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WKLT-fm, Kalkaska and WKLZ-fm, Petoskey

Covers all of Northern Lower Michigan (from Ludington to Tawas northward), as well as the Straits Area and Soo Region.
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MWmetalhead
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Re: WKLT-fm, Kalkaska and WKLZ-fm, Petoskey

Post by MWmetalhead » Fri Dec 06, 2019 6:17 pm

As for Midwestern, they had room to add one FM, so it's KLT. KLZ will likely find a new home and format; along with the rest of those signals. But the diamond in the cluster was certainly KLT, which would have also had the greatest value to both the sellers and buyer. Now we will see how the rest of the dominos fall.
:eek :eek :eek

That is truly stunning, unless the plan is to flip 93.5 to a simulcast of KLT?

The 97.5/98.9 simulcast has been around for about three decades, has it not?

BTW, I always dug the "Double Rock KLT" moniker. I wish it were still in use today.

If 93.5 doesn't flip to Classic Rock, it appears 95.3 The Bear is en route to seeing significant ratings growth in the northern reaches of the TC-Petoskey market!



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Re: WKLT-fm, Kalkaska and WKLZ-fm, Petoskey

Post by Ben Zonia » Fri Dec 06, 2019 7:35 pm

For once, I have to share TC Talks skepticism about the need for another station with a similar religious type format with so many similar stations in the area, What’s next? Separate stations for Presbyterians, Methodists, LCMS, ELCA, and Episcopalians? Even the Catholic stations now have programming that is becoming more Ecumenical. Have the others ever heard of casting a wide net?

And I think the commercial owners are trying to guarantee that the stations they sell do not compete with them.


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Re: WKLT-fm, Kalkaska and WKLZ-fm, Petoskey

Post by MWmetalhead » Fri Dec 06, 2019 8:44 pm

98.9 has a great signal worthy of a mainstream format. It would be a true shame if that great signal is wasted.

Classic Hits is stuck on 101.5. Classic Rock (if the KLT simulcast goes away) is stuck on 95.3. Yacht Rock/Soft AC is stuck on 106.3. Classic Country is stuck on 100.7 - a damn translator. Any of the above stations would certainly benefit if they were made available on 98.9's 100 kW blowtorch!



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Re: WKLT-fm, Kalkaska and WKLZ-fm, Petoskey

Post by BigFreq » Sat Dec 07, 2019 7:54 am

MWmetalhead wrote:
Fri Dec 06, 2019 8:44 pm
98.9 has a great signal worthy of a mainstream format. It would be a true shame if that great signal is wasted.

Classic Hits is stuck on 101.5. Classic Rock (if the KLT simulcast goes away) is stuck on 95.3. Yacht Rock/Soft AC is stuck on 106.3. Classic Country is stuck on 100.7 - a damn translator. Any of the above stations would certainly benefit if they were made available on 98.9's 100 kW blowtorch!
Again, bigger no longer means better. While it does mean greater coverage... but to whom? Ratings are less significant when it comes to swaying dollars; so serving communities should become a priority. That 100kw blowtorch means a $30k a year power bill, topped with $18k in tower rent. Add all the other fun things you have to pay; operating a station like that will run you $100k a year before you add into account a single talent to the lineup and a single seller to hit the streets (that's likely another $200-250k in payroll). And, unless you think you're going to pry $400-$500k in revenue away from existing stations, you're destined to operate in the ballpark of $250-300k in annual revenue (after year two), which likely means you break even or lose. In truth, a good operator with a Class A, sitting in a small town and running a solid little community focused radio station, serving a county or two can be successful. There are plenty of blowtorches Northern has under it's belt... 98.9, 106.7, 92.5... all covering the Northern tip; where deer, elk and turkeys don't account for diaries. And let's not forget, they weren't making money off any of those signals all this time... they had to be simulcast, simply in order to deliver as much of the 11 county metro as possible. It was about diaries. But those diaries aren't going to matter if you can't reach the entire metro. It's a good time for the metro to go away and break back into two markets. :blink



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Re: WKLT-fm, Kalkaska and WKLZ-fm, Petoskey

Post by MWmetalhead » Sat Dec 07, 2019 9:13 am

here are plenty of blowtorches Northern has under it's belt... 98.9, 106.7, 92.5... all covering the Northern tip; where deer, elk and turkeys don't account for diaries
106.7 earned good ratings throughout the market for years when it was 106.7 The Peak. (I cannot speak to what revenue or cash flow looked like.)

Terrible programming decisions by Northern ruined that once terrific station! Adding the 100.7 - later 105.5 - simulcast did nothing to help the ratings situation. All it did - to your point - was add overhead and consume cash.

98.9's signal/areal range is only a shade less potent than that of 102.9 WMKC; the latter station seems to be doing perfectly well.

Will completely agree with you, though, on 92.5. For 100 kW, that station reaches a whole lotta nothing. Yeah, it reaches Alpena, but how effectively can you sell ads in the Thunder Bay area when your offices/sales people are sitting 120 miles away? In the Little Traverse Bay region, the signal suffers from terrain shadowing.

Lite 96, WMKC and KHQ do a marvelous job grabbing ad dollars from the Straits and Little Traverse Bay regions as well as snagging some regional buys. With proper ownership, 98.9 in theory should be able to replicate that.



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Re: WKLT-fm, Kalkaska and WKLZ-fm, Petoskey

Post by CK-722 » Sat Dec 07, 2019 12:40 pm

The old WMBN-FM site near Wormwood Rd. and Vorce Rd., and the WMKC site cross less higher terrain than the others, if you want to get the signal better in Traverse City.


Is THAT where they got the idea for the 486-SX?

Same (x, y, z), different (t)

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Re: WKLT-fm, Kalkaska and WKLZ-fm, Petoskey

Post by MWmetalhead » Sun Dec 08, 2019 8:00 am

If someone other than Black Diamond scoops up WKLZ, that is potentially a missed opportunity for Black Diamond, in my eyes.

Of course, pursuing WKLZ only makes good business sense if it can be acquired at a reasonable price!

A 98.1 WGFN / 98.9 WKLZ pairing would provide The Bear a coverage footprint that rivals that of sister station Rock 105/95.5 and would provide Black Diamond an absolutely commanding share of male radio listening in Northern Michigan.

Probably damn near every man who lives in Emmet and Cheboygan counties has 98.9 as a radio preset. I doubt the same can be said of 95.3.



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Re: WKLT-fm, Kalkaska and WKLZ-fm, Petoskey

Post by CK-722 » Sun Dec 08, 2019 11:40 am

Click this link, enter PLN, and you'll see the dynamics of the tower locations in the Harbor Springs Good Hart Cross Village Area. The WKLZ tower could not be higher because of the proximity of the Emmet County/Pellston Airport. The WJML-FM signal was so good even with its original 27 kW, that there was no reason to mess with it. The towers outside and just inside the magenta area are allowed to be close to 700 feet. Traverse City wasn't a big concern then

http://vfrmap.com

As I recall, the WMBN-FM tower in circa 1986, near Wormwood Rd. and Vorce Rd., was 683 feet tall. The FCC records available are incomplete from this era, after the History Cards, and before CDBS went public online. As a Class C on 96.3, it had to be at least 150 miles from Class C WHNN on 96.1, when it was still on M-15. That is why they chose that site. They downgraded to C0 to locate WMBN-FM closer and better access, and it was thought, closer and better to Traverse City. From what I heard, they were disappointed in the results in Traverse City. That is attributable to the intervening terrain being higher, not the lower terrain closer to Lake Michigan and Inland Lakes between Petoskey and Traverse City, which are between 580 and 600 feet in elevation.


Is THAT where they got the idea for the 486-SX?

Same (x, y, z), different (t)

Your bullet missed my trial balloon.

RTN Price. Not guaranteed. As of 12:30, 157.71 Down 0.22.

Artificial Intelligence is a Child that needs a Parent to guide it through.

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Re: WKLT-fm, Kalkaska and WKLZ-fm, Petoskey

Post by CK-722 » Sun Dec 08, 2019 1:30 pm

BigFreq wrote:
Sat Dec 07, 2019 7:54 am
MWmetalhead wrote:
Fri Dec 06, 2019 8:44 pm
98.9 has a great signal worthy of a mainstream format. It would be a true shame if that great signal is wasted.

Classic Hits is stuck on 101.5. Classic Rock (if the KLT simulcast goes away) is stuck on 95.3. Yacht Rock/Soft AC is stuck on 106.3. Classic Country is stuck on 100.7 - a damn translator. Any of the above stations would certainly benefit if they were made available on 98.9's 100 kW blowtorch!
Again, bigger no longer means better. While it does mean greater coverage... but to whom? Ratings are less significant when it comes to swaying dollars; so serving communities should become a priority. That 100kw blowtorch means a $30k a year power bill, topped with $18k in tower rent. Add all the other fun things you have to pay; operating a station like that will run you $100k a year before you add into account a single talent to the lineup and a single seller to hit the streets (that's likely another $200-250k in payroll). And, unless you think you're going to pry $400-$500k in revenue away from existing stations, you're destined to operate in the ballpark of $250-300k in annual revenue (after year two), which likely means you break even or lose. In truth, a good operator with a Class A, sitting in a small town and running a solid little community focused radio station, serving a county or two can be successful. There are plenty of blowtorches Northern has under it's belt... 98.9, 106.7, 92.5... all covering the Northern tip; where deer, elk and turkeys don't account for diaries. And let's not forget, they weren't making money off any of those signals all this time... they had to be simulcast, simply in order to deliver as much of the 11 county metro as possible. It was about diaries. But those diaries aren't going to matter if you can't reach the entire metro. It's a good time for the metro to go away and break back into two markets. :blink
Some owners have opted to keep their towers. What would a "Mortgage" on a tower be compared to renting space? With better antenna designs available today, with null filling and main lobe beamwidth widening possibilities, would a 12 Bay antenna be a better option to save on power bills? What about a managing company that manages tower rental vs. buying your tower outright?


Is THAT where they got the idea for the 486-SX?

Same (x, y, z), different (t)

Your bullet missed my trial balloon.

RTN Price. Not guaranteed. As of 12:30, 157.71 Down 0.22.

Artificial Intelligence is a Child that needs a Parent to guide it through.

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Re: WKLT-fm, Kalkaska and WKLZ-fm, Petoskey

Post by TC Talks » Sun Dec 08, 2019 5:00 pm

So, do we have two credible posters to validate this discussion?

I am not getting any chatter from the usual sources and we all love to run with bullshit


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Re: WKLT-fm, Kalkaska and WKLZ-fm, Petoskey

Post by northradiotruth » Sun Dec 08, 2019 5:21 pm

With my apologies to BigFreq. I was wrong. Yes NBI is being broken up. Several employees were let go last week with the rest being let go when the sale to Midwestern is final. I've heard 94.5 is sold to CMU with the rest of the Fox Signals going dark. WKLZ was sold to a non- profit. If ESPN is not sold by the end of the year they will go dark also. I got this information from someone who is not an employee there but I absolutely trust what I've heard.



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Re: WKLT-fm, Kalkaska and WKLZ-fm, Petoskey

Post by TC Talks » Sun Dec 08, 2019 5:56 pm

northradiotruth wrote:
Sun Dec 08, 2019 5:21 pm
With my apologies to BigFreq. I was wrong. Yes NBI is being broken up. Several employees were let go last week with the rest being let go when the sale to Midwestern is final. I've heard 94.5 is sold to CMU with the rest of the Fox Signals going dark. WKLZ was sold to a non- profit. If ESPN is not sold by the end of the year they will go dark also. I got this information from someone who is not an employee there but I absolutely trust what I've heard.
Wow, this is how it ends for Teri? That's pretty unfortunate. There are certainly other talents and staff that will be displaced, but I don't believe anyone else had made it as long.


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Re: WKLT-fm, Kalkaska and WKLZ-fm, Petoskey

Post by Ed Joseph » Sun Dec 08, 2019 6:06 pm

I have always viewed the market environment up north to be just plain nuts. But this is how corporate anything works, by gobbling up all the locals to make one giant, tasteless pancake. Sad to see all of these formerly decent stations tossed around again. It never seems to stop up there. The whole "we must serve TC or else" thing just seems odd to me.

Indeed sad to see Teri kicked like that, although I was never a big fan of her, but she has been up there on KLT as long as I can remember back. But employee loyalty is long been a part of history now.

That said, morthern MI is not a place I would want to own a radio station, it's way too "seasonal".


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Re: WKLT-fm, Kalkaska and WKLZ-fm, Petoskey

Post by northradiotruth » Sun Dec 08, 2019 6:09 pm

Midwestern will make the final decision on Terri Ray but word is they are bringing back Omelette.



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Re: WKLT-fm, Kalkaska and WKLZ-fm, Petoskey

Post by TC Talks » Sun Dec 08, 2019 6:11 pm

northradiotruth wrote:
Sun Dec 08, 2019 6:09 pm
Midwestern will make the final decision on Terri Ray but word is they are bringing back Omelette.
Now I know you're bullshitting.... :rollin

I would love to be a fly on the wall of that conversation with Steve on how the morning show will go.


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