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Buffalo Cumulus Bankruptcy V2

Who would "give radio back to the people?" The FCC? Look at Buddy Shula. Nobody "gave" him WECK. He bought it will his own money.

There are hundreds of radio stations available for people to buy right now. Including you. Figure out a way to fund your ideas. Don't want for somebody to give it to you.
And WUSW ;….stay tuned
 
You should have seen the reactions my Dad got when he sold 6 hours on Saturday mornings to a Hispanic bar owner to play Regional Mexican in the heart of the orange groves in Central Florida. Some advertisers never bought from us again. Not surprising, but disappointing. He never missed a payment, and Dad eventually sold the AM to him when he built his FM.

Just for the record, I am Puerto Rican. My mom born in San Juan. It is a beautiful place.

To David’s point, no person should judge another. Like the great Hank Williams said “ You don’t know what it is like to walk in that man’s shoes….these men with broken hearts”
 
Local radio requires local revenue unless you are in a big market with agency buys.

Local revenue requires local advertisers. Walmart and most of the national brands don't buy local radio. Local "Main Street" business has not disappeared, but it is vastly less than it was 30 to 40 years ago.
One of the problems is that Walmart and many other big box stores don't buy local radio. How many downtowns in smaller and even some mid-sized markets have been decimated by Walmart moving in and driving local retailers out of business? Throw in Amazon and other online retailers and you get an even bigger hit to local businesses. It's tough to spend money on advertising when you're worried about paying rent, salaries, and taxes. Add cheap online advertising on social media and it's easy to see why local newspapers, radio, and TV are seeing major drops in advertising dollars. Expanding into digital, events, and other NTR projects is the only way to survive.
 
My great-nephew and great-niece are one-half Puerto Rican. Growing up the Bootheel of Missouri I had seen overt racism, but this was the first time I was so close to it and saw the economic fallout first-hand. Bless my Dad's heart, he just shook his head and went on with business as usual. He did make it a point to offer special deals to competitors of those businesses that decided to drop us...
 
One of the problems is that Walmart and many other big box stores don't buy local radio. How many downtowns in smaller and even some mid-sized markets have been decimated by Walmart moving in and driving local retailers out of business? Throw in Amazon and other online retailers and you get an even bigger hit to local businesses. It's tough to spend money on advertising when you're worried about paying rent, salaries, and taxes. Add cheap online advertising on social media and it's easy to see why local newspapers, radio, and TV are seeing major drops in advertising dollars. Expanding into digital, events, and other NTR projects is the only way to survive.
The other media killer is the mega car dealers. Here in Buffalo, West Herr is buying up most of the independents and with that, of course, they don’t spend what the indies spent. Net car dealer spends are cratering.
 
The other media killer is the mega car dealers. Here in Buffalo, West Herr is buying up most of the independents and with that, of course, they don’t spend what the indies spent. Net car dealer spends are cratering.

What I'm seeing nationally is that the automobile category for radio is mainly for parts and service. Rarely for new cars. I was in a meeting with a Ford rep, who said "people don't buy what they can't see." So a lot of the new car ads are going to digital, because they can provide video tours of the vehicle. Personally that's how I bought my last car. I used Cars.com to shop for the specific car, and then went to the dealer to buy.
 
Just for the record, I am Puerto Rican. My mom born in San Juan. It is a beautiful place.
Interesting sidebar. I have three Puerto Rican daughters and, since that was where I had the longest career episode, think of myself as an "adopted" Puerto Rican myself.
To David’s point, no person should judge another. Like the great Hank Williams said “ You don’t know what it is like to walk in that man’s shoes….these men with broken hearts”
Great quote. Great song. Great singer.
 
What I'm seeing nationally is that the automobile category for radio is mainly for parts and service. Rarely for new cars. I was in a meeting with a Ford rep, who said "people don't buy what they can't see." So a lot of the new car ads are going to digital, because they can provide video tours of the vehicle. Personally that's how I bought my last car. I used Cars.com to shop for the specific car, and then went to the dealer to buy.
Not only that... websites for dealers often offer an array of photos of the different perspectives of the interior and exterior of each car, and sometimes even a video. You can look at different models without wandering around different lots in the rain, snow, cold or heat with an annoying salesperson. Add in the even better sites from manufacturers where you can compare models and accessories, and those 60" radio ads are less attractive.
 
Once again, there's nothing stopping anyone who appreciates radio as a passion project from buying a station

Somebody has to first own the station. Otherwise you get what you have now. It starts with the owners.
I'm noticing on Source: deal digest, every Thursday, the transactions indicate more companies are exiting and first time owners are entering the business
 
The only thing I can shed some light on with this is that buying a radio station is the easy part. Just get some investors or bank,

By far, the hardest part is running the station.

You are seeing stations collapse because they did not run the business right

So I a wanna be owner wants a station, they can probably get one with a lot of due diligence, however a station that cost $0 can put you into bankruptcy quickly if it is not run correctly
 
Somebody still has to create awareness of dealerships, especially competing for brand business. There have been so many changes in who owns what these days that some dealerships that people are used to dealing with are no longer under the same owners. Your "guy" (or gal) may be working under a different owner these days. New owners like Maguire have come into the market, and establishing themselves is key. Billy Fucillo got that, for better or worse. Whoever advertises most effectively will likely be top of mind when people start looking. On top of that, buying a car is just the start. Dealers who provide better, and fairer service are key to repeat business.
 
Somebody still has to create awareness of dealerships, especially competing for brand business. There have been so many changes in who owns what these days that some dealerships that people are used to dealing with are no longer under the same owners. Your "guy" (or gal) may be working under a different owner these days. New owners like Maguire have come into the market, and establishing themselves is key. Billy Fucillo got that, for better or worse. Whoever advertises most effectively will likely be top of mind when people start looking. On top of that, buying a car is just the start. Dealers who provide better, and fairer service are key to repeat business.
Yep. Annoying as Billy's ads were(on TV at least), at least you KNEW his dealerships existed. West Herr's in the same place Fucillo is now. I will add that Maguire does run radio ads, but they're not as prominent on TV as yet.
 
this is the weekly fcc transaction page

This is cool. I see I am in the Feb 19th edition for the sale of WKEY to Magnum Broadcasting. The new owner is a great guy and friend.

With upcoming stuff in Buffalo, this is where my focus needs to be, and I am ready for it.

I am glad I sold the station to a passionate broadcaster like Michael Stapleford and his wife Dianna.
 


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