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Alaska Alaska First Media

U

umfan

radioinsight.com

Cliff Dumas Reacquires Alaska Holdings From Bankruptcy Receiver

Cliff Dumas' Alaska First Media is acquiring the nine stations and fourteen translators in Juneau, Ketchikan, and Sitka AK from
radioinsight.com radioinsight.com

The guy, Cliff Dumas, is kind of brilliant. Puts his radio holdings into receivership then reacquires them for 20 cents on the dollar for what the loan was. He clearly benefitted from a lack of other interest in the assets, and this is not the best way to do business, but it likely does keep these stations in operation.
 
Two points:

1) The lender decided that it was better to have these radio stations on the air than not; and
2) The lender will probably charge Mr. Dumas a higher interest rate if he wishes to borrow more money from it to either operate these stations or purchase others in the future.
 
ted chittenden said:
Two points:

1) The lender decided that it was better to have these radio stations on the air than not; and
2) The lender will probably charge Mr. Dumas a higher interest rate if he wishes to borrow more money from it to either operate these stations or purchase others in the future.
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I don't think the lender will touch him again or lend against radio assets. The lender could care less if the stations remain on the air. They wanted to recover as much of their loan as possible. Dumas just had little to no competition so he got the assets back for pennies on the dollar.
 
There is a super fine line between brilliant and foolhardy. In a couple years we will know which one he was. I suspect the reason nobody else bid on them is that nobody else could see a business case in these markets.
 
KilowattKat said:
What a portfolio of stations. He owns all of commercial radio in Southeast Alaska. Absolutely no competition.
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Think about local businesses trying to advertise their products and services. Outside of public radio sponsorships (and independent NPR affiliates are available in all of the markets in which Mr. Dumas operates), there will be nowhere else to go for commercial advertisements, meaning that Mr. Dumas can charge just about whatever ad rates he wants. It was this kind of power (though not in radio as that service hadn't come into being yet) that caused the U.S. Congress to pass first the Sherman (1889) and then Clayton (1914) antitrust acts.
 
hmm.. people who dont know much abut alaska or the companies talking like they know.

I cant say i have all the answers, but these stations have been paired together for ages. The Burns, aussie citizens who sold them to Dumas et al bought them from Alaska Broadcast Communications,

Most of the places they serve arent even 30,000 people. Theres operational effencies the stations probably share.. traffic/billing. Just liek the public radio stations in SE Alaska have shared services agreements in place between each others.

Theres alot of travel common between these places in SE Alaska, and it would be wise for Juneau busiesses to advertise on other stations and viceversa.
 
Yes, he has the whole pie, but is the pie big enough for him to make a go of it? For his sake, I hope so, but having spent time in SE AK I can tell you there is just not much there. Seasonal tourism and the state capital. About 50,000 people total in the three markets, and outside of the lobbyists not a ton of money at all. As someone who is still a believer in local radio, I hope he succeeds, but...
 
SomeRadioGuy said:
hmm.. people who dont know much abut alaska or the companies talking like they know.

I cant say i have all the answers, but these stations have been paired together for ages. The Burns, aussie citizens who sold them to Dumas et al bought them from Alaska Broadcast Communications,

Most of the places they serve arent even 30,000 people. Theres operational effencies the stations probably share.. traffic/billing. Just liek the public radio stations in SE Alaska have shared services agreements in place between each others.

Theres alot of travel common between these places in SE Alaska, and it would be wise for Juneau busiesses to advertise on other stations and viceversa.
Click to expand...
I didn't read one thing on here that contradicted what you wrote, so I'm a bit puzzled by some of your comment here.
 


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