Not only were the Waterman stations billing really well, but the deal included real estate. Their tower site alone sits on a large chunk of land in an area that is rapidly developing.
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Fort Myers Beasley selling 5 Fort Myers stations?
- Thread starter BoboKnight
- Start date
Not only were the Waterman stations billing really well, but the deal included real estate. Their tower site alone sits on a large chunk of land in an area that is rapidly developing.
Add one more station to the mix. This time a TV station. Sun has angreed to buy the Fox affiliate in Ft. Myers.
www.ftvlive.com
Just In: Scripps Selling Off Another Station — FTVLive
Scripps sells station to in market competitor…
www.ftvlive.com
Expect that deal to get rubber stamped by Carr and Trusty just like they'll rubber stamp the Beasley deal.Add one more station to the mix. This time a TV station. Sun has angreed to buy the Fox affiliate in Ft. Myers.
Just In: Scripps Selling Off Another Station — FTVLive
Scripps sells station to in market competitor…
The McBrides now are poised to have a near-total monopoly on information dissemination in Fort Myers. It's only a matter of time before Hearst bails and offloads WBBH-WZVN, taking a major financial bath in the process.
All the sales (Beasley to Sun, Beasley to FMB, and Scripps to Sun) mentioned in this thread have been approved by the FCC.
radioinsight.com
FCC Approves Ownership Cap Waivers In Fort Myers
The FCC has granted its first two waivers to surpass the current ownership caps with the approval of Beasley Media
radioinsight.com
Interesting.
The stations still have Beasley’s contact/copyright information on them. Sun’s website hasn’t been updated to include the stations but they’ve been removed from Beasley’s.
I don’t believe Fort Myers Broadcasting has a website.
K.M. Richards
Program Director, The Eighties Channel™
One word of explanation: Consummation.
More specifically, until the notice of same is filed with the FCC we do not know the actual date of the ownership transfer.
The consummation was filed earlier this week. Deal's done and closed. Very easy to look up.
But, Sun and FMBC are in the process of moving all of their new and existing properties into a new facility this week. Transferring a website is lower on their to-do list.
And as someone who builds station websites... Beasley's sites are on a corporate template. Not as easy to change a standardized footer used for dozens of stations for a couple while on the Beasley platform.
K.M. Richards
Program Director, The Eighties Channel™
I admit that I was trying to give a quick answer and did not check to see if it was filed.
What I find amazing, actually, is that some people think changing the website should be the very first thing a station does after changing ownership. Rationally (and having been involved in moving station facilities twice in my career), one should consider that staying on the air with normal programming is going to be right at the top of the list under these circumstances.
I actually thought about saying that originally, but I didn't want to look like I was calling the OP stupid for not thinking of that.
I think that is another point few consider. I've built my share of websites since the Internet became "a thing" which means that -- like you -- I probably have close to 30 years' experience in it. I have to wonder how many people here who are quick to post critiques even know basic HTML code ...
My thought was the attorneys would want all the references to Beasley removed ASAP as it’s a trademark and not involved in the purchase. I wouldn’t expect wholesale website changes for a while.
On the few business acquisitions all non media) I’ve been involved in, we’ve always updated the copyright information and scrubbed prior ownership info on the website ASAP.
In a perfect world, that is what you'd want. But when you're talking about large corporations and siphoning off singular assets that's simply not feasible.
Think of it like this... You own a restaurant chain with a hundred or so locations. You sell eight locations to another chain. They're not going to be able to update the signage, menus, marketing materials the second the deal closes so there will be some time when properties that you no longer own are still operating as if they are.
No. You’re right. I didn’t realize until now they have a transition services agreement in place for 6 months (at least Sun does for the radio stations they purchased).
FWIW: I would expect similar in your restaurant example.
99.3 La Raza? Though while listening to the Regional Mexican format, it had zero commercials. I was able to hear the filler music and remaining break time notices of the syndicated morning show.
Doubt it. The stunting playlist sounds like they're going for the bilingual Magic format. If so, they might actually keep the Javier Romero morning show, which is compatible with an AC format.
I wouldn't see the point of competing with Magic if they already own WINK-FM. That would hurt them.
I will go ahead and make a format change prediction. After this stunting to redirect listeners to the 95.7 (Naples), and 97.3 (Ft. Myers) translator combo, the station flips to Alternative, the only format hole in the market. 93.7 (then WXNX), was a successful Alternative station from 2013-2020 known as 93X.
The question is: did Alternative get ad-money in SWFL? If 93X was so successful, you'd think that the competition at Renda or iHeart would've flipped immediately to get a winning format that didn't get competition from the Sun/FMBC beast. Though, I don't know much about the Ft. Myers market and I'm probably wrong about my guess.
K.M. Richards
Program Director, The Eighties Channel™
You ask the key question that radiofans outside the business don't. They don't even think of that question, because to their mindset, "successful" means "played the music I wanted to hear".
Unless our friend @Dan Gorby can show us some experience in the business -- which I sincerely doubt, since he's been here for over ten years and has posted a total of nine times ... none of the pros can restrain themselves to less than one post per year -- I have to presume he has that mindset and definition.
He is, of course, welcome to rebut me with facts about the station's commercial viability, including whether or not that was a factor in its demise in 2020, provided he has access to any such facts.