Audacy/Cumulus Rumors

[Miss Tuned]

I tend to agree a lot of these signals are challenging at best, to operate.

But I never underestimate the fact that there's people with money who sometimes do things you don't expect.

Case in point, Civic Media in Wisconsin. Did anyone see that coming? Check out what they're buying and putting into those stations. Either someone loves radio and doesn't mind losing money, or there's some strategy that works for them.

Isn't Civic Media funded by Sage Weil, a rich tech guy? I can't deny that he's putting a lot of money into local radio, but is there any return? The key question is - does there need to be any return?

Is the future of radio partly stations being funded by people who have the money from other business interests and just want to do radio because they care about radio, and is there anything wrong with that? A lot of sports has operated on that basis for years.

 

[JJSPC]

The music stations Civic owns are the only ones that potentially could be making any money. Their liberal talk network has almost zero paid advertising and runs promos and PSA's to fill breaks. It's more about Sage Weil being able to promote His ideology.

 

[Delete My Account]

That's the question. I don't know how his stations perform, but even tech millionaires don't generally stay that way being stupid and he's investing in rebuilding some of these really small market stations. So he must have some idea, or enough money that it doesn't matter. I've no inside knowledge of it.

I wouldn't call what they do "liberal talk" per se, it's just that everything is so polarized on the other talk stations that even moderates appear liberal I suppose. Either way, there's either a sales plan or he's got enough revenue off the music stations to keep it going I guess.

 

[TheBigA]

Is the future of radio partly stations being funded by people who have the money from other business interests and just want to do radio because they care about radio, and is there anything wrong with that?

Or they want to push an agenda, as in religion. But yes. Nobody's buying radio as an investment. That train stopped 20 years ago.

 

[Mediafrog+]

More Audacy layoffs: Audacy Conducting Layoffs Today

 

[FreddyE1977]

It's a public company that operates in private. Running a radio station isn't a reality TV show where people vote.

Though it would probably be a darned entertaining one should somebody wish to try that.

 

[Delete My Account]

I've often thought a good gimmick would be to bring back the "next star" competitions for the internet age, back in the day stations would have promotions where people could audition to be a DJ or talk show host. A few times they actually found talent, I think KMPC in LA in their talk days did. KXNA, a modern rock station in Northwest Arkansas found their midday jock the same way recently.

 

[TheBigA]

More Audacy layoffs: Audacy Conducting Layoffs Today

My view is the Audacy layoffs aren't related to the rumors in this thread, but more to the new management and the end of the bankruptcy process.

 

[Mediafrog+]

It's a public company that operates in private. Running a radio station isn't a reality TV show where people vote.

Though it would probably be a darned entertaining one should somebody wish to try that.

On the Seth MacFarlane series The Orville, the season one, episode seven “Majority Rule” deals with the crew landing on a planet where literally everything is decided by social media upvotes and downvotes, and shows how hidden forces manipulate the system. One of the best entries in the series, quite relevant today.

Scroll down for a fuller episode description: The Orville season 1 - Wikipedia

 

[Jean Luc]

The problem is that those “journalists” want further funding but don’t realize that the general business model of newspapers is a failed one. While the New York Times seems to be profitable via a collection of its online paper and a variety of subsidiary or ancillary products, practically no other paper is financially happy now.

The writers and reporters need to be… must be… prepared for further and considerable changes in how their profenssion works. They can not expect to do the same-old-thing over and over again and expect a better or different outcome.

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.

 

[davideduardo]

Newspapers have been folding or have been merged into other papers for 150 years or more.

Yes, papers bought out failing or distressed competitors going back to the 1800's. But in those pre-television days, many large cities had a number of papers and, generally, more than they could support. Even tiny Traverse City, MI, had the Record and the Eagle. They merged, as two papers could not survive there.

But with the advent of strong evening newscasts on TV, most markets lost their evening papers. For example, The Cleveland Press and The Cleveland News died, leaving the morning Plain Dealer alone in the market.

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.

Not true. I have worked with radio stations with large news staffs.

In Puerto Rico, I converted a music station, WUNO, into NotiUno and we had a staff of writers and reporters and bunch of stringers. Later, at another news station, WKAQ, we had a history of news going back to the 1930's and a significant staff. In Argentina at Radio 10, we had a news gathering and writing staff of over 20 just for the morning block, not including the 7-person panel who were on the air.

The news and talk station I created in the Dominican Republic in 1986 has news shows that outrate the top TV stations even now, after nearly 40 years.

They only sometimes gathered news when they hired newspaper men.

I never hired print-background journalists, writers and reporters. I preferred training the staff to do radio. I was not alone in this, but just use my examples as I can't speak for others

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.

That is not true at all. Even where I am, outside a top 100 market, the newspaper has a staff of reporters and writers and does multiple in-depth stories each week. Right now they are doing a series about the huge rare earth deposits near our Salton Sea and the prospects of getting employment opportunities in the poorest county in California.

 

[TheBigA]

News is press releases, news conferences, briefings, speeches, events - news is only what someone wants you to know.

There is actual enterprise reporting being done if you look for it. This thread is about Audacy and they own several all news radio stations in major markets with actual field reporters that cover stories that go beyond the press release. Of course NPR stations also do a lot of field reporting, and they offer a training program for their affiliates that are wanting to expand news gathering.

 

[Theater of My Mind]

Lance reports on @radioinsight:

We’re told that the majority if not all of the company’s national digital content team has been eliminated in the cuts.

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?

Audacy just "sold" the radio.com domain. Is there some connection there?

 

[TheBigA]

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?

They announced this a few weeks ago. Don't know if it's related:

Audacy Expands Podcast Sales and Distribution Partnership With CBS to Include News and Entertainment Portfolio | Audacy Inc.

PHILADELPHIA, PA – February 27, 2025 – Audacy has expanded its exclusive, multi-year sales and distribution partnership with CBS – through its Audacy

audacyinc.com

The Audacy station sites are awful. Losing their national content team isn't much of a loss. The stations do all the work.

The Audacy national template is also awful. Looks like the 1990s.

 

[Jean Luc]

There is actual enterprise reporting being done if you look for it. This thread is about Audacy and they own several all news radio stations in major markets with actual field reporters that cover stories that go beyond the press release. Of course NPR stations also do a lot of field reporting, and they offer a training program for their affiliates that are wanting to expand news gathering.

Not from what I have heard. Sure, they send reporters out in the field and when they get there they regurgitate the press release or the wire story. Often they are in the field when nothing is happening. Getting sound bites from man on the street interviews doesn't qualify as "enterprise reporting." Radio news is not about reporting, it's about appearing to do reporting. 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.

 

[MarkW]

My view is the Audacy layoffs aren't related to the rumors in this thread, but more to the new management and the end of the bankruptcy process.

100% agreed.

In terms of Cumulus, I suspect the Board is evaluating strategic options. Some possibilities:
- San Francisco: I think Cumulus wants out. The fact they are now roommates, so to speak, with Bonneville suggests to me something is brewing there. Perhaps Bonneville wants KSAN and KFOG and is willing to unload either KUFX or KBLX?
- Houston: Audacy is an obvious candidate to purchase KRBE.
- Atlanta: A mixed bag of Audacy, Urban One and religious broadcasters, perhaps?
- Minneapolis: Audacy only owns 2 full power FMs there right now. I could see them acquiring KQRS and KXXR plus the 105.7 FM portion of what is currently the Love FM trimulcast. (105.7 could then be repurposed to simulcast AM 830 WCCO full-time.)
- Detroit: Audacy owns 4 full power FMs here. Cumulus' lone remaining FM is 96.3 WDVD, and it also owns 760 WJR. I could see Audacy acquiring WDVD and dumping it to give Newsradio WWJ an FM home. I would be surprised if Audacy would have any interest in WJR, though.
- Boston (Worcester): Audacy acquires WXLO and changes it to either a simulcast of Mix 104.1 or a simulcast of WEEI-FM. 100.1 The Pike and the crappy WORC-FM signals are sold to someone else or yanked off the air.
- Chicago: Hubbard would be the most likely suitor here but I would not rule out Good Karma.
- Nashville: Audacy acquires all of Cumulus' Nashville properties.
- Washington, DC: Either Audacy, Hubbard or the newly de-levered Salem acquire WMAL-FM. I think Salem could be the most likely buyer of those three.
- Dallas: No idea. Perhaps some bartering with Urban One that would result in Cumulus acquiring Urban One properties elsewhere, which in turn could be flipped for re-sale? Both Audacy and iHM are maxed out.
- Kansas City: Maybe iHeartRadio or Hubbard might want to enter this market? Summit is another possibility perhaps.
- Salt Lake City: An existing owner looking to trade rimshooters for in-market blowtorches perhaps would be interested. Broadway Media, for example? (I assume Bonneville is already maxed out here since this is its home market.)
- Oklahoma City: No idea.
- Buffalo: No idea.
- Cincinnati: Urban One, Hubbard, EMF, and Randy Michaels are the names that come to mind for me. WGRR is the prize of the local Cumulus cluster.
- Indianapolis: Federated Media, Midwest Communications and Hubbard would be the most likely candidates, in my opinion.
- The plethora of small & medium market stations owned by Cumulus: it is very possible Cumulus will continue to operate most of these stations long-term and look for one-off opportunities to make deals over a long period of time.
- Westwood One: No idea. My guess is a joint venture is more likely here than an outright sale.

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. (Audacy's ability to acquire those remaining stations would be subject to FCC ownership restrictions being loosened.)

 

[101tm]

They announced this a few weeks ago. Don't know if it's related:

Audacy Expands Podcast Sales and Distribution Partnership With CBS to Include News and Entertainment Portfolio | Audacy Inc.

PHILADELPHIA, PA – February 27, 2025 – Audacy has expanded its exclusive, multi-year sales and distribution partnership with CBS – through its Audacy

audacyinc.com

The Audacy station sites are awful. Losing their national content team isn't much of a loss. The stations do all the work.

The Audacy national template is also awful. Looks like the 1990s.

I’ve seen Audacy websites go months without removing terminated air staff from the websites. Perhaps there’s no one left to remove them.

 

[Mark Roberts]

100% agreed.

In terms of Cumulus, I suspect the Board is evaluating strategic options. Some possibilities:
- San Francisco: I think Cumulus wants out. The fact they are now roommates, so to speak, with Bonneville suggests to me something is brewing there. Perhaps Bonneville wants KSAN and KFOG and is willing to unload either KUFX or KBLX?

KFOG hasn't been KFOG for the past five and a half years. It's now KNBR-FM.

- Kansas City: Maybe iHeartRadio or Hubbard might want to enter this market? Summit is another possibility perhaps.

Probably this is the toughest combination of all. My guess would be iHeart; Hubbard is intriguing.

The irony here is that Entercom was forced to sell three of its properties to Susquehanna in 2000, which then ended up with Cumulus five years later.

- The plethora of small & medium market stations owned by Cumulus: it is very possible Cumulus will continue to operate most of these stations long-term and look for one-off opportunities to make deals over a long period of time.

Or there could be a spin-off. As for small markets, it's my understanding that the market for station sales is more or less frozen right now with the occasional one-offs getting through. The problem is that sellers want more than buyers are willing to pay.

- Westwood One: No idea. My guess is a joint venture is more likely here than an outright sale.

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. (Audacy's ability to acquire those remaining stations would be subject to FCC ownership restrictions being loosened.)

 

[MarkW]

KFOG hasn't been KFOG for the past five and a half years. It's now KNBR-FM.

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.

 

[tall_guy1]

What is the point of this? Kansas City now has two open morning slots for instance. Cost cutting might be important, but this will surely affect ratings.