by Palanion » Tue Jun 12, 2012 11:58 am
[quote:33d4a4f13f="nevdully's"]Yup like when 98.7 recently changed from old school r&b to sports talk radio there was "dead air" for a week....oh wait no there wasn't.[/quote:33d4a4f13f]
Apples and oranges Nev.
When a radio station changes formats, it's usually because ownership changed. It usually takes a month or two before the agreement between parties becomes official and the transfer complete because of lawyers, FCC, and so forth. During that window of time, the old format continues to run while the new owners prep for the new format. There's a Boston station that sold a month ago but is still broadcasting under the old ownership while all legal matters are completed.
And if it's a matter of a station simply changing formats with no change of ownership, then the owners already have the infrastructure. They will spend months relooding their music library (if needed), producing new station IDs, hiring appropriate on-air talent, etc., while running the terminating format.