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We've got a little-known radio station in the Denver metro area that plays non-stop music with no commercials. 103.9 FM: http://rocktherockies.com/ http://rock

by jbuzbee 13y ago

We've got a little-known radio station in the Denver metro area that plays non-stop music with no commercials. 103.9 FM: http://rocktherockies.com/ http://rocktherockies.com/ I've been listening for years and the only "commercial" I ever hear is some infomercial type segment early sunday morning for a half-hour. Other than that it's non-stop mostly old or obscure Rock. I wonder if the Sunday-morning infomercial is just to set the "advertising" base? I looked into the station once, and it seems to be run by a wealthy, reclusive guy as a hobby. Wherever he goes in the Denver area, his library reaches him. Expensive hobby...

streetwiseherc 13y ago
He could take his entire music library into space with a multi-gigabyte digital music player.
adventured 13y ago
Half hour infomercials can be very lucrative in the radio business (particularly if they reach a metro like Denver). I would say that guy is covering a lot (or all) of his costs with it. He could definitely be generating anywhere from $2,000 to $5,000 per 30 minute infomercial depending. You can buy cheap stations for between $100,000 and $500,000 these days. KYEN / 103.9 FM, is a 16,500 watt station, and if that fully covers the Denver metro based on its tower location, then it's worth a fair chunk of money (low 7 figures). My guess is the owner has had it for a long time, before FCC radio licenses were auctioned; back when you could just pay a small licensing fee and apply for it. I've seen a couple of cases like what you're describing, where someone owns a station as a hobby essentially. If you're running a very tight ship, it doesn't take a lot to pay for basic operations.
- jbuzbee 13y ago
  KYEN is certainly an interesting station. It's not uncommon for it to go off the air for days at a time. I assume that's because it's completely un-manned (there are no DJs), so occasionally someone has to find time to go into the building and reboot a piece of equipment.

by jbuzbee 13y ago

streetwiseherc 13y ago

He could take his entire music library into space with a multi-gigabyte digital music player.

adventured 13y ago

Half hour infomercials can be very lucrative in the radio business (particularly if they reach a metro like Denver). I would say that guy is covering a lot (or all) of his costs with it. He could definitely be generating anywhere from $2,000 to $5,000 per 30 minute infomercial depending. You can buy cheap stations for between $100,000 and $500,000 these days. KYEN / 103.9 FM, is a 16,500 watt station, and if that fully covers the Denver metro based on its tower location, then it's worth a fair chunk of money (low 7 figures). My guess is the owner has had it for a long time, before FCC radio licenses were auctioned; back when you could just pay a small licensing fee and apply for it. I've seen a couple of cases like what you're describing, where someone owns a station as a hobby essentially. If you're running a very tight ship, it doesn't take a lot to pay for basic operations.

jbuzbee 13y ago
KYEN is certainly an interesting station. It's not uncommon for it to go off the air for days at a time. I assume that's because it's completely un-manned (there are no DJs), so occasionally someone has to find time to go into the building and reboot a piece of equipment.