Add to that the stock is trading at 22 cents. It's up 3% today on the news. They really needed to do something.
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Salem sells it's CCM stations to EMF
- Thread starter NYAZSporty
- Start date
Add to that the stock is trading at 22 cents. It's up 3% today on the news. They really needed to do something.
Hopefully it doesn’t start trading at pennies from heaven
It's the other way around, actually: Salem's better AM signals in most markets carry the Christian talk/teaching programing (e.g.: WMCA in New York and WFIL in Philadelphia, both 5kw, non-directional) and the lesser ones are the conservative talkers (e.g. WNYM in NYC and WNTP in Philly, both directional 50kw-ers that power down at night).
The edit window ran out, hence this separate post.
Furthermore...I'm a Salem employee on the East Coast, in a non-CCM market not impacted by the deal with EMF. I was on the Zoom call when Dave Santrella made the announcements Monday afternoon. In my market there had been rumours for a while that WABC owner Red Apple Media was going to buy some of the Salem news/talk outlets–or at least WNYM in New York (Red Apple also happens to buy time on WNYM, along with WNTP in Philadelphia and WWRC in Washington). That's what some of us were expecting to hear. Thankfully that wasn't the case, but nevertheless to hear Salem is jettisoning their revenue-generating CCM stations to their main competitor was both surprising and unsettling. Santrella paused for several seconds after dropping that bomb. He didn't mention it, but we all knew why. It was the reality that many talented people will be out of work come Feb. 1 because EMF will not retain any local staff or programing on those seven stations.
My overall take, with all of the emphasis on digital content, is that this new "strategic partnership" with WaterStone as an investor is going to primarily benefit the Salem News Channel. The company is committed to it full-throttle, but it is one of many in a cacophony of indistinguishable far-right opinion outlets (Salem was way late entering the game in that respect). It has also been a significant drain on the company's resources.
What Monday's news did not change is the long-term outlook of the terrestrial AMs. They may have been given a lifeline (which Santrella credited to "the grace of God") but they are still living on borrowed time. The reasons for that are many. Salem will no doubt be revisiting this matter in a few years.
Furthermore...I'm a Salem employee on the East Coast, in a non-CCM market not impacted by the deal with EMF. I was on the Zoom call when Dave Santrella made the announcements Monday afternoon. In my market there had been rumours for a while that WABC owner Red Apple Media was going to buy some of the Salem news/talk outlets–or at least WNYM in New York (Red Apple also happens to buy time on WNYM, along with WNTP in Philadelphia and WWRC in Washington). That's what some of us were expecting to hear. Thankfully that wasn't the case, but nevertheless to hear Salem is jettisoning their revenue-generating CCM stations to their main competitor was both surprising and unsettling. Santrella paused for several seconds after dropping that bomb. He didn't mention it, but we all knew why. It was the reality that many talented people will be out of work come Feb. 1 because EMF will not retain any local staff or programing on those seven stations.
My overall take, with all of the emphasis on digital content, is that this new "strategic partnership" with WaterStone as an investor is going to primarily benefit the Salem News Channel. The company is committed to it full-throttle, but it is one of many in a cacophony of indistinguishable far-right opinion outlets (Salem was way late entering the game in that respect). It has also been a significant drain on the company's resources.
What Monday's news did not change is the long-term outlook of the terrestrial AMs. They may have been given a lifeline (which Santrella credited to "the grace of God") but they are still living on borrowed time. The reasons for that are many. Salem will no doubt be revisiting this matter in a few years.
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WMCA is very directional. That and its lower power were much of why they dropped top 40 decades ago.
Maybe. But WaterStone is very heavily interested in the faith-based programming, not so much political talk.
More info, not paywalled for me:
rbr.com
rbr.com
A Strategic Investment In Salem From A ‘Faith and Finance’ Firm | Radio & Television Business Report
Led by CEO Ken Harrison, Waterstone has made its mark with Christian-themed charity groups through grants and fundraising. Now, it is a major shareholder of publicly traded Salem Media Group.
rbr.com
EMF ‘To Carry The Torch’ As Salem Sheds CCM | Radio & Television Business Report
WFSH"104.7 The Fish" has been a ratings winner for Salem Media Group, which arrived in Atlanta in August 2000 thanks to an asset swap with Cox Media Group. Now, Salem is making a strategic move that strengthens its finances by parting ways with not only this CCM-focused FM, but all of its other...
rbr.com
Yeah, that's the way is it in Seattle. KGNW 820 has a fairly big signal, and is Christian teaching / talk, whereas their conservative talker, KOL 1300, is a smaller signal (although recently improved from what it was a decade ago).
A question I have is if Salem is closing its Today's Christian Music network what will happen with the non-Salem owned stations that use it? Also I know Salem has WPIT in Pittsburgh, which carries programs in the daytime and classic CCM at nights and weekends and I listen to online occasionaly?
An additional news item in this transaction: Salem is adding Richard von Gnechten of WaterStone, and former Ohio Congressman Jim Renacci to its board of directors.
My understanding from people who know people "TCM" is history end of month.
So I take it that the non-Salem owned stations will have to either work with another network or come up with their own programming.
Are there any other syndicators with a 24/7 CCM format similar to what Salem provided?
There are some voice trackers and chrstn fm from vero beach has a service but the todays christian music feed is a total feed around for years before salem bought it
there is gonna be some shake ups nation wide. a number of stations use salems tcm network which turned into using many fish atlanta personalities . its gonna be interesting to see what happens as salems 25 years in christian music ends by the end of month
That would be correct.
The only one that I know off the top of my head is "Christian FM" based out of WSCF-FM in Florida - they offer syndicated content/voice tracking/24/7 format through the STORQ Automation System.
If a radio station wants to run a format local - there are quite a few freelance Christian CCM voice-trackers out there heard on multiple stations.
The plans for the transition are set with it taking place on February 1st as KBIQ (Colorado Springs), KLTY (Dallas), KKFS (Sacramento), & WFHM (Cleveland) will go to K-Love while KFIS (Portland), WFSH (Atlanta), & KFSH (O.C./Los Angeles) will go to Air1. K-Love Sets Plans For Salem Acquisitions
The article also hints at another KLove deal to pick up more signals from a company they have made deals with before. Im guessing Cumulus. All deals with Iheart have just involved translators. I just know the big cities not covered do not have stations owned by cumulus.
i would assume current klove in colorado springs on 103.1 and 106.9 will go air 1
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