Re: Salem in Seattle

[Wayne Carter <wcarter@mva.net>]

>But if Salem couldn't make a satisfactory return from two stations in Boston
>(and now apparently has changed its mind), how can it make a satisfactory
>return from four stations in Seattle, a market of roughly the same size?
>(And one of those stations is on Ex-band, which not too many radios can pick
>up.) I may be wrong, of course, but I can't believe that Communicom's sale
>of WNRB to a group that doesn't program paid religion altered the economics
>of Christian radio in Boston so much that it made sense for Salem to first
>jettison WPZE and then, only months later, pick up WBPS. Of course the price
>Salem paid for WBPS might have been a small fraction of the $6+ million they
>allegedly got for WPZE. If the TX site didn't go with WBPS, the station
>might have sold at a fire-sale price, and Salem might have figured they
>could make a go of moving the TX to the WEZE site they already lease in
>Medford. (I'm still extrememly skeptical of the technical feasibility of
>that move--unless Salem doesn't care if anyone can hear the 890 signal.)
>


	Some reliable information has said been that they will move 890 to the Medford site and insert their AC Christian music format from the bird.

	It seems someone else has proven that a Christian music format can work north of Pennsylvania, and perhaps they wish to own it!
	Whether they simulcast 590 or do a satellite music format, some of the reasoning goes to strengthening their signal to the west. It seems a perceptive saleperson had shown enough of their existing programmers that Metrowest was a viable market that Salem may have wanted to bolster their suburban numbers in this market.(OW! hurt my arm patting ymself on the back!)
	I don't know how the move would affect 890 pattern....maybe someone here could speak to that end, but it is fact that Salem prefers to own 2 AM's in any metro market, and since the TX didn't go with 890, Dan is right, they most likely unloaded it at a low cost for this market. Salem never wastes money on expensive stations unlessthey can recoup it quickly, ALA 1260.
	Just my $.02



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Wayne Carter     			wcarter@mva.net
     		http://www.jlight.com/
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It's not dying for faith that's so hard, it's living up to it.
		‹ William Makepeace Thackeray

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