I saw on a Milwaukee radio board that Salem Communications sold or are selling all their AM stations. If true, I wonder what will become of WYLL and WIND?
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WYLL and WIND.
- Thread starter StevenGastreich
- Start date
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ddybas
Guest
I think that the Milwaukee posting is a bit far fetched as the majority of Salems stations are AM. Selling all their AM's would nearly put them out of business. The posting more likely aluded to Salem selling their underperforming stations some of which are AM's and one that fit's that description is WRRD on 540 out of Jackson, WI.
As for WYLL and WIND in Chicago...look for WIND to be spun off or reformatted in 2009.
But this is all speculation on my part...
Dr. Dave
As for WYLL and WIND in Chicago...look for WIND to be spun off or reformatted in 2009.
But this is all speculation on my part...
Dr. Dave
I've mentioned this before, but with Salem's stock tanking, we should all put a couple hundred million together and do a (hostile) takeover.
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greenboy
Guest
I have tried to find any info I could about WYLL being sold and I have not been able to find anything, the only thing I could find
was an a STA to allow them to broadcast from their nightime TXR during certain times while the road construction
is going on right next to their daytime site in Des Plaines. They are allowed to use 15,000 watts from the nightime site to protect the construction workers while working very close to the daytime towers. as I am writing this I turned the station
on and I can tell they are using the nightime site because when I turn my radio southwest I am getting a better signal, where I am located I usually have to turn it northwest. If anyone wants to try and catch AM 1180 in Sycamore this would probably be a good
time to listen to it. I was getting it better than usual in the car Friday afternoon now I know why.
was an a STA to allow them to broadcast from their nightime TXR during certain times while the road construction
is going on right next to their daytime site in Des Plaines. They are allowed to use 15,000 watts from the nightime site to protect the construction workers while working very close to the daytime towers. as I am writing this I turned the station
on and I can tell they are using the nightime site because when I turn my radio southwest I am getting a better signal, where I am located I usually have to turn it northwest. If anyone wants to try and catch AM 1180 in Sycamore this would probably be a good
time to listen to it. I was getting it better than usual in the car Friday afternoon now I know why.
Dr. Dave doesn't know what he's talking about.
WRRD in Milwaukee has been sold. It's likely that the Fish in Milwaukee will also be sold very shortly.
Those were both under-performing stations, which is what Salem has targeted for sale.
WIND and WYLL are both over-performing stations, in Salem's mind. They aren't going anywhere.
mattb
WRRD in Milwaukee has been sold. It's likely that the Fish in Milwaukee will also be sold very shortly.
Those were both under-performing stations, which is what Salem has targeted for sale.
WIND and WYLL are both over-performing stations, in Salem's mind. They aren't going anywhere.
mattb
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ddybas
Guest
Matt...I wasn't able to verify the WRRD sale till yesterday (Sunday)...so my previous post was only speculation. I like to check my facts. Anyway I'll come to you for all my inside info from now and not rely on my 13 years of Salem employment to base my speculation.
May God Bless you
Dr. Dave
May God Bless you
Dr. Dave
ddybas said:
Do you have any idea whether Salem has been able to realize much profit from brokering WYLL?
I would imagine that if they do, and they still have plans of spinning off one of their Chicago properties, they might move the brokered programming to WIND and sell off WYLL. Possibly even moving the WRRD call letters from 540 in Milwaukee, to 560AM here in Chicago.
Even though WYLL has 50,000 watts, and WIND just 5,000, I am personally of the opinion that the signal at 560AM is probably more valuable.
The WIND call letters used to mean something in Chicago, but lost their luster long ago. Sad to say, but you probably wouldn't hear much protest these days if they were to disappear. According to Feder's column, WIND was able to garner $3.2 million in revenues last year, which placed them in 27th place in Chicago. Hardly setting the world on fire.
You definitely have people on the inside in the know, Dr. Dave. Does any of my speculation make sense?
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ddybas
Guest
Flip Flop....your post is interesting, in fact it reflects my thoughts exactly.
The brokered programming on WYLL generates revenue without much expense. It's a very low overhead format and in fact the exact format that allowed Salem to grow from 8 stations in 1990 to the 100+ stations of a few years ago.
The 50 KW day/nite signal of WYLL has significant value and would bring lots of money if it were sold, significantly more than the WIND signal. So selling off 1160-AM and moving it's format over to 560-AM makes lots of sense. Salem needs to drop it's outstanding debt to help give it value so selling 1160 would help in that regard. It's worth about $ 30-40 mil.
I don't expect any change to take place until November, they need the political advertising revenue and there's some talent contracts that expire that month as well.
Salem will never pull out of Chicago, it will always have a Ministry format in the Windy City.
The brokered programming on WYLL generates revenue without much expense. It's a very low overhead format and in fact the exact format that allowed Salem to grow from 8 stations in 1990 to the 100+ stations of a few years ago.
The 50 KW day/nite signal of WYLL has significant value and would bring lots of money if it were sold, significantly more than the WIND signal. So selling off 1160-AM and moving it's format over to 560-AM makes lots of sense. Salem needs to drop it's outstanding debt to help give it value so selling 1160 would help in that regard. It's worth about $ 30-40 mil.
I don't expect any change to take place until November, they need the political advertising revenue and there's some talent contracts that expire that month as well.
Salem will never pull out of Chicago, it will always have a Ministry format in the Windy City.
ddybas said:
I think 560 is definitely the best day and night signal. While WYLL is mid-band, it is only marginally better daytime in a few areas, while outside the primary contours, WIND actually is vastly superior daytime. At night, WIND is the clear, runaway winner. Considering some months have only about 8 hours of daytime, the night signal in Chicago is critical.
Today, WYLL is probably worth $20 to $25 million at best... and that is optimistic. It is likely worth less than the $29 million they paid for it in 2000. It is only viable as a niche or brokered format frequency, as it does not have full coverage day and night of the metro. The WIND signal is a viable day and night full market signal, likely worth much more.
David, I never understand why people thought WIND's signal was nothing great. It has one of the better signals in Chicago. You can't beat being on 560 either.
KJCB said:
I think that the function of being on a lower frequency is not well understood, nor is the location of the trasnsmitter site fully appreciated. It's the old 1 kw on 540 covers the same as 50 kw on 1600 issue, and not everyone is familiar with the vast superiority of lower freqencies.
WIND daytime has a far better signal in the NW Indiana counties, and sacrifices little to the west when compared to 1160. At night, after 670, 720, 780 and 890, it is the best overall Chicago signal there is. As far as covering the metro, it is quite competitve with the 50 kw stations.
DavidEduardo said:
I'd agree. The signal was even worse to the west when it was owned by Group W/Westinghouse. They certainly couldn't wait to dump that station; management had it in their heads that the reason the station was not a resounding success was because they didn't have a 50,000 watt signal. Dumb.
Truth was Group W destroyed that station piece by piece. Syndicated talk in the middays and afternoon drive, live hosts Weber and Baum appealing mostly to older demos, Larry King in the overnights. Hell, they had the Blackhawks broadcasts, and the team was really hot when Group W sold WIND to Tichenor.
I also noticed last night that Salem's doing a TV campaign for WIND now with Dennis Miller pitching and saying the calls on-camera and the positioning statement "Chicago's New Home for Intelligent Talk." (If you call Michael Savage "Intelligent Talk.") That would seem to me that Salem is having some sort of commitment for the station--I sure don't remember any kind of TV for The Fish (and you could do mainstream TV for it, as long as you said "Family-Friendly Music" and not "CCM").
flip_flop_fly said:
...the bigger mistake was in letting WGN steal Ed Schwartz away so that Larry King could get that slot. But Westinghouse's mishandling of the station went back further than that. They had a fairly good music format -- an AC/oldies/rock hybrid -- in '76 when the Chicago Federation of Labor decided to sell WCFL and flush their Top 40 format. All the other big pop/rock oriented stations bought ads on WCFL that last weekend -- WLS, WDHF, WBBM-FM, WDAI -- but WIND was conspicuous in its absence. In fact, it allowed WLS to claim (falsely) that the SuperCFL listeners' choice for current popular music on the AM band would be limited to WLS alone. (Maybe that's why Larry Lujack told Fred Winston, who voiced the spot, to "stick it in your ear!" on Supe's last Top 40 afternoon.) Westinghouse's history in Chicago -- going all the way back to moving KYW, Chicago's first radio station, out of town back in 1934 -- was always lackluster...
WIND's signal has actually improved in recent months. They apparently hired the engineer that worked on the station for Univision. He's done a ton to improve the reliability of the signal and the sound of the station.
It does appear Salem is committed to the station, with the marketing campaign. I saw in Feder that the station billed $3.1 million last year, which is a small drop in the Chicago bucket, but is still pretty impressive for a 1.0 share station.
I'd suppose that WYLL is doing pretty well on that stick with the brokered format. It's Salem's bread and butter format. It's not going away.
I think the deal in Milwaukee is more a function of Salem dumping those stations that will never have a chance to really succeed. Those were the comments made on a recent shareholder's conference call.
It does appear Salem is committed to the station, with the marketing campaign. I saw in Feder that the station billed $3.1 million last year, which is a small drop in the Chicago bucket, but is still pretty impressive for a 1.0 share station.
I'd suppose that WYLL is doing pretty well on that stick with the brokered format. It's Salem's bread and butter format. It's not going away.
I think the deal in Milwaukee is more a function of Salem dumping those stations that will never have a chance to really succeed. Those were the comments made on a recent shareholder's conference call.
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greenboy
Guest
I agree with the 2 posts above about WIND. Their lineup is much better since they have a local morning show and have replaced
a lot of their shows with shows from other syndicators. I have also noticed the difference in the sound quality on the air, it has a
much clearer sound than it did a few months back. The funny thing about WIND is that they are owned by Salem and the majority
of their lineup are not Salem programs. In fact almost all the shows I listen to on the station are not Salem shows ie; Savage,
Miller, John and Cisco. Once in a while I turn on Praeger, Medvid, or Hewit(I am probably spelling those wrong, sorry :
,and
sometimes they have an interesting topic, but, most of the time I find them to be very dry and boring and don't listen for more
than 10 or 15 minutes. I would love to see them add Boortz to their lineup.
a lot of their shows with shows from other syndicators. I have also noticed the difference in the sound quality on the air, it has a
much clearer sound than it did a few months back. The funny thing about WIND is that they are owned by Salem and the majority
of their lineup are not Salem programs. In fact almost all the shows I listen to on the station are not Salem shows ie; Savage,
Miller, John and Cisco. Once in a while I turn on Praeger, Medvid, or Hewit(I am probably spelling those wrong, sorry :
,andsometimes they have an interesting topic, but, most of the time I find them to be very dry and boring and don't listen for more
than 10 or 15 minutes. I would love to see them add Boortz to their lineup.
Dennis Miller is part of a negotiated deal between Salem and WW1. Why they run TRN shows, I don't know... maybe someone at Salem corporate wants to sleep with Laura Ingraham.
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ddybas
Guest
Back in 2000 Salems WYLL (then on 106.7 FM) billed over $6 mil with brokered programming. So the $3.1 mil that WIND is billing, isn't a very big deal. 29th place in revenue ranking isn't much to brag about.
The payroll for the WIND morning show is about $500K...so that drops revenue down to about $2.6 mil and then there's the cost of Ingram, Miller, Medved, Savage...yadda, yadda...trust me, if a format isn't generating ratings/ big money after 3 years Salem looks for alternatives. For example how long did 106.7 The Fish last ? I believe 3 years 6 months.
The Fish had nearly the same ratings as WIND has.
Salems stock is hurtin for certain they need some fast cash...I see changes coming for the Chicago stations.
Dr. Dave
Those who don't remember the past are doomed to re-live it.
The payroll for the WIND morning show is about $500K...so that drops revenue down to about $2.6 mil and then there's the cost of Ingram, Miller, Medved, Savage...yadda, yadda...trust me, if a format isn't generating ratings/ big money after 3 years Salem looks for alternatives. For example how long did 106.7 The Fish last ? I believe 3 years 6 months.
The Fish had nearly the same ratings as WIND has.
Salems stock is hurtin for certain they need some fast cash...I see changes coming for the Chicago stations.
Dr. Dave
Those who don't remember the past are doomed to re-live it.
R
radiohawkins
Guest
Hey Dr. Dave,
Have you heard anything about Salem Louisville?
Have you heard anything about Salem Louisville?
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