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What would you do?

T

trusty

Hypothetical situation: You have $$$, and you want to build a radio station. The station at 1450 has gone dark, there is a new allocation at 1680, and your FM band is full, but the FCC has just approved TV channels 5 and 6 to be used for expanding it.

You have three choices:
1. You can buy the directional AM station at 1450khz with 1 watt night power.
2. You can build a non-directional AM station at 1680.
3. You can build an FM station in the new band (previous TV ch 5 & 6) when it opens up.

(Also, using your choice to check into a mental hospital is not an option here.) What would you do and why?
 
You can take that money you would spend and invest in in a HIGH GROWTH business - like funeral homes (really!!) or some supermarket or computer related thing...and double your money in a couple of years (as I did) with the money I got from selling 4 stations and 2 construction permits after 18 years in the radio business (when it wa still somewhat sane). I bought 2 funeral homes after the radio bit and it was MUCH better and more profitable!

Please tell me....
WHY would you ever want to invest in radio, today?? It is A FEDERALLY regulated business - (note how good the government is doing these days) with high risk, fickle listeners and long waits for accounts receiveable.....aargh! I hope you are a lawyer or an engineer so you can save yourself some expense.

If you want that kind of risk, why not buy a newspaper too, before you blow your brains out? There really is "one" born every minute!

WHO is your banker???... so I can stay away from them.

good luck!
 
If you want that kind of risk, why not buy a newspaper too, before you blow your brains out? There really is "one" born every minute!
Click to expand...

Thanks so much for the kind words. It didn't take long to change the topic of this thread! Do you know what "hypothetical" and "three choices" mean? (Maybe I wasn't clear enough.) I'm just trying to find out what ....... oh, never mind ... and merry Christmas!
:D
 
I'd go for 1680 with 10,000 watts day and 1,000 watts night.
The FM option may never happen. Even if it did, who would be able to hear your beautiful signal?
Properly programmed, many AM stations are doing well.
 
trusty said:
Hypothetical situation: You have $$$, and you want to build a radio station. The station at 1450 has gone dark, there is a new allocation at 1680, and your FM band is full, but the FCC has just approved TV channels 5 and 6 to be used for expanding it.

You have three choices:
1. You can buy the directional AM station at 1450khz with 1 watt night power.
2. You can build a non-directional AM station at 1680.
3. You can build an FM station in the new band (previous TV ch 5 & 6) when it opens up.

(Also, using your choice to check into a mental hospital is not an option here.) What would you do and why?
Click to expand...

Well, since you took away the choice I'd have selected ;) ...

I concur with "frankberry".

The vast majority of radios can tune 1680. They can't tune 76-88MHz.

1450 is a Class C channel, jammed with interference. (in fact, you couldn't get a station with 1 watt directional night power on that frequency -- it would be at a minimum 250 watts non-directional -- but even that way I wouldn't be interested. )
 
I'd go 1680 as well, and make it a news-talk station (With LOCAL personalites :eek: :eek:). I was thinking about 1450, but you couldn't hear it 250 yards away. FM would work, but I would think no one would listen to it. Unfortunaly, I have to move out of the area as I have really a spanish station (KNTS) on 1680.

-crainbebo
 
I'd have bought stations in th 70s and 80s and when the consolodators showed up checkbooks in hand, I'd have sold them for a mint and be retired on a beach somewhere.

Of the 3 choices, I didn't think there was any flea power on 1450 since all of those licenses were full time with 1000/250, then 1000/1000. If it was essentially a daytimer, I'd do a niche like Southern Gospel. I don't know if all-brokered all the time would work or not. 1680 would be a second choice, and again, probably a niche religious format, as we have about all the talk and sports we can handle. Of course maybe a high band oldies station like WRLL used to be. New FM band, no one is going to rush into buying new radios when there are cool new Blackberries and Androids to buy.
 
trusty said:
Hypothetical situation: You have $$$, and you want to build a radio station. The station at 1450 has gone dark, there is a new allocation at 1680, and your FM band is full, but the FCC has just approved TV channels 5 and 6 to be used for expanding it.

You have three choices:
1. You can buy the directional AM station at 1450khz with 1 watt night power.
2. You can build a non-directional AM station at 1680.
3. You can build an FM station in the new band (previous TV ch 5 & 6) when it opens up.

(Also, using your choice to check into a mental hospital is not an option here.) What would you do and why?
Click to expand...

1. Unless in a small, underradioed market (of which, after Docket 80-90, there are none) a high-band AM limited to 1 kw day and night (1450 is such a channel) has no chance, even as a religious or brokered station in a larger market.
2. Many radios don't go to 1680. And ground conductivity is so bad up there that a 250 watter on 550 would cover vastly more by day... forget nights, as 1680 is nearly a showrtwave station.
3. won't happen, and if it did, it will take a decade or better to get an adequate number of radios out there.

In other words, none of the options is broadly speaking a good investment. The 1450 AM in a very small number of situations might make a bit of money, but not worth the investment. This is one of the cases where "if you know what to do with it to make it work, you will be working at a bigger station with a better salary than what you could make from this..."
 
David E said....
"none of the options is broadly speaking a good investment."

Just like I said....but more REAL than hypothetical.
 
Agree that 1450 would probably be the best of what would be three unattractive options. Best case scenario for expanded FM band is years away...if it happens at all. That brings it to 1680 versus 1450. "On paper" 1680 might seem better....but in the real world, it probably isn't. Here in the Chicago market, we had an ethnic station move from 1450 to 1690. From what I can see, it hasn't brought them very much....if anything. Day & Night signal in their main listening area isn't much different. And while, I admittedly haven't followed this, I don't think their hoped-for ratings bump ever happened.
 
We already have a 1450 nearby in Hamilton OH which still holds its own with sports programming in its local market. It's got a sister daytimer on 1560 which does lots of local screaming religious programs and some southern gospel. Probably a better option than them being on 1680.
 
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