Would Keymarket flip or sell Froggy 103.9?

[RadioPhillyFan]

I know they've had a CP on this, but does anyone know if Keymarket is still planning to move their stick for 103.5 from near Steubenville to Imperial, PA and is the COL for 103.5 still Burgettstown, PA?

The COL is Burgettstown, but the plan to move the transmitter never moved past the application stage. Keymarket didn't pursue it any further, and the app was eventually dismissed.

They should have, it'd put them much closer to Pittsburgh.

 

[xm41]

I know they've had a CP on this, but does anyone know if Keymarket is still planning to move their stick for 103.5 from near Steubenville to Imperial, PA and is the COL for 103.5 still Burgettstown, PA?

The COL is Burgettstown, but the plan to move the transmitter never moved past the application stage. Keymarket didn't pursue it any further, and the app was eventually dismissed.

They should have, it'd put them much closer to Pittsburgh.

I doubt they have the money to make that CP happen now. They should have sold 103.5 and they wouldn't of had to LMA the 98.3 primary Pittsburgh signal.
They might have actually sold 98.3 to the Klove folks at this point. With 94.9 to the south and 104.3 to the west the 103.5 signal is completely redundant. Especially if they would still have 98.3 in place.

 

[fybush]

I know they've had a CP on this, but does anyone know if Keymarket is still planning to move their stick for 103.5 from near Steubenville to Imperial, PA and is the COL for 103.5 still Burgettstown, PA?

The COL is Burgettstown, but the plan to move the transmitter never moved past the application stage. Keymarket didn't pursue it any further, and the app was eventually dismissed.

They should have, it'd put them much closer to Pittsburgh.

Yes...but with a pretty severe directional null that would have made the signal in most of Pittsburgh not much better than it is now.

Sometimes the "obvious" move isn't the best one, especially when you start mucking about with directional FM. It's not always as simple as it may appear from a distance.

 

[RadioPhillyFan]

94.9 to the south and 104.3 to the west the 103.5 signal is completely redundant. Especially if they would still have 98.3 in place.

This is why I feel 103.5 should be flipped, even if it's selling ads in a different market. Why not compete one of the major Pittsburgh FM's? You'll get better then .3 for sure!

 

[cingram]

This is why I feel 103.5 should be flipped, even if it's selling ads in a different market. Why not compete one of the major Pittsburgh FM's? You'll get better then .3 for sure!

It doesn't cover the market well enough to compete by itself. It's a suburban signal where it is sited now.

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

C.

 

[RadioPhillyFan]

This is why I feel 103.5 should be flipped, even if it's selling ads in a different market. Why not compete one of the major Pittsburgh FM's? You'll get better then .3 for sure!

It doesn't cover the market well enough to compete by itself. It's a suburban signal where it is sited now.

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

C.

My point is still, 103.5 can pull better. Most people may look at R-L sites and only see yellow as "populated areas". But that's only urban clusters, not suburbs. I'd say the signal would still reach the West side of Pittsburgh, if 104.3 can cover that, why not make 103.5 something that will appeal to both the small market it's ads target and Pittsburgh? Or maybe move 103.5 as close to Pittsburgh as you can without making it a directional signal.

Does it sound somewhat logical businesswise? Or is my idea utter trash?

 

[trefdawg]

simple solution...bring back ROCKY 103,target Steubenville -Wheeling as it was originally intended to serve

 

[fybush]

My point is still, 103.5 can pull better. Most people may look at R-L sites and only see yellow as "populated areas". But that's only urban clusters, not suburbs. I'd say the signal would still reach the West side of Pittsburgh, if 104.3 can cover that, why not make 103.5 something that will appeal to both the small market it's ads target and Pittsburgh? Or maybe move 103.5 as close to Pittsburgh as you can without making it a directional signal.

Does it sound somewhat logical businesswise? Or is my idea utter trash?

More the latter than the former, I'm afraid.

You've acknowledged in other posts that you don't really have any feel at all for what western Pennsylvania is like. It's nothing at all like Philadelphia, except for having "PA" in its mailing address. And Steubenville, in turn, isn't really anything like Pittsburgh.

Moving radio signals is much more complex than it might look on paper (or on a message board). Because of other signals that have improved in recent years (WKVE, specifically), 103.5 is now pretty much locked in where it is. Any move to the east will require a directional antenna, and any DA will effectively null Pittsburgh.

What you apparently can't see from Philadelphia is that "the small market" that 103.5 targets for sales is actually a fairly lucrative spot, as long as you're the only radio game in town. Froggy on 103.5 dominates Steubenville and Weirton as far as sales is concerned, and I would strongly suspect it makes a lot more money doing that than it would as a minor player in the crowded Pittsburgh market.

Small-market radio in general can be quite profitable these days if it's run economically. There are lots of contenders out there beyond just radio aiming to take ad dollars out of big cities. There aren't as many players in a position to get local ad revenue in a place like Steubenville.

 

[RadioPhillyFan]

My point is still, 103.5 can pull better. Most people may look at R-L sites and only see yellow as "populated areas". But that's only urban clusters, not suburbs. I'd say the signal would still reach the West side of Pittsburgh, if 104.3 can cover that, why not make 103.5 something that will appeal to both the small market it's ads target and Pittsburgh? Or maybe move 103.5 as close to Pittsburgh as you can without making it a directional signal.

Does it sound somewhat logical businesswise? Or is my idea utter trash?

More the latter than the former, I'm afraid.

You've acknowledged in other posts that you don't really have any feel at all for what western Pennsylvania is like. It's nothing at all like Philadelphia, except for having "PA" in its mailing address. And Steubenville, in turn, isn't really anything like Pittsburgh.

Moving radio signals is much more complex than it might look on paper (or on a message board). Because of other signals that have improved in recent years (WKVE, specifically), 103.5 is now pretty much locked in where it is. Any move to the east will require a directional antenna, and any DA will effectively null Pittsburgh.

What you apparently can't see from Philadelphia is that "the small market" that 103.5 targets for sales is actually a fairly lucrative spot, as long as you're the only radio game in town. Froggy on 103.5 dominates Steubenville and Weirton as far as sales is concerned, and I would strongly suspect it makes a lot more money doing that than it would as a minor player in the crowded Pittsburgh market.

Small-market radio in general can be quite profitable these days if it's run economically. There are lots of contenders out there beyond just radio aiming to take ad dollars out of big cities. There aren't as many players in a position to get local ad revenue in a place like Steubenville.

Thanks Scott, you really cleared up this whole thing for me.

 

[Parttimer]

Or is my idea utter trash?

Well...... it's not the best we've heard lately, put it that way.....

 

[corporateradiosucks]

Small-market radio in general can be quite profitable these days if it's run economically. There are lots of contenders out there beyond just radio aiming to take ad dollars out of big cities. There aren't as many players in a position to get local ad revenue in a place like Steubenville.

Exactly...this is why WJPA isn't chomping at the bit to move. They do well in Washington and w/ so many people moving to Peters Township, they pick that market (who still consider themselves Pittsburghers) up too.

 

[kenhawk1160]

It's more of an issue of 'can't' in terms of moving the stick. You can't move it a foot north of where it is now. It has to protect 95.5 in Johnstown and 95.1 in Grove City, both of which are Keymarket/Forever properties. It can only go south, and that would not be a smart move. JPA does just fine serving Washington County and the surrounding area, and they'll continue to do so as long as they don't lose sight of that. It's programmed and managed very, very smartly. That's why it's the success story it is and sets a great example of how to do small market radio right...like we do here in Butler!