• Get involved.
    We want your input!
    Apply for Membership and join the conversations about everything related to broadcasting.

    After we receive your registration, a moderator will review it. After your registration is approved, you will be permitted to post.
    If you use a disposable or false email address, your registration will be rejected.

    After your membership is approved, please take a minute to tell us a little bit about yourself.
    https://www.radiodiscussions.com/forums/introduce-yourself.1088/

    Thanks in advance and have fun!
    RadioDiscussions Administrators

Audacy/Cumulus Rumors

MarkW said:
Sorry for the mix-up.

I knew it was Sports now but had forgotten those iconic call letters were tossed aside. Old habits are tough to break. :)
Click to expand...
The KFOG calls are actually on an AM in Little Rock, famous for its marine climate. Quite a DA-2 that one has, too; I wonder when it will get sent to the glue factory.
 
Theater of My Mind said:
Now that's an interesting development. Do we know what the company plans to do with its digital presence instead? Outsourcing to a third-party or syndicated provider?
Click to expand...

In previous cuts, digital seemed to always get spared, though Audacy began cutting there, too, a layoff or two ago. Same at Cumulus. A friend of mine was disappointed to be transferred to the digital division until he suddenly realized it was the only unit that didn’t get cut. His luck also ran out fairly recently.
 
MarkW said:
I could see a scenario where Cumulus and Audacy execute a multi-market deal where Audacy acquires the stations it is able to acquire pursuant to existing ownership regulations, and then receives a right of first refusal of the remaining large/major market stations that expires after some duration of time.
Click to expand...

Where does the money come from to do all of the deals in your post?
 
Kent said:
In previous cuts, digital seemed to always get spared, though Audacy began cutting there, too, a layoff or two ago. Same at Cumulus. A friend of mine was disappointed to be transferred to the digital division until he suddenly realized it was the only unit that didn’t get cut. His luck also ran out fairly recently.
Click to expand...

Because in most companies, digital is a profit center. Not at Audacy. The new money at Cumulus is in podcasting. I never thought I'd say this but Cumulus is ahead of Audacy in digital. Neither is close to Townsquare or iHeart.
 
Jean Luc said:
The worst thing to happen to radio news is the obsession with sound bites. Radio news used to be about good writing but that ended when Paul Harvey stopped breathing.
Click to expand...

Except that Harvey wasn't a reporter. He was a reader. He just did rewrites of UPI and AP copy. Once again, the original writing is at NPR. Their editorial process is focused on the writing, augmented by sound. It's what they do. The Audacy news stations have Writers Guild members overseeing the editorial side. I don't know if that makes them better, but they have people who are dedicated to the writing process and nothing else.
 
TheBigA said:
Where does the money come from to do all of the deals in your post?
Click to expand...
Very fair point. In the case of the theoretical deals involving Audacy, perhaps Cumulus could be compensated by receiving an equity stake in Audacy. This would be dilutive to the stake currently held by the Soros-affiliated Fund for Policy Reform, which perhaps the FCC would view favorably.
 
MarkW said:
Very fair point. In the case of the theoretical deals involving Audacy, perhaps Cumulus could be compensated by receiving an equity stake in Audacy. This would be dilutive to the stake currently held by the Soros-affiliated Fund for Policy Reform, which perhaps the FCC would view favorably.
Click to expand...

Didn't Audacy try to do that before and it was shot down by Audacy's existing equity holders? Seems like they would require some compensation.
 
lanceventa said:
If this deal happens, and at this moment I put it at 70/30, it's going to be a straight merger. No cash exchanging hands other than in potential divestitures (although I'm already hearing of possible swaps there too). Just two companies combing into one...
Click to expand...

So putting this together with your previous opinion, how will this consolidation make up for poor business decisions?

Clearly these are two companies that are each losing money. Neither of them are well run. How will this make them stronger?

Then they need to somehow get this approved by Carr and an administration that hates big media.
 
If SBS had successfully sold Mega TV, they'd likely make a bid for Chicago and maybe Dallas. Double up in growing Texas and put WLEY on a good signal.
 
TheBigA said:
So putting this together with your previous opinion, how will this consolidation make up for poor business decisions?

Clearly these are two companies that are each losing money. Neither of them are well run. How will this make them stronger?
Click to expand...
It's going to wind up being another Penn Central-type disaster where the company files for bankruptcy 2 1/2 years after the merger is completed. Penn Central was done in because it was a company that ran on a totally outdated business model (commerical passenger rail service in 1969) and the corporate cultures of the combined companies were a total mismatch.

Thing is, there's really no other option either company here has at this point. Either merge into each other and implode, or stand pat and implode. They're companies built on sand.
 
TheBigA said:
Because in most companies, digital is a profit center. Not at Audacy. The new money at Cumulus is in podcasting. I never thought I'd say this but Cumulus is ahead of Audacy in digital. Neither is close to Townsquare or iHeart.
Click to expand...
Didn’t Audacy just open a new podcast studio? Or just start a new venture in podcasting?
 
Jean Luc said:
Newspapers have been folding or have been merged into other papers for 150 years or more. The only difference is today there are better ways to disseminate news than dead trees. But nobody is picking up newspapers' other function: Gathering news. Radio and TV have only disseminate news that somebody has handed too them. They only sometimes gathered news when they hired newspaper men. Now newspapers have also pretty much dropped out of actual news gathering. News is press releases, news conferences, briefings, speeches, events - news is only what someone wants you to know.
Click to expand...
Most modern news is just releases from the authorities. My local paper is full of "the police have caught a criminal" stuff, sent to the media by the police - good for them, but isn't that literally just someone doing their day-to-day job that they're paid to do from taxes? We're conditioned to believe that stuff is newsworthy, but is it really? What next - "teacher teaches class the multiplication tables"?

A side effect of this type of "news" is that we're increasingly believing our areas are less safe than they really are, because all we read about our neighborhoods is crime crap and car crashes. What we're not getting is useful information that can impact our day-to-day lives and help us participate in civic society. So some store got robbed - bad for the store owner, but for me ten miles away, so what? It's not something that is going to impact on me at all. We need more news that is going to help us live our lives better and understand each other more.
 
lanceventa said:
There is so much over-thinking in this thread...

If this deal happens, and at this moment I put it at 70/30, it's going to be a straight merger. No cash exchanging hands other than in potential divestitures (although I'm already hearing of possible swaps there too). Just two companies combing into one...
Click to expand...
I'm not convinced it'll be a straight merger but that is certainly a possibility. I do agree any partnership or transaction between the two is likely to be (mostly) non-cash.

Audacy would need to borrow incremental debt or would need to successfully complete a new cash equity raise for any such transaction to have a large cash consideration component, and I think either of those two scenarios would be difficult to complete. The only guy willing to throw cash at such a transaction is probably the 5 Hour Energy guy.

An acquisition of Cumulus is something I would not rule out. The main question for this scenario is would it occur out of court, or would it occur by Cumulus entering chapter 11 w/ Audacy as a stalking horse section 363 bidder? This route might make sense if there is a desire to reject certain executory contracts (e.g. real estate leases, tower leases, content agreements).

Would a combined company be publicly traded? I'm thinking yes. It'll be easier for those stakeholders who received stock as part of Audacy's bankruptcy, who might not wish to stick around, to unload their shares that way.
 
Last edited:


Back
Top Bottom