The Long Nightmare Is Over (KTHT Sold)

[lanceventa]

With closing of the Radio One/Cox deal set for Monday, EMF has filed to acquire 97.1 KTHT... Yes, it is expected to become K-Love. Yes, this is the buyer most in the market knew was getting it.

Educational Media Foundation Purchases KTHT Houston

Educational Media Foundation has agree to purchase Classic Country "Country Legends 97.1" KTHT Cleveland/Houston TX from Radio One's Sugarland Station

radioinsight.com

 

[Deleted member 108832]

With closing of the Radio One/Cox deal set for Monday, EMF has filed to acquire 97.1 KTHT... Yes, it is expected to become K-Love. Yes, this is the buyer most in the market knew was getting it.

Educational Media Foundation Purchases KTHT Houston

Educational Media Foundation has agree to purchase Classic Country "Country Legends 97.1" KTHT Cleveland/Houston TX from Radio One's Sugarland Station

radioinsight.com

All Hope is lost. Where's that receipt, so I can return the replacement mouse? Going CCM, nonetheless.

 

[Loverofradio]

as I’ve said before, despite what others say about classic country ratings and sales, it’s a worthwhile format for another station in Houston to pick up. Yes, I’m sure others here don’t like the format and look for reasons to talk down on it. But, the audience is extremely loyal, and I’ve never made more money in sales in my career than when I sold for our CC station. Going off the $3 million sale price (chump change) I don’t understand why RO couldn’t have used ktht as a flanker for sales with Q93.

 

[Mediafrog+]

Not really a surprise. Congrats to EMF on finally bringing K-Love to Houston, as well as the PIney Woods region. Not the full market signal they might prefer, but that can always come later, should things fall their way.

EMF might look at KNTE for coverage southwest of Houston.

 

[Deleted member 108832]

The addition of Willy will help to soften the blow for deep ETX. Not much consolation for classic country loving Houstonians, however. I don't think they'll soon see a replacement for 97.1, but 93Q may start adding a few more golds to the rotation. Classic country is evolving, and it just doesn't pull the numbers it once did.

 

[Deleted member 108832]

EMF might look at KNTE for coverage southwest of Houston.

Mediafrog's new drum beat debuts...😂

 

[Mediafrog+]

as I’ve said before, despite what others say about classic country ratings and sales, it’s a worthwhile format for another station in Houston to pick up. Yes, I’m sure others here don’t like the format and look for reasons to talk down on it. But, the audience is extremely loyal, and I’ve never made more money in sales in my career than when I sold for our CC station.

There will be a lot of listeners upset by the demise of Country Legends, especially in the Piney Woods region, where the signal was solid and the format likely resonated with the local demographics. I have the impression there are a lot of Country fans that are thoroughly dissatisfied with the current trends in the genre.

I can’t think of any Houston station that would flip to Classic Country, however. Maybe it will be a HD subchannel of KKBQ, but that raises the question if Radio One will continue with any HD subchannels other than Praise on 102.1 HD-2 (perhaps not good news for The Point on 106.9 HD-2 or Oldies on 107.5 HD-2.)

KVST has to be thrilled, as they have one less Country competitor. The 97.1 signal is solid in Montgomery and Walker counties.

Going off the $3 million sale price (chump change) I don’t understand why RO couldn’t have used ktht as a flanker for sales with Q93.

RO had to get rid of KTHT due to market cap limits. They will have five FMs when the deal closes.

 

[Mediafrog+]

Mediafrog's new drum beat debuts...😂

Perhaps more of a nudge.🤣 Estrella Media seems to have lost interest in the radio biz and might be willing to sell. The KNTE 101.7 signal is useless over Houston metro but would provide fill-in coverage for K-Love along the I-69/US59 corridor heading towards Victoria.

 

[Loverofradio]

There will be a lot of listeners upset by the demise of Country Legends, especially in the Piney Woods region, where the signal was solid and the format likely resonated with the local demographics. I have the impression there are a lot of Country fans that are thoroughly dissatisfied with the current trends in the genre.

I can’t think of any Houston station that would flip to Classic Country, however. Maybe it will be a HD subchannel of KKBQ, but that raises the question if Radio One will continue with any HD subchannels other than Praise on 102.1 HD-2 (perhaps not good news for The Point on 106.9 HD-2 or Oldies on 107.5 HD-2.)

KVST has to be thrilled, as they have one less Country competitor. The 97.1 signal is solid in Montgomery and Walker counties.

RO had to get rid of KTHT due to market cap limits. They will have five FMs when the deal closes.

Does radio have side car companies like they do in tv, to get around caps?

 

[Mediafrog+]

Does radio have side car companies like they do in tv, to get around caps?

LMAs count against the cap.

 

[davideduardo]

LMAs count against the cap.

As do separate corporations or licensee names that have essentially the same shareholders / owners.

 

[Kent]

Does radio have side car companies like they do in tv, to get around caps?

In the past, radio had a handful of companies that sold stations to family members and then sold that company the programming on an ongoing basis. Seems like there was one small market in Louisiana (possibly Monroe) where one family controlled half the radio stations, and the programming for all of them originated from the same place despite being owned and controlled by different operators. That was before the Telecommunications Act was passed, and I believe the dominant company bought all of those stations as soon as it was able.

Where I live now, one station is housed with another cluster operator but is owned by the person who either owns the building they're in now or another building the company leases in another market. He licenses the programming of the station from that cluster, and that cluster's sales staff also sells his station.

So, yes, having a sidecar company would be possible. Problem is, it's not practical in most situations. Running a rimshot standalone station targeting an older audience isn't going to be worth it to a company like Urban One. Plus, Urban One doesn't get the benefit of selling it with 93Q. The sales dollars made in those deals go straight to the operator. Urban One's money comes from selling the programming to the other operator, and documentation must be maintained to show how much is coming in, how much is going toward the programming costs, and how much in commissions are paid to the main company. That's cumbersome, and such agreements are subject to FCC review. Mistakes can incur fines and can even derail sales in progress.

Not really a surprise. Congrats to EMF on finally bringing K-Love to Houston, as well as the PIney Woods region. Not the full market signal they might prefer, but that can always come later, should things fall their way.

I'll admit to being a tad surprised. I was told the buyer would likely be revealed to be VCY America.

 

[Mediafrog+]

I'll admit to being a tad surprised. I was told the buyer would likely be revealed to be VCY America.

Lance Venta had already stated in an earlier post that the buyer would NOT be VCY. Nonetheless I expect they still want to get into the Houston market. If Gow Media throws in the towel on KFNC, then I would think VCY is the leading candidate.

 

[SomeRadioGuy]

In the past, radio had a handful of companies that sold stations to family members and then sold that company the programming on an ongoing basis. Seems like there was one small market in Louisiana (possibly Monroe) where one family controlled half the radio stations, and the programming for all of them originated from the same place despite being owned and controlled by different operators. That was before the Telecommunications Act was passed, and I believe the dominant company bought all of those stations as soon as it was able.

Where I live now, one station is housed with another cluster operator but is owned by the person who either owns the building they're in now or another building the company leases in another market. He licenses the programming of the station from that cluster, and that cluster's sales staff also sells his station.



I'll admit to being a tad surprised. I was told the buyer would likely be revealed to be VCY America.

The Holladays in MS/LA have done that, i think in Dothan.. at least somewhat. I think alot of the stations there are owned by relations of theirs and operated seperately

They may have done it elsewhere.

Dowdy & Dowdy owns alot in LA/MS and to a lesser extent, GA.. but i think its all the same folks, just different company names

 

[011nerve]

Ever since EMF got 103.1 KHHL near San Antonio (KZKV now) they have been taking care of it. The signal never has dead air like it used to under Alpha, and seems stronger.

 

[BamaTX]

There will be a lot of listeners upset by the demise of Country Legends, especially in the Piney Woods region, where the signal was solid and the format likely resonated with the local demographics.

They'll be ok. A classic country station getting replaced by a Christian station is something that may be up their ally.

I have the impression there are a lot of Country fans that are thoroughly dissatisfied with the current trends in the genre.

Yeppers!

I can’t think of any Houston station that would flip to Classic Country, however.

It's not worth it in Houston if we're being honest.

KVST has to be thrilled, as they have one less Country competitor. The 97.1 signal is solid in Montgomery and Walker counties.

They didn't really compete directly for the same clients. To them, this is business as usual.

 

[BamaTX]

The addition of Willy will help to soften the blow for deep ETX. Not much consolation for classic country loving Houstonians, however.

I've moved on a while back and started searching for online alternatives the moment the sale was announced.

I did find a quirky Mexican station from Nuevo Laredo, MX that plays 90s and 2000s Country. It has no ads (besides the two Mexican PSAs that play every :15 and :45). The playlist seems fairly small, but they did recently add Jason Aldean's shouldn't be controversial, yet is controversial "Try That In A Small Town" to their rotation.

I'm not sure what Multimedios' goal is here. It is unknown if they purchased the station or are leasing it. Whatever the case is, their American subsidiary is operating it for the Laredo, TX market.

XHBK-FM and XEBK-AM

 

[Mediafrog+]

They didn't really compete directly for the same clients. To them, this is business as usual.

True that KVST and KTHT didn't compete for the same advertisers, as the 99.7 signal focuses on Montgomery and Walker counties, while 97.1 was an add-on for KKBQ and its Houston clients. However, they did compete for the same listeners in those two counties. With Country Legends gone, more Country fans might go with KVST.

I'm sure KSAM 101.7 in Huntsville is also happy today.

 

[MVB13]

Does that mean that KRBE is safe from being sold to EMF or a religious broadcaster?

 

[MVB13]

I've moved on a while back and started searching for online alternatives the moment the sale was announced.

I did find a quirky Mexican station from Nuevo Laredo, MX that plays 90s and 2000s Country. It has no ads (besides the two Mexican PSAs that play every :15 and :45). The playlist seems fairly small, but they did recently add Jason Aldean's shouldn't be controversial, yet is controversial "Try That In A Small Town" to their rotation.

I'm not sure what Multimedios' goal is here. It is unknown if they purchased the station or are leasing it. Whatever the case is, their American subsidiary is operating it for the Laredo, TX market.

XHBK-FM and XEBK-AM

A song that references lynching IS controversial.