Re: WSME/1220, Sanford, ME

[Dib9@aol.com]

In a message dated 97-07-26 16:22:23 EDT, you write:

<< > As far as market conditions in York County go, I am not sure what you
 mean.
 >  One problem for radio stations in the area is that listeners can get all
 the
 > Portland stations and New Hampshire stations, but York County is
 generally
 > ignored by those stations as far as promotions, programing, and even
 sales to
 > a lesser extent.  As for as the economy goes, over the last ten years,
 York
 > County has grown faster than any other area in Maine and the economy of
 the
 > area is generally stronger than the rest of the state.   Unlike many
 parts of
 > the state, it would seem there is the money there to support a local
 station.
 >  As bad as WSME sounds, I did hear local commercials on the air!
 
 Dan, doesn't it seem the local COL's (WXHT/York Ctr and WXBB/Kittery) do
 NOT act as if their York County, but "Seacoast" stations?
 
 Paul Hopfgarten
 Derry NH
  >>

You are certainly right about that.  When it comes to southern York County
(Kittery, York), things are certainly dominated by the seacoast area, with
the local newspapers coming from NH and nearly all the local retail happening
in NH because of the sales tax sitaution.  (ME at 6%, NH at 0%.)  When you
move away from the border and or a bit north, things are not as NH oriented.
 In the case of the two stations you mentioned, they came on the air in the
1980's into a market already dominated by stations across the border.  

I think another reason they are oriented towards seacoast NH is that is what
everyone else is doing, though I do have to admit part of the reason is
business oriented.  The stations in that area want to show good numbers in
the Portsmouth book.  Having a large listenership in York County, which is
between tow markets, is hard to sell to an agency.  

I still think that if a station oriented itself more to York County, they
could fill a niche and build an audience and make some money.  It might not
be possible in other areas because of a poor economy or a lack of population,
but that is not the case in York County.  The area supports several local
newspapers that fill the niche between the Portland and Portsmouth markets.
 I know the economics are different, but I think a radio station could do the
same.

WOXO Norway and WTBM Mexico make good money in Oxford County, Maine by
positioning themselves as the only local station.  The area gets most of the
strong signals from Portland, Augusta and some from NH.  WOXO/WTBM doesn't do
anything special and the station isn't particurlarly good.  They have a
semi-automated country format with local jocks.  The thing that they do that
is different is promoting local community events, local appearences, local
sports and a daily radio swap show at noon.  Though most of the people in the
area listen to the other stations, most people also have one of the buttons
set for the local station and tune in from time to time.  As a result, the
station makes money swelling to local advertisers.  The same formula could be
successful in other areas.

Dan Billings
Bowdoinham, Maine

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