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The last day of Pulse 87...or is it?

N

nd2023

Banned
Earlier this month, Island Broadcasting announced that they would terminate the 10 year lease of WNYZ at the end of August. The end of August is now about 24 hours away. A few days after that announcement, Mega Media filed for bankruptcy under chapter 11. I can only hope that the automatic stay provision in the bankruptcy code will allow Mega Media to keep their lease despite not paying the rent.
There haven't been any signs about an impending shutdown on the air, and they are planning a remote broadcast from Electric Zoo next week.
 
I hate to be a pessimist, but so far they have never mentioned anything that would be bad news. Never mentioned that plans for stations in LA, Chicago and Washington DC fell through. I think they do like to make positive announcements whether they happen or not, but not a word, so my feeling is they don't have anything positive to report so tomorrow is probably the end of the road. However, I see they have plans for something over the Labor Day weekend, and they may continue to exist, maybe as an internet only station.
 
They never even mentioned their plans for LA, Chicago, and DC on the air when they were made, they never mentioned MusicIkon on the air, but they did mention their financial trouble on the air.
We also haven't heard anything about Island Broadcasting finding a buyer.
 
Did anybody notice but Pulse is being broadcasted on 92.9 in Trenton? I caught this yesterday driving down the NJ turnpike what gave it away was the female voice saying "the pulse of NY, Pulse 87"
 
Hardrocker9 said:
Did anybody notice but Pulse is being broadcasted on 92.9 in Trenton? I caught this yesterday driving down the NJ turnpike what gave it away was the female voice saying "the pulse of NY, Pulse 87"
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Who knows, maybe whoever did the pirate before is simulcasting pulse87.com on the air. Streetz 96 perfect example.
 
Bankrupcy protection will keep them on for another 90 days. The owner of Pulse is a master at stuff like this. Living rent free, must be nice.
 
Nick said:
They never even mentioned their plans for LA, Chicago, and DC on the air when they were made, they never mentioned MusicIkon on the air, but they did mention their financial trouble on the air.
We also haven't heard anything about Island Broadcasting finding a buyer.
Click to expand...

I will say this. Pulse/Mega Media wants to keep things positive and it is reflected from the on-air staff. Which is why it must've been hard for them to conduct that begathon a while back.

On another board, I've heard an asking price of $15M from Island Broadcasting (the ones that actually own the signal). Even with that kind of money which is "cheap" by NYC radio standards, you still have a bad signal and no guarantee that the station will be set on 87.7 since it is a possibilty that the FCC would want the LPTV stations to go digital as well. The only hope for dance music, if there is still a place in terrestrial radio for it, is that a company with a full-power signal above 92.1 would take on the format. 101.9 seems to be the strong candidate for that since 'RXP isn't doing so hot, and considering the fact that Emmis did have a successful station out of Hot 103/97 when it was dance (aka: Top 40/Urban).

At this point, we can only enjoy the station and see where things go from here.
 
BJ Steigner said:
Tony:

What will it take for WRXP to flip to dance???

Discuss this.
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PROOF for one, as well as convincing those in upper management that the numbers on Pulse, as it is seen on paper, don't tell the TRUE story based on all of the quirks. If and when Pulse plays its final track, that is when we have to bring our case to the forefront that a contemporary dance station CAN work here and in effect it has.

The "numbers" we are talking about....940,000+ in the last book, may pale in comparison to the stations above 92. But when you figure that there was NO advertising budget, the station got around via word of mouth, the signal problems, it's really a TV station, and that most car stereos can't GET 87.7, to get that many people to tune in to a station like this is INCREDIBLE and that people want it. And yet there are people that STILL don't know this station exists! :)

I think Nick did some sort of mathematics on this and if I can recall correctly, if this station was a "Pulse 102" or something in theory, the station would have had about 3,000,000+ listeners easily.

It's a matter of pushing and convincing. Right now, we're going to do a Top 40 campaign where we're going to push for such stations to add at LEAST 2 dance tracks onto rotation. The strong candidates in that regard are AnnaGrace's "Let The Feelings Go", and Kim Sozzi's followup "Secret Love" (once "Feel Your Love" has done its run). What has to happen here is that the music has to get out to more parts of the country (not just a NY, L.I. Wilmington, DE, So. Jersey, Vegas, San Fran or Seattle thing here) and as dance fans, we have to EMBRACE it, instead of thinking that someone "sold out". The music HAS to mainstream if there can be any growth in the genre.

And should we lose Pulse, then we'll look into all options....not just 101.9.

I hope that answered some of the concerns.
 
I'd be curious to know where Nick got his numbers from... just because you move to frequency that is more accessible doesn't mean you can triple your audience.

You would need MEGA promotion behind it, on the streets EVERY DAY... HUGE on-air promotions, cash gives, things like that.

You need all-star jocks and a very powerful morning show, a true anchor for the station.

BUT... huge ratings, big jocks doesn't mean a damn thing if ya can't SELL it! I'm a programming guy, but-- radio IS a business and if you can't make money then you're out of a job!

That's the big question to answer when pitching a dance format, how much money can we make from this?
 
Of course TGOTR!

And if there are any lessons to be learned from the Pulse situation, it IS mega advertising, big contests, going around high profile events, jocks and a strong morning show.

Pulse did put themselves out there with Star & Buc Wild, and even though to some it may not have "fit format", it eventually grew! But after Star left and nothing was replaced by it, things weren't the same in the mornings and not having that "anchor" didn't help. They did the high profile event with the "Birthday Bash Numero Uno" and smaller events such as Playland, Water Taxi Beach and the 18th Street Festival in Brooklyn, so no complaints there.

But yeah, they needed that BIG money contest as well as seeing billboards on the highways, mass transit, etc. and if there was room for this on the budget, television ads. If something occurs above 92 and the new station takes all of this into consideration, learning from the mistakes of the past, then it could be something BIG that would make immediate money.
 
It doesnt matter where on the dial it is. A station well programmed and promoted will do well. There are numerous non-commercial stations that beat out commercials stations. How many times has there been a discussion on how awful a commercial station sound? Im tired of hearing we need a station over 92 on the dial. If you could find a station under 92 will a solid signal, it could still compete with the big boys
 
It doesn't matter if it's over or under 92, but some radios can't even tune to 87.7, and that's a problem. Even if 87.7 were 50,000 watts, that would still be a handicap.
 
Tony Santiago said:
Of course TGOTR!

And if there are any lessons to be learned from the Pulse situation, it IS mega advertising, big contests, going around high profile events, jocks and a strong morning show.

Pulse did put themselves out there with Star & Buc Wild, and even though to some it may not have "fit format", it eventually grew! But after Star left and nothing was replaced by it, things weren't the same in the mornings and not having that "anchor" didn't help. They did the high profile event with the "Birthday Bash Numero Uno" and smaller events such as Playland, Water Taxi Beach and the 18th Street Festival in Brooklyn, so no complaints there.

But yeah, they needed that BIG money contest as well as seeing billboards on the highways, mass transit, etc. and if there was room for this on the budget, television ads. If something occurs above 92 and the new station takes all of this into consideration, learning from the mistakes of the past, then it could be something BIG that would make immediate money.
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I worry tho, if they had taken that path, would they have gone broke too soon before seeing the ratings increase? Only time will tell if they took the right strategy. They could still edge this out if ALL cards are played correctly and ratings accelerate upwards. Im at the tip of my toes on this one. Regardless, If Pulse does "fade" I wouldn't be shocked to see a larger commercial station take up the format, even 92.3 Now may decide Z100 was too hard to challenge, and easier to go after KTU instead. But they'd have to execute it right. IF any other station takes over this format but in a way that is overly researched and bland, they could totally kill the format. What we need basically is Pulse 87 + lots and lots of money. *sigh (I don't see that yet, still hoping)
 
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