RE: A Challenge

[Roger Kirk <rkirk@videoserver.com>]

As Billy Joel sang "You May Be Right".  Outside of debt service, I wonder   
"what does it really cost to run a typical AM"?  Does anybody have   
conservative numbers?

 ----------
From:  Sean P. Smyth[SMTP:ssmyth@tiac.net]
Sent:  Thursday, July 24, 1997 5:55 PM
To:  Roger Kirk; boston-radio-interest
Subject:  Re: A Challenge

>After reading all the discussions about local radio vs satellite,
>religion and it's repeaters, variety vs. small playlists, personalities
>vs. jukebox, and "what I'd do if I had a radio station" posts...
>
>It's time to put our money where our mouth is.  Let's pool our money,   
buy
>a languishing AM (WSME?), let the techno-geeks among us shape up the
>engineering inequities (yes, even improve that antenna system) and   
broker
>time to local people who really want to do local radio "their way" - let
>them sell commercial time to subsidise their show.  That takes care of
>talent and sales operations.
>
>It sure beats running a pirate station.  More like community cable   
access
>without pictures to get in the way.  Why, we could even charge people to
>"learn how to be a DJ" on the overnight.  Heck, we might as well call it
>"Northeast Broadcasting".
>
>When it's successful, we can buy more AM's in other markets and become a
>huge "local" broadcast consortium.  Then we'll sell out to a   
conglomerate
>and retire.
>
>I got my First Phone (usta be) in a frame. To whom shall I make out my
>check?
>
><G>
>
>Roger

I proposed such about three months ago (admittedly tongue-in-cheek) when
someone on this list mentioned WORC was for sale a few months ago. But,
when everyone chipped in regarding the costs of actually employing   
people,
that pretty much showed that such an idea would be pretty hard to keep in
the black. And, as everyone knows, priorities change when bills (namely   
the
mortgage) are due.

 --------------------------------------------------------------------------  
 -----
 -
Sean Smyth
Smyth Sports Enterprises
10 Linley Terrace
South Boston, Mass. 02127
617/268-7012
Metropolitan Boston's leader in local sports broadcasting
ssmyth@tiac.net

------------------------------

End of boston-radio-interest-digest V1 #105
*******************************************