I noticed a while back that WPTL is for sale, a small town 500w AM in the W. NC Mountains. The ad even mentioned that it is billing $125k. It seems like someone with local ties could make this station a moneymaker. I have talked with someone from the area and he said it is hard to get the locals to spend any money with radio advertising. Seeing that this is the only station running local programming you would not think that would be a problem, but I'm not from that area. The other two stations licensed to that area are satellite programmed out of Asheville.
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WPTL for sale, Canton, NC
- Thread starter knoxbob
- Start date
I guess I have become a professional nay-sayer when it comes to sizing up markets like this. After an absence from the business for a number of years, it was about 10 years ago I decided it was "now or never"... this is the time to find a little affordable station in a pleasant place to live, and go for it. So I've looked at a lot of situations like this, sized them up from a distance, and actually went to touch and feel some of them.
Take a close, close look. I don't care what they are BILLING. I want to see documentation on what they COLLECT, what they actually bank. Once in awhile you find one where they actually take in more than the books say they are billing... if you get my drift.
I haven't been to Maggie Valley, Waynesville, Canton in many years. When I was there I was viewing the area as a tourist, not as a business prospect. So I am sitting here with my computer browser and a couple of reference books.
There was a time when civic pride steered people to "their OWN station" both as a listener, and as an advertiser. Today it appears that radio is "community agnostic".
I think I may have read the ad you talk about. I have this shadowy little cloud over me right now that says: This station has been closely tied to religious programming. (The call letters seem to scream that.)
I have some interests other than radio that cause me to become aware of communities. I think you will find that this county, this area is a bit rowdy when it comes to religious conversation. (Remember the national news four years ago where the little Baptist church over in Waynesville voted to revoke the membership of anyone in the church that did not vote Republican? I have some other similar encounters with the area.)
I have lived in some towns that were highly dominated by one industry, one particular facility. From my little nest in the tree tops miles and miles away, I get the idea that there is a paper mill in Canton. That is not a bad thing, but I have observations about living in a community where one industrial installation is the dominant economic engine. It affects the way we do school, business, church and social life.
This will be a great station for someone nearing retirement or in retirement. This will be a great station for the spouse of someone who has a significant establish employment in the area. This will be a great station for someone who "knows" the territory and is comfortable with what the territory is, someone who can work WITH the local traditions. It will be a disaster for someone from the outside who has no concept of what it is like to live, socialize, play and worship in an Appalachian or Ozarks kind of community.
This will be a good station for someone who understands that forever and ever you will be working with a budget, a gross income that limits what you can do and what you can be.
Having said all that, a friend of mine is retiring as of Monday and is moving to that county. I have a certain amount of envy for him. It's an area I would have liked to have moved to 15 years ago. Today, not so much.
Take a close, close look. I don't care what they are BILLING. I want to see documentation on what they COLLECT, what they actually bank. Once in awhile you find one where they actually take in more than the books say they are billing... if you get my drift.
I haven't been to Maggie Valley, Waynesville, Canton in many years. When I was there I was viewing the area as a tourist, not as a business prospect. So I am sitting here with my computer browser and a couple of reference books.
There was a time when civic pride steered people to "their OWN station" both as a listener, and as an advertiser. Today it appears that radio is "community agnostic".
I think I may have read the ad you talk about. I have this shadowy little cloud over me right now that says: This station has been closely tied to religious programming. (The call letters seem to scream that.)
I have some interests other than radio that cause me to become aware of communities. I think you will find that this county, this area is a bit rowdy when it comes to religious conversation. (Remember the national news four years ago where the little Baptist church over in Waynesville voted to revoke the membership of anyone in the church that did not vote Republican? I have some other similar encounters with the area.)
I have lived in some towns that were highly dominated by one industry, one particular facility. From my little nest in the tree tops miles and miles away, I get the idea that there is a paper mill in Canton. That is not a bad thing, but I have observations about living in a community where one industrial installation is the dominant economic engine. It affects the way we do school, business, church and social life.
This will be a great station for someone nearing retirement or in retirement. This will be a great station for the spouse of someone who has a significant establish employment in the area. This will be a great station for someone who "knows" the territory and is comfortable with what the territory is, someone who can work WITH the local traditions. It will be a disaster for someone from the outside who has no concept of what it is like to live, socialize, play and worship in an Appalachian or Ozarks kind of community.
This will be a good station for someone who understands that forever and ever you will be working with a budget, a gross income that limits what you can do and what you can be.
Having said all that, a friend of mine is retiring as of Monday and is moving to that county. I have a certain amount of envy for him. It's an area I would have liked to have moved to 15 years ago. Today, not so much.
With a little bit of a smirk, I have said the following for years now: If you are going to move to that town <insert community of your choice> to own the radio station <or insert certain other businesses here>, part of your business plan is: Buy cemetery plots in the popular burial site. That sends a message you plan to stay for awhile.
Some people have scratched their heads for years where Southern Baptists got the idea for some of their policies on church membership. They got wise in the 1940s and 1950s to people who moved to town (as in purchase or build the radio station), looked around to figure out which church was attended by the largest number of local business owners, and join that church.... not because your primary goal was to be a really active church person, but because it gave you social contact with the largest number of potential advertisers.
Some people have scratched their heads for years where Southern Baptists got the idea for some of their policies on church membership. They got wise in the 1940s and 1950s to people who moved to town (as in purchase or build the radio station), looked around to figure out which church was attended by the largest number of local business owners, and join that church.... not because your primary goal was to be a really active church person, but because it gave you social contact with the largest number of potential advertisers.
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