Island 106 vs. Hot 1079 - Panama City

[poledo]

With the low price on Double O radio I wonder if it might now be possible for someone to buy WFXX and WPFM (or just pay off PFM.)  Then 107.9 could be downgraded to a class A and 107.7 could be moved into the Pensacola market as a C2.  This scenario should also open up 107.5 for a new allocation in the Montgomery market.

Panama City just isn't big enough to deserve all those 100kw stations... PCB could keep PAP and Sunny and knock most of the other stations down to 50 kw or 25 kw power levels more consistent with the market size.  That would allow some other towns get new C2 or C3 station stations to replace the old little local stations that were poached to become beach move-ins.

Then again, I am suggesting that someone steal another radio station from Andalusia and Evergreen to add to the Pensacola market.

Would radio have any more good music on it if all the 100kw stations went away and the FM dial was repopulated with 3kw to 50kw signals?  Or would it just double the amount of stations playing contemporary country and middle aged woman lite rock?

Heck, started up a good discussion of the good old days when 105.9 challenged 107.9 for the title of "Top Rocker on Panama City Beach" and it made me depressed about the sad state of radio today which in turn made me start brainstorming unrealistic ideas to revive radio and make it cool again.  I need a Xanax... and a Rocker on the beach... to sit in or listen to while I take some more Xanax.

[amfmxm]

Oh, radio isn't in such a sad state. Our little company spins off millions of dollars in cold, hard profit every year and we're just a bunch of small-town shits.

And just last week the 2011 list of top-billers was announced, and DC's WTOP showed a billing (ad revenue) increase of around 12 percent to pop up to about $64 million for good old Hubbard Broadcasting, and I'd guess that at least $30 million of that--maybe $40 million--drops directly to the bottom line.

In other words, there are still good broadcasters and lousy broadcasters in American radio, just like always. Double O, for whatever reasons, wasn't able to figure out how to succeed in Panama City, but they're not the first to screw it up... nor will they be the last.

And as far as the general pricing of radio stations today, it's not that much different from the overall real estate market. When lenders decide to start lending again, there's a good chance that the market (and prices) will rebound. Right now the banks make more money just borrowing from the fed at 1% and lending it back to the fed at 3%, so lending to anyone to buy anything is stupid. Besides, it cuts into their 4-hour lunches.

[cceng]

I read this board too Poledo :0)

[poledo]

I read this board too Poledo :0)

Trying to keep all those nostalgic thoughts and feelings bottled up is hard, isn't it?  Things will never be the way they used to be and they probably won't be better in our lifetime... except that hopefully, one day, we'll all have enough investments to retire to the woods and vacation on the beach whenever we want.  Carrabelle may not be overpopulated in our lifetime... hopefully.  Hopefully no one will build nice roads into the Big Bend area in the next 20 years.  Everything from Biloxi to Apalachicola has been already been occupied by the Yankees.

[Tibbs2]

I have no time to look at this board ever, but today, I figured why not and look at what I have missed. Great comments. I could program them channels rite nice from America's beautiful Music City, but like you, RNR, I'd need to make sure I kept my eye on the situation along the waters edge while I can still see. Agree on the imagination being necessary for those stations and they'd have to be methodically programmed to take on water as other smaller owners would attack. Not sure I'd even waste the time playing Top 40/Urban/CHRa. Those clubs bring in night revenue, but what could you get with a better demo. Real issue is that the PCB market has changed since the 80s so CCENG would know more about what that revenue stream would look like. Sad that that gifted engineer in PC probably can tell you more about revenues and programming moves than any other in America. CCENG - I so owe you a case of something. I suck for not checking in. Bad excuses, which is no excuse. I can just say, almost to the Day, 1.5 years of the latest and greatest project I swore I wouldn't do, 12 hrs a day...and I finally had my first real flashback of the good ole days on this post in some time by just demanding i take some time away from that project. RNR - I still contend the overall status of the 4some equipment, image and viability is so bad that it will cost them $4M to dig their way up the ranks. Can this Iowa company figure out PC? I dunno. Can anyone? Its kinda like buying a house for $100, but you find the termites, biohazard dump, nuclear waste site, no access from the street and you quickly realize someone didn't really do their home inspection. Better to just call in Fire Marshall Bill Burns .... Let me show ya something....

[amfmxm]

RNR - I still contend the overall status of the 4some equipment, image and viability is so bad that it will cost them $4M to dig their way up the ranks. Can this Iowa company figure out PC? I dunno. Can anyone?

The media memory of the average guy/gal on the street is extremely short, nowadays. In TV, for instance, most of the "exciting new shows" that debuted last fall are long-ago cancelled and completely forgotten. Radio listeners have trouble enough connecting call-letters to dial-positions, much less remembering which station is "Hank" or "The Beat." That's why marketing for radio stations has become a matter of making everying real, real, real simple. Easy, peezy, lemon-squeezy!

The ratings summary here on radio-info for godforsaken Sioux City shows Powell whipping Clear Channel soundly in a head-to-head Country battle, so maybe they've got the chops to do it in PC. Hey, cceng, have they taken over the Uh-Oh foursome, yet?   

[cceng]

dunno......