The Poor Economy Affects Station Construction
Plans
Some Continue Undaunted but We
Have Heard Reports of a Number of CP's Expiring Before Construction
Late last year we already had our
2009 Q1 fully scheduled. All of those projects were
completed on time and on budget (as usual) but in January it was
as if someone turned off our telephones and internet
connections.
As with any small business, our
AM work and general Radio Engineering work has always been feast
or famine. Nothing to do OR too much to do.
Nothing in between. This famine occurred at a time when we
are typically busy and continued for an unusually long time.
Even though we were busy for the
first quarter with our preplanned projects, for about 6 months
we had few inquiries and proposal requests nor really even
anyone looking for free information. And of course
producing no proposals, produces no work. Thankfully our
regular local engineering work was very brisk with possibly
above average call volume.
Then came the last week of
June...
Wow... Everyone had
apparently been waiting for some sign that the economy was
rebounding. And everyone saw it at the same time. In
a couple of weeks time, we prepared DOZENS of proposals and have
since tentatively scheduled projects throughout late Q3 and Q4.
We currently have large projects scheduled with 3 of the larger
radio groups in the country and have work tentatively scheduled
for several more smaller market mom & pop stations.
2009 Station Revenue in the Red
Ironically, among our regular
engineering clients we are hearing that 2009 revenues are down
anywhere from 7 to 75%. Over the past months I have been
informally asking clients how their sales were holding up. A few
stations are telling me that their summer revenue stream is
actually slightly above the past few years. Some replied
"What revenue stream?" One lamented that his sales was down
50% total for the year but half of those sales weren't paying...
For a total revenue drop of about 75%. Most stations are
reporting a Q1+Q2 revenue reduction of 40 to 50% but are seeing
improvement this quarter. Smaller market stations where
the owners are directly involved seem to be faring better than
the larger group owned stations. The smaller market owners
are telling me that even though their revenue is not down as
significantly as larger markets, they are having to work harder
for it. All are reporting significantly more past due
accounts. |
