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WPFM Panama City sold to EMF
- Thread starter passtheword
- Start date
This has been a really terrible radio market since the time of Docket 80-90 when there were move-ins, upgrades and new stations. The number of signals doubled and revenue stayed the same... and that was about 30 years ago.
EMF has made amazing progress in Alabama over the last several years, buying up commercial band stations to flip to their K-Love service. 98.3 in Mobile, 99.1 in Tuscaloosa, 93.5 in Butler (Meridian, MS), 107.9 in Montgomery, 103.5 in Huntsville and of course the long-running 95.7 in Pensacola.
With the addition 107.9 in Panama City, they'll add some Dothan coverage. That basically leaves Birmingham and Columbus/Phenix City as the only areas without a full power K-Love affiliate. Birmingham is covered by WMJJ-HD3 and a translator. The panhandle will now have coverage from the Alabama line to east of Tallahassee or further.
With the addition 107.9 in Panama City, they'll add some Dothan coverage. That basically leaves Birmingham and Columbus/Phenix City as the only areas without a full power K-Love affiliate. Birmingham is covered by WMJJ-HD3 and a translator. The panhandle will now have coverage from the Alabama line to east of Tallahassee or further.
I still say WPYA would make a good home for "K-Love" in Birmingham. Whether that'll ever happen...
That sort of says it all. You know, I believe PFM was/is the longest running rock format in radio in the US without interruption? I get the need to get out of the stress of the market, and even why it was this station in the cluster. I talked to some of the mgmt from Powell a while back and just did not have the true desire (dream - yes) to try to take a run in the market with four stations. A single station would have been smarter in some ways and then a total disaster. As David said, the market is just too many for too little. Doesn't mean I am not regretting this happening. End of a multiple decade pipe dream. Still they should have swapped WASJ at 50k for this. I guess they gave EMF a choice and they picked the station that would carry them north.
(ref. What did EMF pay?) Wondered the same question. I think Powell paid less than $1M for all four. Answer: too much. Probably $600&. And I know when I talked to Powell that they felt like the price was exceptional, but the market did not warrant even the price paid. I think I would have had to go a different way on sales than they did. Still, way over radioed. What is it? 50-60 stations are able to be heard, even with static, in the area? More than NYC. It used to be a treat to hear 20 Top 40 stations until they all hit the money wall.
Although WPFM's format is longrunning, it is not uninterrupted. Here is another post concerning Panama Radio history.
https://www.radiodiscussions.com/showthread.php?467229-Panama-City-Radio-History
107.9 had other call signs over the years and was WLHR "Lite 107.9" programming a soft AC format in the late 90s. I distinctly remember it, as my wife and I took our vacation to Panama City in October of '98 and I heard the station scanning the dial once we made it to the beach. Prior to that time, the station was known as WDRK "Rock 108".
Just an FYI.......back in the early 70s the WPFM call sign was for the FM side (100.3) of now-defunct WHEB (750 kHz) in Portsmouth, NH....Got my very first radio job there!!
It was a pain trying to keep the call signs straight ..... the AM was a 1 kw daytimer and we Id'd as "WHEB-AM 75 and WPFM 100.3:.....after sunset we dropped the AM call --
When we remembered......!!
BTW.....WHEB is still going strong on 100.3 (iHeart Radio), blasting southern NH and eastern MA.....
It was a pain trying to keep the call signs straight ..... the AM was a 1 kw daytimer and we Id'd as "WHEB-AM 75 and WPFM 100.3:.....after sunset we dropped the AM call --
When we remembered......!!
BTW.....WHEB is still going strong on 100.3 (iHeart Radio), blasting southern NH and eastern MA.....
$472,000 is the price for WPFM to EMF. Powell paid just under a million for the four-station cluster six years ago.
Since Powell owns other stations in Panama City, is it possible the "Hot" intellectual property could be moved/land up on one of their remaining stations?
Of the 4 other stations, 2 are doing really good in the ratings.. 1 is doing fairly well and another didn't show.. Wllie shows as "N/A"
You wouldnt tank 95.9, or 105.1
So who do you put the chr format on...WWLY or WYYX?
Good and probable point. At the listed sale price, Powell can cut their debt in half and in that market having 3 good stations is likely all that an operator can successfully sell.
Word is Powell will indeed keep the equipment and call letters. That is a good thing, as EMF usually changes calls. I am not sure why Powell would part with one of their better signals unless EMF asked for 107.9's signal strength and ability to also cover Dothan to close the deal. That would give EMF a nice double win. Powell has plenty of money behind them, but you are right, smart companies see the smart moves and the market is literally full of more signals than most top 20 markets with a fairly small population-base in the local listening market. Turning a signal away from commercial is not a bad thing for a commercial company, and even in this case, it is probably a win for the audience.
Poledo - we debated all this locally (in Nashville this morning) and while I have not yet talked to the PC legend, CCENG, for his expert advi$e, we all contend the $472k is a decent price for Powell to get, but if I (we) had bought the dang thing for that price, how would a single operator trying to compete...compete in a market with such a small base of advertisers. My heart says, I would take it if offered and EMF changed their mind. My practicality says my idea of eventual retirement in a decade to dozen years would not be the most sunny playing radio on the sunny coast, when there are better ways to pay for and plan for retirement in a better markets.
Oh, and PasstheWord - I should have been a bit more clear, the way I had always heard it, PFM has always been some form of rock (lite rock, hard rock, top 40, etc.) vs. having a time as a country or talk, etc., format. I remember when (Double oo?) changed the call letters to WLHR. I honestly never believed they would return to 107.9. Proof that there are indeed miracles with this signal. It just always seemed like it had a heart and soul, despite tons of times it was in a state of disrepair....
Poledo - we debated all this locally (in Nashville this morning) and while I have not yet talked to the PC legend, CCENG, for his expert advi$e, we all contend the $472k is a decent price for Powell to get, but if I (we) had bought the dang thing for that price, how would a single operator trying to compete...compete in a market with such a small base of advertisers. My heart says, I would take it if offered and EMF changed their mind. My practicality says my idea of eventual retirement in a decade to dozen years would not be the most sunny playing radio on the sunny coast, when there are better ways to pay for and plan for retirement in a better markets.
Oh, and PasstheWord - I should have been a bit more clear, the way I had always heard it, PFM has always been some form of rock (lite rock, hard rock, top 40, etc.) vs. having a time as a country or talk, etc., format. I remember when (Double oo?) changed the call letters to WLHR. I honestly never believed they would return to 107.9. Proof that there are indeed miracles with this signal. It just always seemed like it had a heart and soul, despite tons of times it was in a state of disrepair....
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Signal-wise, WKNK at 103.5 seems to have a similar signal footprint as 107.9, so maybe WPFM and its (rhythmic) CHR format will land there? It wouldn't be the first time that 103.5 and 107.9 have swapped calls and formats.
WPFM coverage area: https://fccdata.org/?appid=1554367&facid=42372
WKNK coverage area: https://fccdata.org/?appid=1069249&facid=42371
np, I was just clarifying some info. Both those formats for 107.9 (rock as WDRK and soft AC as WLHR) were very short-lived. I want to say the rock format was on 107.9 for maybe a year's time after it was moved from 103.5. The "Lite 107.9" format was around for an even shorter period of time, as I have found info via one of the M Street Journal periodicals which show the station's calls were changed to WLHR in October of '98. Later info in M Street shows the station's format changing to CHR around April of 1999, still using the WLHR calls.
WPFM begins simulcast with WDRK, preparing move from 103.5:
https://www.americanradiohistory.co...treet-1997-09-OCR-Page-0030.pdf#search="wdrk"
Call sign change from WDRK to WLHR:
https://www.americanradiohistory.co...treet-1998-10-OCR-Page-0026.pdf#search="wlhr"
Format change from soft AC to CHR as "Hot 107" (some sources say "Hot 108?"), calls remain as WLHR:
https://americanradiohistory.com/Ar...treet-1999-04-OCR-Page-0029.pdf#search="wlhr"
Given both those formats where short-lived (along with the fact that the station retained the WLHR calls went it went back to CHR) makes all that info possibly get lost in the deep recesses of one's mind. I wasn't so sure myself about all of the WPFM history, as this ol' brain of mine doesn't remember as well as it used to, but I definitely remember the trip to Panama City in '98 and listening to then-Lite 107.9 there. I am guessing the WLHR calls originally stood for "Light Rock"?
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Deleting 2nd post.
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Sorry for the double post. I was trying to edit it, and somehow I wound up with two posts, lol.
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