> As the owner of that there radio station (WYAB), I can shed
> some light on the situation...
>
> If anything, WOAD should be happy about it because they grab
> some of the MSU sponsors with which we make the initial
> contact. There were several examples this year where we had
> a sponsor on for MSU baseball in 2005, and then they
> appeared on WOAD for football 2005. We do some of the
> legwork for the interested sponsors, get them to commit, and
> then their ad agencies buy from WOAD.
>
> Also, we've committed to carrying MSU football, basketball,
> AND baseball on FM. MSU baseball is not going to be on WOAD
> this year, but on WJDX 620 AM.
>
> Besides, more than 75% of our sponsors for MSU come from
> Flora, Canton, and Yazoo City. I know that WOAD has more of
> a presence in Jackson, and doesn't care too much about
> what's going on in Flora.
> We also have a signed contract for MSU sports through
> basketball 2007.
>
> I'm not sure who we would carry if MSU weren't on WYAB....
>
> --- Casual Observer
>
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Having a client already happy with results probably does help close the sale for the next station that comes calling, but I must point out that all but a few of the sponsors I heard were familiar Jackson area advertisers. Some are probably alumni supporters of all things MSU, and that's cool, too. They'd probably toss you something on GP to spread the gospel, so to speak.
As for WOAD-FM not having an interest in Flora or by extension Canton and Yazoo City- That's some of their strongest territory outside the core metro- it seems that black gospel has some fans (and groups) there. But it's great that the two stations can cover the same territory and not have an issue with each other. I figured the contract you mentioned was pre-existant to your tower move which effectively put you in WOAD-FM's backyard. It may not be a issue if the contracts don't address market exclusivity. If it does, then a move which effectively deprived another station of that exclusivity might cause a problem. It's just an interesting exercise to consider. Maybe DeadElvis can give us the quasi-legal lowdown...
Ricky