Purely curiosity. I was listening to the OTA recording that got posted onto Youtube (and linked up-thread), but it has a lot of atmospheric noise and fading, so it was difficult to tell. I just wanted to ask someone who heard the cutover live, OTA at 12M firsthand. Thanks for the reply!
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No Sale Looming, ESPN 98.7 expected to pivot to Music
- Thread starter exdjted
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I would assume many a broadcaster have tried to fill perceived holes in various markets only to make the money pits even worse as well, like being sucked down into quicksand.
We should also point out that the last remaining connection between radio companies and the music business ended this year. Back in the 1930s, the major radio companies invested in something called BMI. The letters stand for Broadcast Music Incorporated. It was created as a competitor to ASCAP. For almost 90 years, the radio companies, including Audacy and iHeart, received dividends on their investment. BMI collected money when radio played music and paid it to the songwriters. At one time, the companies that owned NBC, CBS, and ABC also owned record labels. This year, BMI went private, and it bought back all the shares owned by radio companies. So now, radio companies have no connection to anything in the music business (although iHeart owns Mediabase, which tracks airplay of music). It's another end of an era moment. What I'm saying is that radio doesn't have a revenue stream connected to the playing of music. Unless that music attracts a big audience that can be sold for advertising, there is no direct financial motivation for radio companies to play music.
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K.M. Richards
Program Director, The Eighties Channel™
Pretty accurate metaphor there.
You may think that, but it really is the logical short-term solution.
We can already see the earliest signs of this affecting Audacy as the Soros investment form gains more shares and control. Two of their lowest hanging fruit current music stations got flipped to non-current music formats this summer and I doubt they’ll be the only ones to flip before this year is over. One of them, KRBZ, wasn’t even doing that bad in the beauty contest ratings, which should be a huge alarm klaxon. The bar to be a viable current music station likely just rose by a significant margin, and I could easily see a rapid-fire domino effect like what happened with the consolidation in the 90’s. By the end of the decade it’s quite conceivable current music radio will be a shadow of what it is now and the music industry will be mostly reliant on the most fickle of audiences - the public directly via Spotify, Apple Music, TikTok, etc. for hits. What will remain will be non-music stations and classic music that will be on a ticking clock before their viability is lost.
It was a minute of dead air from midnight to 12:01 AM, then a legal ID with the new calls, and an abrupt join of the ESPN feed... which is about 10 seconds sooner on 880 AM than it is on 98.7 FM.
K.M. Richards
Program Director, The Eighties Channel™
Decisions are not generally made in radio by stockholder mandates or directives, unless said stockholder has a controlling interest in the company. There is likely a considerable amount of financial detail in the Audacy flips you refer to than what we know, and I'd want to see the demo breakouts for a year or more before suggesting what the reasons were. As you point out, the 6+ PPM/12+ diary numbers are little more than a beauty contest, released by Nielsen to the public as a PR move.
The bankruptcy has not been approved, and nobody from Soros has any representation on the board. Those decisions had nothing to do with him.
Right now there are politicians trying to prevent any investment from Soros to take effect.
K.M. Richards
Program Director, The Eighties Channel™
It sounds to me like all of you guys were listening via different streams, etc.
Personally, I'm amazed that the handoff went as relatively smooth as it did.
I am not so sure I agree on your last point. That said, I definitely hope you are correct!
I understand. I was under the impression that the Soros firm was already making some decisions due to well-publicized reports of shares being purchased by the firm. Wasn’t trying to mislead or cause a sensationalist panic.
It sounds like the Soros impact on Audacy's day to day operations is greatly exaggerated.
The bankruptcy has not received any approval by the FCC. Soros's group (not himself) is not yet involved in any form. Anyone saying he is involved in misinformed, not exaggerating.
David Field and the management team in place are still calling the shots. Until FCC approval is granted, nothing changes.
With all due respect, as I understand it, the Soros Group's intention has not been to buy shares of Audacy until they held a controlling interest, and then could take it over. (I doubt there are enough shares available on the public market to accomplish this anyway.)
Instead, Soros has been buying up Audacy debt. Their junk bonds, or delinquent loans, or private placement paper. IDK exactly the nature of the debt, but they were reported to have been acquiring enough of it so that, when the bankruptcy is finalized and the debtholders become the primary stockholders of a new issue (call it "NewAudacy") stock, Soros will be in enough of a position to have representation on the NewAudacy board and have a say in the future direction of the company. That will probably not be enough to control NewAudacy, but if Soros can cut deals to acquire shares from other debtholders-turned-stockholders, it is possible down the road.
Or he may take his profit (if there is one) and run. Time will tell.
That was pre-bankruptcy. All that debt is getting converted into equity in to restructuring. Soros' fund will be the controlling shareholder of post-Chapter 11 Audacy.
Soros Fund Management Preparing To Become Audacy’s Largest Shareholder
As Audacy's pre-packaged Chapter 11 proceedings continue, court filings have revealed that Soros Fund Management will be the largest shareholder
radioinsight.com
Bankruptcy Court Approves Audacy’s Chapter 11 Restructuring Plan – RadioInsight
The United States Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of Texas has approved Audacy’s Plan of Reorganization allowing it to exit Chapter 11 bankruptcy proceedings upon approval from the FCC. The approved plan will see Audacy cut its debt from approximately $1.9 billion to approximately...
radioinsight.com
K.M. Richards
Program Director, The Eighties Channel™
From RBR-TVBR's afternoon e-mail, no further info given:
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