Powell could spend they money. They have millions of times more $$$ than they would ever spend to fix these facilities and wait, but they are a smart, profitable business and I don't believe any business or corporation, with a lick of sense, is willing to just through money down the toilet. Even for tax write-offs. Does not mean it doesn't happen.
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Panama City Beach hurricane Michael
- Thread starter Poledo
- Start date
Powell could spend they money. They have millions of times more $$$ than they would ever spend to fix these facilities and wait, but they are a smart, profitable business and I don't believe any business or corporation, with a lick of sense, is willing to just through money down the toilet. Even for tax write-offs. Does not mean it doesn't happen.
Plus the tourist season is over. I'm sure a lot of the businesses live off tourist season, and that's done for a few months. It can be a blessing and a curse to anyone who runs a business in a vacation town.
That's what I noticed...radio is a very small part of what they do. Just two markets. Now only one. Perhaps that last one will go too.
People talk about bringing small owners back into radio, and they don't understand how hard it is for small companies to own stations.
You know where I stand on the small company ownership struggles, BigA. It is painful in most mid-sized markets. PC might as well be market 1,313. Imagine a market where there is no one to call on and if you do, the last fifteen sales calls were from radio sales people who have been with the each company less than a month and then they sell ads for $1. Now divide that by half. Or more. And yes, March 2019 is but a few weeks long and Memorial Day might as well be 100 years away. Do you see anyone succeeding in the market in the new 24 months?
I don't know what Magic's financial situation is, but being a regional cluster I'm hoping they have the income from other markets to take the hit while waiting on insurance to come through with cash for repairs. iHeart, despite its impending emergence from bankruptcy, probably has the ability to weather hits to small markets like PC multiple times over without really hurting.
You don't really need to wait to see how much radio has fallen as a medium for people looking for instant information. Just look at the Powell station's Facebook pages in the aftermath of the storm to see how few people are engaged with these outlets. They have a smattering of videos, picture posts and updates and each has maybe 1-3 likes. No comments. No engagement. And most telling, no comments asking when the stations will be back on, and nothing from the stations saying they're going away for good.
Contrast that to the WMBB Facebook page, which last time I looked had live streaming video of continuous coverage from WFLA in Tampa and hundreds and hundreds of comments on dozens of update posts. That's where people are gravitating, despite the OTA and cable signals being out.
I'm sure the situation would be different in a larger market like Birmingham or San Francisco where there are still big news/talk stations and lots of local talent to come in and do live/local content. But in a small market like PC, it appears that people know better than to depend on (music) radio and (canned) talk stations for anything at all.
That's a shame, but that's reality in the over consolidated, over radioed and fully internet-engaged society we live in.
The last time I personally remember radio being a big part of a natural disaster type event was the great snowstorm of '98 up in Birmingham. WERC led the way with a tiny handful of stations that managed to stay on the air 24/7 with news and updates. Even by 2011 when the big tornado hit Tuscaloosa and parts of the Birmingham suburbs, radio had been reduced to just carrying TV audio, or not breaking in at all with information.
I don't know...I just remember how long it took for radio to recover in New Orleans after Katrina. As I recall, their market size dropped from large to medium. They went from 450K to 275K. That affects billing, but the costs remain the same or greater.
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(former) 99.7 WHTK (then located on Hilton Head, transmitting near Hunting Island) also remained on the air, super-serving Charleston & Savannah.
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Really, in any market below about 50 any more, radio news is what is simulcast from television. Charleston has had multiple hurricane/flood events the last few years, and most of what is broadcast is with the TV stations the group is partnered with. It changes every few years. With 3 TV news operations in town (ABC/Fox, NBC, CBS), one group is always the odd one out.
Charleston is extremely over-radioed (18 full-powered FMs plus several other translators and 9 AMs that probably have a total of 2-3% of the market). It’s a wonder how a couple of these local companies (LM is based in KY but only has stations in 3 markets, and Kirkman only has stations here) have survived. They have a couple monopoly formats (rock for LM except for 104.5, sports for Kirkman) which their revenue is based on.
iHeart and Cumulus have news-talk stations they can use to run coverage, but Cumulus didn’t do that much during Florence. IHeart did a simulcast for a few hours during Florence and Irma. Cumulus did coverage during Matthew, but most of the local stations relied on their TV partners.
We’ve had 3 near-misses the last 3 years + a major flooding event. If one of those storms went 50-75 miles left or right, we could be talking about a whole different story for this market.
In Spring, 2005 New Orleans was ranked #46 on the Arbitron MSA list, with 1,079,000 persons. A year later, it was #57 with 864,000 persons.
http://www.apalachtimes.com/news/20181013/panama-city-radio-stations-help-with-hurricane-relief
https://www.fybush.com/nerw-20181015/
More Updates on the Fallout of Hurricane Michael and it includes Powell Broadcasting ending operations in Panama City.
https://www.fybush.com/nerw-20181015/
More Updates on the Fallout of Hurricane Michael and it includes Powell Broadcasting ending operations in Panama City.
FM conditions are slightly enhanced this evening and I'm hearing a few signals from PC and Dothan at the moment. Best I can tell, only iHeart is doing continuous storm coverage now? I heard them talking about it on 99.3. WILN, KMX, WDJR, WDBT and WECB were all in and playing their usual music format.
If that's true, then that sucks that the biggest corporate owner is the only one that is still on recovery and aftermath duty.
Edit to add: Indeed a hat tip to the ever hard working Charlie Wooten for getting those stations back up and lumbering under their own weight ASAP. I'm just talking about Magic Broadcasting and whoever else is in the market that isn't Powell. Clearly at least one Magic signal is back, and possibly others as well.
If that's true, then that sucks that the biggest corporate owner is the only one that is still on recovery and aftermath duty.
Edit to add: Indeed a hat tip to the ever hard working Charlie Wooten for getting those stations back up and lumbering under their own weight ASAP. I'm just talking about Magic Broadcasting and whoever else is in the market that isn't Powell. Clearly at least one Magic signal is back, and possibly others as well.
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Charlie is the real hero here. Notice that most every artical or story written about Panama City media mentions Wooten. I've even heard the DJs on WPAP thank him and credit him for more than just getting/keeping the stations on the air since the storm.
I've been pulling in New Orleans stations easy since the storm, WPAP is the only one I've heard in Pensacola.
I've been pulling in New Orleans stations easy since the storm, WPAP is the only one I've heard in Pensacola.
Charlie Who?? (My guess is his weary eyes will find their way over to these posts.) This may make you smile abit, CCENG. Lord knows you need that. The man is beyond belief awesome and just a great guy. If I recall correctly, which my memory has been going for years, there are few engineers along the Panhandle. Might explain why the other stations are off the air.
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Groove1670
Guest
I was at the WPIK FM Summerland Key Studios during Andrew. We had generators at the studio and transmitter site. Power was out for about a week and a half. CNN had reported that Keys had been destroyed. I did a quick blip for CBS radio news at the top of the hour (our phone lines were up). They were disappointed that there was no destruction to report from Marathon to Key West. Other than power and water loss. Andrew did little damage to the Lower Keys.
Back when AM radio was interesting to listen to, I was listening [via DX] to some of the larger wattage stations when Hugo was hitting NC. Was interesting listening and right in the middle of a sentence...dead silence....as the towers or stations were destroyed or knocked off the air one by one.
WAPE-690 had a history of using the day facility during hurricanes anywhere in the night coverage area going back to the 60's.
WBT in Charlotte did the same thing. And Charlotte was having its own problems.
Charlie has been a legend in our business, and this only showcases his ability. IHM also sent him a ton of guys and we are rotating people in and out as needed. I haven't had a chance to talk to him but heard he lost the ham tower at his house. WDIZ I think all 3 towers are down and extensive damage to the building. And for the comment about IH being the only broadcaster on the air, we do take these events a little more serious then most all other broadcasters combined. This just allowed everyone on a national stage to see what we have been doing during these storms.
This is a good case study for the iHeart haters out there.
Particularly those who continue to call it "Cheap Channel".
The company does spend money where it is needed and maintains quality technical facilities. It's worth suggesting a round of applause for them for the quick response to the Florida hurricane. Not only are they maintaining radio service to the area, they are setting an example of a positive rebuilding effort and a belief in the future of the market!
Well done.
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