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Who might buy 94.5, WPST? Nassau asks for auction

R

radiophiler

Nassau has asked a bankruptcy judge to auction off the group's stations, which would include WPST in Trenton.
Who might buy it? CBS for an FM for KYW? Radio One to simulcast 107.9? (Actually, I'm not sure that would be allowed because of signal overlap.) Someone else?
 
Merlin, to compete with NJ 101.5 and fail
Delmarva, to simulcast WSTW and keep the PST audience
WDAC, to expand their coverage area and use it as a booster
 
Would Townsquare be able to purchase it? Should be fine by FCC rules, but I'm not sure if the DOJ would have a problem with that. Townsquare owns 101.5 and the combined ratings of 94.5 and 101.5 in Trenton are only in the 15-17 share range. However, if this were to happen, one company would effectively have a monopoly on Trenton-based radio.

In the Philly market, 94.5 is only listenable in Bucks County, Burlington County, and NE Philly. Interestingly, that is the same area where 1060 is weak, so a combo might be a good idea there.

WPST makes tons of money though. It's the crown jewel of Nassau's now-crumbling broadcast empire. So I would bet that the station goes to a broadcaster who would keep the Adult CHR format on 94.5 and keep the station focused on the Trenton market and the northeast corner of the Philadelphia market. Townsquare would be one broadcaster that would do that. Greater Media has a number of NJ properties, so they may also be interested.
 
S said:
In the Philly market, 94.5 is only listenable in Bucks County, Burlington County, and NE Philly. Interestingly, that is the same area where 1060 is weak, so a combo might be a good idea there.
Click to expand...

Also interestingly (though perhaps not entirely relevant to who might acquire it), WPST has a higher cume than WPHT last month.
 
aindik said:
S said:
In the Philly market, 94.5 is only listenable in Bucks County, Burlington County, and NE Philly. Interestingly, that is the same area where 1060 is weak, so a combo might be a good idea there.
Click to expand...

Also interestingly (though perhaps not entirely relevant to who might acquire it), WPST has a higher cume than WPHT last month.
Click to expand...

PST? ... It's my favorite station, seeing it go to talk would be a nightmare - Delmarva should buy it; keep it as CHR! Also, PST has signal in most of Delaware County, Philadelphia County, New Castle County and some of Montgomery.
 
RadioPhillyFan said:
aindik said:
S said:
In the Philly market, 94.5 is only listenable in Bucks County, Burlington County, and NE Philly. Interestingly, that is the same area where 1060 is weak, so a combo might be a good idea there.
Click to expand...

Also interestingly (though perhaps not entirely relevant to who might acquire it), WPST has a higher cume than WPHT last month.
Click to expand...

PST? ... It's my favorite station, seeing it go to talk would be a nightmare - Delmarva should buy it; keep it as CHR! Also, PST has signal in most of Delaware County, Philadelphia County, New Castle County and some of Montgomery.
Click to expand...
'PST also come in well in Camden & Gloucester Counties.
 
Bill_W said:
'PST also come in well in Camden & Gloucester Counties.
Click to expand...

True. I was actually remembering back to the 97.5 days when they had signal issues in those counties because of 97.3.

On 94.5 to the south, the closest adjacents are 94.7 in Dover and 94.3 down the shore, so yeah, I would expect 94.5 to do well in Camden County and some parts of Gloucester County.
 
RadioPhillyFan said:
PST? ... It's my favorite station, seeing it go to talk would be a nightmare - Delmarva should buy it; keep it as CHR! Also, PST has signal in most of Delaware County, Philadelphia County, New Castle County and some of Montgomery.
Click to expand...

In theory, they should cover those areas, but the mix of WPST and WDAC makes 94.5 an unlistenable mess driving through New Castle and much of Delaware and Montgomery Counties. Philadelphia County has other issues that degrade 94.5's signal (tall buildings, the antenna farm in Roxborough).

To be perfectly honest, I can't think of a worse 50kW signal. They have to deal with WDAC on 94.5 to the west, WJLK on 94.3 to the east, and WFME on 94.7 to the northeast. That's some rough short-spacing for a signal that would otherwise have the capability to cover much of the region.
 
Why not Beasley? They bought WJBR, this is a parallel situation at the other end of Philly--another profitable station with decades of heritage in the market. They could even take 920 along with it and offer religious time buyers a WTMR/WCHR combo, although I suspect that the 920 signal needs more than a little work.
 
920 sounds good down here in Montgomery County during the day. It does poke its head through the jumble at night.Having to protect WHJJ Providence RI and WKVA Lewistown, the pattern is a tight DA-2.
 
S said:
RadioPhillyFan said:
PST? ... It's my favorite station, seeing it go to talk would be a nightmare - Delmarva should buy it; keep it as CHR! Also, PST has signal in most of Delaware County, Philadelphia County, New Castle County and some of Montgomery.
Click to expand...

In theory, they should cover those areas, but the mix of WPST and WDAC makes 94.5 an unlistenable mess driving through New Castle and much of Delaware and Montgomery Counties. Philadelphia County has other issues that degrade 94.5's signal (tall buildings, the antenna farm in Roxborough).

To be perfectly honest, I can't think of a worse 50kW signal. They have to deal with WDAC on 94.5 to the west, WJLK on 94.3 to the east, and WFME on 94.7 to the northeast. That's some rough short-spacing for a signal that would otherwise have the capability to cover much of the region.
Click to expand...

Correct, it's mostly unlistenable with WDAC - Delaware County isn't as spotty, PST is really just "river coverage". You only get in in select counties and along the Delaware River.
 
Rick B. said:
Why not Beasley? They bought WJBR, this is a parallel situation at the other end of Philly--another profitable station with decades of heritage in the market. They could even take 920 along with it and offer religious time buyers a WTMR/WCHR combo, although I suspect that the 920 signal needs more than a little work.
Click to expand...

If Beasley acquired it, they would probably flip its format (too close to Wired), which means they wouldn't be buying it for the heritage.
 
aindik said:
If Beasley acquired it, they would probably flip its format (too close to Wired), which means they wouldn't be buying it for the heritage.
Click to expand...

If overlap were a concern for Beasley, they could tweak PST back to Hot AC, which is essentially what PST was a year ago.

I think they'd leave PST the way it is though. PST is adult-oriented enough to complement Wired rather than hurt it. If targeted a little more toward the Philly market, PST could actually help Wired in their quest to be #1 18-34 by taking a chunk out of Q102.
 
If the PST heritage really is valuable, and if Beasley buys 94.5, it might make sense to just move all the PST imaging/format etc. over to 96.5, (perhaps merging the best of the two air staffs under the PST name) and flip 94.5 to something else entirely. Perhaps something rock oriented, which is what was on 94.5 before PST moved there.

They could call the station 94 (point 5) WYSP. ;)
 
aindik said:
If the PST heritage really is valuable, and if Beasley buys 94.5, it might make sense to just move all the PST imaging/format etc. over to 96.5, (perhaps merging the best of the two air staffs under the PST name) and flip 94.5 to something else entirely. Perhaps something rock oriented, which is what was on 94.5 before PST moved there.

They could call the station 94 (point 5) WYSP. ;)
Click to expand...

Wired 96.5 did better than WYSP. So why bring back a failed station?

Could 94.5 be moved to Philly?
 
Nick said:
Could 94.5 be moved to Philly?
Click to expand...

I doubt it, because of WDAC in Lancaster and WDSD in Dover. And being a 2nd adjacent to WIP-FM would also be an issue (my guess). If it was downgraded to a Class A like WPHI, maybe it could be squeezed in. Scott Fybush would be the one to answer this better than I.
 
WIP-FM actually isn't a factor, thanks to pre-1964 grandfathering rules. It's the spacing to WDAC and WDSD that's a killer, allowing essentially no wiggle room to bring WPST closer into Philadelphia unless you were to do massive downgrades in Lancaster and Dover. There's also an IF issue with 94.5 and 105.3 that would keep 94.5 out of Roxborough no matter what.
 
Would it be possible to do a simulcast on WDAC and WPST and synchronize the 2 transmitters to reduce the interference? Or does that just work with a booster?

Speaking of boosters, what about putting a booster on the air in center city to boost WPST's signal in Philly?
 
Nick said:
Would it be possible to do a simulcast on WDAC and WPST and synchronize the 2 transmitters to reduce the interference? Or does that just work with a booster?

Speaking of boosters, what about putting a booster on the air in center city to boost WPST's signal in Philly?
Click to expand...


I don't see simulcasting happening anytime soon since WDAC is a gospel station. I also don't think Paul Hollinger is interested in buying a third station since he owns WBYN in Boyertown.
 
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