South Jersey Radio

[rob1010]

It really is no surprise that all of the communications companies here in South Jersey are having difficulty in getting any new sponsors for their stations. Lets face it no one wants to spend any un-necessary dollars on radio advertising right now...and I know because i wasted alot of time and money out on the street trying to drum up some business with very little to show for it...no wonder radio sales jobs are always open....but also....maybe whoever made the comment earlier that there are too many stations in this small area...might just be correct...and too many stations copying what the next guy does...like 6 top 40 stations...4 so-called oldie stations,etc..so its no wonder Atlantic,Millenium,Brancadora,and coastal are all just about hanging in there...the economy sucks and it isnt getting better any time soon...more layoffs and cutbacks on the way......

 

[Porky Hooton]

Rob 1010, you are exactly right with all your observations. If any advertiser in South Jersey spends more than $10.00, per :60 commercial announcement that runs from 7am -5pm, Monday - Friday, on any station, he or she is paying too much. And that is why radio stations in Atlatnic City are a bad investment. Forty plus radio stations can only make money in June, July, and August. The FCC should take some of these dogs back, and give them to non-profit groups. Like I've said in other posts, if you own a station in South Jersey, you had better also own the real estate, because the value of the station will be not much more than the actually appraised value of the land and buildings that you own. If you lease everything and just have a license and rent tower space, you will be lucky to get 2x's cash flow. So, if the median billing for a radio station in South Jersey is $300,000 (20 stations bill more than that and 20 stations bill less) and you are returning 25% back to your top line after expenses, the average cost of a license or the price that you would have to pay without real estate to buy the station, is no more than $150,000 cash. So, I hope you have a rich uncle who is an undertaker (no recession in the funeral business) or you can find some lame investment group who doesn't understand the dire situation that radio station owners face, you'll will never sell these licenses. With all the changes in the medium , traditional banks are not lending money to anyone who wants to start up a traditional radio station. If you really want to get some insight on the future of tradtional radio, google search Inside Media and a gentleman named Jerry Del Colliano. He has some good information.