WBAP on 96.7 is a Smart Move

[lomax]

WBAP AM 820 has a way better technical sound...late model vehicle...windshield antenna....couldn't listen to 96.7 for long...sibilant, shrill with the S'Ss and high end splattering. Perhaps some engineering tweaking still to be done.

 

[Lancer]

As for the rimshot situation, I'm sure it's a "wait & see" if the format works on the FM dial.

They could then swap with a less-rated but full-power Cedar Hill signal if ratings go through the roof.

Testing - 1, 2, 3...

 

[RadioStarOne]

My son is 12 years old and I asked this morning the difference between AM and FM and he said "what is AM and FM? I listen to music from my computer" My point is that he is already getting all his music fulfilled from streaming on the internet! AM and FM is going the way of the dinosaurs for the younger generation. Radio better start doing something to capture the attention of these younger listeners of music. Hint: News/talk is not what they want to hear, so whats left?

 

[amisdead]

Hint: News/talk is not what they want to hear, so whats left?

Hint: News/Talk has never been a hot format for 12 years olds, or most persons under 35 years old for that matter. Ever. Not even when radio was all there was in the way of media.

Most 12 years old are too busy flirting and collecting shiny coins to worry about healthcare reform or out-of-control Toyotas. News, in all mediums, has an older target demographic than pure entertainment content. Nothing new.

With all due respect, this point is lame and almost a cliché at this point. Measurement services are showing no material listener losses to these streaming services I keep hearing talked about and News/Talk is a format that is not going anywhere.

 

[johnsummers]

Again, may remind you about the ....oh...1.5 to ..maybe 2.5 million dollars they save on music licensing fees every year....sad, but true. ???

 

[Accuracy]

Again, may remind you about the ....oh...1.5 to ..maybe 2.5 million dollars they save on music licensing fees every year....sad, but true. ???

We need some insight from someone in a GMs seat, but I believe your numbers are way off. I think ASCAP and BMI each get about 3% of billing for their fees, or about 6% total. For them to pay between $1.5 million and $2.5 million they would have to be billing between $30 - $40 million per year. If they were billing that much it was a major cash cow and there is no way they would have dropped the format.

 

[donicus]

How long before KRLD AM starts simulcasting on 105.3???

Not soon enough.

 

[donicus]

I listened to the FM side on my way to Waco this morning. Had a good signal all the way past Alvarado.

 

[dfwrunner]

How long before KRLD AM starts simulcasting on 105.3???

Not soon enough.

They already are on HD-2

 

[donicus]

How long before KRLD AM starts simulcasting on 105.3???

Not soon enough.

They already are on HD-2

I know, but I don't have an HD radio.

 

[davideduardo]

Again, may remind you about the ....oh...1.5 to ..maybe 2.5 million dollars they save on music licensing fees every year....sad, but true. ???

We need some insight from someone in a GMs seat, but I believe your numbers are way off. I think ASCAP and BMI each get about 3% of billing for their fees, or about 6% total. For them to pay between $1.5 million and $2.5 million they would have to be billing between $30 - $40 million per year. If they were billing that much it was a major cash cow and there is no way they would have dropped the format.

The performanc rights are, in sum, in the 5% area, with some adjustments...

With KPMZ likely to have been billing in the $3 to $6 million range, the payments would be in the $130 k to $300 k range.

Even talkers pay a fee, although much lower, for incidental use of music such as in commercials and bumpers.

 

[oldiesfan6479]

Even talkers pay a fee, although much lower, for incidental use of music such as in commercials and bumpers.

I've heard El Rushbo pays a rather hefty sum each year for using
the Pretenders song My City Was Gone as his opening theme.

 

[MikeShannon914]

There was a news story years ago that Chrissie Hynde didn't even WANT Limbaugh using her song. Don't know how that panned out then, but I guess money makes everything ok, right?

 

[BBontheRadio]

She is a big PETA supporter and I believe all of the money goes to PETA.

 

[johnsummers]

RE: the Platinum music fees: Those were number we were just tossing around in discussion of the change. Correct me if I'm wrong, but I understand that, regarding ASCAP and BMI, one calculates the fee based on station cume, and the other on station billing....Mr. Eduardo?

 

[oldiesfan6479]

What was aired for the legal ID at 5 AM CT (or 6 or 7)?

Can you answer your own question here?

Sure.

OK...I called up the 'BAP stream in advance of the 11 PM CT legal:

"WBAP Fort Worth/Dallas, KPMZ Flower Mound/Dallas/Fort Worth"

There was a short "two-beep" SFX in between the two IDs.

It will be more interesting when the FCC approves the FM callsign
change to WBAP-FM. For the sake of us radio geeks (and legal ID
geeks) everywhere, we better not hear any of that "WBAP AM & FM"
crap, and probably won't since the COLs are different.

 

[dismuke]

I even have old reels of WBAP-FM playing classical music in 1965.

If you look at the DFW Radio Archive's list of 1960s Dallas/Fort Worth radio stations (see: http://www.dfwradioarchives.com/1960s.htm ) you will find that in some years, there were actually four stations on the FM dial with a classical music format. That's pretty remarkable - especially given that area's population was significantly smaller back then. Classical music had just as much of a niche following then as it does today.

Question: does anyone know for sure why there were so many FM stations with a classical format and whether any of them were actually commercially viable? One guess that has occurred to me is that if a station limited itself to playing only the works of composers from the 19th century and earlier it would not have been on the hook for any ASCAP/BMI royalties. That certainly would be one way besides a simulcast to keep a "parked" frequency on the air in order fulfill licensing requirements. Does anyone know if that was the reason so many FM stations had classical formats?

 

[salemjedi54]

There was a news story years ago that Chrissie Hynde didn't even WANT Limbaugh using her song. Don't know how that panned out then, but I guess money makes everything ok, right?

If Ms Hynde does not own the copyright/publishing rights then it does not matter what she wants.

 

[Huff]

I even have old reels of WBAP-FM playing classical music in 1965.

If you look at the DFW Radio Archive's list of 1960s Dallas/Fort Worth radio stations (see: http://www.dfwradioarchives.com/1960s.htm ) you will find that in some years, there were actually four stations on the FM dial with a classical music format. That's pretty remarkable - especially given that area's population was significantly smaller back then. Classical music had just as much of a niche following then as it does today.

Question: does anyone know for sure why there were so many FM stations with a classical format and whether any of them were actually commercially viable? One guess that has occurred to me is that if a station limited itself to playing only the works of composers from the 19th century and earlier it would not have been on the hook for any ASCAP/BMI royalties. That certainly would be one way besides a simulcast to keep a "parked" frequency on the air in order fulfill licensing requirements. Does anyone know if that was the reason so many FM stations had classical formats?

Several reasons factor into answering that question. The amount of listening to the FM band during that era was miniscule compared to what it is today. In 1966, FM accounted for less than 20% of the cume radio audience in the Dallas market - and the further back you go, the smaller that number would be. FM listening did not start seeing substantial growth in Dallas/Fort Worth until the early 70s, and it was not until the mid 70s that it achieved parity and started to surpass AM listening.

FM was by and large seen as a wasteland. Much like today's HD2 operations, little time or effort was put into most FM stations because the audience, and return on investment, was simply not there. FM radios in cars were virtually non-existant, and the radios that did have FM tuners were generally part of large in-home stereo set-ups. Since that was generally the available FM audience, many operators catered to that "hi-fidelity" crowd with appropriate programming - classical, semi-classical, opera and jazz.

It wasn't until the mid to late 60s when stations across the nation like KNUS started experimenting with underground rock during the nighttime hours that young listeners started moving to FM.

 

[charles123]

I even have old reels of WBAP-FM playing classical music in 1965.

If you look at the DFW Radio Archive's list of 1960s Dallas/Fort Worth radio stations (see: http://www.dfwradioarchives.com/1960s.htm ) you will find that in some years, there were actually four stations on the FM dial with a classical music format. That's pretty remarkable - especially given that area's population was significantly smaller back then. Classical music had just as much of a niche following then as it does today.

Question: does anyone know for sure why there were so many FM stations with a classical format and whether any of them were actually commercially viable? One guess that has occurred to me is that if a station limited itself to playing only the works of composers from the 19th century and earlier it would not have been on the hook for any ASCAP/BMI royalties. That certainly would be one way besides a simulcast to keep a "parked" frequency on the air in order fulfill licensing requirements. Does anyone know if that was the reason so many FM stations had classical formats?

Several reasons factor into answering that question. The amount of listening to the FM band during that era was miniscule compared to what it is today. In 1966, FM accounted for less than 20% of the cume radio audience in the Dallas market - and the further back you go, the smaller that number would be. FM listening did not start seeing substantial growth in Dallas/Fort Worth until the early 70s, and it was not until the mid 70s that it achieved parity and started to surpass AM listening.

FM was by and large seen as a wasteland. Much like today's HD2 operations, little time or effort was put into most FM stations because the audience, and return on investment, was simply not there. FM radios in cars were virtually non-existant, and the radios that did have FM tuners were generally part of large in-home stereo set-ups. Since that was generally the available FM audience, many operators catered to that "hi-fidelity" crowd with appropriate programming - classical, semi-classical, opera and jazz.

It wasn't until the mid to late 60s when stations across the nation like KNUS started experimenting with underground rock during the nighttime hours that young listeners started moving to FM.

Well it don't matter to me now I took 96.7 off of my preset button