Tavis Smiley Buys KBLA

[ChannelFlipper]

Here's what he said after Rush Limbaugh's cancer diagnosis:

https://www.foxnews.com/media/radio...r-comments-after-rush-limbaughs-cancer-update

Thanks for validating. And by the way, Rush has handled his situation masterfully - not hiding it, but going out of his way not to make it all about him either. Not a hint of maudlin woe-is-me stuff. He updates the audience every few weeks or when he has experienced significant improvement or setback, but other than that , it is business as usual. You may or may not agree with his politics, but Rush the man is truly a class act.

 

[Ryan Williams]

Thanks for validating. And by the way, Rush has handled his situation masterfully - not hiding it, but going out of his way not to make it all about him either. Not a hint of maudlin woe-is-me stuff. He updates the audience every few weeks or when he has experienced significant improvement or setback, but other than that , it is business as usual. You may or may not agree with his politics, but Rush the man is truly a class act.

I've been following this whole thread. I'm right of center, personally, and while i agree with some of Rush's opinions, I like him and his show because he an absolute master at his job and a living legend. He doesn't need to take calls or have guests to fill three hours. He can make three hours interesting basically monologuing, which is incredible if you think about it.

While I do sample other political shows that are okay at times, such as Beck, Hannity, and Levine. I find that most of the other syndicated political shows to be dull and derivative, even if the politics are somewhat agreeable. On the other hand, i remember Lykis being very interesting when he was on 97.1, despite being very liberal. Same for Democrat Phil Hendrie when he was on KFI and syndicated (911 basically killed his talk show and he never really recovered). He was very good at his craft and I loved listening to every show.

I'm glad you pointed out that most of KFI isn't really that conservative, at least not in a rah-rah Republican way. Handel is pretty moderate, especially on social issues. John and Ken are very populist and anti-nanny state. They seem to be libertarian on most issues and "conservative" only on taxes and immigration. Tim Conway Jr. also isn't exactly a right winger and some of the weekend hosts, such as Laporte, are outspoken liberals.

 

[boombox4]

Judging by the ratings at KPFK, it doesn't matter if the station is on AM or FM.

BIN isn't really shaking the ratings, either. I suppose if the new owner of KBLA can get enough funding from BIN's sources, the station may survive. I know the local AM stations serving African Americans in my metro don't even subscribe to ratings, and one of them runs Al Sharpton's morning show.

And one question would be -- aside from Al Sharpton -- how many progressive black talk hosts are there in radio? The only one I can think of off the top of my head would be Ray Taliaferro, who I used to listen to regularly, who unfortunately is no longer with us.

 

[TheBigA]

And one question would be -- aside from Al Sharpton -- how many progressive black talk hosts are there in radio? The only one I can think of off the top of my head would be Ray Taliaferro, who I used to listen to regularly, who unfortunately is no longer with us.

Quite a few. Enough to fill stations such as WOL Washington, WAOK Atlanta, and WVON in Chicago. There is an entire network called The Black Talk Radio Network.

http://www.blacktalkradionetwork.com/

And then the aforementioned Black Information Network. And the American Urban Radio Network:

http://www.aurn.com/

 

[GeoffR]

To say the least. That a person who is primarily knows as a TV pundit would BUY an AM station is very interesting.

The financing is what caught my attention. When I first saw the story, I thought, wow, I didn't know Tavis had that kind of money. But the fact is he's buying the station on time. It's sort of a glorified LMA. He gets to use the station while he pays it off. That's a pretty good deal. I'd suggest that a lot more people could buy radio stations if they had that kind of financing opportunity.

There are a number of radio stations that get sold on the "easy payment plan" where they make payments on them to the previous owner. I believe that the local station that did that near me had a 7-year loan with a balloon payment of about $150,000 on the back end. I think that when I went into the details, the $150,000 was about what the principal would have been had it been a 10-year loan for the station.

I'm told that the problem with not getting all of the cash up front is that it is hard to get the license back if they stop making payments..

 

[TheBigA]

I'm told that the problem with not getting all of the cash up front is that it is hard to get the license back if they stop making payments..

Which may be why according to the contract, the seller is asking for the full amount in cash up front. Not sure where the buyer will get that kind of money.

 

[Tibbs4]

Which may be why according to the contract, the seller is asking for the full amount in cash up front. Not sure where the buyer will get that kind of money.

That is what I was thinking! China? LOL. Suddenly I feel like someone from San Antonio is calling: "You wanna sell your station?" "No." "I have a bag full of money." "No. How much is in the bag?" "Your station is worth $600,000." "Really? That much?" "I can't sell it and pay what I owe with that." "So here is $7.1M." "What?"


If the sellers get that money and close, and there are no odd performance requirements or Tavis can't get em for misrepresenting the station, these guys may well need to be the next Apprentice.

 

[SomeRadioGuy]

this situation with tavis made me think of jack barry after the quiz show scandals.

he bought a radio station thinking that if the FCC saw him fit to own and operate a radio station it'd help his credibility

could that be what tavis is thinking, even in a small part of this whole big picture for doing this?

 

[TheBigA]

could that be what tavis is thinking, even in a small part of this whole big picture for doing this?

Still, at some point in the next few weeks he has to come up with $7 million. That's an expensive way to get credibility.

 

[Kelly A]

Still, at some point in the next few weeks he has to come up with $7 million. That's an expensive way to get credibility.

Especially for some crappy AM station. He'd be better off spending that $7M on a stream/podcast infrastructure and website to sell swag.

 

[radiocph]

I'm glad you pointed out that most of KFI isn't really that conservative, at least not in a rah-rah Republican way. Handel is pretty moderate, especially on social issues. John and Ken are very populist and anti-nanny state. They seem to be libertarian on most issues and "conservative" only on taxes and immigration.

Most of their shows revolve around:
1. Taxes
2. "Corrupt" government, like abusive cops, bureaucrats not doing their jobs, or "boondoggles" (the high-speed train is a favorite target)
3. Celebrities or prominent people acting badly...

Tim Conway Jr. also isn't exactly a right winger and some of the weekend hosts, such as Laporte, are outspoken liberals.

I've never heard Laporte express any political opinions while doing his computer show. (Of course, I haven't listened to him every show....)