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Post by CAwasinNJ on Jun 27, 2024 21:46:07 GMT -6
As I'm writing this we're just starting the second half of the year and we have the July 4 holiday coming up, so I'm wondering what station flips might be coming up.
I've heard a rumor that there might be something happening at 99.1/99.5 HD2. The Bloomberg simulcast has been around for almost 3½ years now and has been effectively invisible that whole time. I'd be interested to know what the financial arrangement there is. I suspect Bloomberg is paying iHeart to carry their programming, which would mean that iHeart only cares about what makes the most money and doesn't care whether the station gets ratings or not. In that case it would be Bloomberg that might care about ratings. But this is 2024 and the target audience for Bloomberg programming is going to have above-average income and more likely to have multiple options to hear it (ie streaming or SiriusXM.) So the question is, does it still make sense to program it on a terrestrial radio station? At least the problem that they had for a long time where the audio was delayed for 40 minutes or something is gone.
It's been almost 2 years since U92 became The Beat. It's ratings did improve after the flip, but it's remained one of the lowest rated music stations in Salt Lake. Does Broadway care?
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Post by amanuensis on Jun 28, 2024 9:05:49 GMT -6
If iHeart moves Bloomberg to 570, I would be happy with that. I do listen to it from time to time.
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henry
Silver Level Member
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Post by henry on Jun 29, 2024 1:52:39 GMT -6
It's been almost 2 years since U92 became The Beat. It's ratings did improve after the flip, but it's remained one of the lowest rated music stations in Salt Lake. Does Broadway care? What are they gonna flip it to and still have something youth-oriented to sell to ad agencies? "bRinG BAck KoOl" No. KOOL was great, but no ad agency is do an ad buy for 74-year-olds. Seriously, what else do they flip it to? Hip-hop musically is in a real rut at the moment with almost no crossover hits. And outside of Big Buddah, there just hasn't been any investment into the station. The Beat has been an absolute snooze (no live listener interaction, so it's basically a bad Spotify playlist with long stop sets). But I can't blame 'em. The entire industry has been waving a white flag for 7+ years now. And we're seeing the consequences of it. I asked another national radio Facebook group: Show me ONE station that's CHR or CHR/Rhythmic that is "hot" right now and has sharp imaging, a tight fun playlist, and great live interaction with the audience. Nobody could name any. Even heritage stations like Power 106 and Hot 97 are struggling, thanks to lack of investment to win an audience. (A big change from the 1900s, when stations were entitled an audience, simply for being on the air!) |
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Post by CAwasinNJ on Jun 29, 2024 21:57:06 GMT -6
Since iHeart hasn't split the 105.9(105.7)/570 simulcast since recombining them back in January 2011 I wouldn't count on anything changing anytime soon.
This is a serious question. Are there really ad agency buys at locally owned station groups in medium markets like Broadway?
There's a confluence of problems that are plaguing the big stations. Many of them are owned by big companies who have crushing debt. To be able to service that debt they're cutting back everywhere they possibly can. Making an investment in things like imaging/interaction/etc is just not happening in an environment like that. Of course that just results in a downward spiral.
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henry
Silver Level Member
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Post by henry on Jul 8, 2024 19:31:45 GMT -6
That's why I get sad anytime something gets sold. Be it a radio station (in the late 90s) or an affordable apartment complex (today).
The original owner wasn't saddled with debt, since they bought it long ago. So the reasonable "prices" (spots, rent, etc.) can go toward providing services while still having a healthy profit margin. The over-inflated sale price to a corporate owner leads to most of the "price" going toward debt service, leaving cuts in services, increases in prices, and often little to no profit margin.
It's why radio is so sad. It's been bleeding interest payments for 25 years.
A fun side story: A few hedge fund types have been buying up successful YouTube channels. One, an automotive channel called "Donut", has seen its on-camera talent leaving one by one over the past few months. Apparently you can't debt squeeze a YouTube channel, when all it takes is for the talent to walk away and start their own channel. Unlike TV or radio where there is an FCC-created monopoly (spectrum scarcity, licenses, etc.), on YouTube anyone can start a new channel.
It's a refreshing change to watch!
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Post by CAwasinNJ on Jul 8, 2024 23:59:45 GMT -6
If it was over the past few months I wonder if the talent leaving is related to the banning of non-compete clauses a few months ago.
The big radio companies are themselves at least partially to blame. They racked up ginormous amounts of debt and have no way to pay it off. Add that to the pressure of being a publicly traded company that is constantly being pushed to increase profits or the executives are going to get fired and you have a no-win scenario. I don't know if there's any way out of the present pickle unless ALL the huge radio companies go out of business. Even if one company is liquidated, the assets are going to be sold for top dollar, shifting the unsustainable cost elsewhere.
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