Idaho Falls - Pocatello NEWS MEDIA. ( Newspapers, Television News and News Radio )

[pnwguy2]

OK, no harm, no foul. The Riverbend AM stations created the East Idaho News Network. They tried to expand the brand on FM, but it wasn't enough. The website continues, but I don't believe Riverbend is connected to it, except for some feeds of important news stories.

I believe this is a major story because now there is just one outlet in IF offering news/talk, and that is Rich. Yes, Idaho Public Radio/NPR is still there, but less competition is never good. Perhaps there are other market companies that can fill the void, but I don't know if they will or have any desire to.

[Mtn. States Resident]

U

Originally Posted by pnwguy2

OK, no harm, no foul. The Riverbend AM stations created the East Idaho News Network. They tried to expand the brand on FM, but it wasn't enough. The website continues, but I don't believe Riverbend is connected to it, except for some feeds of important news stories.

I believe this is a major story because now there is just one outlet in IF offering news/talk, and that is Rich. Yes, Idaho Public Radio/NPR is still there, but less competition is never good. Perhaps there are other market companies that can fill the void, but I don't know if they will or have any desire to.

Thanks! I think I understand a lot more now, or at least understand more.

Yes, the first time I ever saw EIN it was a section of one of the radio webpages. I heard a few things, because I specifically listened to hear certain content. But ultimately, EIN is totally separated and I don't know that the 4 FMS even run headlines from EIN.

In some ways, I think EIN grew to something beyond what was originally thought it could be.

I checked the easy records to check. If there was an ownership change, any idea of when? I found a reconfigured business that had "Holdings" added to the original name. It was filed on 7/29/2016. Nothing else was a 2016 filing; however, IDK all the possibilities to check. The Holdings one still had the original owner listed as well as others. But they might be something really different.

I will say digging through EIN I couldn't reach the Home Page like usual. So who knows, maybe new things are coming there.

As for the AMs, I don't listen to AM usually. I will try to tomorrow. It appears whatever programming is being run is on two stations. Whether that is a reception thing for Poky vs. I.F., IDK. They appear to do the Sunday thing without the local Presbyterian or Methodist (or a different church) broadcast one of them use to have. Maybe they still do I haven't looked on a Sunday. Did one use to broadcast sports? Dave Ramsey three hours/day but otherwise it appears the new programming appears to broadcast all the other hours.

https://sunnyidaho.com

I understand your comment about one radio outlet offering news. More is always better. Since Rich is simulcasting the same contents on 1 AM and 2 FMS as well as moving KID'S licensing so Aberdeen is first, I still wonder if this connects. Plus Sandhill did buy a silent station. But IDK if it was AM or FM. I'm wondering some different things. As I wrote earlier, I've never seen so many different indivuals and corporations on the Rich notice to move/change the first city as that notice. I really don't remember seeing any notices about radio station changes in the Public Notices as that one. Plus, Sandhill appears to be making a change somewhere down the road. Why else buy the additional station?

Ultimately, since I understand a very limited amount about this part of radio, could it be someone else is coming into the area and for whatever reason (s) the other media companies are making moves now to be better prepared to compete? Or how do we know Sunny won't return with a new talk format? I obviously don't know this stuff, like some things I know.

Of the two, I'm more bugged by KID moving the licensed first city to Aberdeen as I don't know if they are going to compete with other AMS in S.Idaho or elsewhere.

Are the AM stations as popular as they use to be everywhere? Or is this a unique thing here? I have heard more talk on FM elsewhere than AM.

I just thought of something I happened to see. It's not because I listened to her rather she brought someone in her family to us. I saw a brief notice that Jolyn T. is expanding her show to 30 stations; however no one carried her locally. Would she have been on one of the AMs?

I hope you can add more to the puzzle. Your turn

[pnwguy2]

I'm afraid I can't offer a whole lot more to this. I have some connections to those at Riverbend, but I don't have any further inside information. AM stations do well in larger markets, especially when they have a heritage or legacy title. (like KSL Salt Lake, KIRO and KOMO Seattle, KEX Portland, etc., many of which also simulcast on FM, in fact KIRO in Seattle is now totally on the FM). I don't think anyone is moving into the IF-Poky market at this time. Radio is in a downward spiral for the most part, namely at the national corporate level, and there are many more stations for sale than are being bought. However, this could create some lower prices for properties and in some people's minds create a more local market environment. This remains to play out, however. So the jury is still out and could be for awhile. Sorry I don't have more info than that, but this is what I have learned. The puzzle continues.

[pobug]

EIN is technically owned by a separate company under Frank Vandersloot's umbrella. Riverbend Holdings was created to remove and separate it from any FCC rules and regs from the radio station side. They're now in bed with KPVI as a de-facto Idaho Falls bureau. There have been rumors of Frank buying KPVI, but nothing more than rumors, most likely not going to happen. KPVI is only starting to recover after the previous owner slashed advertising rates. Once you cut the ad rate, you'll never be able to get them back up.

EIN is run at a loss. There's no money in a small market news website. Internet ad rates are sold for pennies on the dollar compared to traditional. The web is a throwaway for localnews8, because there's no money in it for this market. But, their hit and reach numbers still blow EIN out of the water.

Frank wants a news outlet so bad and is willing to run a news operation at a loss for several years. How much longer? Maybe you can write that loss as a corporate tax write-off ? I wonder if Frank is kicking himself that KPVI sold for only a million dollars? But at the time KPVI was a disaster.

[pnwguy2]

Mr. Vandersloot is perhaps looking at what advantage he has of owning radio stations in Idaho Falls. I don't have any inside information here, but looking at these posts, he may be considering to divest. (of course, keeping the EI website. I would predict major changes this year.)

[banjomike]

Originally Posted by pnwguy2

Mr. Vandersloot is perhaps looking at what advantage he has of owning radio stations in Idaho Falls. I don't have any inside information here, but looking at these posts, he may be considering to divest. (of course, keeping the EI website. I would predict major changes this year.)

Possibly, but I think its very hard to say.
Vandersloot felt a great need to answer back to just about everything that was printed in the Post-Register a decade or so back, when a series of scandals and the reportage of them offended him, but that need seems to have ended.

Since Melaleuca has a good-sized graphics and creative staff, and some good copy writers, I don't think the costs of the news website costs him very much, and it offers him a voice any time he wants it.

Their reportage is also good, in my opinion, and sometimes covers items the Post-Register doesn't, or refrains from details that can't be found anywhere else. I think the news site is pretty well-recieved by the area, and helps Melaleuca out in many ways, as there's always something that gets talked about locally that isn't always favorable to the company.

The radio stations are a different deal, though. Given the fact that radio, like TV, may soon be all-digitally broadcast, the analog frequencies of the stations River Bend owns may now be more valuable than the programming the frequencies carry.

The AM band is especially valuable now, as it occupies the best area of AM reception. This entire band is going to be cleared out of all commercial broadcasting soon to free it up for police, emergency, EMT and other 2-way radio communication, as AM will work in areas where FM, cellular, and satellite coms are spotty at best and won't work at all in some areas such as narrow valleys and very mountainous regions.

The FCC already has plans for radio conversion to digital that are close to completion. As soon as they are finished, and Congress approves them, the change-over will be quite fast on the AM bands, as they are the most un-used now. FM will follow, but much more slowly, as quite a lot of it's transmission is already digial. The present signals are converted to analog reception by the broadcasting studios, but that side of the industry is just waiting for the radio manufacturers to go all-digital with their new products.

That won't take long. Television was the big digital hurdle, and once it was cleared, the manufacturers are all ready to go. It's anticipated that all car radios will soon be entirely dedicated to satellite reception within a very few years. That's part of the reason why car makers are planning to drop CD players as part of standard equipment pretty soon. Satellite radio already has programming that is specialized to everything that's being played on CDs now.

[pnwguy2]

"The AM band is especially valuable now, as it occupies the best area of AM reception. This entire band is going to be cleared out of all commercial broadcasting soon to free it up for police, emergency, EMT and other 2-way radio communication, as AM will work in areas where FM, cellular, and satellite coms are spotty at best and won't work at all in some areas such as narrow valleys and very mountainous regions."

This is a proposal, but certainly will not happen anytime soon. Perhaps some frequencies may be freed up for this type of service, and if so, probably a good thing. But as of early 2017, there are too many big revenue AM's existing for the band to be completely taken over. AM signals do go further than FM signals, but only at higher wattage power. 50,000 watts, (the max) can be heard far further than most FM's, and even 10,000 watt AM's can outdo most FM's.

[banjomike]

Yup. It's all still in the works