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purpledevil
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The oldies are gone. Allow me to introduce to you the all new "Radio Luz", the latest pay for play brokered station to grace our fine corner of SE Texas. The folks in Bellville are proud, let me assure you.
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purpledevil said:
Not new, as Radio Luz has had previous incarnations...it was the original format on KEZB 105.3 when it hit the air in 2001. Think it has popped up elsewhere over the years.
This is pretty typical of the state of AM radio these days...brokered whatever. Some of the programming succeeds, but most comes and goes like clients at a cheap motel.
I may be completely wrong but as I recall Radio Luz has had a long history in Houston radio, including several frequencies. Radio Luz might be run by Alex Mejia who was on 1270 and 1560 at times. If memory is correct, he was on some of Roy Henderson's stations at times.
Likely the best case scenario would be Radio Luz is on 1090 at minimal costs to eliminate the burden of 1090 running programming themselves. In other words, pay the operating expenses and the airtime is yours until the station is what it is planned to be, then you pay full rate or move on.
As a radio addict, I admit it is not great programming but seeing it from the business side it is a wonderful stroke of luck. It takes lots of money to get a station up and going especially when you're working a Construction Permit. Everything goes over budget. Everything must be perfect or it might never happen. Broadcast Attorneys are very expensive and worth every penny (I joke that for a fleeting moment the attorney thought of you at lunch so here's a $1,000 invoice). I know one guy that spent $750,000 just on getting his station and that was before he got the Construction Permit. Hundreds of thousands later, he was on the air. Using that scenario, you can imagine how nice it would feel to not have to worry about programming and day-to-day operating expenses while you get all the work done. Sure, it is not much income but at that point the wallet is getting really thin and you always wonder how long you'll need to operate before your revenue equals expenses and how you will pay back any borrowed money as the interest adds up.
Likely the best case scenario would be Radio Luz is on 1090 at minimal costs to eliminate the burden of 1090 running programming themselves. In other words, pay the operating expenses and the airtime is yours until the station is what it is planned to be, then you pay full rate or move on.
As a radio addict, I admit it is not great programming but seeing it from the business side it is a wonderful stroke of luck. It takes lots of money to get a station up and going especially when you're working a Construction Permit. Everything goes over budget. Everything must be perfect or it might never happen. Broadcast Attorneys are very expensive and worth every penny (I joke that for a fleeting moment the attorney thought of you at lunch so here's a $1,000 invoice). I know one guy that spent $750,000 just on getting his station and that was before he got the Construction Permit. Hundreds of thousands later, he was on the air. Using that scenario, you can imagine how nice it would feel to not have to worry about programming and day-to-day operating expenses while you get all the work done. Sure, it is not much income but at that point the wallet is getting really thin and you always wonder how long you'll need to operate before your revenue equals expenses and how you will pay back any borrowed money as the interest adds up.
bturner said:
No, you're not wrong about this at all. As discussed previously in this thread, brokered ethnic KFCC 1270 Bay City was illegally moved and operated from Missouri City until it was finally forced off the air; the license was forfeited and the licensee was barred from station ownership.
Other points that have been discussed may have some relevance, too. Like KFCC, KILE 1560 catered to ethnic broadcasters before it was sold to Gow and became KGOW. It also had a history of operating in an illegal manner with regard to licensed power and authorized broadcast times. KULF 1090 Bellville (formerly KBAL, KNUZ, KFRD and KACO) was silent for much of the time it was owned by Roy Henderson. It reportedly had no working studio and it was documented that the station had no operable transmitter site prior to its sale last year for the seemingly exorbitant amount of $500,000.
Radio Luz of Houston, operated by Alex Mejía, has aired programming over the years on a number of Houston area stations including KILE and KCHN 1050, as well as KNUZ 1090 and KEZB 105.3 (now KTWL, still owned by Roy Henderson).
In light of these things, is the appearance of Radio Luz on KULF at this point all that surprising?
And I might add Alex leased time on KYND for years running the Radio Kafe format, a Tropical music format with top notch jocks. I got the feeling he preferred dealing with the Christian format because at the end he had turned over Radio Kafe to a lady to run. Financial problems surfaced within weeks and then mysterious calls from bill collectors came in to KYND claiming we had purchsased this or that or authorized certain things. I remember lots of letters going out and hassling with legal departments at a couple of music licensing organizations trying to convince them Radio Kafe was a time buyer not associated with the ownership of KYND and not authorized to act on KYND's behalf. Not fond memories.
Such is the life of a radio station when you're dealing with the rejects of the radio programming business. This thing will eventually go the way of the stations in Conroe and Baytown; or take on the form of another Biz Radio operation. It will never serve Belleville again and it will never amount to much of a radio station, given the present ownership.
You are correct. That's all part of the game. You do get some people that do some questionable things.
I'd take that hassle over the earlier format where we struggled to find advertisers. With so many stations in the Houston area and the fact we are an AM daytimer, the only clients we could get were the mom and pop businesses that could spend small amounts on advertising. The result was it took almost what they spent to generate a new client. As we all know, most businesses don't really know how to measure results from their advertising (my Dad advertised for years and claimed the way he knew radio advertising worked was sales were off a little when he stopped yet in all the years he never got as much as a "I heard about your place and decided to stop in" from any customer). Few clients renewed because we had a small audience that was scattered through greater Houston. It was much like hitting the gas with your car with your other foot on the brakes. You just never developed enough of a base to get to the next rung on the ladder.
That made selling bulk airtime much more attractive. The buyer establishes their own audience and the station becomes more like a radio version of a mall. You sell space and the client sets up their business. As a former PD that got forced into sales, a part of me would rather do a format but knowing where my next meal is coming from is pretty nice.
I'd take that hassle over the earlier format where we struggled to find advertisers. With so many stations in the Houston area and the fact we are an AM daytimer, the only clients we could get were the mom and pop businesses that could spend small amounts on advertising. The result was it took almost what they spent to generate a new client. As we all know, most businesses don't really know how to measure results from their advertising (my Dad advertised for years and claimed the way he knew radio advertising worked was sales were off a little when he stopped yet in all the years he never got as much as a "I heard about your place and decided to stop in" from any customer). Few clients renewed because we had a small audience that was scattered through greater Houston. It was much like hitting the gas with your car with your other foot on the brakes. You just never developed enough of a base to get to the next rung on the ladder.
That made selling bulk airtime much more attractive. The buyer establishes their own audience and the station becomes more like a radio version of a mall. You sell space and the client sets up their business. As a former PD that got forced into sales, a part of me would rather do a format but knowing where my next meal is coming from is pretty nice.
9
93QClassic.com
Guest
Above comments were made over four years ago... Today, somebody told me who is behind all the recent translator shenanigans -- K291CE K284BX K236AR. Four years later, this zebra hasn't changed his stripes.
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Unregistered
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Gates Ortstx
You may have figured out who is behind these applications, but good luck to anyone trying to stop any of them.
You may have figured out who is behind these applications, but good luck to anyone trying to stop any of them.
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