Hertzkeeper,
At what point in time was WABB AM/FM worth $25 million?
At what point in time was WABB AM/FM worth $25 million?
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WABB SOLD!
- Thread starter Dr voicetrack
- Start date
Gasping4Airtime said:
If they deliver a better product than what is available to the local market, why not? what is not Christian about being good at what you do?
Megacycler said:
I guess he's talking about the 1990's when Clear Channel was buying everything (including non 200 markets) with a license. I have heard of 10 or 15 EBITA. Even then WABB would have to bill over $3.5 or $4 million a year. Was there that much CHR money in the Market?
Megacycler said:
I don't remember the exact year (around 2001), but it was when Cumulus was trying to buy the combo. It was before Hot 104 went on the air with a competing format.
helloagain said:
That's exactly the point...EMF does not deliver a better product! Which would you rather have: A local Christian station that gives you local news, weather, and tells you what is happening at your local churches and, for that matter, gives a radio pulpit to your local pastor...or a canned satellite feed from California with nothing local other than the legal ID at the top of the hour? EMF should leave the local stations alone and just get a channel on Sirius XM, where there are several other national Christian channels of various flavors.
EMF is to religious broadcasting what Walmart is to retail. Like Walmart, it has put many good local outlets out of business and it has spread across the country like cancer.
Greed is not a Christian value.
ka2xuk said:
But it's not a choice. Keep in mind that there could be a reason you don't already have a local Christian station giving you local news, weather and happenings. Usually, these stations don't exist because they're not able to make enough money in the marketplace.
I mostly agree with you here. My big beef with the way EMF operates is that it pleads poverty to the FCC to get the main studio waiver so it doesn't have to employ any local staff only to turn around and do almost $100 million in a year.
ka2xuk said:
Neither is judging an organization's intentions. EMF doesn't deliver a better product...by whose standards? Yours? Just because you think all radio should be done on a local level, doesn't mean the average radio listener agrees with that statement. Not everybody enjoys top 40 radio, either. Sure, most of us in here who either work or are interested in radio, believe radio should be done in that manner, but not everybody feels that way. And I would agree that seeing WABB-FM fall by the wayside is a sad event, as many people, local or otherwise, have some sort of emotional attachment to the station. Many radio listeners today just want to be entertained; they are unconcerned with the local aspect of radio, with the exception of when they require information, such as the case of times of severe weather. That is why Pandora and other services like it are taking off in full speed. As far as greed is concerned, how do you know what EMF's intentions are with the station? I don't doubt there are some "christian ministries" out there which aren't sincere about what they do. However, many christians ministries are not in radio for the money. Their purpose in to share the gospel and if that entails buying up whatever properties they deem necessary to accomplish that purpose, then they have a right to do so...just as Clear Channel, Cumulus, or whatever other behemoth organization does.
Kent said:
This is Alabama… Christian music of any flavor will sell here. Mobile has WBHY "Power 88" that has some local content. Heck, it might be 100% local for all I know. Birmingham has WDJC who is not only a successful Christian music station but also commercial and usually well rated. Z 88 in Orlando just made #1 in that market's 12+. The south is a good market for CCM and those types of formats.
ka2xuk said:
Look i don't disagree with you about the need for local radio, produced locally at a high level of quality but the average listener doesn't care. Not one bit...trust me...I have tried and tried and tried to help reignite the passion for local radio in my own market to absolutely no avail.
The average local listener in a rated market anywhere in the US, north, south, east, west doesn't care if their pastor has a radio pulpit. PSA's and "Here's what's happening" can cover a lot of ground...on top of that, most churches aren't using radio to invite people to their church unless they have a robust concert ministry.
I would also say that mega-churches are to the faith what WalMart is to retail...
I heard WABB-FM briefly in early 1974. At the time....they were doing AOR in the evening and apparently simulcasting Top 40 with 1480 during the day. Does anybody else recall this? Were they ever a full time AOR station?
Kent said:
WBHY-FM is at a slight coverage disadvantage to WABB-FM, since it only runs 33 kW at 623 feet, versus WABB's 100 kW @ 1552 feet.
WBHY still covers all of Mobile but it falls short of being a local signal in Pensacola. WKFP Navarre's 60 dBu cuts the middle of Pensacola and is the only existing K-Love in the area so when WABB flips there will be a ton of overlap east of Pensacola. WABB's 60 dBu is huge, encompassing all of Pensacola and Gulf Breeze, Pace and Milton, and even Pascagoula and Ocean Springs in Mississippi. With this move, K-Love will be the only CCM choice that covers such a large area.
Time Traveler said:
IIRC when I was station at Keesler AFB, at that time we got them on the 2nd floor in the triangle. I think they were only simulcasting AM drive with 1480. I do know a guy across the hall heard about the Jethro Tull concert in Mobile and scored a ticket.
Time Traveler said:
Yeah, WABB FM was pretty much an AOR for a few years in the mid-late 70's, while not simulcasting the AM. I think they were Top 40 all through the 80's. In the early 90's they mixed in a little alternative/modern rock (ala Beck, Goo Goo Dolls) before going back to full CHR by 1995.
When I came to Mobile in the fall of 1977 as a Spring Hill student, WABB AM was Top 40 and the FM was AOR. The FM simulcast the AM format 6am-9am with Ron Fraiser. In the fall of 1978, they briefly broke the simulcast as WABB FM transitioned to 97 Rock, a hits/aor hybrid with Scott O' Brien handling mornings on 97.5. The simulcast returned in the spring of 1979. Ron had moved to Indianpolis, so Gary Mitchell simulcast on AM & FM through his leaving to devote full time to his Soundworks studio in the fall of 1982.
Zach said:
You're correct that WBHY is at a slight signal disadvantage compared to WABB. WBHY is a class C1, and I believe it's maxed out in terms of power versus antenna height while WABB is a full class C. However, with respect to the Mobile market, it won't matter much. Both should have full coverage over the market. You're correct that WABB will put a better signal into Pensacola, but people have always listened to the Mobile stations in Mobile and the Pensacola stations in Pensacola. The big exception to that was about 20 years ago when WAVH was on 96.1 and pulled decent numbers in both markets.
WBHY is in now way maxed out and they don't just have a "slight disadvantage" to WABB. WBHY 88.5 is only 33 kW at 623 feet... that's almost a C2 signal. They have stated in the past that they were working on a fund to upgrade the 88.5 signal, but I suspect EMF on 97.5 is going to really hurt them.
TK101 has been getting good numbers in Mobile for a long time. WBLX is sometimes the #1 station in Pensacola. The Rocket also does well in Pensacola. It's AC and Country that don't do well in the wrong town.
TK101 has been getting good numbers in Mobile for a long time. WBLX is sometimes the #1 station in Pensacola. The Rocket also does well in Pensacola. It's AC and Country that don't do well in the wrong town.
I'm pretty sure that WABB-FM has outperformed WRGV in Pensacola as well. There aren't complete ratings for the Fall 2011 book but the Spring 2011 book shows WABB more than doubling WRGV's ratings. I have a feeling, however, that the two are at parity or WRGV even slightly ahead judging by their 3.0 in the Fall book and WABB's point-by-point slide each book.
Someone mentioned that WABB hadn't seen double digits shares since the 80's. That's not true. I don't recall the exact time, but late 90's and early 2000's, WABB was consistently in the high 8's, 9's and hit the low 10's a few times.
Last day looks to feature blasts from the past:
http://www.wabb.com/EndofanEraParty.aspx
Last day looks to feature blasts from the past:
http://www.wabb.com/EndofanEraParty.aspx
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