My bet is KVI goes Spanish.
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Sinclair selling KOMO, KVI & KPLZ
- Thread starter DN14224
- Start date
If a percentage of that 10% listens, you end up with a sellable number. It's a format Lotus knows.
Wow - $18 million for the whole shabang, but given the exclusion of the KOMO branding (and potentially other IP as well?), the price tag makes more sense.
Maybe All News moves to 101.5 FM under a new name?
Would be quite surprising to me if KOMO were to be disgracefully killed and if KVI were to survive.
I do agree that at least one of the acquired signals will move to Spanish language programming.
Very interesting times, to say the least.
Maybe All News moves to 101.5 FM under a new name?
Would be quite surprising to me if KOMO were to be disgracefully killed and if KVI were to survive.
I do agree that at least one of the acquired signals will move to Spanish language programming.
Very interesting times, to say the least.
Exactly. Going back to another thread; if I could own 7-10% of a market population?? Complete no-brainer. Not many major market music stations can make that claim.
The poorly run rim shot stations wouldn't be a factor either. A well programmed Espanol full-market signal would lay waste to those stations.
It's similar to what happened last week in Boston.
First, "it" is not a format Lotus knows. Spanish is a language, not a format. Lotus succeeds with Regional Mexican, and that is, of course, the best option in Seattle.
Then, Spanish language share are generally around 50% of the total Hispanic population, as many Hispanics are second generation and later and don't listen to Spanish language radio at all.
In mostly later generation Hispanic markets, like ABQ and San Antonio, Spanish language station cumes are less than 20% of the Hispanic population.
Then, no format gets all Hispanics, any more than any format gets all "Americans". Figure the best performing station in Seattle with a full FM signal might get into the low to mid 2 share range with occasional peaks as high as maybe a 2.8.
That will be enough to sell, though, as "Hispanic" is a separate budget for most national and regional accounts.
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Which would be slightly above what they are now, usually in the high 1's to mid 2's. I kind of wish we had Yakima ratings, because I'm sure La Gran D dominates (or is in the top 5), with 45% of the county being Hispanics, many farmworkers, and many Lower Valley towns hit 80% Hispanic population like Wapato and Mabton.
The main issue with 97.7 is that it doesn't cover the Seattle metropolitan area effectively (one giant strike against it), and it would still be extremely difficult to market that station to the Olympia market with limited resources to go around in the south sound. They could put Spanish language programming on 97.7, but that wouldn't be as effective at giving Bustos Media a run for their money as a station that covers the market. 97.7 feels an odd ball asset with no real way to make it super profitable.
Bottom line this was a long time coming as Sinclair is not a radio company. Surprised they hung on so long. The buyer is mostly a spanish language radio owner. Put two and two together and atleast one of their acquisitions will go that direction. I double down it will be KVI. Strong regional 5k signal. 101.5 is a great frequency though I doubt Lotus would put Spanish there due to what David said about demographics.
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Even if Sinclair isn't in the radio business, I wonder if there would have been any advantage in Sinclair holding onto 101.5 for KOMO newsradio on the FM band. Again, this is radio, but they already had the resources to support that operation with content sharing from KOMO TV. Either way, it will be interesting to see how Lotus approaches newsradio (if they actually go that route).
What is the advantage of owning a tower and transmitter when they can put that same audio on the digital subchannel that they already own?
Sinclair Readies ATSC 3.0 Simulcast of Seattle Radio Stations
The broadcaster’s rollout of OTA-delivered ATSC 3.0 radio simulcasts advances its automotive strategy
www.tvtechnology.com
They own the brand KOMO, and if you want to hear KOMO, it's on their digital channel.
That seems just about useless when it comes to in-vehicle listening (for right now, at least). Hopefully there is an end-game where automative manufactures make compatible radios for this technology.What is the advantage of owning a tower and transmitter when they can put that same audio on the digital subchannel that they already own?
Sinclair Readies ATSC 3.0 Simulcast of Seattle Radio Stations
The broadcaster’s rollout of OTA-delivered ATSC 3.0 radio simulcasts advances its automotive strategy
They own the brand KOMO, and if you want to hear KOMO, it's on their digital channel.
Lotus has as many English language stations as Spanish ones, and does well with them.
While 570 might make a secondary Spanish language sports or oldies station (such as the two they have in LA), more likely is that one FM will do Regional Mexican. Other than really old Hispanics, there is no music listening on AM. Hispanics have very much abandoned AM, with Mexico "decommissioning" the band and other nations having few non-evangelical stations left (like El Salvador, for example). }
If Lotus feels there are enough dollars in the market for Hispanic buys, likely they will consider one of the FMs for Spanish.
Thank you for that clarification. It makes sense. But you say one of the fm’s. Isn’t there just one, KPLZ, in play here?
Oh you may be referring to Komo fm...odd man out in my mind!
A legitimate question (not trolling): why would the Sinclair side of KOMO want to do that? Sure, expanding technology will hopefully allow them to continue their radio operation, but as of right now, dropping all of the radio assets seems like a good way to shoot themselves in the foot. It would make more sense to retain at least one radio asset for newsradio operations until the new ATSC takes off.
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