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Imus Unloads on the Dickey Brothers

landtuna said:
frankberry said:
In 1991-ish, I was Chief Engineer for Infinity's WQYK-AM, the very first "Imus In The Morning" affiliate.
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I seem to remember "Imus In The Morning" back in the early 70's when I lived in NYC.
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I believe our GM is referring to the syndicated national program. It is common knowledge that Imus was doing a local show on WNBC beginning in 1971.
 
There ARE programming options for WABC, but none will bring the station back to a robust life in morning drive or the remainder of the day. Launch Imus and hire .... Who? To do what? That will generate how much interest and revenue? As the Radio Illuminati here have noted, AM is in the throes of terminal erosion. Yes, there will be AM stations that continue to generate substantial billing and cash flow, but the clock is ticking on them as well. Most posters on this board have fond memories of AM and WABC in particular, but it's a bit like gramps telling the kids how cool that '62 Chevy Super Sport was. Yeah, in it's day, it was cool. But it's not 1962. Today, people want to drive a Lexus or a mini Cooper. So what does Cumulus do? Try to resuscitate the nearly flat-lining patient? Go for the cash and turn the whole thing into a giant 50 thousand watt flame throwing time brokered AM which pulls in consistent revenue but generates a .2 share? "Hello again, here's my best to you. Are your skies all gray, I hope they're blue..." even HOA couldn't save this station.
 
Element9 said:
Go for the cash and turn the whole thing into a giant 50 thousand watt flame throwing time brokered AM which pulls in consistent revenue but generates a .2 share?
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I think that's the only hope. It's either that or sell to K-Love. Take your pick.

I think this new owner might go for choice #2.
 
chrocket87 said:
Does EMF buy AM stations? I haven't heard of such a sale, but I haven't really made any effort either.
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That's a good question. For a signal in NY, they might make an exception. But I'm thinking ANY religious organization might want a 50K signal in NYC.

They're the only folks with cash right now. Unless the FCC allows foreign ownership.
 
K-Love (EMF) has no interest AM, they spin AMs off if they come along with an FM ASAP. A religious organization doing spoken word programming is a better bet.
 
TheBigA said:
I don't call that "defending" Imus. I call that stating a fact. They have to replace him. The bad news is there aren't many other options that can improve ratings. Sure, they can return Curtis & Kuby to mornings, but if their current audience moves with them, that's not going to return WABC to it's 2005 ratings. That's the catch 22 talk radio has. It needs to replace its aging shows. The bad news is those heritage hosts are why anyone listens in the first place. The talk audience isn't interested in change. Take a look at WOR. They brought in a fresh new show with fresh hosts and a new attitude. How's that working out?
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Why say "point the finger at the I-Man himself," but then say it's a fact that no one would be better? I think anyone, except for Elliot in the Morning would be better for the station.
 
TTalkradio1 said:
I think anyone, except for Elliot in the Morning would be better for the station.
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Like who? KABC hired a bunch of familiar LA hosts, went all live and local talk, and the results were even worse than WABC. So things could be even worse.

Hiring more people means spending more money, which they don't have. It makes running those infomercials on the wknd even more necessary. Running them on the weekdays might be better than spending money on local talent.
 
Is this where Mary Berner picks up the phone, calls Pacifica and proposes a deal? WABC + fair market value + cash (that would settle Pacifica's debt) + stock (because of course, CMLS will go up) in exchange for 99.5 WBAI? Pacifica gets a 50 kW Clear to broadcast it's programming to NY and the east coast. Cumulus gets a full B to broadcast whatever the programming mavens conjure for market #1. Ridiculous? Perhaps. The worst Pacifica could say is "No!" ... after a year or two of board in-fighting and turmoil over the proposed deal, no doubt.
 
Element9 said:
Is this where Mary Berner picks up the phone, calls Pacifica and proposes a deal?
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First of all, who would she call? It's a collective over there. No one is really in charge. And when anyone makes a decision, it turns into more chaos.

Second question: What would they do with 99.5? Put talk on FM? Ha! They have to fix the stations they own before adding new ones to the pile. All three NY stations need attention. Replacing one problem with another won't help the bottom line.

If you're a CEO, it's much easier just to sell the problem children to anyone with money. The difference between the new CEO and the old one is she has no emotional attachment to anything. Right now, the priority seems to be raising money to pay down the debt.

It wouldn't surprise me if they stop paying Disney for the use of those call letters. I don't know how much money that saves, but obviously heritage isn't worth anything any more. So returning the WABC letters to Disney would be a quick way to meet next week's payroll.
 
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