What if (in many years from now) San Antonio and Austin became one market, it's possible especially with the growth of Austin's Southern Suburbs (San Marcos, Buda, Kyle) and San Antonio's Northern Suburbs (New Braunfels, Schertz, Smithson Valley etc).... What do you think would happen to our media outlets here in Southern Central Texas, just using imagination.
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What if...
- Thread starter prodigy3
- Start date
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beaun
Guest
I've thought about that too, but hard to imagine considering how each city has such a distinct individual personality. At one point, we shared a PBS affililiate in KLRN TV before Austin got KLRU. And I remember being a kid and watching San Antonio TV on Austin's 'Capital Cable' system, but I think that was more to give viewers variety. We also got KWTX in Waco, but at that time cable meant only channels 2-13.
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DominiqueRadio
Guest
Well it has been said in numerous places online that one day the area in between the two cities will become so populated that eventually they will merge the cities together like a Dallas-Ft Worth. A light rail connecting the two cities would only help it along.
Having said that if this became reality one day I could see the radio markets merging as well.
When I did radio in El Paso arbitron did not include Juarez Mexico. Which is literally next door to El Paso if you have never been. If arbitron did in fact include Mexico as part of the listening audience, El Paso would be a top 10 market.
Having said that if this became reality one day I could see the radio markets merging as well.
When I did radio in El Paso arbitron did not include Juarez Mexico. Which is literally next door to El Paso if you have never been. If arbitron did in fact include Mexico as part of the listening audience, El Paso would be a top 10 market.
I think we'd see more variety in the formats if both cities merged, it'd be interesting.. The light rail is actually in the works but it's going to be some years before we actually see it
But i could really see another 'Twin City' market like DFW and Minneapolis, although the distance between the two is more like the spread out Bay Area
But i could really see another 'Twin City' market like DFW and Minneapolis, although the distance between the two is more like the spread out Bay Area
prodigy3 said:
That is so true. Austin/SA will become similar to the San Francisco Bay Area. The way i see it...
Georgetown = Vallejo
Round Rock = Oakland
Austin = San Francisco
Kyle/Buda = San Mateo/Hayward
San Marcos = Berkeley
New Braunfels = Sunnyvale
Seguin = Fremont
San Antonio = San Jose
The "=" means that the TX city will be like CA city
prodigy3 said:
Economy wise both cities are doing well. As for radio, SA radio sounds better than Austin radio. The mixshow KTFM has going on right now sounds pretty fckn HOT!!!
www.ktfm.com
Downtown Austin to downtown S.A. is 79 miles. That's too far apart.
Few (if any) of the Austin stations put a usable signal into S.A., and vice versa.
The sponsor bases are completely separate, as are the news beats. Then there are the cultural differences...
I think there might be media catering to the mid-cities at some point, but
the metros will stay separate.
Few (if any) of the Austin stations put a usable signal into S.A., and vice versa.
The sponsor bases are completely separate, as are the news beats. Then there are the cultural differences...
I think there might be media catering to the mid-cities at some point, but
the metros will stay separate.
grantchester said:
While I think the cultural and news beat differences could be overcome, I basically agree with you. Barring major changes in how the FCC sets up allocations and signal parameters or the advent of a new medium to replace FM, there's not much of a chance the two markets will merge. If they did, no station would amount to a hill of beans in the ratings.
What people overlook in the combining of the Dallas and Ft. Worth markets is that it would have been a disaster had it not been for FM. The only AM's to cover the entire combined market 24/7 (that I can remember, anyway) are 570, 820 and 1080. FM took off in DFW out of necessity more than anything else as it was able to cover the whole market. KBOX, KFJZ, KLIF and KXOL had directional antennas that highly restricted their coverage of the entire combined market and made them largely unviable.
This is a very interesting discussion. No doubt the Austin-San Antonio corridor is transforming into a small Megalopolis (one might also factor the Temple-Killeen-Fort Hood market into the equation).
Having said that, the distance is a bit far for us to become a true conglomerated market. A good parallel would be West Palm Beach-to-Miami or Daytona-Orlando-Tampa Bay.... 2 and 3 contiguous markets, respectively. While there is definitely some overlap, I still see each market as distinctive.
Having said that, the distance is a bit far for us to become a true conglomerated market. A good parallel would be West Palm Beach-to-Miami or Daytona-Orlando-Tampa Bay.... 2 and 3 contiguous markets, respectively. While there is definitely some overlap, I still see each market as distinctive.
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bhenslee
Guest
San Francisco/Oakland and San Jose are 2 seperate Arbitron markets.
Washington DC and Baltimore (35 miles apart) are 2 seperate markets, as well, for the same exact same reasons (noted on earlier posts) that Austin and San Antonio will always be 2 seperate markets.
Washington DC and Baltimore (35 miles apart) are 2 seperate markets, as well, for the same exact same reasons (noted on earlier posts) that Austin and San Antonio will always be 2 seperate markets.
Well... If were talking about TV, it MAY BE possible to have SA and Austin combine television markets, to make one DMA in a few years. Just think about it:
One Fox ...Ch 7
One NBC ... Ch 36
One CBS ... Ch 5
One ABC ... Ch 24
One strong independent ... Ch 12
One CW ... Ch 42
One MNTV ... Ch 29
Two PBS ... Chs 9, 18
One Ion ... Ch 4
Other independent and misc. channels ... 2, 54, 35
It could happen, people!
One Fox ...Ch 7
One NBC ... Ch 36
One CBS ... Ch 5
One ABC ... Ch 24
One strong independent ... Ch 12
One CW ... Ch 42
One MNTV ... Ch 29
Two PBS ... Chs 9, 18
One Ion ... Ch 4
Other independent and misc. channels ... 2, 54, 35
It could happen, people!
And by the way, if KRTH "K-Earth 101" in Los Angeles can have a very strong signal that covers a 125 mile radius, anything is possible for SA and Austin to have ONE station that is able to cover a wide range from Lytle ALL the way to Georgetown with a Line-of-Sight transmission.
That would be cool too :-D
That would be cool too :-D
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DominiqueRadio
Guest
wild949austin said:
That would be cool. However it brings up the question on whom would drop that kind of cash to build such a stick with that high of power.
wild949austin said:
The FCC apparently doesn't know about KRTH's coverage all the way to San Diego (125 miles.)
Here's the map they have on file.
http://www.fcc.gov/fcc-bin/FMTV-service-area?x=FS76194.html
wild949austin said:
The "useful" KRTH signal does not even touch San Diego County (inside the 64 dbu is where 95% of the usual at home and at work listening occurs).
KRTH is severely grandfathered. It is above the maximum power for a class B and it is 2600 feet higher than the maximum height for such a facility. However, it is only protected to the extent of its conforming 50 kw at 500 foot equivilant coverage.
What you would get with a full C half way between Austin and SA is a station that has a signal that is not quite good enough for at home and at work listening in either market.
Further, I'm not sure if any station could make such a site move, since the allocations in the area are jammed and protection requirements would prohibit such a move.
Finally, radio buys are made on a metro (MSA) basis, and there would not be any economic incentive to this sort of move.
wild949austin said:
No, it couldn't. There's no way that TV signals from SA reach most of Austin, and vice versa. If 100% of the households had DirecTV or cable, maybe. But this ain't gonna happen. We couldn't see them decently in the analog days from central Austin and I don't see how digital would even begin to properly cover both cities.
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93-3TheSurge
Guest
grantchester said:
The one station that is able to hit both markets is BOB FM. SA's most usable station in Austin is Magic 105.3, but it does come in with some static.
It's an easy solution, though. Move all of the sticks to Hunter, TX, a small town that is 38 miles from both Austin and San Antonio, which would work because most towers that put out close to 100,000 ERP can cover an 85-mile radius. You may have to put up additional translators in Round Rock/Georgetown to cover additional areas to the north and also add translators in Lytle/Devine to cover the areas to the south.
You don't need the translators, but if you are worried about covering areas north of Austin or south of San Antonio, you could certainly insert some. Without translators, the power from the sticks in Hunter should cover to the edges of both cities.
It would be similar to the situation in Houston where stations such as 93.3, 97.5, 100.7, 103.7, and 107.9 cover the Houston-Beaumont-Lake Charles area. The sticks are in Winnie, and the power goes to Brookshire to the west and to the eastside edge of Lake Charles to the east. I don't think every single FM in the Austin/San Antonio area would move their sticks to Hunter, but if seven or eight did, they could cover the Austin/San Antonio "metropolis" with room to spare.
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