And what time does the Indian music and brokered programming begin?

Over the past few years, there were a number of people, including employees who were interested in buying the station (I spoke to/met with several) - but no-one had anywhere near the amount of money that the receiver in bankruptcy was seeking.  The problem at the end of the day, is the fact that the station is non-viable.  There is a relatively  poor signal in Scarborough, where a significant %age of the audience lives.  High operating costs (the FCP transmitter site (likely) costs more than $150,000 per year), and the revenue base was for the station, was never that great.  Too much reliance on small businesses who don't always pay their bills on time.  Not enough agency/national business to sustain the station.  All of that before the pandemic and widespread streaming of music by the target audience. At a $6M (plus CRTC tangible benefits) entry cost, only a profitable broadcaster, who has synergies such as existing studios, technical, accounting etc., might make a go of it.  I'm not saying that there weren't a a number of people who could have come together to invest - but big banks don't normally fund people who wish to invest in highly leveraged businesses these days, that were already insolvent.

Turning to Mr. Ray.... With nearly 19 hours of "prime" real estate available for brokered S. Asian programming, (15% of hours 6 am to midnight) Neeti Ray can probably recoup some of his operating costs.  He should be able to get several hundred dollars per hour from S. Asian radio program brokers.  And over night he's not regulated, so he can sell off another 42 hours a week of brokered ethnic programming.   That's not going to make him rich, but I could see a scenario where he comes back to the CRTC in a few years seeking to move the needle up to 40% ethnic, because of declining or lack of revenues from the core "black" programming.

Just sayin'

BTW, do you know how many ads you've got to sell at literally "a dollar a holler" to pay for the rental and power on that FCP transmitter???  A lot!

I've known a lot of "rich" people who invested in failing radio operations, either by way of competitive licence sweepstakes or buying existing operations.  Most of them learn the hard way that broadcasting is not a philanthropic past time.   Most wealthy people who I know, want to see a reasonable rate of return on their money.   There are exceptions.  A few "rich" people I've known have bought failing A.M. stations "low" and sold off the land to developers for tens of millions.  It literally did not matter if the stations "made money".   They could afford to keep running the stations for years.   Those folks co-sited with other stations and pocketed millions after the cositing costs, and paying tax on the land sales.  But those are exceptional stories.   The day of the "one station" rich entrepreneur who makes a fortune owning a single radio station are probably over.  There are few if any "Harvey Glatt" opportunities out there for a wealthy investor to own a station and make a great return on his/her investment.

  Sadly owning a radio station to serve the black community isn't  going to make much money.  Perhaps the exception was Milestone (Denham Jolly) whose core money-making businesses I recall were either retirement homes, or nursing homes.  I also believe he had some media experience as the publisher or owner of Contrast Magazine.  Not sure the radio station CFXJ 93.5 made much  money, but at a sale price of  $27M, Milestone didn't do too badly when they sold the station CTV Limited in 2010.  But those were in the "halcyon" days, when radio stations sold for multiples that were many times their EBITDA.

 

Last edited by tvguy (August 13, 2021 10:32 am)