Salem Media Group

[Radio-Bored-Op]

With the stock price matching the going rate for a gas station banana ,
thinking they will start to sell off under performing or lowly rated stations
( ie: kkfs ) to help alleviate overwhelming debt;
Any other stations, thinking they will want to dump or is the revenue enough to keep the whole machine running,

 

[davideduardo]

With the stock price matching the going rate for a gas station banana ,
thinking they will start to sell off under performing or lowly rated stations
( ie: kkfs ) to help alleviate overwhelming debt;
Any other stations, thinking they will want to dump or is the revenue enough to keep the whole machine running,

Share price alone does not show the value of a company. There are $10 shares that are more desirable than $100 shares because the underlying value is the perceived worth of the company divided by the total number of outstanding shares.

I made enough money trading penny stocks on the Toronto Exchange as an early teen to build my own radio station in a large market at age 18. My best return was several thousand percent on Acme Petroleum, which I bought at less than a dime a share...

 

[Radio-Bored-Op]

Share price alone does not show the value of a company. There are $10 shares that are more desirable than $100 shares because the underlying value is the perceived worth of the company divided by the total number of outstanding shares.

I made enough money trading penny stocks on the Toronto Exchange as an early teen to build my own radio station in a large market at age 18. My best return was several thousand percent on Acme Petroleum, which I bought at less than a dime a share...

Just curious _ what station did you build
?
are you permitted to post....

 

[lanceventa]

With the stock price matching the going rate for a gas station banana ,
thinking they will start to sell off under performing or lowly rated stations
( ie: kkfs ) to help alleviate overwhelming debt;
Any other stations, thinking they will want to dump or is the revenue enough to keep the whole machine running,

I've been told that EVERY signal of Salem's is available for "the right price". The asking prices are quite high for many, but some are even listed on public brokerage listings such as 1640 KDZR Portland (Oregon)

 

[Mikey Radio]

The other important thing to keep in mind is that every radio group has an operating model that they believe in or they feel works for them. iHeart, Townsquare, EMF, Salem, the list goes on. All run things a bit differently. Salem is known primarily for stations that run right-wing and Christian talk and programming, business talk and news and brokered programming. For them, they must believe it works and they don't seem to be interested in being the next iHeart.

 

[TheBigA]

With the stock price matching the going rate for a gas station banana ,
thinking they will start to sell off under performing or lowly rated stations

Salem just sold a Greenville SC FM to EMF.

Salem Media Group Sells 94.5 The Answer, 2 Others to EMF

The conservative news outlet featured one local show, The Morning Answer, which was hosted by Joey Hudson.

barrettnewsmedia.com

The problem Salem has is they own a lot of AMs, and EMF isn't really interested in AMs. They might get interest from VCY or Relevant Radio. But there aren't a lot of buyers for "lowly rated stations."

 

[Kent]

The problem Salem has is they own a lot of AMs, and EMF isn't really interested in AMs. They might get interest from VCY or Relevant Radio. But there aren't a lot of buyers for "lowly rated stations."

And "rent-a-preachers" aren't as willing to buy time on radio, especially standalone AM's, as they once were with the reach of the internet being as big as it is now. They get wider reach and better sound for less by being on apps. Salem has been able to keep a lot of that business by promising near national reach and by acting as a hub for streaming and podcasting their programs. Even that seems to have its limits now.

 

[lanceventa]

Salem just sold a Greenville SC FM to EMF.

Salem Media Group Sells 94.5 The Answer, 2 Others to EMF

The conservative news outlet featured one local show, The Morning Answer, which was hosted by Joey Hudson.

barrettnewsmedia.com

It was an entire three station cluster. Salem has also sold a Seattle AM and Sacramento FM in the past few months.

The problem Salem has is they own a lot of AMs, and EMF isn't really interested in AMs. They might get interest from VCY or Relevant Radio. But there aren't a lot of buyers for "lowly rated stations."

Their financial issues are partially because of the write-offs they've taken on all of their station valuations mostly from the AMs reducing the value of the company's assets overall. I've been told sales of theirs in a few other markets are in various stages of negotiation.

 

[EricStein]

Salem just sold a Greenville SC FM to EMF.

Salem Media Group Sells 94.5 The Answer, 2 Others to EMF

The conservative news outlet featured one local show, The Morning Answer, which was hosted by Joey Hudson.

barrettnewsmedia.com

The problem Salem has is they own a lot of AMs, and EMF isn't really interested in AMs. They might get interest from VCY or Relevant Radio. But there aren't a lot of buyers for "lowly rated stations."

How about the guy in Virginia who wants to build a radio network further to the right of even Salem?

 

[Mediafrog+]

I've been told sales of theirs in a few other markets are in various stages of negotiation.

About three years ago Salem’s KNTH in Houston showed up for sale on a radio brokerage site, but nothing ever came of it. Salem did sell KTEK to Relevant Radio around the same time. I’ve been wondering if they might exit Houston completely.

 

[TheBigA]

How about the guy in Virginia who wants to build a radio network further to the right of even Salem?

You may be talking about John Fredericks. He just bought an AM in Nashville

WRNO Nashville Flips To Talk As ‘760 The Flame.’

John Fredericks enters into an agreement to purchase WENO Nashville, TN from Broady Media Group for $325,000 and flips the station from gospel to talk as “760 The Flame,” under

www.insideradio.com

 

[Kelly A]

It won't be long before they'll be out of FM's to sell, stuck with white elephant/un-sellable AM's.

 

[Mark Roberts]

Share price alone does not show the value of a company. There are $10 shares that are more desirable than $100 shares because the underlying value is the perceived worth of the company divided by the total number of outstanding shares.

There are three times that share price matters. One is to maintain a listing on one of the large exchanges. One is at the time of stock issuance, when the capital raises goes directly to the company, with the Wall Street banks taking their cut, naturally. Most often it matters when executive compensation - i.e. bonuses - depends upon the stock price meeting certain targets. This was part of the gospel of alignment with shareholder interests. It distorts executive and board thinking and provides incentives to adopt short-term measures that may be adverse long-term.

I made enough money trading penny stocks on the Toronto Exchange as an early teen to build my own radio station in a large market at age 18. My best return was several thousand percent on Acme Petroleum, which I bought at less than a dime a share...

Petroleum is volatile, and not just in the chemical sense!

 

[Mark Roberts]

The problem Salem has is they own a lot of AMs, and EMF isn't really interested in AMs. They might get interest from VCY or Relevant Radio. But there aren't a lot of buyers for "lowly rated stations."

VCY doesn't seem much interested in AMs, either. Relevant has hit saturation in a lot of places.

The growth formats in the religious genres are music-oriented. Not the kind of thing you'd buy AMs for.

 

[Mark Roberts]

It won't be long before they'll be out of FM's to sell, stuck with white elephant/un-sellable AM's.

They've still got 94.7 in Denver (COL Lafayette), which has decent market coverage. I don't really know who would pick that up. iHeart is maxed out, Audacy's hunting for coins in the couch, so maybe Bonneville or Kroenke would be interested. But one suspects Salem would want more than either of those would be willing to pay.

 

[EricStein]

You may be talking about John Fredericks. He just bought an AM in Nashville

WRNO Nashville Flips To Talk As ‘760 The Flame.’

John Fredericks enters into an agreement to purchase WENO Nashville, TN from Broady Media Group for $325,000 and flips the station from gospel to talk as “760 The Flame,” under

www.insideradio.com

And loser signals at that. Maybe he'd like to trade up in some of the markets he operates in.

 

[lanceventa]

You may be talking about John Fredericks. He just bought an AM in Nashville

WRNO Nashville Flips To Talk As ‘760 The Flame.’

John Fredericks enters into an agreement to purchase WENO Nashville, TN from Broady Media Group for $325,000 and flips the station from gospel to talk as “760 The Flame,” under

www.insideradio.com

Fredericks is bottom-feeding at the moment. Most of his purchases are poor signals for low prices. But, the signal doesn't matter for his purposes. It's all about market clearances for his shows.

Nothing is really going to happen on the AM deal market until there is more clarity from the FCC whether the ownership caps will be modified. The growing expectation is that there will be some loosening of the restrictions on the AM band. That in particular could lead to a company like iHeart using it to grow their Black Information Network in markets they are capped in like Los Angeles and potentially launch a similar Hispanic network.

 

[Kelly A]

They've still got 94.7 in Denver (COL Lafayette), which has decent market coverage. I don't really know who would pick that up. iHeart is maxed out, Audacy's hunting for coins in the couch, so maybe Bonneville or Kroenke would be interested. But one suspects Salem would want more than either of those would be willing to pay.

Assuming anyone other than EMF has cash sitting around, nobody buys stations solely based on coverage. It's all about cashflow potential.
My point was; when the majority of your remaining stations are AM, your options for selling assets as a way to pay down debt become few. Not even the religious guys are interested in AM mainly because their sell-by date has long expired. Assuming they could find anyone, AM's would go for pennies on the dollar. Salem needs more than pennies.

 

[Kelly A]

Nothing is really going to happen on the AM deal market until there is more clarity from the FCC whether the ownership caps will be modified.

And honestly, any ownership cap changes come too little too late. Lenders aren't lending for traditional media deals, and everyone who knows anything about the business knows that there is no foreseeable future for AM stations.

The growing expectation is that there will be some loosening of the restrictions on the AM band. That in particular could lead to a company like iHeart using it to grow their Black Information Network in markets they are capped in like Los Angeles and potentially launch a similar Hispanic network.

BIN is a format to place on existing derelict AM stations that brings a PR and potentially some national ad dollars for stations left over from the Clear Channel days which still represent debt on the books. iHeart isn't so naive that they would either spend cash reserves or (God forbid) take on more debt to add some additional AM stations knowing full well that AM is circling the drain.

 

[EricStein]

Fredericks is bottom-feeding at the moment. Most of his purchases are poor signals for low prices. But, the signal doesn't matter for his purposes. It's all about market clearances for his shows.

Nothing is really going to happen on the AM deal market until there is more clarity from the FCC whether the ownership caps will be modified. The growing expectation is that there will be some loosening of the restrictions on the AM band. That in particular could lead to a company like iHeart using it to grow their Black Information Network in markets they are capped in like Los Angeles and potentially launch a similar Hispanic network.

I don't think his content is considered advertiser-friendly on a national level, unless its precious metals scammers, doomsday prepper supply houses, or far-right PACs, which is basically the type of advertisers Salem already gets on their talkers.