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WBYW...104.3 Lynn Haven/Panama City....The Bay.....is dark

C

cceng1

As of 10am this morning, WBYW aka "The Bay" licensed to Lynn Haven (Panama City) is dark....a business decision from what I hear through the grapevipe.....

Now I guess their new moniker is......wait for it................. HISS-FM ....... insert rimshot here

cceng
 
Seriously.....wasn't this just a case of another format that was already covered in PCF? I think that for a new station to make an impression in any market, ya gotta be different.

PCF has too many FM stations already, n'est-ce pas?

cd
 
I'm in Bay County now..appears to be off the air.
 
Always hate to see a station go dark. Hope they can regroup.


A interesting article from one of the publishers of a newsletter predicts in a couple years one or both of the national radio groups will do away with all local talent and sales staff. Each station group will have a tech advisor and a admin person. local sales turnover is high, and syndicated programming works for them.

Right now their debt load is too high, and more cuts will be needed.

This wil be a excellent opportunity for medium and small stations (groups) to serve their local market.

Hopefully, better days are ahead for the small broadcaster.
 
Citing financial difficulties, Horizon Broadcasting’s “104.3 The Bay” WBYW Lynn Haven/Panama City FL ceased operations on Friday, November 16.

The station signed on in August 2011 with an Adult Rock format stretching from the 1970s through 2000s.

The Horizon Broadcasting that owns WBYW is unrelated to the Horizon Broadcasting Group that operates stations in Oregon. The station was a stand-alone in the Panama City market although its owners operated additional stations in Florida via various LLC’s including Sports “ESPN 97.9” WTSM Tallahassee, Classic Hits “98.5 The Beach” WSBH Satellite Beach/Melbourne, and the pair of AC “Coast 101.3” WHLG and Urban AC “104.7 The Flame” in Port St. Lucie.

They just took down the 104.3 The Bay website earlier today....
 
I wonder what they want for it? According to the FCC Data that I found, they won the station at auction for over 2 million!!!! My goodness, they must have lost their rear end on the deal
 
I just wonder what commercial format has not yet been "tapped" in PCF, to where a 104.3 could make a dent. I don't live there.

cd
 
The problem is trying to own a standalone station... Clear Channel has a 37-share with their cluster, Magic has a 22, and Powell's stations aren't even listed (probably don't subscribe). Too many stations for a market of 146,000 people...market #234....

Maybe someone could buy this along with 106.5 in Carabelle and have the makings of a little group along the coast...
 
The debt service alone on $2,000,000 is enough to guarantee failure unless the format is moderately successful. Add in extra debt for capital startup costs and operational expenses and you have a situation where the format needs to be spectacularly successful. With that kind of loading, an alternative format probably cannot derive enough listeners to pay the bills. I'd look for a low maintenance, mainstream format that plays well in businesses. I've no idea what's on the air in town, but a format something like smooth Jazz/light AC is one possibility. Oldies might be another. Classic Hits or Classic Country would also be worth considering. All have the advantage of being easy to program and maintain (think low operational costs), all can sound good in a business environment and they can each draw decent numbers.

Now, if you can get the station at a good cost, say under $500k, then your format choices are broader because you don't have to be as successful to survive. You can, as a labor of love, play an alternative rock format, but keep in mind that the format has to be kept fresh an interesting to work. This requires you to spend your days updating the playlist instead of the #1 job which is selling, or you have to hire knowledgeable staff which is an expense.


I suspect that that survival for the lonely standalone in PCF probably hinges on a strong local sales effort with low rates targeting mom & pop businesses that cannot afford to pay corporate radio rates. Be prepared to hit the streets with a $20 rate card and be willing to negotiate way down from there. Probably, you'll have to pay a larger commission, too or else your sales people will starve. With luck, you should be able to pull in $25k to $50k per mo. if the sales staff is very good. Every expense has to fit within that budget or one day the bank owns the station instead of you.
 
WBYW has a standalone sister station in Tallahassee with WTSM, which has a sports format. This station has had several format changes over the past few years.

At under two years into the sports format, I'm not sure that it is really making money either. So
it's not like one station can prop up the other.

Classic country might work in PC since 103.5 has moved to mostly current country.

It will boil down to getting a format that sells, and a good team to do sales.
 
This would make a great new home for Beach 95.1. It would also allow 95.1 to quit trying to be a PCB station and find a new market in Walton county.
104.3 would also make a nice simulcast for 106.3 the Seabreeze. 105.1 had high ratings as a smooth jazz station as I recall.
 
Sorry Tibbs...I can't hold back....ROB....if you would do a little homework, you would know that Horizon owns at least 3 stations in South Florida and the ESPN FM in Tallahassee....I would say they aren't looking to get out of broadcasting as you stated....They probably discovered quickly that Panama City is over-radio'd (not sure that's an actual word) and decided to cut their loses and stop the bleeding.
 
cceng said:
....They probably discovered quickly that Panama City is over-radio'd (not sure that's an actual word) and decided to cut their loses and stop the bleeding.
Click to expand...

Instead of turning it off, why do you suppose they didn't just make the station a translator for another property or stick a computer at the transmitter site and keep one salesperson and a secretary to answer phones? An operating station has some revenue potential and is certainly more sell-able than one that is dark. Even when dark, they still have expenses. It wouldn't cost very much more to do a barebones operation. I can't imagine turning off a property, except in the most dire corporate emergency.

I suppose it must be as you have speculated. Still, that decision is mystifying, especially in light of them advertising help wanted in Tallahassee.
 
They probably discovered quickly that Panama City is over-radio'd (not sure that's an actual word) and decided to cut their loses and stop the bleeding.
Click to expand...


Who will add this station to their cluster? Let the guessing games begin.

Gotta love the 80-90. (Don't know if this station was part of that).
 
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