Absolutely. That's an old public radio technique. Goes back at least 40 years. The intent is to give the pledger some value for their dollar. It's not just the money THEY give, but every pledge gets matched for added value. The other old technique is to emphasize the small goal, rather than the much larger total goal. Smaller goals are achievable.
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Trying to describe how K-Love, Air1, Way-FM and others work
- Thread starter b-turner
- Start date
Absolutely. That's an old public radio technique. Goes back at least 40 years. The intent is to give the pledger some value for their dollar. It's not just the money THEY give, but every pledge gets matched for added value. The other old technique is to emphasize the small goal, rather than the much larger total goal. Smaller goals are achievable.
Why the negative comments? I don't think we get negative comments about Salem commercial-supported CCM stations.
1. The Salem stations have local staffs, at least during major dayparts. They tailor the programming to their markets. They do some local news, weather and traffic. EMF does not. The K-Love and Air1 formats are 100% network programmed. Other than the legal I.D., I'm not sure there's any local content. There's no local studio. Maybe not even a weekly public affairs show or local PSAs, not even for local church groups.
2. EMF has bought some well-liked stations and totally ended everything about them. No local staff carried over. In fact, no local staff at all. Maybe even the engineer is hired per diem? WPLJ New York, WLUP The Loop in Chicago, WRQX Washington. Even Howard Stern's early station, WCCC-FM Hartford.
3. Yes, this is free enterprise. If you got the money, you buy the station and do with it what you want. But it does breed a bit of resentment among radio professionals that so many commercial stations that once had paid staffs now pipe in all programming from Indianapolis. There might be resentment even if it weren't Christian Contemporary programming. If it were a national network of Smooth Jazz or Classical on a non-stop buying spree, you'd get some negative feedback.
4. They do keep preaching to a minimum. But it's not completely gone. Sure, it's not Focus on The Family or Jim & Tammy Bakker. The DJs sound secular most of the time. But some features do imply an Evangelical vibe.
1. The Salem stations have local staffs, at least during major dayparts. They tailor the programming to their markets. They do some local news, weather and traffic. EMF does not. The K-Love and Air1 formats are 100% network programmed. Other than the legal I.D., I'm not sure there's any local content. There's no local studio. Maybe not even a weekly public affairs show or local PSAs, not even for local church groups.
2. EMF has bought some well-liked stations and totally ended everything about them. No local staff carried over. In fact, no local staff at all. Maybe even the engineer is hired per diem? WPLJ New York, WLUP The Loop in Chicago, WRQX Washington. Even Howard Stern's early station, WCCC-FM Hartford.
3. Yes, this is free enterprise. If you got the money, you buy the station and do with it what you want. But it does breed a bit of resentment among radio professionals that so many commercial stations that once had paid staffs now pipe in all programming from Indianapolis. There might be resentment even if it weren't Christian Contemporary programming. If it were a national network of Smooth Jazz or Classical on a non-stop buying spree, you'd get some negative feedback.
4. They do keep preaching to a minimum. But it's not completely gone. Sure, it's not Focus on The Family or Jim & Tammy Bakker. The DJs sound secular most of the time. But some features do imply an Evangelical vibe.
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Add in the proportion of company overhead, local engineering services, permits, licenses, tower maintenance, state registrations as a non-profit, etc. Then they are trying to do outreach in every market, so that adds proportional expense.
It's still a lot cheaper than a locally programmed station.
They have the "national network" model used in most of the rest of the world, adapted to a non-commercial station.
A few days. But they look at it long term trying to make income cover programming, outreach, G&A, expansion and technical maintenance. Every station they add increases the income.
Yes, they don't buy "markets"... they establish values based on people covered, irrespective if they are in rated markets or metros.
Likely because much of Salem's programming is geared toward (right wing) political talk. If you'd like to learn more about the Salem difference, check out The Divided Dial from WNYC/On The Media: The Divided Dial: Episode 5 - There's Something About Radio | On the Media | WNYC Studios
The host has an excellent interview with head of programming at Salem, Phil Boyce.
None of the lack of local hosts or programming have been a detriment to EMF/KLove, now has it? The majority of media consumers don't care about live or local. Only radio nerds care about that sort of thing. It's quality of the product that matters.
Nope. And K-Love is easily the largest religious non-profit radio group in the country. How do you account for that fact?
Yep, because post 2008, station values plummeted across the board. In many cases, EMF is the only suitor with the cash to do any deals. I sold two of my stations to religious broadcasters. Were the local's happy about their favorite radio stations going away? Nope.
I'm a radio and broadcast professional my entire working life. Do I care whether there are local studios? No. Do I recognize that the advertising and listening model that once supported traditional broadcasting has changed markedly since 2007/08? Yep. Local listeners can love you all they want. If those listeners aren't supporting the advertisers that support the local stations, then advertisers will try something else, like digital. It's the media business circle of life.
Probably because Smooth Jazz isn't a lifestyle, and is in reality, complete tripe.
Uh, it's a religiously-based network?
And they run 12-14 minutes an hour of mostly local ads.
There is no requirement that PA be local, nor is there one for PSAs, either. In fact, back when we had to renew every 3 years with a couple of reams of paperwork, lots of stations ran the Ad Association PSA and other national stuff like Army Recruiting and Red Cross.
It's a different model. K-Love is a national network, much like what is done in most free nations of the world. Not all radio has to or needs to be local.
And all of those stations were in the basement, ratings wise. Most have far more listeners today than they did before the EMF purchase4.
Or Sacramento... and soon to be Nashville.
And that is because the US model has been local going back to the 50's. When the rest of the world began networking, the US... due to restrictive ownership rules... stayed small-time and local.
There are messages, but very generic. It's a music station for a certain type of listener who wants a station that reflects their values and sensibilities.
Most people are not familiar with Salem's CCM product. They are mostly in markets outside the top 20 (Cleveland, Nashville, Sacramento, Little Rock), and they aren't on the prime signals in the large markets, like LA where their CCM format is really only heard in Orange County, or Atlanta where their tower is 30 miles out of town.
And they certainly haven't grown over the last 20 years the way K-Love has.
However, they do own highly rated and successful CCM, KLTY in Dallas.
I thought non profits didn’t have to pay FCC license fees?
There are filing fees and the like, I believe. But your point is valid... they may be exempt from some. I've never managed a US non-com, so I plead ignorance.
EMF deserves a lot of credit for running a tight ship. The processing and engineering on their stations are normally very good, they address signal issues promptly (I think they have a form to “report” if your local station is out), they’re quite financially upfront from what I know, and if the listener believes in what they’re doing in giving to them, more power to them. When EMF bought KSWD, WPLJ, and WRQX, for example, they did absolutely nothing wrong legally or ethically. It was a business transaction where EMF paid a struggling radio operator money they needed in exchange for a license/facility to broadcast their message. It’s really no different than how a church operates. Individuals give to keep something going that’s important to them and carry out the teachings/message of Jesus.
I’m socially liberal and I don’t have any beef whatsoever with EMF. Give me both K-LOVE or Air1 any day over BBN, VCY America, Relevant, GNN, The LifeFM, etc. - although those operate in a similar model to EMF. I choose just to not listen to them.
Also, EMF is perhaps able to get this message out to more by playing more “vague” Christian songs. Operations like RTN (who owns The Wind, JoyFM, His Radio, etc), WFSH, KLTY, WPOZ, etc. seem much more…”preachy”, although they still seem very liberal in comparison to a VCY or BBN. They also seem to not “plead” so much like a lot of other religious broadcasters (or, hell, some NPR stations) have done to the point where they guilt you out of listening if you can’t or don’t want to give.
I’m socially liberal and I don’t have any beef whatsoever with EMF. Give me both K-LOVE or Air1 any day over BBN, VCY America, Relevant, GNN, The LifeFM, etc. - although those operate in a similar model to EMF. I choose just to not listen to them.
Also, EMF is perhaps able to get this message out to more by playing more “vague” Christian songs. Operations like RTN (who owns The Wind, JoyFM, His Radio, etc), WFSH, KLTY, WPOZ, etc. seem much more…”preachy”, although they still seem very liberal in comparison to a VCY or BBN. They also seem to not “plead” so much like a lot of other religious broadcasters (or, hell, some NPR stations) have done to the point where they guilt you out of listening if you can’t or don’t want to give.
There arent alot of negative comments about Salem because Salem isnt seen as gobbling up tons of stations and getting rid of local studiosm, etc
Alot of Klove stations have regional public affairs shows.
SE WY.. Cheyenne, Casper/Laramie, Western NE, North Colorado will have a public affairs show produced by someone whos sole job it is to seek out stuff like that for the regional group of stations. I'm friends with him and know several people who know him.
Klove/Aoir1 can and has done local break aways in emergency situations.. when there were wildfires in California, they did a local cutaway on their Sacramento station.. it was an update pushed directly to that stations satellite reciever by the Klove news stuff. I've heard it myself!
I think some respondents have gotten confused with the original post. B-Turner was wondering why there's so much negativity to EMF on this board and among radio professionals. Are we being anti-Christian?
I was responding more as to why folks on this board are often anti-EMF. One owner with all that power, who has no local staff or content, is going to draw the ire of radio professionals who see all these jobs lost. This month, a group of radio pro's will be out of jobs as EMF takes over 102.1 WTSS Buffalo and WLFP or WMC-FM Memphis (whoever survives as the two stations merge while K-Love gets 94.9). Neither station was a money-loser. It's just that EMF came to Audacy with a suitcase filled with cash and Audacy responded by saying, take whatever you want!
Do K-Love listeners care that there's no localism? That a fuel truck could overturn in a fiery crash on a major Interstate highway in their town and K-Love will never mention it? Maybe not. Because it's a non-profit, EMF gets to skate by all the rules that commercial radio stations must adhere to. The rules are there because the U.S. did NOT want national networks airing 24/7 on local stations. The FCC put the rules in place that commercial broadcasters MUST do some things for their communities. But non-profits are exempt.
EMF does a great job and puts out a winning product. I'm not saying Salem does a better job. I'm saying that Salem, as a commercial broadcaster, must do things for the local market that K-Love doesn't have to do.
It is interesting that Salem's CCM in Atlanta, WFSH 104.7, is #8. K-Love's Atlanta station, 106.7 WAKL, has virtually the same signal and coverage area. Both broadcast from towers about halfway between Atlanta and Athens. WAKL's ratings are not shown in this latest Nielsen period. But last time I saw them, WAKL was around #20. This is despite K-Love having no commercials while WFSH runs about 12 minutes per hour.
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I was responding more as to why folks on this board are often anti-EMF. One owner with all that power, who has no local staff or content, is going to draw the ire of radio professionals who see all these jobs lost. This month, a group of radio pro's will be out of jobs as EMF takes over 102.1 WTSS Buffalo and WLFP or WMC-FM Memphis (whoever survives as the two stations merge while K-Love gets 94.9). Neither station was a money-loser. It's just that EMF came to Audacy with a suitcase filled with cash and Audacy responded by saying, take whatever you want!
Do K-Love listeners care that there's no localism? That a fuel truck could overturn in a fiery crash on a major Interstate highway in their town and K-Love will never mention it? Maybe not. Because it's a non-profit, EMF gets to skate by all the rules that commercial radio stations must adhere to. The rules are there because the U.S. did NOT want national networks airing 24/7 on local stations. The FCC put the rules in place that commercial broadcasters MUST do some things for their communities. But non-profits are exempt.
EMF does a great job and puts out a winning product. I'm not saying Salem does a better job. I'm saying that Salem, as a commercial broadcaster, must do things for the local market that K-Love doesn't have to do.
It is interesting that Salem's CCM in Atlanta, WFSH 104.7, is #8. K-Love's Atlanta station, 106.7 WAKL, has virtually the same signal and coverage area. Both broadcast from towers about halfway between Atlanta and Athens. WAKL's ratings are not shown in this latest Nielsen period. But last time I saw them, WAKL was around #20. This is despite K-Love having no commercials while WFSH runs about 12 minutes per hour.
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I remember K-Love breaking away all of its Tennessee stations for a segment during a pledge week. They ran specific underwriting announcements in Dayton and Cincinnati, Ohio (including Indiana Wesleyan University's adult programs). This was over 10 years ago.
Do K-Love listeners care that there's no localism? That a fuel truck could overturn in a fiery crash on a major Interstate highway in their town and K-Love will never mention it? Maybe not. Because it's a non-profit, EMF gets to skate by all the rules that commercial radio stations must adhere to. The rules are there because the U.S. did NOT want national networks airing 24/7 on local stations. The FCC put the rules in place that commercial broadcasters MUST do some things for their communities. But non-profits are exempt.
EMF stations are still connected to the EAS.
EMF stations are still connected to the EAS.
Back in the 70's when a license renewal pretty much required 6% News / Public Affairs and the like for FM and 8% for AM all stations had to do those things... or else! The FCC no longer has such requirements so stations don't go by a "must adhere to" quota at all.
Nope. A bunch of senators back in the early 30's did not want high power stations with coverage even greater... and more influential... than major newspapers. And they did not want single owners to have too many stations. So they made AM stations low or medium power only, and restricted onwers to 7 of 'em. It was all politics, not community service.
The requirements for anyone are minimal now. And there was never a requirement for "localism" in content.
Minimal at most.
I have to believe that much of the difference has to do with heritage. If there is any listener group that is going to be "loyal" to a station, it is the one that listens to contemporary Christian music.
We're exempt from several things, include having to maintain a paper or online public file (little known exception!!) and theres no specific public service requirement, partly due to the fact we have no public file to maintain.....but even if there was we go above and beyond here becausre its the right thing to do
Many listeners in fact prefer it.
I would imagine that's especially true when the station is branded as "Positive and Encouraging."
The news consistently produces a negative tenor, simply because "Mrs. Robinson drove home from work without incident" isn't news.
So, you're speaking on their behalf? Are you some metaphorical member of the Borg?
How can jobs be lost when they haven't been there in twenty years?
Not familiar with the staffing patterns or history of those stations, but I'm willing to bet that just like the rest of the industry, automation and department centralization has reduced local staffing in order to cut operating costs. With the decrease in ad spending across the board, all stations have needed to cut costs to remain viable.
But in business; it's one thing to lose money, and another to see the market declining to the point where your business prospects in that market are lacking a future. With that in mind, every business in America is for sale. When comes a time to take the cash and pull the ejection seat handle, you pull, or risk becoming that eventual "money-loser". Once you become that money-loser, it's too late to recover.
That's not how the process works. Refer to my statement above.
As has been mentioned in other discussions; modern society relies primarily on their smartphones for news and information. Radio stations aren't funded by local, state, or federal government. And those local, state, and federal governments now know that reaching the public is done via their phones. Honestly, do you really think that huge number of listeners will permanently boycott local radio stations for not covering a tanker crash? Seriously?
You're intentionally or not, bending history to advance your personal narrative. I recommend spending a few minutes listening to the other episodes of The Divided Dial which I posted up-thread. They will explain the history behind the various 'ascertainment', and local public service requirements both non and for-profit stations were required to comply-with. As I believe it was BigA, mentioned this; but effectively what the EMF model has become, is very close to what the original radio network model was back in the 30's, 40's and 50's.
Only because they choose to.
Assuming you're basing the assumption on public 6+ ratings, your analysis wouldn't apply to anything of substance.
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In both cases I think it's more that Audacy put the stations up for sale and EMF was the one who was able to buy them. In the case of Memphis I would rather have seen EMF buy WKIM 98.9, a Cumulus station that flips formats every few years, is currently News./Talk for the second time, and is talked about as the likely candidate to pick up the Hot AC format if Audacy goes through with moving country from 94.1 to 99.7 and killing FM 100. I would have rather seen EMF end up with 98.9, but they probably haven't had the chance to buy it.
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