"Doug Smith W9WI" wrote in message
news
On Sun, 23 Sep 2007 09:48:40 -0700, David Eduardo wrote:
Shhhh. Don't say it out loud or they may get ideas. WSM is now just about
at
the bottom billing-wise in Nashville (one of the gospel daytimers
outbills
it by double) so something that made them real money might just happen.
WSM
is the lowest billing of all the old 1-A clears and nearly the lowest of
all
the 98 stations in the US that have 50 kw at night.

'course, it could be they don't care... as long as people keep coming to
the Opry and the Opryland Hotel and buying stuff off their websites...

That is all they care about. The WSM website is pretty much a gareway to the
Opryland hype pages. I have not been to the hotel or the Opry for about 15
years or so, but it is truly a fun experience and a living piece of
Americana. Yet the radio station, today, is extraneous.

Back in the earliest days of radio, the bottom line didn't involve selling
advertising. It was about promoting your own business. You sold life
insurance? You built WSM or WLAC or WTIC & used your airtime to promote
your policies. You sold flour? Build WCCO and promote Gold Medal. You
ran a hotel and spa at Hot Springs, Arkansas? Build KTHS (now KAAY) and
urge tourists to town. Your goals are a bit lower? Use WSIX to sell
tires and tire repairs. I've read (though am not 100% certain this is
accurate) that the first sale of airtime to a third party wasn't until
1927, seven years after commercial broadcasting began. Until then,
"commercial" radio meant selling your own stuff, not somebody else's.

The modern equivalent is selling the name of every stadium, park and public
rest room to some company.

Sounds to me like Radio Disney bills essentially zero. But Disney is
keeping them around. Seems like they feel they're getting their money's
worth in promotion for Disney properties.

Disney stations cover expenses... a few bill several million on local sales,
and they do get national sales. The PPM allows them to show 6-12 numbers.,
too. But the main purpose of RD is to do brand enhancement.

(it does seem a bit unlikely that WSM could pull enough business for
Gaylord to support the station -- but the Opryland Hotel *does* do pretty
well...)

There is no documented night listening in the ratings in any US market. WSM
only shows in two markets outside Nashville, both contiguous to the home
market and both in the groundwave contour.