WLLH to be sold.

[Don Juan]

WLLH LOwell & Lawrence is to be sold. It appears that a price hasn't been announced.

Anyone want to guess what it will be?

I wonder what a 1kw stick in Lowell/Lawrence, without any studios, land or business would go for in a recession...




FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact: Ivon Gois, President
508-791-2111

Gois Broadcasting announces it has entered into
agreement to purchase new radio station

Effective immediately

(Worcester, MA, November 4, 2009) Gois Broadcasting, LLC is thrilled to announce it has entered into an agreement to purchase WLLH 1400. Gois Broadcasting will broadcast a variety of Latino music on the station. WLLH serves the Lowell and Lawrence, MA radio markets with 1000 watts 24 hours per day. WLLH is broadcasting full time as of now.

Gois Broadcasting, LLC has been serving the Latino communities in several radio markets since 1982. It currently owns WORC 1310 which serves the Latino community in Central Massachusetts, WLAT 910 and WNEZ 1230 which serve the Latino community in the Hartford, CT and WKND 1480 which serves the African American community in Hartford, CT.

“We are thrilled with the opportunity to serve the Latino community in Lowell, Lawrence and surrounding areas. We have a long history of running a business while serving the Latino community and we’re very excited to continue that tradition in a new market. We have many exciting plans for the station and will make a series of announcements on the air very soon” says Ivon Gois, President of Gois Broadcasting.

 

[Eli Polonsky]

WLLH LOwell & Lawrence is to be sold. It appears that a price hasn't been announced.

Anyone want to guess what it will be?

I wonder what a 1kw stick in Lowell/Lawrence, without any studios, land or business would go for in a recession...

This is being covered in this thread on this board.

 

[Don Juan]

Re: WLLH to be sold. (At what price? Care to Guess?)

This is being covered this thread on this board.

But not the subject of the price of the property...and the value of radio in todays market.

 

[DanStrassberg]

Re: WLLH to be sold. (At what price? Care to Guess?)

This is being covered this thread on this board.

But not the subject of the price of the property...and the value of radio in todays market.

Is there a lottery? If, when the price is published, it turns out I was closest, what do I win? I think WLLH is likely to go for more than a typical Class C AM in a market of similar size to Lowell+Lawrence. The reason is that WLLH has two transmitters and thus is able to deliver a local signal to both cities, even though they are what, 8 miles? apart. Therefore, my guess is $735,000.

 

[everybodygetsit]

Well...the price I heard from Waller-Sutton was $275,000. And they are only interested in Lawrence I also heard. Remember - it sold from Lerner to Mega for $975,000......boy has the price of AM's come down.......I'll bet that WCAP is only worth a million or so now - oh wait....thats all it was worth when Smidt et al paid $2.7 million for it!

-Everybody Gets It!

 

[beantownradio25]

AM station prices have dropped like a brick. I am happy to see something is being done with this station, and it is not remaining dark. Even though I can translate only 50% of what they are saying, I am listening to this station on a daily basis.

Smooth presentation, establish studios and a faithful audience, promote it right, and they can prove the power of community and ethnic radio.

Signal is notably stronger then I remember as an ESPN affiliate.

 

[MarcB]

I wonder if they're gonna import the PM drive show from sister station POWER 1310 in Worcester. That's what they're doing on MEGA 910 in Hartford.

 

[MarcB]

Signal is notably stronger then I remember as an ESPN affiliate.

GOIS is known for that. In the other thread about WLLH, I mentioned that when they bought WKND 1480 in Windsor, CT they fixed that station's technical problems. Once they bought WKND their 500 watt signal started going out much father, they began making use of WKND's low-power night time signal, and they fixed whatever was causing frequency drift. WKND for years was operating on 1482 instead of 1480.

 

[CTListener]

I'm not a big fan of mainstream Latin pop, tropical or reggaeton, but I really enjoy Mexican music. The Mexican community in New England, I suppose, is just too small for any radio station to program music for it. Too bad; when Sirius bought out XM, the New York-based programming geniuses there decided that tropical and reggaeton were the only Latin music that "matters" and killed off the regional Mexican channel. It would be nice to have a station in New England that programmed that music, but I guess it's not to be.

 

[DanStrassberg]

Too bad; when Sirius bought out XM, the New York-based programming geniuses there decided that tropical and reggaeton were the only Latin music that "matters" and killed off the regional Mexican channel. It would be nice to have a station in New England that programmed that music, but I guess it's not to be.

What are the countries of origin for the majority of Hispanics in New England? Aren't the leaders Dominican Republic and El Salvador? If so, shouldn't the music be focused on them and on the age group within those ethnicities that listens to AM?

 

[CTListener]

Too bad; when Sirius bought out XM, the New York-based programming geniuses there decided that tropical and reggaeton were the only Latin music that "matters" and killed off the regional Mexican channel. It would be nice to have a station in New England that programmed that music, but I guess it's not to be.

What are the countries of origin for the majority of Hispanics in New England? Aren't the leaders Dominican Republic and El Salvador? If so, shouldn't the music be focused on them and on the age group within those ethnicities that listens to AM?

I would think the U.S. territory of Puerto Rico is No. 1, with the Dominican Republic second. The "tropical" sound targets both audiences. You're right that a local station serving an area with a predominantly Puerto Rican/Dominican Hispanic population should play the music that demographic prefers. I brought up Sirius XM because it serves a national audience yet has chosen to ignore the Mexican-American segment of the nation's Hispanic population.

 

[davideduardo]

What are the countries of origin for the majority of Hispanics in New England? Aren't the leaders Dominican Republic and El Salvador? If so, shouldn't the music be focused on them and on the age group within those ethnicities that listens to AM?

Vastly above all and in first place are Puerto Ricans... followed, far behind numerically, by the Dominican Republic and Mexico in a close tie.

Overall, for CT, MA and RI, there are about 55% Puerto Rican, and the rest is much smaller... there are significant groups of Ecuadorians in CT, but fewer in MA, for example. South Americans in general are about 8% of the total.

 

[Don Juan]

What are the countries of origin for the majority of Hispanics in New England? Aren't the leaders Dominican Republic and El Salvador? If so, shouldn't the music be focused on them and on the age group within those ethnicities that listens to AM?

Vastly above all and in first place are Puerto Ricans... followed, far behind numerically, by the Dominican Republic and Mexico in a close tie.

In the Lowell, Lawrence, Haverhill area, I have met many Dominicans.

I don't think I have ever met a Mexican in Boston or the Merrimack Valley.

For some reason, there doesn't seem to be a big Mexican of any significance North of New York.....

 

[CTListener]

For some reason, there doesn't seem to be a big Mexican of any significance North of New York.....

Maybe if the Red Sox can acquire Adrian Gonzalez ... ;D

 

[rapking]

What are the countries of origin for the majority of Hispanics in New England? Aren't the leaders Dominican Republic and El Salvador? If so, shouldn't the music be focused on them and on the age group within those ethnicities that listens to AM?

Vastly above all and in first place are Puerto Ricans... followed, far behind numerically, by the Dominican Republic and Mexico in a close tie.

Overall, for CT, MA and RI, there are about 55% Puerto Rican, and the rest is much smaller... there are significant groups of Ecuadorians in CT, but fewer in MA, for example. South Americans in general are about 8% of the total.

My girlfriend is from Bolivia, and a large part of my family is from Costa Rica. Most Hispanics in The Boston Area ( and Lowell )that I know, are Puerto Ricans.

 

[beantownradio25]

I have many many Puerto Rican friends in Lowell

 

[The Original]

Well...the price I heard from Waller-Sutton was $275,000. And they are only interested in Lawrence I also heard. Remember - it sold from Lerner to Mega for $975,000......boy has the price of AM's come down.......I'll bet that WCAP is only worth a million or so now - oh wait....thats all it was worth when Smidt et al paid $2.7 million for it!

I'm eager to see what 'LLH goes for. The sale came too quickly, and I'm guessing it won't go for more than 250K. The current owner just wants out. The dual transmitters are a loser. Previous owners wanted to dump Lawrence and simply go from Lowell at 2,500 watts at one time. Is there any real estate left with the station? There's clearly been no billing and the Sports format was a loser. You are buying a license on one of the most frequently frequented frequencies that would need a real hands-on owner to revive it. The safest bet these days with 'LLH would be to go Spanish again with it.

What's also interesting from everybodygetsit is the comment about WCAP. I thought at the time how excessive I thought the sale price was, but I was happy to see Maurice Cohen get a great price for years of hard work; however, the 'CAP deal, as I remember, closed one month (Nov. '07?) before this depression technically began, and I've been wondering how the new owners have been doing. I don't get the opportunity to hear 'CAP that much any longer. My stints have included work at both 'LLH and 'CAP 20+ years ago when both were doing well, especially WCAP.

 

[MAradio]

Well...the price I heard from Waller-Sutton was $275,000. And they are only interested in Lawrence I also heard.

I'm eager to see what 'LLH goes for. The sale came too quickly, and I'm guessing it won't go for more than 250K. The dual transmitters are a loser.

You need better sources. Yes, the prices radio stations have come down but not to that extreme. Having dual transmitters is an asset, it gives you a city grade signal in two cities. It would requite a significant power increase to accomplish the same with one site and probably not be feasible.

 

[DanStrassberg]

Previous owners wanted to dump Lawrence and simply go from Lowell at 2,500 watts at one time.

Well, that shows you how much those previous owners knew. In the US, Class C AMs (of which WLLH is one, err, two), are limited to 1 kW. While DAs are permitted during the daytime, they have not been allowed at night, although KYPA in Los Angeles was recently granted a DA-1 arrangement, which I don't believe is yet on the air. If and when it goes on the air, KYPA will be the only US Class C AM that is directional at night. It is unclear whether the FCC will consider KYPA to be a precedent. Anyhow, going directional would be very costly for WLLH because of the enormous difficulty and cost associated with finding and getting environmental approvals for a transmitter site in southern New England. Diplexing with an existing AM is the most common approach but there are no suitable sites from which WLLH could diplex.

 

[chrish]

The previous owner 2500 watt post is totally untrue, as far as an improved signal, its amazing what someone preceives.....facilities are exactally what was
turned off as ESPN, just turned back on....this is how bizarre rumors get started.

CH