• Get involved.
    We want your input!
    Apply for Membership and join the conversations about everything related to broadcasting.

    After we receive your registration, a moderator will review it. After your registration is approved, you will be permitted to post.
    If you use a disposable or false email address, your registration will be rejected.

    After your membership is approved, please take a minute to tell us a little bit about yourself.
    https://www.radiodiscussions.com/forums/introduce-yourself.1088/

    Thanks in advance and have fun!
    RadioDiscussions Administrators

WRBP 101.9 sold in Youngstown

R

rubberchicken

Bernard sells 'JAMZ 101.9' to Educational Media Foundation for a measly $500,000. 500k for a decent class A signal. It will surely become K-Love or Air1 soon.
 
Are you sure? I know that they just updated their website (http://www.jamz1019.com/) as did both 1500 WASN and 1330 WGFT and the station just got a resolution from the city of Youngstown (http://www.wytv.com/content/news/lo...town-City-Council/E6tNsfJq602v6EzP-pYb2Q.cspx)

Youngstown City Council took time Wednesday to recognize the city's number one urban radio station.

During Wednesday's meeting, council members presented a resolution to Skip Bednarczyk. He is the market manager for WRBP-JAMZ 101.9 FM.

The resolution was in recognition of continued success in the urban format, and for keeping the radio station highly rated, profitable and on the air in Youngstown.

"This type of a format is going away in several markets, but because of the profitability, and the ratings success here, it's a viable factor in the marketplace," said Bednarczyk.

Bednarczyk said listeners can expect more new music, contests and community involvement from JAMZ in the coming weeks and months. They plan to partner with area churches, and put kids to work cleaning up around the city this summer.

I know there was a plan involving WASN-AM to be spun off and that WGFT-AM had got signal upgrades this past spring, but to be sold and leave the market without a urban format when they were the 5 th highest radio station in the market I think their is more to the story that just a simple sell.



rubberchicken said:
Bernard sells 'JAMZ 101.9' to Educational Media Foundation for a measly $500,000. 500k for a decent class A signal. It will surely become K-Love or Air1 soon.
Click to expand...
 
Isn't 101.9 in the signal range of 107.1 (former WEXC)? One of these would probably end up Air 1...

As for Urban listeners, I think they'd be close enough to Z107.9 although don't quote me on that :)
 
danikayser84 said:
Isn't 101.9 in the signal range of 107.1 (former WEXC)? One of these would probably end up Air 1...

As for Urban listeners, I think they'd be close enough to Z107.9 although don't quote me on that :)
Click to expand...

Yes it is which does not make any sense as to why EMF would buy 2 radio stations in Youngstown and Z-107.9 dropp out in the Boardman area so it does not cover the whole market.
 
EMF bought two stations here in Jackson, MS right before the holidays. They put K-Love on a blowtorch signal and Air1 on the less powerful sister station.
 
the golden boy said:
EMF bought two stations here in Jackson, MS right before the holidays. They put K-Love on a blowtorch signal and Air1 on the less powerful sister station.
Click to expand...

If that's their pattern, 101.9 will go K-Love, leaving Air 1 for Greenville PA-based rimshot 107.1.

Oddly enough, it'd almost be a returned format to 107.1. It was run as a "Christian rocker" under Beacon Broadcasting, before going to mainstream AC as "C107.1". Though I suspect the "Air 1" playlist will be a bit tamer than "Freq 107" had.
 
OhioMediaWatch said:
Oddly enough, it'd almost be a returned format to 107.1. It was run as a "Christian rocker" under Beacon Broadcasting, before going to mainstream AC as "C107.1". Though I suspect the "Air 1" playlist will be a bit tamer than "Freq 107" had.
Click to expand...

If 107.1 goes Air1 it will be Christian CHR .. which is def tamer than what Freq 107 was... Freq was straight up Christian rock at the beginning.. If I am not mistaken they started to get a little softer before their demise.

(note: Christian CHR and Christian Rock chart wise do share a lot of songs).

I did look at both coverage maps.. Looks like 101.9 puts a stronger signal over Youngstown, I am pretty confident to say it will air KLove... they could flip 107.1 to Air1 however since it's signal is more North East of Youngstown.. they could actually keep it KLove to cover more real estate.. Who knows at this point.


Matt
http://www.positiverockradio.com/
 
rubberchicken said:
Bernard sells 'JAMZ 101.9' to Educational Media Foundation for a measly $500,000. 500k for a decent class A signal. It will surely become K-Love or Air1 soon.
Click to expand...

...and the market loses another opportunity for an independent operator to step in and shake things up. I realize the station has effectively been for sale since the moment Bernard took over, but this sale disappoints me to no end.
 
Talk about screwing the listeners of Youngstown. And with WAKZ shifting back to Top 40/CHR, it looks like the only place to get their R&B/Hip-Hop fix is through their iPhone and other alternative forms of media.
 
Heck, even Pittsburgh lost WAMO.

Not counting the AM/translator combo which has taken up the name, but is not a full market signal by any stretch of the imagination. But maybe Tim Martz will buy a small Y-Town AM (maybe one of the ones Bernard hasn't sold yet?) and bring in a translator...
 
@ static_cling the sale disappoints me very much too! I have been in the business awhile and would love to own a station or two but the problem is there is nowhere for someone like me or you to go and barrow the money to buy a station you either have to have a rich relative or friend or be a corporation to be in the business. Banks don't want to loan and investors think the medium is dead. It is truely sad to see the market here come to this. 101.9 is a "sleeping giant" it has a lot of potential and now it won't have that potential.

Does anyone know how much they want for the AM stations? the last couple of times two AM stations were sold at the same time the price was 50,000 I'm interested in seeing how much they can get for them.
 
$50,000 for two small AMs seems to be the going rate in the Mahoning Valley.

I think that's not only the price Chris Lash paid for WYCL/1540 Niles (back to classic country "The Farm", by the way) and WHTX/1570 Warren, but I'm pretty sure Joe Vilkie paid the same price for the combo of WGRP/940 Greenville and WLOA/1470 Farrell.

My gut tells me that 1330/1500 may go for a BIT more, since they're more centrally located in the market...
 
Both Z107.9 and Kiss 96.1 (if you're willing to put up with hearing Carly Rae Jepsen or Gotye 20 times in order to hear Drake or Nicki Minaj) are just a bit too far for Youngstown, I think... could the Urban continue on one of the AMs maybe with a translator in the future, anyone think of that?
 
danikayser84 said:
Both Z107.9 and Kiss 96.1 (if you're willing to put up with hearing Carly Rae Jepsen or Gotye 20 times in order to hear Drake or Nicki Minaj) are just a bit too far for Youngstown, I think... could the Urban continue on one of the AMs maybe with a translator in the future, anyone think of that?
Click to expand...

I did, three messages above yours. :)

Don't know if Tim Martz would be interested, and don't know if anyone else could pull off the FM translator combo. I wouldn't be surprised to, say, hear 1500 put in more music...but it's an AM daytimer. (I don't know what their music mix is now, if any...last I kept track, they were running the Syndication One urban talkers for the most part.) And Bernard is not going to go after a companion translator while they're just keeping the transmitter warm.

Z gets well into the northern part of the market...remember, it's Way Out East of Cleveland in Newbury, a relatively short run down U.S. 422 (off Ohio 87) from Warren. Not so much in Mahoning County.

Kiss 96.1 barely makes it to New Castle. Of course, 95.9 is the local Kiss for the market, but I have no idea how urban they lean.
 
Without a major rule change and window opening, the chances of getting another FM translator moved into that market are slim. There is one, not owned by the Christian broadcasters, but the owner wants to hang on to it.
 
OhioMediaWatch said:
danikayser84 said:
Both Z107.9 and Kiss 96.1 (if you're willing to put up with hearing Carly Rae Jepsen or Gotye 20 times in order to hear Drake or Nicki Minaj) are just a bit too far for Youngstown, I think... could the Urban continue on one of the AMs maybe with a translator in the future, anyone think of that?
Click to expand...

I did, three messages above yours. :)

Don't know if Tim Martz would be interested, and don't know if anyone else could pull off the FM translator combo. I wouldn't be surprised to, say, hear 1500 put in more music...but it's an AM daytimer. (I don't know what their music mix is now, if any...last I kept track, they were running the Syndication One urban talkers for the most part.) And Bernard is not going to go after a companion translator while they're just keeping the transmitter warm.

Z gets well into the northern part of the market...remember, it's Way Out East of Cleveland in Newbury, a relatively short run down U.S. 422 (off Ohio 87) from Warren. Not so much in Mahoning County.

Kiss 96.1 barely makes it to New Castle. Of course, 95.9 is the local Kiss for the market, but I have no idea how urban they lean.
Click to expand...

Well, WAKZ did go the Rhythmic route in 2011 but returned to Top 40/CHR in 2012 after that brief flirtation. I wouldn't be surprised if they try to lure the WRBP listeners ASAP.
 
OhioMediaWatch said:
danikayser84 said:
Both Z107.9 and Kiss 96.1 (if you're willing to put up with hearing Carly Rae Jepsen or Gotye 20 times in order to hear Drake or Nicki Minaj) are just a bit too far for Youngstown, I think... could the Urban continue on one of the AMs maybe with a translator in the future, anyone think of that?
Click to expand...

I did, three messages above yours. :)

Don't know if Tim Martz would be interested, and don't know if anyone else could pull off the FM translator combo. I wouldn't be surprised to, say, hear 1500 put in more music...but it's an AM daytimer. (I don't know what their music mix is now, if any...last I kept track, they were running the Syndication One urban talkers for the most part.) And Bernard is not going to go after a companion translator while they're just keeping the transmitter warm.

Z gets well into the northern part of the market...remember, it's Way Out East of Cleveland in Newbury, a relatively short run down U.S. 422 (off Ohio 87) from Warren. Not so much in Mahoning County.

Kiss 96.1 barely makes it to New Castle. Of course, 95.9 is the local Kiss for the market, but I have no idea how urban they lean.
Click to expand...
Many years ago I was able to listen to 107.9 clear to New Castle before it dropped. But that was in the days before "I-Block". I even got WMMS in a Mc Donald's parking lot off the 422 bypass on the south side of New Castle. Again that too was before "HD" Radio.
 
Status
This thread has been closed due to inactivity. You can create a new thread to discuss this topic.


Back
Top Bottom