Radio analysis

The signs of growth are not only seen, but heard. Last September, Arbitron, which surveys radio audiences, released its first ratings of stations in the burgeoning "Concord (Lakes Region)" market. The ratings, which were updated last month, cap a decade of changing ownership that closed with stations doubled in value and Nassau Broadcasting Partners commanding the airwaves.

"This marketplace has grown," said Jim Cande of Nassau Broadcasting. "The ratings confirm that the region has become a valid marketing area." He pointed to the burgeoning commercial development around Exit 20 in Tilton and at McIntyre Circle, where Hannaford Brothers and Lowes will soon join Shaw's Supermarket, CVS Pharmacy and T.J. Maxx. "Radio is in the marketing business," he said, "and the opportunities are expanding significantly."

As the region began to grow after the recession of the late 1980s and early 1990s, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) loosened its reins on ownership by relaxing the "duopoly" that limited a company to one AM and one FM station in a single market to allow common ownership of two FM stations in the same market. When the Telecommunications Act of 1996 allowed one company to acquire as many as four FM stations in a single small market, it touched off a scramble for radio properties.

Sconnix Broadcasting, based in Vienna, Virginia, owner of WLNH-FM (98.3), was first in the field, acquiring WWSS-FM (101.5), which became WBHG-FM ("Big 101.5"), from Latchkey Broadcasting for $80,000 in 1994 and WEMJ-AM (1490) from Tole Broadcasting for $160,000 two years later. WLNH-FM, WBHG-FM and WEMJ-AM were all broadcast from studios on Country Club Rd. in Gilford.

In 1999, Vox Radio Group, based in Claremont, New Hampshire and Wellesley, Massachusetts, paid $3.6 million for WNHI -FM (93.3), WJYY-FM (105.5) and WKXL-FM (102.3), which became WOTX-FM, a package RadioWorks put together six years earlier for less than $700,000.

A year later Tele-Media Broadcasting of Pleasant Gap, Pennsylvania purchased three stations from three owners — WNNH-FM (99.1), WHOB-FM (106.3) and WLKZ-FM (104.9) — for $9.2 million. WLKZ-FM ("Oldies 105") had studios near the Meadowbrook Musical Arts Center in Gilford.

Within a few months in the winter of 2003, Nassau Broadcasting Partners, headquartered in Princeton, New Jersey scooped up all nine stations, buying out Sconnix for $5 million, Vox for $9 million and Tele-Media for $12 million. Altogether Nassau has invested $48 million in 32 radio stations in Maine, Vermont and New Hampshire, sinking $26 million into the nine stations in the Concord and Lakes Region marketplace.

Within months, Nassau had closed the old WLKZ-FM studios and moved that station in with the three old Sconnix stations on Country Club Rd. Cande was named general manager of all four stations.

Last week Nassau announced a facelift. WNHI-FM ("I-93") and home to "Imus in the Morning," shed its format of classic rock for country music and took on a new moniker — "the Wolf." Meanwhile, WOTX-FM (102.3), known as the "Outlaw," swapped country sounds for classic rock and became "the Hawk," a format and identity that is mirrored at WHBG-FM (101.5), also now "the Hawk". Both "the Wolf" and "the Hawk" are what the industry calls "regional brands," with which Nassau has also dubbed stations in New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Maine. Although the two classic rock stations air the same music, the content of other programming and commercials caters to the different local markets they reach. WOTX-FM is aimed at the greater Concord audience and WHBG-FM is tailored for the Lakes Region.

Cande stressed that, in contrast to other large radio networks like Clear Channel, which some claim have homogenized broadcasting, Nassau "recognizes the importance of local radio." He said the company tailors its newscasts, weather forecasts, service announcements and commercials to local audiences.

Cande described WEMJ-AM, which he said "got lost in the shuffle," with its news/talk format and emphasis on local affairs as "the epitome of Nassau wants to do." Likewise, he pointed to the presence of Warren Bailey on WNNH-FM and Nassau's firm commitment to the WLNH Children's Auction as examples of its intention to "serve the local community."

The greater Laconia area's fifth radio station, WEZS-AM (1350) remains independently owned. Gary Hammond bought the station, then WLNH-AM, from Sconnix in 1994. WEZS has had studios in the old Scott & Williams factory building at Busy Corner but, with the sale of that structure to the Laconia Housing Authority, is moving across Union Ave. to the Bank of New Hampshire building.

Veteran broadcaster Dick Osborne, one of the principals at WKXL in Concord before its sale to Vox, said that radio stations generally sell at two and half times annual billings. Following that rule of thumb, he questioned whether the prices paid during the past halcyon decade "compute." On the other hand, he said that Nassau, with its consolidated operation and market presence was well-position to manage expenses and boost revenues, which in an expanding market could be a recipe for success.