Uncle Radio One ! Sell the am station and go away ! Please !

[rapking]

Avoiding getting itself involved in a programming decision, and correctly falling back on long-established policy, the FCC -- while noting a "significant number of listeners expressing strong appreciation for the current (Urban) programming" and asking the Commission to bar the proposed sale of WILD-F/BOSTON to ENTERCOM -- has approved the $30 million deal. It's now got the calls WKAF and is simulcasting Active Rocker WAAF which is signal-challenged in the southern reaches of the metro.

 

[raccoonradio]

Yes and Boston Radio Watch mentioned it as well. While it is a daytimer signal only, you'd think it could be a possible home for Prog. Talk...c'mon John Kerry, Deval, Steve Mindich, and other well-endowed liberals:
toss some money in the hat and buy that station, eh...heck, Senator Ketchup and the Mrs. must have
about $700 million between them...a mere drop in the bucket.
You could keep some of the black talk network, too, as it probably veers leftward politically...

Stephanie Miller, Michael Eric Dyson, Ed Schultz, Rev. Al Sharpton, etc

 

[Neggy]

THE FCC has NO AUTHORITY do deny a transfer based on programming Rapking and you know it.

from the decision...

"While the Commission recognizes that WKAF(FM)'s “classic R&B” music format and programming relating to the African-American community have attracted a devoted listenership, it is well-settled policy that the Commission does not scrutinize or regulate programming formats, nor does it take potential changes in programming formats into consideration in reviewing assignment applications."

note the FCC decision uses the wrong calls

 

[AKLes]

THE FCC has NO AUTHORITY do deny a transfer based on programming Rapking and you know it.

Ah, but there is a new day dawning in Washington!

Though you are absolutely correct today, look forward a couple of years and expect to see The FCC engaging in all sorts of social engineering. When that day arrives any activist group will be able to halt any sale until they have approved the format to be adopted - or kept.

 

[raccoonradio]

Think I read asking price for WILD (AM) is $7 million...we'll see if the prog. talk fans could band together and buy it, but it magically becomes WBAL at night.

 

[Eli Polonsky]

Think I read asking price for WILD (AM) is $7 million...we'll see if the prog. talk fans could band together and buy it, but it magically becomes WBAL at night.

A few years ago someone asked me why "WILD" was running a (white) news station at night. He knew nothing about nighttime AM skip signal phoenomena, and thought WILD was rebroadcasting WBAL.

 

[dumber than a box of hair]

look forward a couple of years and expect to see The FCC engaging in all sorts of social engineering. When that day arrives any activist group will be able to halt any sale until they have approved the format to be adopted - or kept.

Your DD&G* aside, that will not happen. It will never get past the first court challenge, since regulation of formats is contrary to both the First Amendment and the Communications Act.

---------------

DD&G = Democratic Doom & Gloom

 

[Laurence Glavin]

Think I read asking price for WILD (AM) is $7 million...we'll see if the prog. talk fans could band together and buy it, but it magically becomes WBAL at night.

I've read elsewhere that the owner of a sports franchise was going to buy a DC-area FM but seems to have balked at the price since Clear Channel is putting some major signals on the market. He's expected to get a better deal if the sale goes through. I'm sure the asking price for an AM daytimer in Boston could be negotiated as well, although I doubt such an action would bring Air America radio back to Boston. If only Sporting News Radio could renegotiate the tower rental in Waltham, maybe a WWZN buy could work (sigh).

 

[Neggy]

Eli I wouldn't consider WBAL's booming into Boston "skip" , I consider it normal AM wave propigation as the atmoshphere settles as it cools when the sun goes down.

 

[ciao99]

At this point I could care less if Radio One leaves the market entirely. Furthermore the daytime only AM signal of 1090 WILD is almost a liability: it keeps the format from showing what it can do, as the station shuts off at sundown. Before the WILD was on FM, and before the back and forth with the formats on the AM station, WILD did decent numbers with its classic R&B format. Those numbers were comparable or just as good as WBOS, WXRV, and WFNX. If an FM is too expensive, put this format on a 24/7 AM signal where it can flourish.

 

[AKLes]

look forward a couple of years and expect to see The FCC engaging in all sorts of social engineering. When that day arrives any activist group will be able to halt any sale until they have approved the format to be adopted - or kept.

Your DD&G* aside, that will not happen. It will never get past the first court challenge, since regulation of formats is contrary to both the First Amendment and the Communications Act.

---------------

DD&G = Democratic Doom & Gloom

It's far enough in the future that it's not worth setting up a pool on who's right about content regulation. My feeling is that it'll be part of a new "Fairness Doctrine" and, though it may spend years in court, it'll be enforced more through the threat than by any real action. I could be totally wrong but it's certainly worth watching.

 

[Eli Polonsky]

Eli I wouldn't consider WBAL's booming into Boston "skip" , I consider it normal AM wave propigation as the atmoshphere settles as it cools when the sun goes down.

It has little to do with atmospheric temperature or the atmosphere "settling". It's caused by the absence of solar radiation at night. When the sun goes down and is no longer shining it's radiation through the ionospheric layer in our region, the electrical charge in the ionosphere changes and reflects AM signals back to Earth farther away, and that's why we hear WBAL at night here and not at all in the daytime. This is a form of "skip" because it's a reflection off of the ionosphere. That's what causes all the distant AM stations that we hear at night to come in, not temperature. We may consider it "normal" because it happens most every night, but it is "skip".

On certain very occasional nights when other conditions with radiation that affect the ionosphere happen such as sunspot activity, auroras, etc... prevent ionospheric reflection, we may hear very little, if anything, of WBAL or other distant stations at all regardless of temperature.

 

[martin1945]

At this point I could care less if Radio One leaves the market entirely. Furthermore the daytime only AM signal of 1090 WILD is almost a liability: it keeps the format from showing what it can do, as the station shuts off at sundown. Before the WILD was on FM, and before the back and forth with the formats on the AM station, WILD did decent numbers with its classic R&B format. Those numbers were comparable or just as good as WBOS, WXRV, and WFNX. If an FM is too expensive, put this format on a 24/7 AM signal where it can flourish.

At one time there was speculation that WILD would move to the expanded AM band and become a 24 hour station.

 

[Eli Polonsky]

At one time there was speculation that WILD would move to the expanded AM band and become a 24 hour station.

At one time there was also speculation that WILD was going to buy (or lease) 1150 for 24-hour broadcasting, and decades ago they were negotiating to broadcast on WUMB (U. Mass. Boston) at night when it was first starting out. Neither of those happened as well. I think it would have been great if they could've gotten 1150. At least it's a signal that hits Boston 24/7, and it would've gotten better numbers than anything 1150 has done since.

 

[JIBGUY]

Yes, too bad the WILD folks never got 1150.... a perfect urban signal.... billowing forth with the power of 5,000,000 simultaneous butterfly sneezes at night. (oops, that sounds like 740). - There WAS a time (mid 90's) when 1150 was for sale for $3-million. At the same time, 1510 was for sale for $2-million. 1150 was less expensive because of more favorable tower-site costs. That's when the WILD owners should have jumped; bought that one and sold 1090. - Also, at that time, 96.9 sold for $6-million. Those were the days. We won't see those prices again until around 2015.

 

[Laurence Glavin]

Yes, too bad the WILD folks never got 1150.... a perfect urban signal.... billowing forth with the power of 5,000,000 simultaneous butterfly sneezes at night. (oops, that sounds like 740). - There WAS a time (mid 90's) when 1150 was for sale for $3-million. At the same time, 1510 was for sale for $2-million. 1150 was less expensive because of more favorable tower-site costs. That's when the WILD owners should have jumped; bought that one and sold 1090. - Also, at that time, 96.9 sold for $6-million. Those were the days. We won't see those prices again until around 2015.

What do you know that the rest of us, including the U.S. of A., don't! Is there going to be a big DEflation as a result of the collapse of the dollar or even the economy? Or are you just assuming conventional radio will decline in value like newspapers. Do the buyers of Clear Channel know this?

 

[radiotony]

I think the equity firm buying the stations is thinking about a few things:

Sure, the newspaper angle: While the newspaper business is declining, equity firms have been acquiring them all over the place because they have been able to bleed 20 percent returns out of the properties by slashing and burning jobs. These guys are never in it for the long term. It's only usually 3 to 5. So who cares what state it is in later if you get five years worth of 20 percent returns?

Second, I would bet someone has convinced them they can run all the stations on remote from one location, with limited hirings. Hah! This, as we know, is a mistake. They've also dumped all the small market stuff which means they are keeping all the valuable stuff.

Third, Willard Mitt Romney still has an interest in Bain Capital. He is running for president. He could have an entire monopoly on airtime on every one of these talk station properties with the right management put in place. Sure, he can't do anything about the ads; that's an FCC issue. But without a Fairness Doctrine in place, there really is no equal coverage anymore, especially on radio. Only decent broadcasters who understand their responsibility worry about those things. This action would essentially squeeze out just about every other Republican candidate and maybe even the Dems in the final election. All Willard all the time! Guy Smiley Radio on Clear Channel!

There wouldn't be a thing anyone could do about it but to shut off the radio.

Yes, too bad the WILD folks never got 1150.... a perfect urban signal.... billowing forth with the power of 5,000,000 simultaneous butterfly sneezes at night. (oops, that sounds like 740). - There WAS a time (mid 90's) when 1150 was for sale for $3-million. At the same time, 1510 was for sale for $2-million. 1150 was less expensive because of more favorable tower-site costs. That's when the WILD owners should have jumped; bought that one and sold 1090. - Also, at that time, 96.9 sold for $6-million. Those were the days. We won't see those prices again until around 2015.

What do you know that the rest of us, including the U.S. of A., don't! Is there going to be a big DEflation as a result of the collapse of the dollar or even the economy? Or are you just assuming conventional radio will decline in value like newspapers. Do the buyers of Clear Channel know this?

 

[JIBGUY]

Laurence wrote:
What do you know that the rest of us, including the U.S. of A., don't! Is there going to be a big DEflation as a result of the collapse of the dollar or even the economy? Or are you just assuming conventional radio will decline in value like newspapers. Do the buyers of Clear Channel know this?

------------------------

No, but the SELLERs do !!

 

[MarcB]

Yes, too bad the WILD folks never got 1150.... a perfect urban signal.... billowing forth with the power of 5,000,000 simultaneous butterfly sneezes at night. (oops, that sounds like 740). - There WAS a time (mid 90's) when 1150 was for sale for $3-million. At the same time, 1510 was for sale for $2-million. 1150 was less expensive because of more favorable tower-site costs. That's when the WILD owners should have jumped; bought that one and sold 1090. - Also, at that time, 96.9 sold for $6-million. Those were the days. We won't see those prices again until around 2015.

Yeah Bob, but the question is did Ms. Nash have that kind of money.

 

[DanStrassberg]

Yes, too bad the WILD folks never got 1150.... a perfect urban signal....

Yeah Bob, but the question is did Ms. Nash have that kind of money.

Until she hooked up with Radio One, she probably didn't have the money, but that didn't stop her from looking at station after station and offering really stupid and irrelvant reasons for rejecting each and every proposal. Nobody who knew anything about the stations could believe the reasons she offered. I suppose she figured that if she ever gave the REAL reason (not enough $$$), she would not get further chances to look at other stations she couldn't afford. Maybe her idea was that if she kept looking and the RIGHT deal was ever presented, she could make the $$$ appear.

I don't know if she ever had a shot at 1260, but that would clearly have been THE most right station she could have found if she searched for 100 years. Aside from WBZ, 1260 has the best signal in Boston's inner city of ANY AM.

Now, if 1510 were to diplex with 1260 or if 1430 were to do so at night (this is an either/or thing; 1430 and 1510 are too close in frequency for both to be able to do it), either of those stations would become an equally good fit for an urban talk or Gospel format.