WARM Back On???

[BaltimoreJack]

Mr. AMFMXMPMGMBM......
There are some AM stations that do well, and are very successful. Here on this board I started a thread titled "AMs not dead yet". I talked about how WBZ was the #1 biller in Boston for all of 2008. I would suppose they've most likely been Boston's #1 biller for quite some time. Sure, there are great AM stations out there making big, big dollars and ratings. BUT......These stations have been taken care of, and have managed to continue to be an indispensible part of people's lives. However, way too many AM stations have been left to drop by the wayside, and within time, they just become no longer viable. You cannont take an entity and then starve it, choke it, beat it & kick it, and expect it to be healthy. Whether you like it or not..and you don't...in general AM radio is DEAD! You can wish all you want, but it's dead. Sorry. WARM is a ghost that's never coming back. There are many more AM stations all over the country that once shared lofty positions similar to WARM's, but things changed. There are lots of reasons as to why. But for all intents and purposes those stations are nothing but zombies. It's too bad and it's sad. You can shake your fist all you want, and tell those who understand today's business situations and know that putting money & wishes into a revitalized WARM is a fool's errand. Maybe it's comfortable sitting in your Lazy Boy at night dreaming of a glorious WARM that "could be"...but that's all it is..a comfortable pipe dream. Enjoy it.

 

[amfmxm]

Mr. Bmore Jack,

FWIW, I'm not the least bit nostalgic about 590/WARM. I didn't grow up in WB-S, but did grow up in the York area--"WSBA Land"--and know what great stations both were. As a friend once put it, "major market Top 40 stations in small to medium markets."

My observations on WARM's potential to rebuild are based on the reality of a renovated WARM signal--as good or better than all but a handful of FM signals relative to the WB-S market--and the average age of that market (old).

Big signal AMs generally out-perform small signal FMs because YOU CAN HEAR THEM. Northeast PA is the World Capital of strung-together-little-Class A FM sticks-and-bunches-of-little-AMs masquerading as "a radio station." But they're tough to market. Right, WILK? Five killowatts @ 590 kHz solves that shit.

And Northeast PA is one of America's oldest markets in terms of average or median age. You can holler at those 60-year olds all you want on your internet radio station, but they won't hear you. But crank 590 back up to 5 gallons with a clean audio chain and they'll be all over that like snot on a doorknob.

It's why CBS television fills up its avails on "Numbers" and "The Mentalist" with drugs for old people. Because that's where they are.

BTW, having dropped the WILK calls in there... would I be saying the same things about 980 or 630 or 910 or 1240 in this market? Nope.

But the WARM physical facility is a special case. It covers a shitload of human beings. And, in radio, that's where you start.

 

[jeffwoehrle]

I agree that 590 was a killer signal, but only a part of its problem originates with its own facility.

AM is now loaded down with a far greater number of shoehorned-in assignments that are all pumping hash into a crowded band. Couple that with the explosion of discharge lighting and you have more noise than comes out of Washington DC. I remember having to turn off the fluorescent kitchen light on certain mornings (back in the day) when listening to WARM because of interference. Not consistent, just when the ether was right. That situation has not improved and has reached an epidemic under the guise of energy efficiency. All those mercury toxic CFLs that the greenies are jamming down our throats are singing in harmony with the ghost of Harry West.

To cover all the 'new' noise on the band, WARM would have to be 50 kW to get the type of coverage and reception quality that once was. May as well up the power...everyone else has.

As a whole, AM is already dead. A couple of spots of healthy growth does not make a solid tree. As said before, absent co-owned FMs, I'd say most AMs would already be gone...their younger FM cousins have been carrying the weight for years.

 

[amfmxm]

I agree that 590 was a killer signal, but only a part of its problem originates with its own facility.

AM is now loaded down with a far greater number of shoehorned-in assignments that are all pumping hash into a crowded band. Couple that with the explosion of discharge lighting and you have more noise than comes out of Washington DC. I remember having to turn off the fluorescent kitchen light on certain mornings (back in the day) when listening to WARM because of interference. Not consistent, just when the ether was right. That situation has not improved and has reached an epidemic under the guise of energy efficiency. All those mercury toxic CFLs that the greenies are jamming down our throats are singing in harmony with the ghost of Harry West.

To cover all the 'new' noise on the band, WARM would have to be 50 kW to get the type of coverage and reception quality that once was. May as well up the power...everyone else has.

As a whole, AM is already dead. A couple of spots of healthy growth does not make a solid tree. As said before, absent co-owned FMs, I'd say most AMs would already be gone...their younger FM cousins have been carrying the weight for years.

Nobody (including me) is suggesting that AM reception will ever be what it was in 1958. Same goes for FM reception. Remember when you could take a Class B FM til the earth's curvature finally killed it (about 120 miles?). That ain't the point.

And it's not that I don't understand your POV. I operate a cluster with one AM and a bunch of FMs and we generate 95 percent of our sales revenue on the FMs--though the AM is a profitable little SOB. I get it.

But beyond spelling it out "like I was a third grader" (what movie is that from?)--as I did above--let me leave this conversation with this thought:

Some people can only see the obvious. And, yes, with the exception of KFI, WBBM, WGN, WINS, WCBS... KYW, WBZ, WSB, WLW, WJR, WWJ, KDKA, WTAM, WHAS, KGO, KOA, KFYI, WCCO, WHO, KFAB... (that's enough to make the point, isn't it?)... and two or three hundred other AM stations that dominate their markets or play Top 5 roles, AM is kaput. That's the obvious. AM is dead, except for all those that are making all that money. Anybody in Scranton want to swap pay checks with the GM or GSM at WGN(AM)?

But some people understand exceptions. Often, those are the people who see opportunities that most people miss.

WARM is an exception. And an opportunity.

Have a nice weekend!

 

[BaltimoreJack]

[/quote]




WARM is an exception. And an opportunity.






[/quote]
Since you've got money to spend and a vivid imagination, I have this wonderful ocean-front property in Iowa you might be interested in!

 

[Element9]

It's not business as usual; to the contrary, it's business as unsusual. Read this article by economist Jim Jubiak because while it's not about radio, it is about busness and the new realities of staying afloat.

In case anybody missed it, let me repeat. I love AM radio; there's a texture to it that holds something special to radio dorks like me. But I dig FM radio just as much. Clean, crisp, clear. Stereo. My first gig was on a big 50 gallon FM stereo station that about 12 people listened to. How I longed to work at the AM Top 40 at the time. Eventually, I worked AM, FM and FM & AM simulcasts, where I sometimes listened to the AM air monitor just to hear the punch. Sometimes.

Posters have noted that WGN, WJR, WBBM, WBZ, KYW and the like are still kickin' and making gobs of money. The other side of the coin is, they're also investing gobs of money in programming and promotion. Good radio does not come cheap. For the most part, these stations are flamethrowers and market stalwarts that haven't been messed with. Nobody came in and tried to re-invent the wheel. Any changes that were made were made methodically and in keeping with a long term plan.

WARM, from what I have read and observed over the years, has been jacked with so much that it's lost any continuity; even for 50+ listeners who, because of the tweaking and maipulation of WARM, have found programming they prefer on FM. You have to work like a beaver and spend gobs of money trying to get some of these listeners back to WARM. They just don't flock back because "oh, wowie, gee, WARM is back..." It's not automatic. It's an uphill push and there is no guarantee. None. It's like re-opening a restaurant that once had a great name, a great menu and lots of good will, but the restaurant has been through a dozen owners, a dozen chefs, different wait staff.

If you know something about marketing, and it seems many posters here know plenty, you know that once a customer is lost, once a product loses it's repeat purchasers, it's double hard to get the customer to re-try or re-purchase the product. How many versions of WARM have listeners in NEPA been through? It seems it could be WARM 5.2!

Talk all we want about the big money makers in Chicago, Boston, New York and LA. They're not WARM and they're not in NEPA.

 

[jeffwoehrle]

...
Some people can only see the obvious. And, yes, with the exception of KFI, WBBM, WGN, WINS, WCBS... KYW, WBZ, WSB, WLW, WJR, WWJ, KDKA, WTAM, WHAS, KGO, KOA, KFYI, WCCO, WHO, KFAB... (that's enough to make the point, isn't it?)...

Okay. Subtract those from the 4779 AM stations in the US. Even throw in a couple of hundred that may be marginal. Hell, throw in a thousand. You are still looking at a band that is dominated by a few strong players in wealthy markets.

If the revenue isn't there, no amount of great programming or wishful thinking will save you...unless your bank account is healthy enough to play.

Wasn't Route 81 supposed to be some kind of 'new' operator? Wasn't there talk of playing only the great songs and keeping community involvement high? I understand your point about putting that attitude and operation on 590, but there is still a problem with the high cost of the facility...both to maintain and restore.

I'll be the first to admit being gun-shy after dumping money down the black hole that is 960 in Mount Pocono. Fighting a losing battle kind of does that to you. I just look at 590 as more of the same...except one more tower and all of them twice as high. Ouch...

Time for a cold one...or six. Good discussion, AMFMXM...

 

[jackandcoke]

It's not business as usual; to the contrary, it's business as unsusual. Read this article by economist Jim Jubiak because while it's not about radio, it is about busness and the new realities of staying afloat.

In case anybody missed it, let me repeat. I love AM radio; there's a texture to it that holds something special to radio dorks like me. But I dig FM radio just as much. Clean, crisp, clear. Stereo. My first gig was on a big 50 gallon FM stereo station that about 12 people listened to. How I longed to work at the AM Top 40 at the time. Eventually, I worked AM, FM and FM & AM simulcasts, where I sometimes listened to the AM air monitor just to hear the punch. Sometimes.

Posters have noted that WGN, WJR, WBBM, WBZ, KYW and the like are still kickin' and making gobs of money. The other side of the coin is, they're also investing gobs of money in programming and promotion. Good radio does not come cheap. For the most part, these stations are flamethrowers and market stalwarts that haven't been messed with. Nobody came in and tried to re-invent the wheel. Any changes that were made were made methodically and in keeping with a long term plan.

WARM, from what I have read and observed over the years, has been jacked with so much that it's lost any continuity; even for 50+ listeners who, because of the tweaking and maipulation of WARM, have found programming they prefer on FM. You have to work like a beaver and spend gobs of money trying to get some of these listeners back to WARM. They just don't flock back because "oh, wowie, gee, WARM is back..." It's not automatic. It's an uphill push and there is no guarantee. None. It's like re-opening a restaurant that once had a great name, a great menu and lots of good will, but the restaurant has been through a dozen owners, a dozen chefs, different wait staff.

If you know something about marketing, and it seems many posters here know plenty, you know that once a customer is lost, once a product loses it's repeat purchasers, it's double hard to get the customer to re-try or re-purchase the product. How many versions of WARM have listeners in NEPA been through? It seems it could be WARM 5.2!

Talk all we want about the big money makers in Chicago, Boston, New York and LA. They're not WARM and they're not in NEPA.

WGY, Albany. WHAM, Rochester. KMJ, Fresno. KFAB, Omaha. KRMG, Tulsa. WTVN, Columbus. WHO, Des Moines. WHP, Harrisburg. WRVA, Richmond. All Wilkes Barre-Scranton peers, to one degree or another, including 3 or 4 of them right here in the Mid Atlantic/Northeast. Market-leading AM stations in mid-size markets. Cheez.

Yeah, it would be a project. And yeah, radio is, and has been for years, a game played only by people with money. Digging WARM out of the ditch and turning it back into a real radio station again would not be a task for anyone with a shoestring budget or a short timeline. It would take some bucks, some smarts, some real hard work and some time. It would take promotion--something media companies spend their lives talking other companies into doing, but hate to do themselves. It would take thinking--something way too many broadcasters try to avoid at all costs!

But, yeah, the basic goods are there. It all starts with the signal. And signals like WARM's are pretty rare.

 

[BaltimoreJack]

...
Some people can only see the obvious. And, yes, with the exception of KFI, WBBM, WGN, WINS, WCBS... KYW, WBZ, WSB, WLW, WJR, WWJ, KDKA, WTAM, WHAS, KGO, KOA, KFYI, WCCO, WHO, KFAB... (that's enough to make the point, isn't it?)...

Okay. Subtract those from the 4779 AM stations in the US. Even throw in a couple of hundred that may be marginal. Hell, throw in a thousand. You are still looking at a band that is dominated by a few strong players in wealthy markets.

If the revenue isn't there, no amount of great programming or wishful thinking will save you...unless your bank account is healthy enough to play.

Wasn't Route 81 supposed to be some kind of 'new' operator? Wasn't there talk of playing only the great songs and keeping community involvement high? I understand your point about putting that attitude and operation on 590, but there is still a problem with the high cost of the facility...both to maintain and restore.

I'll be the first to admit being gun-shy after dumping money down the black hole that is 960 in Mount Pocono. Fighting a losing battle kind of does that to you. I just look at 590 as more of the same...except one more tower and all of them twice as high. Ouch...

Time for a cold one...or six. Good discussion, AMFMXM...

All through this discussion we keep hearing about WBZ, WCCO, KDKA and the rest of the major-market 50 gallon non-directional AMs. Yeah..of course they are doing great. They are owned by companies that are very interested in keeping them going, they never really dipped out of sight in the ratings, and they NEVER got the kind of management neglect that WARM got.

A lot of people rag on Route 81 Radio. Route 81 gets a bad rap that I don't think is exactly deserved. In the very beginning of the company, there was a serious interest in "going back to the future". But..their original CEO was a bit of a dreamer. So he gets a handful of venture capital firms to fund his dream. Now, he gets a selection of unused & essentially unloved frequencies mostly from Citadel. He pays more than they are worth, (just like the big boyz did) and most of these stations have no staff, no buildings, no format. They been running on a computer out of a closet in some cluster-center. Within 18 months, the venture guys start getting itchy for their money. The money's not coming in because in the long run, nowhere near enough of the various market's audiences give a damn about these old, long-forgotten stations. So now the bankers get nuts, and they bring in someone else to do THEIR bidding. Exit Lloyd Roach..Enter Ira Rosenblatt. Ira also gets a bad rap. he was hired for one thing, and one thing only. Trim the fat off the bacon, and get these stations ready to sell. The bankers want their cash back. There is no longer any vision for a group of "community radio stations". There is a vision of "SOLD" stickers on the real estate signs. While this is beginning to take place the perfect storm erupts. All of Route 81's licenses come up for regular renewal. At this moment, Lloyd Roach pops out of the grave and files a formal license challenge. The FCC looks at the legal briefs filed by both sides and decides Lloyd has a good enough complaint that the licenses MUST now go to a comparative hearing. Now, bear in mind that the FCC is about 14 months behind schedule in holding comparative hearings. The Route 81 bankers are now screwed, because no sales can be consumated while a formal license challenge is in front of the FCC. So all of the bankers efforts to have these stations sold have to be put on hold. So they have to go into a holding pattern while they await FCC action. During this time, the bankers only want Ira Rosenblatt to keep the costs at a very minimum, and just make things go until they get a decision from the FCC. They don't get the challenge cleared until mid-January 2008. Now it's off to the races to get these things sold off because the bankers are really nuts and they want these things gone..and gone quickly. But ladies & gentleman we all know what was beginning to happen to the economy, and buy the summer of '08 the financial meltdown was in full flush. So now..once again, they can't sell the stations because..there's no money available to potential buyers. So they manage to sell off a couple of them, but they're stuck with the rest. So the only option for them is to cut costs even more..and they are back into a holding pattern. Wash, lather, rinse..repeat.

The Route 81 scenario is exactly what would be very likely to happen should someone manage to make a local purchase of WARM. While a new owner might get enough financing to sort of re-open the store...as soon as the money isn't coming in like the lenders want, they are going to want their money back quickly. Please bear in mind that when Route 81 was borrowing money..credit was flowing as free as the beer at a polish wedding. Given how short a time it took Route 81's lenders to get antsy in that atmosphere, can you imagine the pressure to produce or perish in these times would be for a new owner of WARM?

 

[The Sigon]

It would take thinking--something way too many broadcasters try to avoid at all costs!

I suggest that thinking is avoided because by so doing it takes longer for those around them, those working FOR them, to discover that there's not a lot of useful thought possible coming from the big office. Ask yourself how many GM's, PD's, even GSM's can you point to who were smart? I don't mean snake-oil salesman smart, I mean could conduct an intelligent conversation, remember details, occasionally see around the corner? Count them on one hand with some fingers left over?

 

[edarmsttrong]

When is Citadel gonna put HD Radio on 590???

 

[Tom Woods]

Basically WARM IS STILL BREATHING. Some things that we love will never come back. Like the fedora.

 

[Element9]

If somebody believes they can make a go of WARM as a stand alone, I implore you to contact Citadel Communications, attention Ms. Judy Ellis. You have my admiration and moral support.

Visit a commercial bank, have your business plan prepared down to the last dime, get your financing and line of credit ready. Be prepared to pay at least two points over prime.

Hire your staff. A previous poster noted that he expects to be paid $80 large. Preposterous. But on the other extreme, don't expect to pay your staff $10 an hour.

Have your health insurance plans in tact and make sure you pay the up front money and quarterly premiums. Surely, you're going to pay at least 50% of your staff's health insurance premium? Afterall, you're not a fly by night, cheap carpetbagger. You want to show your staff the proper respect and consideration.

You'll need a fully staffed news department and want to give them the tools they need to do their jobs professionally in the newsroom and on the street.

Planning to do a music format? You'll need good jocks. At least three who want to be there every minute of their 8 hour daily job, working on the air, in promotions and doing production.

You'll need at least two qualified engineers that can handle audio, RF and IT. You'll need a traffic and production department. You'll need well-paid, competent part timers and weekend warriors to cover vacation shedules.

Now the sales department. I'd consider this the critical part of the whole plan. You'll have to hire a sales manager who knows what he/she is doing, believes in the format you've chosen and can hire qualified sales reps who are thick skinned, intuitive and quick on their feet. Herb Tarlik need not apply. Your SM will need an incentive based, volume inducing over-ride to motivate him/her and the sales people.

You'll have absolutely no salable ratings at first, but they'll come in time, I'm certain. Of course, you'll provide the sales department with qualitative research from Arbitron, Tapscan and Maximizer in order to help them do their jobs and maximize the performance.

Your sales reps will understand that the word "no" is not acceptable when selling the station is concerned, that whoring the rate only hurts them and the station and that all commissions are paid not on billables but collections. It's the economy. And it's station policy.

I wish you well. You're smart, experienced and you love this drug we call radio. Let me know how you're doing after six months. And remember, after Uncle Sam, the bank gets paid first.

Best regards,

-9-

 

[BaltimoreJack]

Now the sales department. I'd consider this the critical part of the whole plan. You'll have to hire a sales manager who knows what he/she is doing, believes in the format you've chosen and can hire qualified sales reps who are thick skinned, intuitive and quick on their feet. Herb Tarlik need not apply. Your SM will need an incentive based, volume inducing over-ride to motivate him/her and the sales people.


Best regards,

-9-

No matter what else, you MUST have a sales manager & sales staff that UNDERSTANDS AM RADIO. So this means that you cannot have some 30 year old who never listened to AM radio and doesn't know anything about it. One of the reasons Citadel is in trouble all over the country is that in their corporate culture selling radio is no different than selling a barrel of apples or selling an automobile or selling a John Deere tractor. At one point Citadel had a regional VP who came from a trucking company! He had never, ever been involved in radio. So you cannot hire a sales manager who in his off times listens to 97-9 X and used to sell furniture at Raymour's. Unfortunately the people who really could sell AM radio are now either dead, retired or have gone far away from radio. People like John Khoury, Buzz Boback & Jim Ward are the kind of sales people that could make a re-started WARM attempt to run. Sales in a small town is a tricky item. And even if it's market #70..the NEPA market is small town radio. All the research in the world will not help you, if you can't become buddies with the client. It's not scientific, but it works. Especially if you are selling an AM. Now if you get into a top 20 market like Baltimore, most everyone is represented by an agency, and being buddies with the client wont help. You need the rating book & be able to talk cost per point...AND..be in the top 3 of the needed demo. "How 'bout them Birds" isn't gonna cut it. But...in NEPA, that plays well, and the book is less help. In NEPA, you need to know the secret handshake. You don't know it..and you'll never make a sale to a less than major advertiser. And make no mistake about it..99% of your clients will be less-than-major. You won't be getting money from Motorworld, Giant Markets, Turkey Hill or Wayne VanScoy. Ain't gonna happen. That money's already tied up with Toady, KRudZy & Tragic-93. Now that doesn't mean you can't make a decent dollar dealing with the less-than-majors...BUT..you will have to be creative, and brother, if you don't know the secret handshake..and your rep's got a tattoo sleeve on their arm...you pretty well might just save your energy and stay home.

 

[jeffwoehrle]

WARM's signal makes for tricky sales as well. The (properly massaged) WARM covers massive real estate. In theory, such coverage should be out of reach for Joe's hardware on Main Street. In practice, that's probably the only advertiser that will touch it. Bigger accounts (as mentioned above) are spending on the big guns and have little interest in also-rans. Ditto for national accounts, which should make sense from a purely coverage standpoint.

So, you're stuck selling Joe's Hardware size rates on a big regional signal. As such, your station will sound third-rate and small...no matter how far from Falls you go.

This is a REAL problem. All the costs associated with that big signal continue to pile up, but you can never get better rates than a 250 watt omni daytimer...or Tony down the street with his C.B.

I know this thread (and others nearby) sounds like the negative Nelly convention, but a realistic viewpoint has to emerge sometime. There are a lot of folks posting here who know the drill...and know that WARM is uphill to the point of being vertical. After all, Citadel has some very successful AM stations. Why isn't WARM one of them?

Because WARM is WARM. Because WARM is where it is. Because the competition is strong to the point of being untouchable.

But mostly, it's because WARM is AM.

 

[The Sigon]

Hire your staff. A previous poster noted that he expects to be paid $80 large. Preposterous.

That's minimum what you'd need to lure the "well-known personalities" back from their real, normal, everyday people world's. Maybe some are making that after radio, maybe not. But that's what you'll need to make them want back in. You won't get one without that kind of money so unless that's what's on the table don't waste your time. Or theirs.

 

[BaltimoreJack]

Hire your staff. A previous poster noted that he expects to be paid $80 large. Preposterous.

That's minimum what you'd need to lure the "well-known personalities" back from their real, normal, everyday people world's. Maybe some are making that after radio, maybe not. But that's what you'll need to make them want back in. You won't get one without that kind of money so unless that's what's on the table don't waste your time. Or theirs.

I'm not sure what you do for a living, but there are not a ton of people out there, especially former radio jocks making 80-thou a year unless they have totally changed careers and are now doing something like Registered Nursing, some professional engineering disipline or computer programming. While you could make that kind of money at Chrysler (at least for another 30 days or so) there just aren't a lot of jobs out there paying that kind of money, and when they are there, you will have needed to be working in that field for some time. There are lots of cops, teachers & mailmen who aren't making that kind of cabbage. Quite frankly paying 80-grand for an on-air talent is foolish. Now with that said, paying a decent talent a grand a week isn't totally out of whack, but for a market like NEPA that's plenty. If you bother to take into consideration the amount of people who have been beached by consolidation, there are lots of jocks out there who would be happy to make 30K. There are more than enough teachers who are seeking employment at the 30K level. Now to apply this scenario to a revitalized WARM, if you hire just 3 full time jocks and pay them a grand a week that's $156,000 a year just for their salaries. Now if you are going to give them decent insurance and pick up 60% of the policy your cost for just those 3 jocks is likely to run you another $36,000. Your health insurance bill is going to be REALLY high because you are just a stand alone AM with a comparatively small staff grouping. Of course you could get them crap insurance, but you're a GOOD operator, not like those nasty corporate guys so you're going to buy a GOOD policy for your staff. So that's $192,000 per year before you ever play a spot. You still need to take into consideration the employers SS/Medicare contribution of approx 16% which will run you another $30,720. So now your tab for just your (3) thousand-dollar-a-week jocks is at $222,720! So let's add in a receptionist at $18,720, a sales manager with a base of 35K, two sales reps with a base draw of 15K, a production director at 28K and you are now up to $461,472 inclusive of SS taxes and insurance contributions. We haven't yet addressed rent, phone & or STL equipment. Tower lease, general business insurances, mortgage payments, a chief engineer to keep the old girl chugging...utilities...etc..etc...ETC. Now just on the $461,472 for the salaries you MUST bill $38,456 EACH AND EVERY MONTH..month in and month out. When you add in all the rest of the expenses not fully listed, you will be approaching $55-60K that's needed every single month. There are FMs in this market that don't bill that on a regular basis. So..80K for an air talent on WARM?? No way.

 

[Element9]

If somebody believes they can make a go of WARM as a stand alone .... You have my admiration and moral support.

The numbers don't lie, and as you can see by the calculations from other posters, they don't add up. It's a tough nut to crack. Is that Elvis, singing "Memories" that I hear in wafting through the background?

_________________________________________________

(And in other news: 80 G's?! In NEPA? On WARM? In 2009? Nice work if you can get it. Citadel is tossing out people in larger markets, like Syracuse, Buffalo and Providence, who are making 32k a year and were happy to make that! Meanwhile, Imus makes about $97k a week. One of many reasons Citadel is circling the drain. Imus, not the 32k guys.)

 

[The Sigon]

So..80K for an air talent on WARM?? No way.

I was referring to a post that was referencing a previous post...suggesting that anyone trying to revive WARM would do best hiring "well-known personalities". I think that was a reference to people who are/were well-known but probably no longer in the business. They're no longer in the business for a reason and to lure them back it would have to be worth their while and and enough to cloud their good judgment.

Presently, of everyone on the air in northeast Pennsylvania, there are few well-known personalities.

Of course you wouldn't pay 80k to someone who didn't bring name recognition. But without name recognition that's strike one.

 

[BaltimoreJack]

It doesn't matter if they have name recognition as a "well-known" personality or if they do a good job on the mike at the Wendy's Drive-Thru. 80 grand for air talent is NEPA is foolish. You cannot make back that kind of money, especially on some sort of re-started version of WARM. Also, given the amount of good, talented people who are currently looking for work means you can have a talented person for less without being cheap and starving them. 35-52K max is plenty. The only exception is if your "well-known" personality, is also out selling. You can make money giving your morning talent 80K if and only if 30-40K of it is coming from sales.