Jeffrey: "I don't agree about the numbers classic hip hop and dance would get in New York. I believe they would be higher than K-love's. Go back to Pulse 87's numbers years ago with their limited signal and frequency. I understand that the formats may not be viable financially but again, not my point."
I appreciate your point that your intent of a valid format is not based upon being a financial success, but financial success IS the ONLY point that EVER matters in a commercial enterprise. Everyone in and out of the radio business knows what stations should be called, what songs they should play, but 99% of their ideas would fail and they could not keep these expensive machines in operation for long. K-Love actually has some pretty serious numbers in many markets and they are, for better or for worse, one of the FEW candidates out there willing to buy these stations for decent prices. I would venture to say that the only successful non-K-Love format on the all new PLJ would be a format geared to listeners that will still be listening three plus years from now. So, it has to be a format "of the future" and not one that's been tried and tried and failed and failed. And that all new approach is a scary proposition. So, if it's not K-Love, the road to building any new station is slow and costly...
This K-Love/EMF buy in is the first major sign of the new reality of radio circa 2020. AM has slidden off the mountain. FM will certainly have it's share of obstacles in the decades ahead. BigA's post above about putting those "old formats" on non-comms is spot on. And speaks volumes about exactly what those formats potential for profit are at this point of radio's life.
You and I are saying the same thing and your post puts it so eloquently. I feel like EMF's purchase of 95.5 is in many respects the beginning of the end of FM as we know it. There are no more super "tested" formats that anyone will take a gamble on so quality and uniqueness disappear from the airwaves and we're left with stations that are willing and can pay to "get their message out". K-Love functions as WBAI. They want to broadcast their message. Ratings don't matter, only donations do. Perhaps the future of FM is brokered programming and/or listener supported stations. That would most likely reduce the cost of fms and could that ultimately benefit radio as small independent broadcasters would be able to afford to purchase stations and broadcast some great content...just thinking out loud. I have no idea.