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EMF buys KMCQ

Two CCM stations on FM will make Seattle radio a «Jesus ghetto»? I doubt it. What sort of ratings does KMCQ bring in, anyway? Looking at the 6+ numbers, they're not even on the chart. Maybe they don't subscribe. And if they don't, maybe there's a reason for that.
 
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They often apply for and receive a "main studio waiver". Financial hardship you know. They own KWAO Ocean Park, WA. Ocean Park is a little town on the Long Beach Peninsula. The station WAS on Holy Cross Hill near Raymond with very low power. They upgraded it, moved to Capitol Peak near Olympia, are running 76 kw with a 60 dBu contour that narrowly misses Seattle. And KWAO has a main studio waiver. The KMCQ acquisition will give EMF two very potent signals in the Puget Sound region.

Don't discount the profitability of Christian broadcasting. It can do VERY well, whether as a commercial operation or listener-funded. And they don't need no stinkin' PPMs!!
 
fordranger797 said:
KCMS has a standing reputation as a christian contemporary radio station in Seattle, so I would think it would take quite a bit to pull away their loyal listeners. With that being said, I don't know much about the K-LOVE format, and I am curious if it will have a local studio.
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A lot of people who know very little post a lot of wrong stuff. SMH.
 
Anybody want to hazard a guess as to when EMF takes over? I'm guessing they'll sign an LMA and switch sometime in March. And I'm also guessing that they will go dark soon and then come back as K-Love, with hopefully a whole lot better audio processing.
 
Seems that most EMF acquisitions end up being Air One rather than K-Love ... but KWAO is already Air One.
To me it would make more sense for them to put K-Love on 104.5. It'll be interesting to watch--briefly. Then I'll probably never listen.
 
I had a feeling this was going to happen eventually, wasn't sure it would be this soon.
Bill, while I don't doubt your statement that I'm sure David Eduardo and others that are in the business will agree with that Christian broadcasting can do very well, how much is too much? Won't it get to a point where there are way too many religious broadcasters and not enough money to go around?
As much as people like to bash corperate owners on here, it sure seems like it's the only way to go these days. It sure seems like any standalone operation that can't make it is sold to a religious broadcaster, usually EMF. If there's a cluster that can't make it, Alpha usually picks it up. If I were at the FCC, I'd seriously start looking at how EMF is operating and start denying them the main studio waver. If they're going to claim financial hardship, then they shouldn't be allowed to buy so many of these stations.
 
I suspect the Commission has bigger fish to fry than scrutinizing some religious broadcaster. K-LOVE and Air1 stations are all over the country. Just because they're new to Seattle-Tacoma, technically doesn't mean they deserve any additional review as a licensee. Remember, the FCC doesn't regulate programming. Just because you think there will be too many religious broadcasters in the market, doesn't mean a thing. Zero, zip, nada. If EMF can afford to drop $7+M on a station, they have the lawyers all cued up to push this through as quickly and smoothly as possible. Their "local studio presence" and public file will be coming to a lawyers office near you.

Oh, and just for the record, I thought the audio processing comment was kind of out of left field.
 
Kelly A said:
Oh, and just for the record, I thought the audio processing comment was kind of out of left field.
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I think that had to do with the lack of processing when KMCQ first went on the air with their "test oldies" format - the one where it was essentially an iPod on shuffle (and one loved by this board). Gradually the processing improved, but it was in mono - despite the stereo pilot being lit. KMCQ Engineering said at the time that "they're working on it" - a job that now is left to the EMF engineers.
 
Ok, last point fisrst, so did I. Although KMCQ doesn't sound as good as the other Seattle stations, it sounds a lot better than it did a few years ago. Now onto the main issue here, I wasn't necisarily making that comment because of EMF being new to Seattle, but as a general rule for EMF. If Bill is right tha they're claiming "financial hardship" as a means to get the main studio waver, then they turn around and pay market value for the next struggling station, you'd think it would only be a matter of time before heads start turning at the commission. As for programming, you're absolutely right. However, look at the AM dial these days. There are only 7 am stations in this market that actually show up in the ratings, and I can think of 4 more with little effort that don't. The FCC is currently debating what to do with the band. What's the industry going to do when I'm my dad's age and the fm band is being discussed like the am band is today? If this trend continues, that's what's going to happen. The only saving grace is that these big companies are able to get 5 fm stations as opposed to 3 AM stations and talk radio is on the decline.
 
Kelly A, you've said yourself more than once that you don't live in Seattle anymore. So, how would you know about KMCQ's audio quality?
 
bobdavcav said:
Ok, last point fisrst, so did I. Although KMCQ doesn't sound as good as the other Seattle stations, it sounds a lot better than it did a few years ago. Now onto the main issue here, I wasn't necisarily making that comment because of EMF being new to Seattle, but as a general rule for EMF. If Bill is right tha they're claiming "financial hardship" as a means to get the main studio waver, then they turn around and pay market value for the next struggling station, you'd think it would only be a matter of time before heads start turning at the commission. As for programming, you're absolutely right. However, look at the AM dial these days. There are only 7 am stations in this market that actually show up in the ratings, and I can think of 4 more with little effort that don't. The FCC is currently debating what to do with the band. What's the industry going to do when I'm my dad's age and the fm band is being discussed like the am band is today? If this trend continues, that's what's going to happen. The only saving grace is that these big companies are able to get 5 fm stations as opposed to 3 AM stations and talk radio is on the decline.
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The limit isn't five FM and three AM. It's five of one service and three of the other, in the largest markets. I-Heart Radio among others is trying to change that to a total of eight, regardless of band.
 
bobdavcav said:
If Bill is right tha they're claiming "financial hardship" as a means to get the main studio waver, then they turn around and pay market value for the next struggling station, you'd think it would only be a matter of time before heads start turning at the commission.
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My point was: EMF has been buying stations since the 80's. If the Commission hasn't cared to this point, I doubt they'll care anytime soon. Unless there are serious technical or rules violations, or several members of Congress ask for investigations, I don't think the Commission has EMF on their radar, other than processing applications.

bobdavcav said:
As for programming, you're absolutely right. However, look at the AM dial these days. There are only 7 am stations in this market that actually show up in the ratings, and I can think of 4 more with little effort that don't. The FCC is currently debating what to do with the band.
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From what I can tell, the there isn't that much real serious debate about the AM band at the FCC. Commissioner Pai has put forth some inquiries and had meetings with some the industry members, with most of the consensus coming back to allowing AM stations to license FM translators. Problem is, there isn't enough spectrum real estate to satisfy the demand with enough translators that would cover the market usually provided by the theoretical coverage of an AM station. LPFM pretty much put the nail in that one. Sure there were suggestions about expanding the FM band to recently abandoned low VHF TV channels, but with the whole DTV re-packaging push and potential auctions therein, combined with the fact that consumers won't buy new radios, that idea was deemed DOA.

Regarding how I've heard KMCQ.. I still have a vacation place within earshot of the Seattle market, and visit every few months. My comment about the audio processing comment was that I thought it was from out of left field, that's all. I don't believe most listeners care that much, or even know about what audio processing is. It's all subjective.
 
Not being in the radio business, some questions about this sale come to my mind.

I'm not sure it's specifically noted in this thread, but KMCQ was sold at auction to the highest bidder, and First Broadcasting was in default on debt (I'm guessing a non-trivial amount).

http://radioinsight.com/blog/headlines/32419/seattle-cincinnati-stations-to-go-up-for-auction/

Where does the $7M sale price sit relative to fair market value for this signal? Was it a "steal"?

One thing is for sure, when you look at EMF's financials, $7M is fairly small change. Based on 2013 financials (2014 not yet published):

Revenue of $142 M (with $133 M of that from contributions)
Total annual operating expenses: $82.4 M
Yes, that's about $60 M of net income.
As of the end of 2013, they also had $22M in cash and good looking balance sheet overall (net equity of $289 M).

It would appear that for $7M, their acquisition of a Class C signal in a market of 3.5 million people was a no-brainer. Thoughts?

Finally, it seems to go without saying that First Broadcasting's relocation of KMCQ (presumably for investment purposes) was not a success. Yes, the economy in 2008 did not help. But do you think there's anything they could have done differently for a better outcome?

Oh, and my two cents on KMCQ's current audio processing: it's crappy.
 
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Just curious because no one has brought them up, but how will this affect Salem, they are more talk orientated, so my guess is not much. And interesting as the 1460 family license goes away we get EMF.

As far as the audio, Optimods are easy to make sound good. Any idea what they have? Could be stereo tools, which takes a very good understanding on how to adjust audio processing. Optimods can be very plug and play. I don't play with Omina but I know who is running the latest box in Seattle. I would say KMCQ is running something that does not have good presets or they are not using them. Usually you can find a preset on the audio processor and go from there.
 
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