Re: Saga buys WIDE

["rogerkirk" <rogerkirk@mail.ttlc.net>]

"Chris Beckwith" posted:

>It's going to be a 24/7 simulcast of Portland's WBAE (1490 The 
>Bay/MOYL); any corporate-speak by Cary Pahigian can be easily 
>dismissed as just that.  The plug gets pulled on local programming 
>at month's end.  55 years of local radio in Biddeford-Saco down the 
>drain...

Interesting spin here.  First, the headline says "sold to Portland group". "Michigan Group" would be far closer to the truth.  Semantics, perhaps, but calculated to take people's minds off the reality that the real ownership (bean conters) is really quite di$tant.

>Pahigian notes: “We have a programming presentation we think will be 
>very much accepted by a York County audience,” he said. “But we are 
>going to continue to have news, information and weather that will 
>service the area.”

Notice the word "But".  Combined with the words "continue to service the area" it plainly shows that the programming presentation won't be local.  Not doublespeak, but judicious use of words designed to allow the listener to perceive something different than what is being said.  Like the commercial that says "at a fraction of the original price" - listener perceives HUGE discount.  99/100 is a fraction.  For that matter, so is 120/100.

>The future of high school sports programming has not been decided, he 
>said, but plans were to meet with athletic directors at Biddeford High 
>School and Thornton Academy. 
>“To learn a little bit more about what has happened, what we can do, 
>what we can do right and go forward,” Pahigian said. “So the answer on 
>that I’m not sure yet.”

This sounds like the real BS.  Given Pahigian's management track record, Saga wouldn't just arbitrarily buy a station if they really didn't already know "what has happened", "what they can do", and "what they can do right".  It's just a time-buyer while they meet and ask the the high-schools what they're willing to pay to have their games broadcast.  Of course, it won't be a direct ask for money, it'll be more like - "So, how many sponsors do you think you can bring to the table to pay for the [insert large # of $$$$ here] cost of broadcasting the games?"

Bailey's & Hobbins' comments are very thinly-disguised, vague platitudes that seem to show that either they are being well compensated in the sale price or it's a condition of the sale that they be as positive as possible.  Either way, the words seem to be coming through clenched teeth.

55 years, eh? Let's see how quickly people forget! 55 minutes?

I wonder how many people in Portland today remember Recordland on Congress Street?