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Is Audacy selling in Hartford?

MarcB

MarcB

I read Audacy is selling some of their stations. Are they selling any of their Hartford stations?

93.7 WZMX Hip-hop
96.5 WTIC-FM Hot AC
100.5 WRCH AC
1080 WTIC News/Talk/Sports

I think iHeart is maxed out on the number of stations they can own. With 92.5, 95.7, 97.9, 105.9, and 1410 in Hartford plus 101.3 and 960, and 1300 in New Haven.

Full-Power Radio has 102.9, 104.1, 610, 990, 1360, and 1470 in Hartford. Can FPR add another FM? If they were to buy WZMX it would go good with their 1470/102.5.

I would be against EMF buying another FM in Hartford unless they wanted to buy 97.9 from iHeart, which doesn't cover the entire market.
 
Hartford is Market #54. That's pretty big. And I'm sure WRCH, WTIC-FM, WZMX and WTIC AM are all quite profitable. Lately WTIC AM, like many AM talk stations, is not doing great in the ratings. But I would guess it's still billing very well.

Sure, everything is for sale if the price is right. But I'd doubt Audacy is looking to sell its four stations in Hartford.
 
Gregg. said:
Hartford is Market #54. That's pretty big. And I'm sure WRCH, WTIC-FM, WZMX and WTIC AM are all quite profitable. Lately WTIC AM, like many AM talk stations, is not doing great in the ratings. But I would guess it's still billing very well.
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WTIC (AM) is second in 12+ (using multi-book average and excluding Holiday) and second in billings. It does not do as well in 25-54 where it is 9th. But there is nowhere near as much national and regional agency business in a market that size, so most sales are local where the older lean is not as much a negative.
Gregg. said:
Sure, everything is for sale if the price is right. But I'd doubt Audacy is looking to sell its four stations in Hartford.
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Audacy has a full 50% of the revenue in Hartford. It's one of their most profitable markets.
 
MarcB said:
I read Audacy is selling some of their stations. Are they selling any of their Hartford stations?

93.7 WZMX Hip-hop
96.5 WTIC-FM Hot AC
100.5 WRCH AC
1080 WTIC News/Talk/Sports

I think iHeart is maxed out on the number of stations they can own. With 92.5, 95.7, 97.9, 105.9, and 1410 in Hartford plus 101.3 and 960, and 1300 in New Haven.
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New Haven is a separate Nielsen market and is dealt with separately.
 
Don CT said:
When was WTIC AM/FM purchased by CBS.
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Sometime in the early 90s WTIC AM/FM was purchased by American Radio Systems which owed WRCH 100.5, WZMX 93.7, and WNEZ 910. Despite what Wikipedia says ARS sold 910 in December 1996. I don't recall what year Infinity Broadcasting bought out ARS. 98? Infinity either bought or merged with CBS, putting WZMX, WRCH, and WTIC AM/FM into the CBS Radio Family.
 
I worked in Springfield radio long ago, loved the area, been back several times, also lived on Long Island for years, and as such, forever have been idly interested in Hartford radio.
David Gleason makes a business point out of something I only randomly noticed : Audacy is as close to 'owning' that maket as they are anywhere. Even their streams look to be a growth industry.
But if the sales rumours are true, they'd be nuts to consider dislodging WRCH from its throng. And yes, it's 12+, but the other three stations they own there are well-placed in the ratings.
 
Steve Green NEPA said:
I worked in Springfield radio long ago, loved the area, been back several times, also lived on Long Island for years, and as such, forever have been idly interested in Hartford radio.
David Gleason makes a business point out of something I only randomly noticed : Audacy is as close to 'owning' that maket as they are anywhere. Even their streams look to be a growth industry.
But if the sales rumours are true, they'd be nuts to consider dislodging WRCH from its throng. And yes, it's 12+, but the other three stations they own there are well-placed in the ratings.
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IHeart has two strong performers in country WWYZ and classic hits WHCN, plus CHR WKSS, which is a sleeping giant waiting for the next pop super-trend (and superstar) to emerge. Its weak link is sports WUCS, which is hemmed in by co-channel and adjacent-channel neighbors and can't cover the whole market. I'd imagine that iHeart has over 40 percent of the market's revenue, with the leftovers going to Full Power, largely classic rock WDRC-FM. The translator-dependent Bomba probably bills pennies.
 
CTListener said:
IHeart has two strong performers in country WWYZ and classic hits WHCN, plus CHR WKSS, which is a sleeping giant waiting for the next pop super-trend (and superstar) to emerge. Its weak link is sports WUCS, which is hemmed in by co-channel and adjacent-channel neighbors and can't cover the whole market. I'd imagine that iHeart has over 40 percent of the market's revenue, with the leftovers going to Full Power, largely classic rock WDRC-FM. The translator-dependent Bomba probably bills pennies.
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It would be nice if they gave WUCS a better signal. It dies along 95.
 
MarcB said:
Sometime in the early 90s WTIC AM/FM was purchased by American Radio Systems which owed WRCH 100.5, WZMX 93.7, and WNEZ 910. Despite what Wikipedia says ARS sold 910 in December 1996. I don't recall what year Infinity Broadcasting bought out ARS. 98? Infinity either bought or merged with CBS, putting WZMX, WRCH, and WTIC AM/FM into the CBS Radio Family.
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American Radio Systems bought WTIC AM/FM from Chase immediately after the Telecommunications Act of 1996 passed. It signed the letter of intent in the Summer of 1995.

CBS announced it would acquire American Radio Systems about a week after Labor Day 1997. I was living in Kansas City at the time, and I remember it because the merger with CBS was announced the same day ARS took over Jacor's Kansas City properties, and it immediately toasted heritage rocker KYYS ”KY102.” The merger closed in either May or June the following year.
 
MarcB said:
I read Audacy is selling some of their stations. Are they selling any of their Hartford stations?
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No. Audacy is selling three stations. The buyer of one has been announced. The other two are likely being swapped to Cumulus. I don’t know what Audacy is getting in return from Cumulus.

MarcB said:
I would be against EMF buying another FM in Hartford unless they wanted to buy 97.9 from iHeart, which doesn't cover the entire market.
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I’ve been hearing rumors that EMF might be involved in the swap because Audacy really needs cash, and Cumulus won’t pay cash. I don’t know which markets or stations might be involved, but Cumulus owns nothing around Hartford.
 
Kent said:
I’ve been hearing rumors that EMF might be involved in the swap because Audacy really needs cash, and Cumulus won’t pay cash. I don’t know which markets or stations might be involved, but Cumulus owns nothing around Hartford.
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If WUCS is to be sold to EMF (ostensibly to carry Air1, complementing its main feed on WCCC), would another Hartford station have to flip to sports? Can't imagine UConn and the Yankees winding up on a music FM.
 
CTListener said:
If WUCS is to be sold to EMF (ostensibly to carry Air1, complementing its main feed on WCCC), would another Hartford station have to flip to sports? Can't imagine UConn and the Yankees winding up on a music FM.
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Wouldn’t those teams go back to 1410? Maybe UConn to 1080?
 
CTListener said:
If WUCS is to be sold to EMF (ostensibly to carry Air1, complementing its main feed on WCCC), would another Hartford station have to flip to sports? Can't imagine UConn and the Yankees winding up on a music FM.
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I don’t see WUCS being sold. First, it's iHeart, and, second, iHeart is unlikely to cut down on its footprint in Hartford unless it either gets a better signal in the market or swaps it for another station in another market. Not that one of those scenarios couldn’t happen, but neither seems likely.
 
Kent said:
No. Audacy is selling three stations. The buyer of one has been announced. The other two are likely being swapped to Cumulus. I don’t know what Audacy is getting in return from Cumulus.
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And the three are special situations of stations that are not producing nearly as much as their offers represent, so a sale is advantageous.

Audacy's EBITDA earnings last year were around $130 million. Profit. Audacy's problem is with its borrowing, not its operating.
 
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