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When Journal Comes for Channel 5, Don't Be Surprised If They Shop for Radio, Too

J

jetfli

When Journal Communications comes to NashMart to purchase (pending FCC approval) WTVF, don't be surprised if they pick up a radio station or two to add to their shopping cart.

In fact, I heard buzz about possible inquiries into local radio before hearing about the TV deal. It makes sense, considering that in 50 percent of the markets in which Journal owns radio, they also own TV. And don't think they won't buy here because one of the bigger stations isn't for sale — just look at the radio they own in Knoxville, and you'll realize they aren't real picky.

If it comes to pass that Journal can purchase both TV and radio here, expect a lot of cross-promotion and sharing of resources among properties. Like back in the WSM AM-FM-TV or WLAC AM-FM-TV days. Take a look at the way their properties work together in Boise and you'll see what I mean.
 
jetfli said:
When Journal Communications comes to NashMart to purchase (pending FCC approval) WTVF, don't be surprised if they pick up a radio station or two to add to their shopping cart.

In fact, I heard buzz about possible inquiries into local radio before hearing about the TV deal. It makes sense, considering that in 50 percent of the markets in which Journal owns radio, they also own TV. And don't think they won't buy here because one of the bigger stations isn't for sale — just look at the radio they own in Knoxville, and you'll realize they aren't real picky.

If it comes to pass that Journal can purchase both TV and radio here, expect a lot of cross-promotion and sharing of resources among properties. Like back in the WSM AM-FM-TV or WLAC AM-FM-TV days. Take a look at the way their properties work together in Boise and you'll see what I mean.
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Don't forget 106.7 is still on the auction block.
 
I could see the logic but on the other hand, Nashville TV will be their largest market and most costly investment. By paying down debt they were able to buy a tv station which will make them money.
But I don't know guys, seems like we don't need another media outfit who see radio as a part of a picture, but rather the STAR of the show. Is Journal a good radio operator? I don't see them "owning" the markets they're in but they probably are making some money with them.
But consider this as well: Nashville being a bit overpopulated in signals for this market size is already further down the ladder on revenue than audience size. What does Journal get for owning a radio station here, really? They've got the #1 tv station in the state. If they got in bed with one radio station, they've blown opportunities with others. Chances are a local Nashville station needs plugs from TV more than a TV need needs the distraction of a radio station to "help out."

The #1 tv station in town doesn't need to be doing news feeds on anything but the #1 radio station town, and the #1 station isn't for sale.

If radio was a automatic benefit why haven't more tv stations tied in with radio promotional opportunities here already.
Some current local owner would probably blow the opportunity by overpricing their station as it is. The profit margins here are a bit squeezed
 
I grew up in, and up until 3 years ago, lived in the home base of Journal Broadcast Group. They own two radio stations there, News/Talk WTMJ (620) and Adult/Variety Hits WLWK (94.5), as well as NBC affil. WTMJ, Ch.4. WTMJ Radio consistently ranks at, or near #1. FM Sister station dominated the dial through most of the 80s and 90s, but that has gone down some. All 3 stations have a well established heritage in Milwaukee. It'll be interesting to see how this develops as time goes on. They already do own 3 stations in Knoxville, so they are no new to TN
 
WTMJ is a great station that has the heritage of the TV station there and The Milwaukee Journal newspaper as a power punch in Milwaukee.
When Journal Communiations (the tv & radio side) broke off from the newspaper division the leadership seems more focused on thinking long term future. It's not been clear to me that radio acquisition is part of that future plan.

For radio to work here with any operator they would need a cluster, and it just seems doubtful a conservative organization like Journal would throw down more money for a cluster in a market the size of Nashville after buying their biggest purchase ever: WTVF TV for $215 million + working capital. But I could be wrong.

I just have this feeling that several groups are waiting for a better price with plans to sell some current holdings. I just hope whoever buys anything here has their heart in it. The people in this town working in the business have a lot of heart and a good owner would get a real benefit here over some markets with that alone.
 
I suppose this long since been forgotten, but newschannel5 used to be co-owned with "newschannel5 radio" at AM 1430. Remember them? I used to occasionally listen to newschannel 5 radio since newschannel5+ was only on cable back then. But with NC5+ being OTA now, there really wouldn't be much need for that co-owned radio channel anymore.
 
firepoint525 said:
I suppose this long since been forgotten, but newschannel5 used to be co-owned with "newschannel5 radio" at AM 1430. Remember them? I used to occasionally listen to newschannel 5 radio since newschannel5+ was only on cable back then. But with NC5+ being OTA now, there really wouldn't be much need for that co-owned radio channel anymore.
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I'm not so certain Channel 5 ever owned that frequency, but you're right about it simulcasting NC5+ (except when it did a direct simulcast of the main NC5 during live news programming).

Interestingly enough, that station (1430) was also used as a 'parking spot' for the WMAK and WKDA call letters for a time (http://licensing.fcc.gov/cgi-bin/ws.../call_hist.pl?Facility_id=21473&Callsign=WPLN). I don't recall this (I was only 7 years old at the time), but it also appears to have been tied in with Lightning 100 in the late 1980s, adopting the WRLT call letters on the same day 100.1 adopted WRLT-FM (10/04/1988).
 
RadioZack said:
I'm not so certain Channel 5 ever owned that frequency, but you're right about it simulcasting NC5+ (except when it did a direct simulcast of the main NC5 during live news programming).
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Now you can know for certain — Channel 5 never owned 1430. They are responsible for bringing it back from the dead, though, by leasing the freq from Baron von Bill Barry after he'd let it lie dark in the radio graveyard for 5 years or so. The resurrected Frankenstation became the flagship for the NewsChannel 5 Radio Network, a group of midstate stations that carried the 5+ audio.

After reading some comments following my statements that began this thread, I thought I needed to state again that there have been inquiries... this has happened. Inquiries, aka "feelers", don't mean squat; 1000s of companies and speculators wanting to propose deals to companies make 1000s of inquiries everyday, and most of them rarely come to fruition. I'm not intending to second guess what a company may or may not do, I'm just saying, don't be surprised, since there actually have been inquiries. Would the inquiries blossom into a shopping event, much less an acquisition? I don't know, but if it should go any further, don't think too far out of the box, as some of you have with your comments here.
 
Journal does own some radio stations, but I have to confess having a slight bias here having grown up watching radio as a "step child" when a TV operation is part of the deal. Channel 5 was originally WLAC TV and most remember how WLAC AM radio had more impact out of town with John R than in town. WLAC FM came along after being bought from Baird/Barry (WFMB) and having no room for it on 4th avenue, it was tucked in the back side of the L&C Tower Observation deck.
While WSM AM had better success, anyone who worked there will admit that inside that building high atop Snob Hill, WSM TV was the star of the show and radio was also in the same building. WSM FM was in a small for tv control room for years in the basement.
The same NLT/Gaylord crowd (think Bud Wendell as the face) started but didn't grown very well TNN nor CMT. The hotel and park were demanding their attention and they sold off the cable channels after realizing they had done about all they were capable of doing with it. CMT's success under an owner who knows broadcasting speaks volumes. The insurance company's just didn't know, appreciate, or maximize radio. To think that with 2 50,000 watt AM stations, WKDA (1000 day / 250 night) was #1 in the 60s and WMAK (5000 watts) was #1 during much of the 70s makes that point.
So, while a different world for sure, I think radio has been downplayed and sold short for years by well meaning but not knowledgeable men who weren't really broadcasters, and now some managers who want to do good are limited due to the non broadcaster investors that dominate the landscape.
 
onetake said:
The same NLT/Gaylord crowd (think Bud Wendell as the face) started but didn't grown very well TNN nor CMT. The hotel and park were demanding their attention and they sold off the cable channels after realizing they had done about all they were capable of doing with it. CMT's success under an owner who knows broadcasting speaks volumes. The insurance company's just didn't know, appreciate, or maximize radio.
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Of course, the insurance companies bought the radio stations in the first place as advertising vehicles for their companies, they did not buy them for the purpose of becoming "broadcasters".

Unfortunately, what you are describing as "growth" for TNN and CMT, is what drove Nashville's voice and presence out of the two cable entities. TNN became a men's channel for boys who will forever live in the junior high locker room, and CMT became the purveyor of one redneck-oriented show after another, bringing back on Nashville the hick image it has been working for years to shed.
 
onetake said:
The same NLT/Gaylord crowd (think Bud Wendell as the face) started but didn't grown very well TNN nor CMT. The hotel and park were demanding their attention and they sold off the cable channels after realizing they had done about all they were capable of doing with it.
Click to expand...

Hmmm. There are people here who know the real story here, but my recollection was that the real change came when National Life was sold to American General. That happened before the start of TNN. American General was a much bigger company, not based in Nashville, and didn't want to own properties outside their core business. So American General sold the whole operation, meaning TNN, CMT, the theme park, hotel, and the Opry to Gaylord Media based in Oklahoma. That marked the end of the insurance company ownership in Nashville. Gaylord would have bought WSM-TV too, but they already owned the maximum number of TV stations allowed at the time.

Ed Gaylord had an appreciation for the Opry and country music, and seemed to be the perfect owner for the properties. Gaylord owned newspapers, radio, and TV stations in Oklahoma, so yes, he was a broadcaster. But also early on in the TNN process, perhaps as early as 1982, Group W was brought in as a partner. Group W, the broadcasting side of Westinghouse, was a major radio & TV owner and syndication house. They had the experience in satellite broadcasting and transmission, which was integral to launching a cable network. I believe the Group W partnership came before the American General sale to Gaylord.

The next big change came when CBS merged with Westinghouse, which I believe was 1994. A few years later, perhaps the same year Opryland closed, CBS bought out the Gaylord share of TNN/CMT, while Gaylord retained the hotels, WSM, and the Opry. CBS then merged with Viacom, owner of MTV. CMT and TNN moved to the MTV side of the company, and that's when more strategic changes started to happen at TNN and CMT.

So Bud and all the WSM people stayed with the Nashville part of the company after American General sold everything to Gaylord. They were the ones who continued to be involved in the growth and development of TNN and CMT and the theme park, creating what I thought was an ingenius idea of advertising the Opry and the theme park to a national audience via the cable channels, helping to turn Nashville into a national tourist destination. Selling CMT and TNN cost Opryland and the Opry that national platform, and in my view, hurt the growth of Gaylord Entertainment, putting more of the focus on the hotels.
 
onetake said:
The insurance company's just didn't know, appreciate, or maximize radio. To think that with 2 50,000 watt AM stations, WKDA (1000 day / 250 night) was #1 in the 60s and WMAK (5000 watts) was #1 during much of the 70s makes that point.
Click to expand...

I think National Life understood and appreciated what it had in its radio and TV stations. But they also felt an obligation and a responsibility as an insurance company to run their station as a more middle-of-the-road operation, with more of a concern about their reputation as an insurance company than competing in the broadcasting arena. The way WMAK and WKDA got big ratings was to play the kind of music that was a bit louder, shall we say, than might have been appropriate for a company like National Life. And I really think that's a major difference between radio owners today and those 40 years ago. Today's radio companies, for the most part, only own radio stations. So they are more cut-throat in that area, and don't have to worry about how their actions in radio operations will affect their other businesses. In a way, that's what made the previous generation of owners so much nicer. They were good neighbors, so to speak. They ran their businesses that way. Today's radio companies don't have as much at risk. So it's a very different business, one that those from the previous generation can hardly recognize.
 
TheBigA said:
onetake said:
The same NLT/Gaylord crowd (think Bud Wendell as the face) started but didn't grown very well TNN nor CMT. The hotel and park were demanding their attention and they sold off the cable channels after realizing they had done about all they were capable of doing with it.
Click to expand...

Hmmm. There are people here who know the real story here, but my recollection was that the real change came when National Life was sold to American General. That happened before the start of TNN. American General was a much bigger company, not based in Nashville, and didn't want to own properties outside their core business. So American General sold the whole operation, meaning TNN, CMT, the theme park, hotel, and the Opry to Gaylord Media based in Oklahoma. That marked the end of the insurance company ownership in Nashville. Gaylord would have bought WSM-TV too, but they already owned the maximum number of TV stations allowed at the time.

Ed Gaylord had an appreciation for the Opry and country music, and seemed to be the perfect owner for the properties. Gaylord owned newspapers, radio, and TV stations in Oklahoma, so yes, he was a broadcaster. But also early on in the TNN process, perhaps as early as 1982, Group W was brought in as a partner. Group W, the broadcasting side of Westinghouse, was a major radio & TV owner and syndication house. They had the experience in satellite broadcasting and transmission, which was integral to launching a cable network. I believe the Group W partnership came before the American General sale to Gaylord.

The next big change came when CBS merged with Westinghouse, which I believe was 1994. A few years later, perhaps the same year Opryland closed, CBS bought out the Gaylord share of TNN/CMT, while Gaylord retained the hotels, WSM, and the Opry. CBS then merged with Viacom, owner of MTV. CMT and TNN moved to the MTV side of the company, and that's when more strategic changes started to happen at TNN and CMT.

So Bud and all the WSM people stayed with the Nashville part of the company after American General sold everything to Gaylord. They were the ones who continued to be involved in the growth and development of TNN and CMT and the theme park, creating what I thought was an ingenius idea of advertising the Opry and the theme park to a national audience via the cable channels, helping to turn Nashville into a national tourist destination. Selling CMT and TNN cost Opryland and the Opry that national platform, and in my view, hurt the growth of Gaylord Entertainment, putting more of the focus on the hotels.
Click to expand...

I remember watching a lot of TNN while vising an elderly Aunt in the 1980's. The one thing I remember was the lack of "commercials" for The Orpyland Theme park. Occasionally there would be a "mention" of the park when Porter Wagoner was interviewed on the Ralph Emrory show, but you would think that they would have a "commercial / promo" for an in-house Theme Park at least once an hour. I know the land where the theme park was occasionally flooded but I always wondered why Gaylord never became a "landlord" for several Branson Style venues either around Nashville or at the Park. It is not like there is a lack of quality music folks in Nashville. It would have been better for the Opry and the individual former Nashville Acts (with no State Income Tax) to have some of them work and occasional Saturday night at the Opry, then Monday thru Friday doing their show and getting most of the ticket revenue. Just think one website could sell you tickets for a show at "fill in a Branson show" and the Opry too.
 
secondchoice said:
The one thing I remember was the lack of "commercials" for The Orpyland Theme park.
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Huh? I had the complete opposite experience. It was one of my most vivid memory, seeing regular commercials for "the package," of staying at the hotel, attending the Opry and Opryland. They seemed to be once every hour. But maybe not as often. I never went to the park, but I had a sense of what it was like from the commercials.

As for "Branson style venues," Gaylord had the Opry House, as well as the Roy Acuff and Minnie Pearl Theaters on the Opryland grounds, then they restored the Ryman Auditorium, and built the Wildhorse Saloon, and the General Jackson river boat, each with a performance stage. Quite a few venues around Nashville. In fact, Gaylord still owns all those places.
 
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