone temporarily silent while its programming is now on WZPR 92.3, which was rock "Z92.3" before the change. JAM's country formatted "Big 94.5" WCMS went silent in March due to repairs required on their tower. JAM is in Chapter 7 bankruptcy and selling its four radio properties to Davis Media, which is now operating the properties via LMA.
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Radio Changes on the OBX
- Thread starter RadioDaze
- Start date
I was out that way yesterday. It’s pretty strange scanning by 104.1 and finding it silent. I don’t see how 99.1 WVOD is running at its full power. There is no signal in Swan Quarter/Engelhard area where it previously had a good signal.
98.1 was airing a Fox Sports Radio show when I passed by around 4pm. Is the AAA format already done?
98.1 was airing a Fox Sports Radio show when I passed by around 4pm. Is the AAA format already done?
No, they're not...and that deal was announced over a week ago as being off.
Didn’t know that.
Davis Media Walks Away From JAM Media Solutions Acquisition
Davis Media has walked away from its deal to acquire JAM Media Solutions' seven stations in the Outer Banks of
radioinsight.com
The stations themselves are obviously in awful condition and whoever buys them are going to have to spend a lot to get them back up to full operation.
Then how were they buying them out of out of Chapter 7 bankruptcy liquidation? The deal was on when I made the original post over a month ago.
And it's been so long. It'll almost be like starting the brands all over again. (Problem, among other things, is that it's not 1987 anymore. If it were, I'd be at Beach 95!)Didn’t know that.
Davis Media Walks Away From JAM Media Solutions Acquisition
Davis Media has walked away from its deal to acquire JAM Media Solutions' seven stations in the Outer Banks of
The stations themselves are obviously in awful condition and whoever buys them are going to have to spend a lot to get them back up to full operation.
Davis never took over operation. (Better to find out the various issues beforehand!)
Maybe if it’s just the license, no tower/format/studios a bit more than that. OBX and Panama City get pretty deserted from Nov-Feb. Panama City has more of a year-round population, but I’d argue the year-round folks in the Outer Banks are probably more “upwardly mobile”.
$650k for 4 stations, plus a standalone in Iowa isn’t bad if there’s stuff included. If it’s just the licenses/tower leases (sounds like both 94.5 and 104.1 may need new towers…they’re class C’s and can’t be co-located without a lot of paperwork), I’d expect to pay less than a shack off the beach in Nags Head.
If the two big stations in a beachfront tourist town need new towers, no way on Gods green earth I’d pay more than half the announced price for them…unless that standalone in Muscatine is really cleaning up in the ratings!
From what I have been told 94.5's tower lights have not worked for the better part of 5 years, the transmitter building needs work, and the transmission line was struck by lightning (which is why they are off the air). The tower itself is probably okay. 97.1 K-Love is on it too and they're still on the air.
I was just typing smack. But I am just talking the license and not physical property like towers, land or commercial property. The Panama City stations that "sold" and then folded and were "absorbed" were 2 50kwers and 2100kwers with no owned property or tower sites. EMF bought the best signal hoping they could get it's reach into Dothan, AL. That one sold for $420,000, but that included brokerage cost and after all things closing landed the actual station at just under $370,000. The other three stations were literally $60,000 each. With a $100k down. I originally put in a bid for the three of $300,000 and they sold for $325,000. PCB area has more listenable signals than LA or NYC. It's unreal. I recall quite a few signals in OBX. The cost of fixing all that needs to be fixed here sounds like at least $300,000. The real question is tower rental rates. PCB tower rates are insane for the number of ears that can hear. The cost of doing what needs to be done and just signing the stations on with all the expenses is the issue that makes deals impossible still. Everyone wants more than their fair share and there is little revenue to allow for that. You are probably right though. Someone will get sucked in at $500,000 and it will be a "good deal." Til its not. There have been about 100 different station owners along the FL Panhandle since the mid-80s. My favorite one are always the experts from bigger markets, with deep pockets and years of experience. One in particular was such an ass that when he called me trying to buy his station, I agreed to buy it if he would pay me $100,000 to buy it. He was willing to pay me $50k, but it was too late. His partner sold it to a scam artist for $250,000. Guess how many payments came in?
And be prepared to lose it. Especially true in seasonal tourist markets.
Good Lord! Rather than invest even $250K into a bunch of junk radio stations just send me the money. I'll put it to better use than failing/flailing radio stations in a seasonal tourist community.
Especially in these times, talk about a recipe for failure.
After the FCC revised its "rural radio" policy a few years ago, it's no longer possible to move a full-power signal into an urbanized area like Hampton Roads from a non-urbanized area like OBX. Plus there's the second-adjacent issue to WNVZ, which would block a full-power 104.1 from coming into the market.
There could have been a 103.7 back in the move-in era, but the spacing to Richmond would have been a challenge, among other problems.
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