That thinking is still going on. But now with translators- I drive by the Mt. Vernon installation all the time. They hung the KBRC and KAPS FM radiators about 2/3rds the way up one of their short AM towers, not even the tall one. And there are hills literally everywhere around there, and towers on all of them. But they put those things about as low as one could in that valley. Then again, KAPS has been overmodulated for months, and KBRC under modulated, so I suspect there is only so much care to give.
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Sinclair selling KOMO, KVI & KPLZ
- Thread starter DN14224
- Start date
What does this have to do with the Sinclair sale?
Digital cable music is kinda passe in the era of Spotify.
I've been asked by younger people that a terrestrial radio was for over a decade now. To the point when even I almost said "I don't know". And the ones who look at it and play with it ask how to program it to play their favorite song. "So you gotta wait until somebody plays it? That sucks". You know it's their generation, their tech and their world now. But you'll always feel a bit of sadness.
Radio is still here and with us. But the dominant transmission method is changing (and not to HD.) Streaming and podcasting have taken over the mainstream and they're not going away. And it won't be long until the sticks become another pointless expense for the conglomerates. But terrestrial AM/FM radio will still be around, but with smaller signals as a more local, rather than regional medium.
If they own a car, they own a radio. Radio has become a device people have and use but don't know they're using it. It's a situation radio companies don't control, which is why they're moving all content to streaming and web options. Also why the heritage radio owners, such as the TV networks, have all sold their radio divisions.
Too broad of a timeline for a major market.
We have a huge hole for this format. A lot of larger markets have a real classic hits format. I don't count 95.7 as a real classic hits station because they play mostly 80's and they play 90's also.
There's a reason why. Just because you think there's a hole, doesn't mean one exists.
All of the major groups have done extensive research on how far one can stretch the Classic Rock or Oldies timeline. 95.7 is a prime example. The risk is going too far one way or the other in time may cause low TSL. Your individual taste isn't the norm.
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Rumor on the street is that KVI will be spun off, KOMO will go Spanish language with new call letters, and KPLZ will go sports.
Based on their other station formats, I expect either KOMO or KPLZ will go Espanol. Makes more sense for KPLZ to go some form of Spanish-language music. Word is they're setting up shop for a KPLZ and KOMO studio(s)/office space down the road on 5th Ave., but no word on what's going to happen to KVI.
I'd like to see KVI adopt a more mainstream talk format like KIRO-FM and move to 1000kHz and 101.5 MHz, and let 570, and 97.7 adopt a espanol language format. Just my 2 cents.
Lotus will not carry over the call letters KOMO-FM or the KOMO branding. Sounds like they have different plans for KOMO.
Lotus Closes On Purchase Of Sinclair's Seattle Radio Properties - RadioInsight
Sinclair Broadcast Group is selling its four radio stations in Seattle to Lotus Broadcasting for $18 million. The deal will see Lotus acquire News 1000 KOMO Seattle/97.7 KOMO-FM Oakville, Hot AC “Star 101.5” KPLZ Seattle and Conservative Talk 570 KVI Seattle. Founded in 1962 with the purchase of...
radioinsight.com
Lotus Closes On Purchase Of Sinclair's Seattle Radio Properties - RadioInsight
Sinclair Broadcast Group is selling its four radio stations in Seattle to Lotus Broadcasting for $18 million. The deal will see Lotus acquire News 1000 KOMO Seattle/97.7 KOMO-FM Oakville, Hot AC “Star 101.5” KPLZ Seattle and Conservative Talk 570 KVI Seattle. Founded in 1962 with the purchase of...
radioinsight.com
We wondered about the "other considerations," and here they are:
I still haven't seen any mention of tower property, but based on the low sale price, I suspect it's not included.
I can see sports working on FM. But David Eduardo has, in the past, been a little hesitant about any need for more Spanish language stations in the Seattle/Tacoma market. So I wonder what may happen if KOMO goes Spanish language, and if that will affect other Spanish language stations in the market.
Also, why would they change KOMO's format when its 6+ ratings are as good as they are? I don't see a Spanish language station in the local ratings that is doing that well.
KOMO is well outside the top 10 stations in 25-54 in most months. In 25-49, they are not even in the top 20.
And in billing, they pretty much mirror their 25-54 ratings... around 12th in the market.
Spanish language Hispanic buys are, mostly, not bought with general market ones. If there are Spanish dollars for the market, the top rated station get them... and Lotus has a good sales organization.
With nearly two thirds of the purchase done in trade, the cost for this is very low. Lotus does not carry debt; they always seem to have bought additional stations with their own funds. This means they can operate profitably with much lower billing than comparable leveraged companies. They also have very low corporate overhead.
Another thought is that the 5 mV/m of KVI covers nearly as much population as KOMO, and for a Spanish language facility 570 might be cheaper to run with identical Hispanic coverage. It might depend on the costs of the transmitter sites and their long-term land usage.
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Sad to see the death of KOMO News Radio at AM 1000. One of the last truly good all-news stations out there that was not being run by CBS Radio / Entercom / Audacy. I would also hate to see KOMO reduce power from a DXing perspective. One of the only Pacific Northwest stations you can pick-up and easily identify up and down the Pacific Coast and InterMountain West.
There are several other Hispanic stations in the market (KKMO, KNTS, KZTM, KDDS, KLSY, KTDD, and the presently silent KMIA), with the highest rated one pulling a .2. Would a Hispanic KOMO do any better, and if it did, would it mean one of the other stations might have to flip or fade away?
6+ doesn't mean anything. With single digit, but growing Hispanic population, 6+ ratings are really no indicator of how well a station does with their target demo.
Remember that KOMO has a rimshot FM too. It would be up to the other stations as to whether the format pie can be sliced thinner with more competition. Spanish language formats are as diverse as English language formats. There are several common popular music formats, along with forms of talk.
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