Audacy/Cumulus Rumors

[TheBigA]

Lance has this story at RadioInsight:

Audacy/Cumulus Truth & Rumors

RadioInsight Exlusive: A lot of speculation has been raised across the industry again in recent weeks about a marriage of

radioinsight.com

The one name missing from Lance's story is Soros. That's the elephant in the room. We all know the FCC's Brendan Carr is looking to reverse the Audacy bankruptcy plan. He had a closed door meeting with house repubs last week. This Audacy Cumulus merger will go nowhere if Soros is still involved. So either Bhargave needs to kick in a lot more money, or he needs to bring in a partner.

BTW the Field resignation doesn't mean anything to me. We all expected it once the bankruptcy was finalized. As far as continued layoffs, they're all a part of the continuing advertising shortfalls. Cumulus just announced their 2024 numbers, and they're still losing money. So of course they still need to cut costs.

One other fact missing from the article: Audacy launched its own syndication division last week. Why would they do such a thing if they're about to merge with Cumulus, owner of Westwood One?

I really don't see any truth to the rumors.

 

[Mediafrog+]

Looks like a lot of basket case Cumulus AMs might get the blade. Here in Texas I’m keeping an eye on KIKR 1450 and KBED 1510 in the Beaumont-Port Arthur market, as well as KPUR 1440 in Amarillo. And I can’t help but wonder about KLIF 570 in DFW and its consistent 0.2 numbers.

 

[ted chittenden]

Looks like a lot of basket case Cumulus AMs might get the blade. Here in Texas I’m keeping an eye on KIKR 1450 and KBED 1510 in the Beaumont-Port Arthur market, as well as KPUR 1440 in Amarillo. And I can’t help but wonder about KLIF 570 in DFW and its consistent 0.2 numbers.

What is sad for me is the turning in of station licenses before trying to sell the stations. In the early days of radio, owning a station, while still a business, was seen (with the blessing of the FCC) as a community service to bring both news and entertainment to the masses. Nowadays, radio is just another commodity that can be turned on or off at will by the owner, regardless of the community being served.

And while many are placing their bets on the Internet as being radio's next replacement, I worry about the costs, particulary the costs of using copyrighted material for Internet-only broadcasts that have much smaller audiences than over-the-air ones do. I have also seen reports that "friends" like Russia have been looking at ways to sabotage the Internet cables that travel under the seas. We really need to rethink what we're doing here.

 

[JJSPC]

There's literally no one that wants to buy subpar AM's. That's the reason for just turning in the license.

 

[PTBoardOp93]

BTW the Field resignation doesn't mean anything to me. We all expected it once the bankruptcy was finalized. As far as continued layoffs, they're all a part of the continuing advertising shortfalls. Cumulus just announced their 2024 numbers, and they're still losing money. So of course they still need to cut costs.

Normally when executives leave during a bankruptcy, it is at the beginning, not months after the bankruptcy has concluded.

One other fact missing from the article: Audacy launched its own syndication division last week. Why would they do such a thing if they're about to merge with Cumulus, owner of Westwood One?

That "fact" is totally irrelevant. Whatever vice president at Audacy who approved can't know whether this new effort will be redundant in 6 months or 18 months.

I really don't see any truth to the rumors.

The bottom line is that Cumulus will probably go into bankruptcy again in 2026 or 2027 unless someone rescues them. A shotgun marriage with Audacy may be the best hope for any of them to have jobs in 18 months.

The good news for Cumulus is that they don't have all that much debt. The bad news is that their radio revenue fell 5.1% last year compared to 2023, which was, in turn down 16% from 2022.

Unless Cumulus can find revenue growth, significant cost reductions, or fresh capital, they're toast.

 

[TheBigA]

Normally when executives leave during a bankruptcy, it is at the beginning, not months after the bankruptcy has concluded.

At the beginning, he said he'd see it through to the end. He waited until all of the court challenges had concluded, and left. Meanwhile both Pittman and Berner are still running the companies they took into bankruptcies. Field's situation was different, in that he was the son of the founder, and previously had a major equity position in the company.

Whatever vice president at Audacy who approved can't know whether this new effort will be redundant in 6 months or 18 months.

If we're talking about it here, then it's no secret within the company. They can read.

A shotgun marriage with Audacy may be the best hope for any of them to have jobs in 18 months.

Unless the plan is for Cumulus to buy out Soros, it won't get past the FCC. I don't see Bhargava spending that kind of money.

 

[Kent]

What is sad for me is the turning in of station licenses before trying to sell the stations. In the early days of radio, owning a station, while still a business, was seen (with the blessing of the FCC) as a community service to bring both news and entertainment to the masses. Nowadays, radio is just another commodity that can be turned on or off at will by the owner, regardless of the community being served.

What makes you think Cumulus didn't try to sell the stations? I suspect most of the FM's it takes dark will end up getting sold, even if it's to a Bott or an EMF that takes them religious, but who would want a dumpwater AM with no tangible assets? Remember, Cumulus sold almost all of its tower real estate to Vertical Bridge. So, anyone who buys an AM from Cumulus gets a license, and that's about it. From what I understand, Vertical Bridge charges roughly $4,000/month to rent space on its towers, and I doubt you could sign a month-to-month lease from the start. You'd probably have to begin with a three year lease. So, in addition to what you paid for the license, you'd be out $150,000 before you ever started operating.

I've been told at least one Cumulus property in my area will be among those going dark. I haven't been able to verify it, but the person who told me that told me before it became common knowledge that Cumulus was going to be signing off stations. So, that leads me to think it's probably true. I was also told part of the reason was that Vertical Bridge was contemplating taking its tower down and replacing it with a cell tower. I know we heard rumors that Cumulus had been deferring maintenance on its towers before it sold them (as well as some of its real property). So, a handful of the AM's going dark might not have much choice if Vertical Bridge has decided to just take them down and replace them. Cell towers don't tend to conduct AM signals very well, and AM signals only have so many places they can move.

 

[lanceventa]

Lance has this story at RadioInsight:

Audacy/Cumulus Truth & Rumors

RadioInsight Exlusive: A lot of speculation has been raised across the industry again in recent weeks about a marriage of

radioinsight.com

The one name missing from Lance's story is Soros. That's the elephant in the room. We all know the FCC's Brendan Carr is looking to reverse the Audacy bankruptcy plan. He had a closed door meeting with house repubs last week. This Audacy Cumulus merger will go nowhere if Soros is still involved. So either Bhargave needs to kick in a lot more money, or he needs to bring in a partner.

BTW the Field resignation doesn't mean anything to me. We all expected it once the bankruptcy was finalized. As far as continued layoffs, they're all a part of the continuing advertising shortfalls. Cumulus just announced their 2024 numbers, and they're still losing money. So of course they still need to cut costs.

One other fact missing from the article: Audacy launched its own syndication division last week. Why would they do such a thing if they're about to merge with Cumulus, owner of Westwood One?

I really don't see any truth to the rumors.

These are expectations coming from higher levels of the companies. Not local market staffers.

And Soros has nothing to do with this other than the investment firm's end goal, which all along was to by a distressed property and turn a profit.

What is sad for me is the turning in of station licenses before trying to sell the stations. In the early days of radio, owning a station, while still a business, was seen (with the blessing of the FCC) as a community service to bring both news and entertainment to the masses. Nowadays, radio is just another commodity that can be turned on or off at will by the owner, regardless of the community being served.

Nowhere did I say turning in licenses. I said taking off the air. Townsquare Media has done the same with a number of signals the past couple of years AHEAD of selling them... Why operate money losers in the short term?

 

[TheBigA]

These are expectations coming from higher levels of the companies. Not local market staffers.

I'm not questioning the sources.

Soros has nothing to do with this other than the investment firm's end goal, which all along was to by a distressed property and turn a profit.

The only way this will get FCC approval is for Soros to be gone. Even then, Carr is no fan of big corporate media. He will open this for public comment, and he is more likely to listen to those comments than previous FCC chairmen. But it's pretty obvious that Audacy has to find someone to buy the Soros shares at some point this year.

 

[lanceventa]

The only way this will get FCC approval is for Soros to be gone. Even then, Carr is no fan of big corporate media. He will open this for public comment, and he is more likely to listen to those comments than previous FCC chairmen. But it's pretty obvious that Audacy has to find someone to buy the Soros shares at some point this year.

A deal will take the firm founded by Soros (NOT SOROS HIMSELF for those others that don't seem to grasp that) from being a "controlling" stakeholder to a minority or even out of the picture entirely.

 

[TheBigA]

A deal will take the firm founded by Soros (NOT SOROS HIMSELF for those others that don't seem to grasp that) from being a "controlling" stakeholder to a minority or even out of the picture entirely.

I understand completely, but the head of the FCC doesn't.

 

[ted chittenden]

Nowhere did I say turning in licenses. I said taking off the air. Townsquare Media has done the same with a number of signals the past couple of years AHEAD of selling them... Why operate money losers in the short term?

That is correct. However, some of the previous responders suggested it with both the Dallas and San Francisco AMs at 570 and 560kHz respectively.

 

[Mediafrog+]

However, some of the previous responders suggested it with both the Dallas and San Francisco AMs at 570 and 560kHz respectively.

I could see Cumulus taking KLIF 570 dark in DFW but would be very surprised if the license wasn’t eventually sold. The 570 signal is one of the three best in the market, and DFW has plenty of horrible AM signals whose owners likely would want to upgrade to something much better. So there would still be a net loss of an AM signal.

 

[Mark Roberts]

And while many are placing their bets on the Internet as being radio's next replacement, I worry about the costs, particulary the costs of using copyrighted material for Internet-only broadcasts that have much smaller audiences than over-the-air ones do. I have also seen reports that "friends" like Russia have been looking at ways to sabotage the Internet cables that travel under the seas. We really need to rethink what we're doing here.

Did a post from 2008 accidentally show up here?

 

[Mark Roberts]

A deal will take the firm founded by Soros (NOT SOROS HIMSELF for those others that don't seem to grasp that) from being a "controlling" stakeholder to a minority or even out of the picture entirely.

I understand completely, but the head of the FCC doesn't.

In an administration based almost entirely on transactional "principles" and a postbellum 19th-century mindset, I'm sure a way can be found to deal with the Soros perception problem. If the rumors pan out, there will be a lot of noise but ultimately some kind of deal will be struck. The bio of Manoj Bhargava on Wikipedia could be suggestive of the type of person that could cut a deal with people in Trump's orbit.

The bigger challenge could be the requisite spinoffs. In particular, Kansas City comes to mind; there may be others. It's also possible that the smaller markets would be spun off, either individually, or into a separate subsidiary that then gradually dwindles without affecting the larger market clusters.

 

[Mark Roberts]

I could see Cumulus taking KLIF 570 dark in DFW but would be very surprised if the license wasn’t eventually sold. The 570 signal is one of the three best in the market, and DFW has plenty of horrible AM signals whose owners likely would want to upgrade to something much better. So there would still be a net loss of an AM signal.

I suppose you could make a case for a certain type of AM broadcaster wanting to upgrade to a better signal - for example, an ethnic or religious broadcaster - but that buyer would then have to pencil out whether the increased coverage will pay for the expense of the new signal and for the write-off of the old one. I doubt that there are very many circumstances where that would be the case.

The implication of "coverage is a necessary but not sufficient condition" is that it's very unlikely that anyone in 2025 will buy an AM signal just because it has good coverage.

 

[Mark Roberts]

What makes you think Cumulus didn't try to sell the stations?

They may still be trying to sell for all we know. If the stations go silent without an immediate license surrender, the cost is up to another year's worth of lease payments to VB before the guillotine blade drops. So there is still time.

Whatever decisions that are made are for the purpose of corporate survival. So it's going to come down to the numbers and little else.

 

[Theater of My Mind]

There's literally no one that wants to buy subpar AM's. That's the reason for just turning in the license.

How do you know? Where these stations offered for sale? How long were they on the market and at what price? Did the listing include the broadcast towers?

 

[TheBigA]

How do you know? Where these stations offered for sale? How long were they on the market and at what price? Did the listing include the broadcast towers?

Because there are lots of similar AMs for sale right now. Both companies have been selling off tower land, so probably not.

Cumulus Media Sells Tower Portfolio For $213 Million

During its quarterly earnings call today, Cumulus Media revealed it had agreed to a deal on Friday to sell its

radioinsight.com

Audacy Plans To Sell More Non-Core Assets After Closing $17M Tower Sale.

The trend of radio companies selling off their radio towers to raise cash returned in earnest this month when Audacy sold a parcel of towers for $17 million. On its

www.insideradio.com

 

[Kent]

I could see Cumulus taking KLIF 570 dark in DFW but would be very surprised if the license wasn’t eventually sold. The 570 signal is one of the three best in the market, and DFW has plenty of horrible AM signals whose owners likely would want to upgrade to something much better. So there would still be a net loss of an AM signal.

If any DFW Cumulus AM goes dark, it would most likely be KTCK 1310 unless 570's tower array is in such disrepair that it's no longer viable. Even 30 years ago, it didn't cover much of Tarrant County after dark, which is part of the reason Bonneville disposed of KAAM and led to the creation of The Ticket. The programming on 1310 could be moved to the much better 570 signal. I'm a little surprised that hasn't already happened.