Change

Honestly is anything ever going to change is this market? Why the F does Clueless keep that 98.9 going and 106.7 and 100.5?

Many broadcasters will "get" a frequency and just "sit" on a it (programming garbage?) and hope that, as the frequencies dry up, they will be able to sell it for big buck$.

As the cloud company and iheart are finding out via incredible debt loads, the days of inflated prices are over. The debt load also squelches innovation to a very large degree.

Littlejohn is certainly correct about the debt loads. Though iHeart won in court yesterday, they still have $20.8 billion in debt, and sooner or later, something will have to give. And Cumulus will likely file bankruptcy either late this year or next year.

That said, the Persons 6+ ratings do not tell the entire story. 99X is not really about ratings. Cumulus sells it to advertisers as a small, select audience of hip in-town people who are interested in music discovery. I bought the station for Willy's despite no ratings.

Rock 100.5 does well in certain male demos and fits well on buys whose target is men. I think they probably are doing okay with it money-wise.

The station that I expect to change formats is 106.7. The rumors are something will happen after the Braves season.

Innovation? Debt load? They had enough to install all the HD radio crap. I don't know anyone who has an HD radio.

You do now. The value of HD is turning into the value of leasing the HD 2 and 3 signals, which can then be put on translators. Since the translator operator isn't required to use an off - air signal for his audio source, these (translators) can be made to sound good, and many do. What's a signal worth that covers inside 285 over a few years? The cost of RF equipment to make HD work for it ain't a fart in a whirlwind by comparison.
Now, >if< the broadcaster skipped the HD 2 and 3, the main channel HD sounds really good - but as you point out, it doesn't make him any money. Thus low bit rate HDs, as many as we can pack in there and find translators for.

I gave up on Atlanta radio nearly a decade ago. The final straw was the elimination of Peach/Lite FM - this was a good station which I used as 'default', switching to other stations for a period of time depending on programming. Nowadays I have no terrestrial default station. I subscribed to Sirius (now SiriusXM) radio in 2008, and am still with them with 90-percent of my radio listening happens there. It certainly is not free but I get to listen to everything I want to hear when I want it. I also have a USB memory stick with about 1,500 songs on it which plays nicely in my vehicle. I can organize the songs by genre and in effect create my own stations by randomizing playback.

At age 46, I am in nobody's target demo so I guess I am on my own.

The only good stations in Atlanta are decoys or place holders. And we know how long they stay around.

littlejohn said:

You do now. The value of HD is turning into the value of leasing the HD 2 and 3 signals, which can then be put on translators. Since the translator operator isn't required to use an off - air signal for his audio source, these (translators) can be made to sound good, and many do. What's a signal worth that covers inside 285 over a few years? The cost of RF equipment to make HD work for it ain't a fart in a whirlwind by comparison.
Now, >if< the broadcaster skipped the HD 2 and 3, the main channel HD sounds really good - but as you point out, it doesn't make him any money. Thus low bit rate HDs, as many as we can pack in there and find translators for.

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You are so right. The HD 2 and 3 channels give radio stations something to "translate," if they can pick up an FM translator. Or they can lease them to another broadcaster that has a translator. AM stations, especially in small markets, have become a hot commodity for the same reason.

From what I understand HD radio sales are not taking off. Perhaps the government should give subsidy cards out like they did for HDTV allowing a purchase of one for $5.
Those sub-channels won't be marketable if there is no one to listen.
I think broadcasters are just "sitting tight", hoping the market will return to the robust days of the 90's. But the market is not coming back. Its changing. I can see Atlanta slipping a couple of notches as Atlanta becomes a section 8 market.

kf4rca said:

From what I understand HD radio sales are not taking off. Perhaps the government should give subsidy cards out like they did for HDTV allowing a purchase of one for $5.
Those sub-channels won't be marketable if there is no one to listen.
I think broadcasters are just "sitting tight", hoping the market will return to the robust days of the 90's. But the market is not coming back. Its changing. I can see Atlanta slipping a couple of notches as Atlanta becomes a section 8 market.

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I listen to mostly the HD substations only because they include playlists that are off the beaten path. My only annoyance is A - Lack of those HD stations outside of Atlanta. Macon and Savannah only have one and that is the NPR station. B - They need to work on the volume/sound quality. I have to turn my radio up pretty high to even hear and enjoy it. I'm not deaf yet!

kf4rca said:

From what I understand HD radio sales are not taking off. Perhaps the government should give subsidy cards out like they did for HDTV allowing a purchase of one for $5.
Those sub-channels won't be marketable if there is no one to listen.
I think broadcasters are just "sitting tight", hoping the market will return to the robust days of the 90's. But the market is not coming back. Its changing. I can see Atlanta slipping a couple of notches as Atlanta becomes a section 8 market.

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DTS, the company that now owns HD radio technology, put out a presser a couple of months back stating that 10% of ALL Atlanta area automobiles have a HD radio installed. Over 33% of ALL new cars sold in the Atlanta area have HD radio. I wouldn't exactly say sales are stalled.
The problem is there is very little to listen to if you have HD radio. In Atlanta, there is the WRAS HD2 which is Album88 which is live and local 24/7. Their HD3 is also a good listen if you like classic rock and 70s-80s music. WSB AM and WGST AM are HD channels on 97.1 and 94.9. WABE has classical on their HD2 and News on the HD3. The rest of the HD channels are throw aways.
The radios are out there but no one listens because there is just not much worth listening to. Most GMs and PDs are struggling with their analog signals and have no time/resources/interest in the HD channels so don't expect anything to change anytime soon.

Totally agree. I have been with XM since it's launch...maybe 10,000 subscribers. I believe I was paying $4.50 a month. Today with Sirius/XM, I pay under $22.00 a month for wife's car and mine. It is well worth it, as you say, listen to what you want and the choices are plenty to select from. I drive to Savannah, The Gulf, Hilton Head...never lose the signal. In all my years as a subscriber, I never had a problem with anything. Always works when I turn it on. I wish my U-verse at home was as reliable.

I swear, I have not listened to Atlanta radio in years. Only recently found out Steve McCoy was canned from 106.7 and Gary McKee retired...yes, I have been out of tune in Atlanta.

I listen to the HD radio for the digital quality and not the subchannels. I feel that it exceeds the bitrate quality of XM/Sirius. Of course that quality depends on how many subchannels the frequency is eating up. The quantity of subchannels used tends to degrade the quality of the main channel and the subchannels. WWWQ HD3 is so compressed it comes out in mono.

Cumulus seems to be pretty good at buying and selling stations, but once they have them.......that's where their problem is (programming dept.).

That's why I say they're programming garbage because they're planning to flip it.
How did this thread morph into satellite radio?
Speaking of flipping, there was a TV station that was bought and sold in one week in this market and they made $30M and they never even walked into the place. Believe it was ch 69.

wavo said:

WSB AM and WGST AM are HD channels on 97.1 and 94.9.

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Correction on, at least, 97.1 HD subchannels: 97.1 HD2, of course, is TOSOTR (The Other Side Of The River), which most people on this forum already know. As for 97.1 HD3, it's interesting. It's a simulcast of KISS 104-104.1 FM WALR. Now, nothing has changed with WGST. They're still simulcasting on 94.9 HD3. Anyway, that is all.

DavidEduardo said:

Actually, not likely. Atlanta has the 8th highest average household income out of 280 ranked MSAs. It is 14th on per capita income, too.

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You are correct. First, radio is measured based on the Metro, not just the city. Second, many people have moved or will move back inside the Perimeter because of the market's traffic problems.

AMFMRadFan said:

Correction on, at least, 97.1 HD subchannels: 97.1 HD2, of course, is TOSOTR (The Other Side Of The River), which most people on this forum already know. As for 97.1 HD3, it's interesting. It's a simulcast of KISS 104-104.1 FM WALR. Now, nothing has changed with WGST. They're still simulcasting on 94.9 HD3. Anyway, that is all.

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Another correction. 97.1 HD2 is actually the simul of KISS 104 according to a recent TOH ID I heard earlier on KISS 104. As for 97.1 HD3, the details aren't actually clear. Most sites say it's home to a simul of Spanish station La Mega 96.5. If that's true, that means TOSOTR is no longer on HD radio. You can only pick it up via the translator at 97.7, and you can also listen online. Of course, I don't listen to TOSOTR. I don't even have a HD radio. If anyone on this forum has a HD radio and you can clear things up with the 97.1 HD3 thing, you're more than welcome to do so. Thank you. That is all.

Roddy, likely ain't gonna happen. People relocating from elsewhere may well choose close in. As long as there's the blue X, no need to concern yourself with traffic. Cheaper than gas.