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Puerto Rico Power Restoration

kf4rca said:
Whitefish Energy contractors threaten to withdraw after rift with San Juan mayor:
http://www.nydailynews.com/news/nat...s-remove-workforce-san-juan-article-1.3588966
Mayor Cruz does not appreciate company who took on $300M contract without a HUGE downpayment. AND they are one of the few companies in America who own hi-lift bucket trucks necessary for repairing transmission towers.
AND, never mind that Puerto Rico is bankrupt!
Unbelievable. Stay tuned!
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Power is coming, never fear!
 
ftballfan said:
Have any stations just turned in their licenses to Uncle Charlie?
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I know of none at this point. I do know of a number of small AMs "out on the Island" (means "away from San Juan") that were having a hard time before the storm which may not be able to rebuild because they can't find the money. Some of these will see their STA to remain silent expire, and be forced to try to renew it or give up.

With 1/3 of power customers still without service, it's too early to say what the final station count is. Without power, rebuilding is very difficult.

Some of the hardest hit rural communities have lost much of their population, and much of the local business. Stations in those places may never return.

Keep in mind that Puerto Rico has 131 stations, not including translators and LPFMs. And the population has shrunken by 25% over the last decade and following the hurricane, so the situation for radio is very precarious. Even in the San Juan area, many stores are still closed, including recognizable mainland names... there are just not enough construction workers and supplies to do all the rebuilds at once.
 
kf4rca said:
Power restoration update 2-11-18:
http://abcnews.go.com/US/electricit...stomers-puerto-rico-utility/story?id=53005459
Can you imagine being a station on generator for all this time? There goes your profit margin.
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Being on a generator is not the difference between being profitable in PR and not.

Almost every station on the Island had generators before the hurricane. It was normal to have a couple of power outages a week in PR, ranging from a few minutes to several hours. Stations were ready with automatic transfer switches and generators with big tanks of fuel.

I can recall, in years past, being on the generator for periods of a week or more following other hurricanes and using the genny for a day or more at a time due to other kinds of failures. The PREPA facility had been in a state of decay for decades, and the workforce was highly politicized and militant.

The real issue is that many advertisers are themselves not back up to full operations and are not spending on promotion. So the revenue base, which had fallen about 50% over the last decade, fell even further. What was nearly a $100 million dollar radio market in the year 2000 is now, perhaps, a $20 million market where few, if any, of the stations, are profitable.
 
The FCC certainly should allow extended silent time as long as the license holder is demonstrating some path to get on the air. I see no benefit to pulling licenses when there clearly were extenuating circumstances beyond control of the operators.
 
With all of the problems which continue to lead to a lower population, why is Puerto Rico still considered the #15 Market?

I don't understanding an Island, the size of Puerto Rico as being a Market in the first place.

Are there any single stick "full market signals" which effectively blanket the entire island?

Jeff in Sa-ra-so-ta!
 
badjef said:
With all of the problems which continue to lead to a lower population, why is Puerto Rico still considered the #15 Market?
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Nielsen does not review population so frequently as to make this change necessary. In fact, there is no real quantification of the population loss since the hurricane, since many refugees may actually plan to return. A revision of population might occur when the ACS (the annual survey of the Census Bureau) issues the 2018 release of data covering 2017 estimates.

As it is, in the last decade, PR has fallen several positions in market rank due to migration to the mainland.

I don't understanding an Island, the size of Puerto Rico as being a Market in the first place.
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LA and Orange Counties, together the Los Angeles MSA, have 5,700 square miles. Puerto Rico is just over 3,000 square miles.

Are there any single stick "full market signals" which effectively blanket the entire island?
Click to expand...

No, just as there are really no single stick full market signals that cover the LA MSA (KFI comes close, but is not total).

But the real issue is that, going back to the 50's, PR has been a single media market. There has never been "local" TV originating outside San Juan (save for some FCC required public affairs on non-San Juan stations), with TV stations using repeaters to fully cover the very rugged terrain. Radio is also, going back to the 80's, "network" based, with the main stations having 2, 3, even 4 or 5 24/7 repeaters.

Even newspapers have all been based in San Juan for the last 60 or 70 years.

And, significantly, ad agencies (there are over 100 in PR) buy "the Island" and generally don't buy local markets unless a client only operates in a small area. The networked radio stations account for about 90% or more of the agency business... and in PR, agency business is nearly everything (I was, in different periods, the programmer, the GSM, and the VP and then consultant for the radio net that was #1 for 25 years and we did less than 5% non-agency business).
 
DavidEduardo said:


Nielsen does not review population so frequently as to make this change necessary. In fact, there is no real quantification of the population loss since the hurricane, since many refugees may actually plan to return. A revision of population might occur when the ACS (the annual survey of the Census Bureau) issues the 2018 release of data covering 2017 estimates.

As it is, in the last decade, PR has fallen several positions in market rank due to migration to the mainland.

LA and Orange Counties, together the Los Angeles MSA, have 5,700 square miles. Puerto Rico is just over 3,000 square miles.

No, just as there are really no single stick full market signals that cover the LA MSA (KFI comes close, but is not total).
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I thought that was the reason for moving to Mt. Wilson in the first place. And what about KRTH? That has (or had) a killer full market signal. Are there translators on 101.1 which have reduced the effective footprint that I don't know of?

But the real issue is that, going back to the 50's, PR has been a single media market. There has never been "local" TV originating outside San Juan (save for some FCC required public affairs on non-San Juan stations), with TV stations using repeaters to fully cover the very rugged terrain. Radio is also, going back to the 80's, "network" based, with the main stations having 2, 3, even 4 or 5 24/7 repeaters.

Even newspapers have all been based in San Juan for the last 60 or 70 years.

And, significantly, ad agencies (there are over 100 in PR) buy "the Island" and generally don't buy local markets unless a client only operates in a small area. The networked radio stations account for about 90% or more of the agency business... and in PR, agency business is nearly everything (I was, in different periods, the programmer, the GSM, and the VP and then consultant for the radio net that was #1 for 25 years and we did less than 5% non-agency business).
Click to expand...

I guess, going back to the era of "ADI", we would call it "San Juan". Just as "South Florida" was referred to as "Miami". Now, "MSA", includes whatever they want within a certain radius. I can't wait to see what name they give "New York". "Tri State Empire"? "Five Boroughs", since they don't really care about Long Island, New Jersey, New York State, and Connecticut, anyway.

Jeff in Sa-ra-so-ta!
 
badjef said:
I thought that was the reason for moving to Mt. Wilson in the first place. And what about KRTH? That has (or had) a killer full market signal. Are there translators on 101.1 which have reduced the effective footprint that I don't know of?
Click to expand...

Even the biggest Mt Wilson signals are on the erratic side in southern Orange County and the coverage of the High Desert part of the market (Lancaster / Palmdale) is very "iffy" at best.

I guess, going back to the era of "ADI", we would call it "San Juan".
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There were never ADI's in PR as Arbitron never measured TV on the Island. ADIs are an arcane TV market definition.

Puerto Rico has always been rated and sold as a single TV market, and since the 80's it's been treated by most advertisers and agencies as a single market.

Just as "South Florida" was referred to as "Miami".
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Miami and Ft Lauderdale were separate markets (Metro Survey Area) until we voted, in 1981, to consolidate.

Now, "MSA", includes whatever they want within a certain radius.
Click to expand...

The Metro Survey Area definition has a precise definition based on commute patterns as well as radio usage. There are some markets, like San Francisco, that are nearly three times as far north to south as they are east to west. That is due to mountains, surrounding metros, etc.

I can't wait to see what name they give "New York". "Tri State Empire"? "Five Boroughs", since they don't really care about Long Island, New Jersey, New York State, and Connecticut, anyway.
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The New York MSA has long been called "New York / Northeast New Jersey" and includes all of Long Island (the Boroughs, Nassau and Suffolk counties). It even includes a piece of Fairfield County, CT. Again, based on radio usage and commute patterns.
 
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xkxrx said:
Interesting article in the Columbia Journalism Review yesterday about how AM radio in Puerto Rico recovered from the hurricane and the increase in ad revenue that resulted at some stations.

https://www.cjr.org/united_states_project/hurricane-maria-puerto-rico-radio.php
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There has always been a spike in ad revenues after hurricanes in Puerto Rico, and the article does not make mention of this. The increase comes as people collect insurance for repairs, spending at stores and building supply outlets. Insurance companies spend on notices for their customers. The government spends on information bulletins. Non-storm related retailers want to get people out and spending again.

I've been through a half-dozen significant hurricanes in PR while managing and/or programming on the Island, and the pattern never changes.

The article oversimplifies the changes, associating normal and regular patterns uniquely with María. The fact is that the news stations are all AM, so naturally they will get the attention of listeners during the worst moments after a storm. However, once some degree of normalcy returns, there will be no real change in use of these stations (and I've programmed two news / news-talk stations there).
 
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