Radio Disney 1460 WDDY For Sale

[danikayser84]

http://variety.com/2013/biz/news/radio-disney-stations-up-for-sale-exclusive-1200491810/

Wonder who would buy 1460? I'd probably expect an ethnic (Spanish? maybe a Black broadcaster?) or religious (probably either Catholic or Jewish) broadcaster... maybe WAMC buys 1460 and unloads 1400? Empire Broadcasting?

 

[THE_KNICKMAN]

I don't think there is a large enough Jewish or Hispanic population to supports formats orientated to them, nor do I think WAMC would want it with the pending upgrade of the 93.1 translator. I do know that the owner of WHAZ "alive radio" would like to have a much better signal in the tri-cities area. Black orientated programming was on 1460 many years ago and got nowhere. Is there much interest in Catholic programming in the area? Not sure.

 

[cspence]

Is there much interest in Catholic programming in the area? Not sure.

I seem to remember when 1240 aired the praying of the rosary every morning. OTB owned the station at the time.

 

[DougBroda]

There's a large Catholic population, of course, throughout the region. I think there may be enough population for Spanish (growing population in the area, for sure), but it only has a fringe signal in Amsterdam (nearly 30% Hispanic per census, which I suspect is an undercount). There clearly is a large Black population, but it is seriously demographically split, moreso than in most markets. Of course, I'd guess the most likely is Christian religious.

 

[Interlocutor]

Whomever buys it can bring back an updated version of "The City Beat", an urban contemporary/pop/jazz hybrid that was ahead of it's time the first time they had on 1460, back in 1980. For instance, they played Rickie Lee Jones, Jeff Lorber Fusion, Spyro Gyra and many other artists. Do an 2000's version of this and actually do some promotion to make people aware of it, and watch would potentially could take off successfully. My theory is to put on something unique and really put some effort into a great presentation, and you'd have a shot at getting noticed. In other words, do some research and make a real effort for a change. There are stations throughout the country who fill a niche and get ratings. Some of radio's problems are self-inflicted, programming-wise.
Going with the same kind of stale, marginal, narrow casted thing won't generate enough interest,especially if it's done on the cheap, from the 'bird. We have enough of that stuff already. It serves no one and that might be why it's rejected.
This is one format idea, but others could also be tried; give the remaining listeners to radio more credit. We live in an area that favors AM terrain-wise and 1460's owners recently replaced all the ground radials; it has decent coverage, so signal isn't an issue.

Who wants any more WAMC redundancy ? Hasn't that guy got enough of an empire to keep himself busy ?

 

[JustPastBuffalo]

Trade reports indicate these properties have been "available" for years, with little if any interest. This is more of a reset. Disney paid $2 million for the 1460 signal, but very unlikely will get anywhere near that amount in this economy and era. The 1460 signal might make a nice upgrade for a cluster owner that has a weak sister AM. But these days, it's an uphill grind for a stand-alone AM to make an impact in a market with the characteristics of Albany.

 

[rtetro]

I'd be interested in knowing what condition their transmitter plant is in. When I did some contract work for them back in the late 70s while working at WPTR/WFLY, the WOKO plant was in pretty pathetic shape. The antenna system, in particular, was in very poor condition. I would hope someone's done some upgrades since then.

If the plant is in poor shape, I'm not sure I'd want to pay a lot for the station because it might take some big bucks to bring up to standard. If that were the case, with the limited income potential, it just may not be worth it.

All of that being said, the best option may be the one mentioned earlier in the thread: a station with a marginal signal might be able to use 1460 to upgrade its coverage.

 

[Interlocutor]

Rene,

Please read my prior post, which said "and 1460's owners recently replaced all the ground radials; it has decent coverage, so signal isn't an issue..."
I observed the complete replacement of the radial systems for all three antennas by an independent contractor, and I've checked out the coverage periodically in my travels throughout the capital district.(the site is on a major throughfare into Delmar)
1460 has one of the better signals,certainly on par with other stations of the same power level, despite being so high up on the band.
No observable transmitter issues have been noticed, e.g. distortion, signal dropping out on high level peaks, weak signal, etc. I think they had a Harris transmitter but when Disney took over, they may have gone with something newer.

Physical plant issues, if any, are minor compared to developing an effective format and actively supporting it and promoting it, so that people even know about it.

 

[Element9]

Whomever buys it can bring back an updated version of "The City Beat", an urban contemporary/pop/jazz hybrid that was ahead of it's time the first time they had on 1460, back in 1980. For instance, they played Rickie Lee Jones, Jeff Lorber Fusion, Spyro Gyra and many other artists. Do an 2000's version of this and actually do some promotion to make people aware of it, and watch would potentially could take off successfully. My theory is to put on something unique and really put some effort into a great presentation, and you'd have a shot at getting noticed.

Admirable. But music on AM is a risky if not impossible proposition, even if it's a clean, well modulated AM. Let's say the format does take hold and produces a 3 share. It wouldn't take long before a cluster owner that has a faltering FM adopts the format. Given the choice, listeners would move to the FM "because it sounds better." Listeners are notoriously fickle. I don't trust 'em for loyalty... and I'm one of 'em. The only formats that get ratings on AM are news, talk and sports. Each of these requires manpower and local content which cost money. Let's consider an Oldies-Standards format with local news 24/7 and live drives to replicate "the good old days." It wouldn't be long before the well ran dry on that, too. Radio is a bitch these days. Not because we don't love it, but because it isn't what it used to be. There are too many alternate sources of entertainment and information. If I had $500 thousand and could buy a signal, I wouldn't buy a stand alone AM. There are better ways to make money.

 

[GreenDigg]

I have heard that since there is no buyer and the station is not profitable, Disney will go silent in the next 30 days and lay off the tiny local staff.

 

[jry]

My sources tell me that there is a Catholic Radio operator that will be buying it.