Which AM Station Might Be Available to Family Radio?

[Rollo-Smokes]

Now, for the fallout...losing Family Radio programming on FM is no huge loss, but what if they plan to use the cash and look for an AM station to replace WFME, like they did recently in Philadelphia? Someone mentioned perhaps WLIB or WWRL, however I think a sale of either will cause a bit of an uproar in the African-American community. What about, say, WSNR or any of the Multicultural stations (WPAT, WZRC, or WNSW)? Or, here's a really wild wild-card - WNYC?

My post from the sale thread mentioned what I believe to be the stations most likely to be a target for Family Radio. Not to mention, these may be the only ones they can afford.

Looking at Stationless Listener's post:

Among the possibilities:

570
620
820
930
970
1130
1280
1380
1430
1480
1560
1600
1660

Everything else is still too good to let go of for the time being.

• The two Salem stations aren't going anywhere. They invested too much in rebranding WNYM as a WABC alternative/home for their conservative talkers, and WMCA makes them money for their pay-for-pray bread-and-butter.
  
• We've talked over the years about how useless WBBR is to everyone outside of the business/financial services community. That said, Bloomberg LP will never sell it. Remember that Bloomberg isn't in the radio business, they're in the content business and 1130 extends their brand.
• I personally think that formats like Radio Disney and urban contemporary gospel are wasted on the AM band in this large market. But Family didn't trade with either Inner City/YMF for 1190 or Disney for 1560.
• And, WADO isn't going anywhere. Sell that station, change its heritage format, and watch the Latino community protest loudly.

 

[nd2023]

Does Cumulus own 1560? If so, they can wait for the Disney contract to run out, then sell it to Family. Then Family gets to spread its doomsday predictions on a 50000 watt clear channel.

 

[davideduardo]

Does Cumulus own 1560? If so, they can wait for the Disney contract to run out, then sell it to Family. Then Family gets to spread its doomsday predictions on a 50000 watt clear channel.

Disney did not sell the ESPN stations or the Radio Disney stations to Cumulus. They are each part of their respective divisions of Disney.

 

[DanStrassberg]

I've heard that the night site has two identical 50-kW transmitters and the day site has two identical 25 kW transmitters.

OOPS! Sorry: the DAY site has the 50-kW transmitters; the NIGHT site has the 25-kW units. I trust that anybody who read my original post and thought about it for half a minute or more realized that I had night and day backwards

 

[wadio]

We've talked over the years about how useless WBBR is to everyone outside of the business/financial services community. That said, Bloomberg LP will never sell it. Remember that Bloomberg isn't in the radio business, they're in the content business and 1130 extends their brand.

I'm not part of the financial community but I find myself listening to WBBR quite a bit lately. Talk radio has degenerated to such a degree, and news radio is so repetitive, that Bloomberg is often the only informative, non-headline programming left (aside from the NPR snoozefest.) They don't seem to hurting for advertisers, which include a Maserati dealer, a number of high-end jewelers, etc., so besides extending the brand they might actually be making money!

 

[nd2023]

Could Family Radio buy 877 FM and serve their spiel on that frequency?

 

[xmusicmatt]

Could Family Radio buy 877 FM and serve their spiel on that frequency?

Why would they ? 87.7 will become a thing of the past once the FCC requires analog 6 to convert to digital.

 

[DG02816]

Looks like 1380, 1430, and 1480 would be the choices. I doubt the FR audience has the presence of mind to get a radio to tune to 1660.

 

[luperm]

Looks like 1380, 1430, and 1480 would be the choices. I doubt the FR audience has the presence of mind to get a radio to tune to 1660.

I'm not so sure that Arthur Liu is a motivated seller. I'd bet on another station.

 

[Barry]

What about Family Radio trying to buy WNYE, 91.5 FM? As it has always had a tiny audience, and is in the noncommercial part of the band, WNYE may not cost more than many of the FM's we have been discussing. And NYC may want to get out of the radio broadcasting business.
Family Radio probably does not have a rule that the FM stations they sell can only be replaced by AM ones. They many have been buying AM's because they tend to be cheaper than FM's. WNYE has a respectable signal in a good portion of the metro area. But with so few listeners, it seems very underutilized.

 

[DanStrassberg]

Among the possibilities:

570
620
820
930
970
1130
1280
1380
1430
1480
1560
1600
1660

Everything else is still too good to let go of for the time being.

Why have you not included 1160 and 1330? And why has 1160 never increased its night power? There are four towers at its site, all of which are used by day but only three of which are used at night. I suspect that if all four towers were used at night, the night power could be increased to 5 kW from the current 2.5 kW. Such an increase would noticeably improve nighttime reception in Westchester and the Bronx's (probably only) affluent section--Riverdale.

 

[xmradiopro]

I'm not sure if WMCA is available but what about WFME to 570 AM ?

 

[Barry]

As mentioned in at least one of the other WFME threads, it became known today that Cumulus will be handing over WDVY 106.3 in Mt. Kisco to Family Radio, as part of the deal to acquire 94.7.
I am surprised that Family Radio is interested in WDVY, as its limited signal does not reach much of NJ, or the southern part of the NYC Metro area.
Perhaps they regard receiving it as being better than nothing. And maybe they will still seek an AM signal that adds to the coverage of WDVY.

WDVY Coverage Map: http://radio-locator.com/cgi-bin/pat?call=WDVY&service=FM&status=L&hours=U

 

[xmradiopro]

I read that...I thought they would still want to add a station like WMCA because of limited coverage with WDVY 106.3 FM.

As mentioned in at least one of the other WFME threads, it became known today that Cumulus will be handing over WDVY 106.3 in Mt. Kisco to Family Radio, as part of the deal to acquire 94.7.
I am surprised that Family Radio is interested in WDVY, as its limited signal does not reach much of NJ, or the southern part of the NYC Metro area.
Perhaps they regard receiving it as being better than nothing. And maybe they will still seek an AM signal that adds to the coverage of WDVY.

WDVY Coverage Map: http://radio-locator.com/cgi-bin/pat?call=WDVY&service=FM&status=L&hours=U

 

[WNTIRadio]

That assumes that Salem would sell it to Family Radio. Most of the mainstream Christian broadcasters look at FR the same way we do, especially after Camping's end of the world as we know it stunt... quacks!!

WMCA makes PLENTY of money for Salem. It's not getting sold, especially to FR.

 

[Ai4i]

Here is the kind of programmer 570 needs ;D

 

[Ike]

What about Family Radio trying to buy WNYE, 91.5 FM?

If anybody were to buy them, I hope it would be WFUV, so they can expand their Alternate Side programming to 24/7 (or nearly 24/7) on 91.5, instead of just weekdays from 6 a.m. to 12 noon.

Now that WRXP is dead (again), they could pick up some new listeners if they were full-time.

The problem is that the brokered-time foreign-language broadcasters on 91.5 might freak out and cause a fuss. IIRC, that's what happened when WNYC (93.9/820) tried to buy 91.5 for full-time classical music in 2002. (Am I remembering that correctly?) Maybe a buyer would have to make a deal with them and offer them some permanent weekend hours.

Anyway, as for the religious nutjobs at Family Radio -- good riddance from FM, please don't ever come back to FM, and especially not 91.5!

 

[Ai4i]

If anybody were to buy them, I hope it would be WFUV, so they can expand their Alternate Side programming to 24/7 (or nearly 24/7) on 91.5, instead of just weekdays from 6 a.m. to 12 noon.

Buy an HD radio for the price of one pledge donation.
You will be so happy with their HD-3 stream that you will continue to support them.
NYC has the best listener supported radio anywhere.

 

[Gregg]

Family Radio buying 106.3 in Mt. Kisco is only a stop-gap measure. Little of 94.7's signal overlaps with 106.3.

They really want an AM station in NYC to fill the gap selling 94.7 creates among their followers.

Here are the AM stations that might be available:

620 Russian
930 Spanish Brokered Programs (MB)
1190 Black Gospel
1330 Spanish Brokered Religion (MB)
1380 Russian
1480 Manderin Chinese (MB)
1560 Radio Disney
1600 Progressive Talk/Black Talk
1660 Cantonese Chinese (MB)

MB meaning Arthur Liu's Multicultural Broadcasting. I didn't include 1430 because the Russian govenment has a long-term lease on that Liu station. I'd bet Liu won't sell any of his stations but would set up a long-term lease, if Family Radio made it worth his while.

I included 1560 because Disney has been selling off its stations in some markets, thinking many youngsters simply listen on line. However, Disney hasn't sold any stations in large markets, so maybe 1560 is not available.

Clearly Salem isn't selling 570 or 970. Bloomberg isn't selling 1130. I included 1600 but I really don't think Radio One would sell its only NYC station. And I included 1190 but I really don't think YMF, partially owned by Magic Johnson, would sell off its only NYC AM.

 

[Ike]

If anybody were to buy them, I hope it would be WFUV, so they can expand their Alternate Side programming to 24/7 (or nearly 24/7) on 91.5, instead of just weekdays from 6 a.m. to 12 noon.

Buy an HD radio for the price of one pledge donation.
You will be so happy with their HD-3 stream that you will continue to support them.

I doubt I could get WFUV-HD3 reliably here in Newark. I can't even get a clear stereo signal of regular WFUV in analog unless I place the dipole antenna very carefully. Anyway, I can just listen online. I'm not becoming the 17th or 18th person in the NYC area with an HD radio. ;D

The Alternate Side full-time on 91.5 is a nice dream, but it would benefit some of my friends more than me. They're going to miss WRXP and they'll probably just go entirely to Pandora or satellite radio now. Bummer.

NYC has the best listener supported radio anywhere.

I agree! But mostly on the strength of WFMU, for my tastes. It's too eccentric for a lot of my friends, but it really grew on me after I listened on and off for a few years. I can never go back to commercial radio now. Those volunteers are real DJs and they put their hearts and souls into their shows.