Audacy woes

[sacredcod]

Could this be the writing on the wall? Or are they just going to try and keep pretending nothing is seriously wrong?

Audacy Stock Trading Halted Due To Abnormally Low Selling Price Compliance - RadioInsight

Trading of shares of Audacy’s stock was halted around 2pm today on the New York Stock Exchange. The company has not issued a statement or SEC filing stating why, but Wall Street sources say the company requested the trading of the stock be paused as they prepare to release news. Audacy stock was...

radioinsight.com

 

[EnterCommunicator]

On Tuesday, Audacy shares fell below $0.10.

 

[CassChopper96]

I don't know what Audacy can do. If they sell more of their stations its going to damage their revenues and profits. In many big markets though Audacy gets nearly half of the market revenue though. Is Boston a profitable market for Audacy?

 

[Least]

I don't know what Audacy can do. If they sell more of their stations its going to damage their revenues and profits. In many big markets though Audacy gets nearly half of the market revenue though. Is Boston a profitable market for Audacy?

This was posted in the ratings thread:

For the survey period covering the dates Thu. 3/30/2023 thru Wed. 4/26/2023, age 6+ overall:

Boston

Nielsen Audio PPM Monthly Ratings Boston (Market #10) Population: 4,423,400 Black: 379,700 - Hispanic: 566,400 Average Quarter Hour Share for

radioinsight.com

and Radio Industry News, Radio Show Prep, Radio Promotions, Radio Station Data, Podcast News

Top 5+ demo rankings analysis for ages 25-54, 18-34 + 18-49:

Radio Industry News, New Music, Music Promotion, Radio Station Song Charts

All Access offers the latest radio industry news and music news, music promotions for record companies new music, radio station song charts, and much more. AllAccess.com has been serving the radio and music industry since 1995, always bringing you the highest quality content with...

www.allaccess.com

25-54: 1. WBZ-FM 2. WXKS 3. WBQT 4. WMJX 5. WWBX 6. WZLX
18-34: 1. WBZ-FM 2. WXKS 3. WBQT 4. WKLB 5. WWBX (up from #9) 6. WZLX
18-49: 1. WBZ-FM 2. WXKS 3. WBQT 4. WWBX 5. WMJX

Going off of this, it looks like Audacy is doing well in ratings for Magic and Mix. The greater question is how do these stations and Audacy's other stations bill? Honestly, I'd suspect that WEEI-FM does bill well, despite it being well below The Sports Hub, in the ratings.

 

[EnterCommunicator]

Don't forget that WEEI is on the hook for $12 million a year in rights fees for the local baseball team.

 

[101tm]

Even if WEEI bills well, keep in mind a lot of that revenue goes in to stuff like paying air talent and many other costs such as rights as previously mentioned, sponsorships etc…so I wonder how much true profit is left over.

 

[TheBigA]

Even if WEEI bills well, keep in mind a lot of that revenue goes in to stuff like paying air talent and many other costs such as rights as previously mentioned, sponsorships etc…so I wonder how much true profit is left over.

It gets them access to clients that would normally not advertise with them If they're creative, they can merchandise those relationships in other ways. The main problem is they $12 million doesn't change, while the ratings do. They pay the same amount regardless of how the team does, and the audience it attracts. That's not a good deal, except when they go to the playoffs.

The problem is that Audacy hasn't adapted their business model to the current marketplace in the way that iHeart and Beasley have. Audacy is still trying to run their business as though it's the 1990s, and it's not. The contradiction is that the changes they need to make won't make heritage listeners to radio happy. And the heritage listeners are already not happy.

 

[CTListener]

It gets them access to clients that would normally not advertise with them If they're creative, they can merchandise those relationships in other ways. The main problem is they $12 million doesn't change, while the ratings do. They pay the same amount regardless of how the team does, and the audience it attracts. That's not a good deal, except when they go to the playoffs.

That's what hurt WEEI-FM this past off-season. The Red Sox were expected to be good in 2022, but instead were a last-place team. Then they traded or allowed to leave as free agents several of their best -- and best known -- players. The team's performance this year hasn't been a total disaster -- yet -- but they're still in last place, so there's really nothing going on that would make advertisers renew their sponsorships or start paying more.

 

[Deleted User]

5 cents a share

 

[FerriteFred]

The big corporations that destroyed radio in the late 90's are starting to fall apart themselves. I never went into radio because of big companies like this. iHeart, Bentercom, Measely, Audacious, whatever. They got too damn big to fail. I was excited about radio until I found out how low the pay was and zero job security after the big companies took over most stations. So happy I used my Emerson degree to work 19 years in audio, video, and recording production. Easy 99.1 is the rare gem of a station I listen to besides SiriusXM. Hopefully they always stay independent.

 

[gr8oldies]

The big corporations that destroyed radio in the late 90's are starting to fall apart themselves. I never went into radio because of big companies like this. iHeart, Bentercom, Measely, Audacious, whatever. They got too damn big to fail. I was excited about radio until I found out how low the pay was and zero job security after the big companies took over most stations. So happy I used my Emerson degree to work 19 years in audio, video, and recording production. Easy 99.1 is the rare gem of a station I listen to besides SiriusXM. Hopefully they always stay independent.

What if I told you there was low pay an zero job security even with the vaunted owners of the 40s, 50s and 60s?

 

[FerriteFred]

What if I told you there was low pay an zero job security even with the vaunted owners of the 40s, 50s and 60s?

I believe it. The big corporations just made it worse. Also they destroyed the uniqueness of radio in favor of a cookie cutter sound.

 

[radiofan2023]

What if I told you there was low pay an zero job security even with the vaunted owners of the 40s, 50s and 60s?

My grandfather worked in radio for 2 weeks in the 1940s and after that, the station laid him off because they were losing advertisers due to the local paper strongarming businesses to advertise with the paper, instead of the new radio station. This was later found to be illegal in Lorain Journal Co. v. U.S., but by then my grandfather had moved on.

 

[nowradioguy]

What if I told you there was low pay an zero job security even with the vaunted owners of the 40s, 50s and 60s?

If you made it "big" on one of the giants "in those days", such as WABC or KHJ or WLS or WBZ, I'd say you were pretty well paid with more than a modicum of security.

 

[TheBigA]

If you made it "big" on one of the giants "in those days", such as WABC or KHJ or WLS or WBZ, I'd say you were pretty well paid with more than a modicum of security.

If you notice, there were only a few big stations per market, and they tended to be owned by a big company

 

[gr8oldies]

If you made it "big" on one of the giants "in those days", such as WABC or KHJ or WLS or WBZ, I'd say you were pretty well paid with more than a modicum of security.

/
KHJ, WABC, CKLW et al all fired people. For every one of there were 1000 stations in the middle of nowhere, or also-rans in bigger markets

 

[EnterCommunicator]

Always thought WKRP in Cincinnati offered amazing job security for it's time.

 

[davideduardo]

I believe it. The big corporations just made it worse.

The big radio companies, in most cases, rescued a large portion of the 50% of all US stations that were losing money in the early 1990's.

The blame was mostly on the FCC, which, through Docket 80-90, allowed smaller markets to have many more stations even when there was no additional revenue. That same ruling allowed many far suburban or rural station to move into larger metro areas, diluting "revenue per station" by as much as 50%.

So stations cut salaries, reduced staff, held back on technical improvements as revenue was reduced on almost every existing station from very small markets up to ones in metros like Phoenix, Houston, Dallas, Atlanta, Orlando and the like. All those markets suddenly had multiple new competitors and no new radio ad dollars.

Also they destroyed the uniqueness of radio in favor of a cookie cutter sound.

Similar formats go back to the days of stations all over the country imitating Tod Storz' and Gordon McLendon's Top 40 stations, everywhere from Denver and Cleveland to Jamestown, SD and Meridian, MS.

 

[nowradioguy]

If you notice, there were only a few big stations per market, and they tended to be owned by a big company

Right, I was talking pre-1992, when "duopoly" became a thing.

 

[TheBigA]

Right, I was talking pre-1992, when "duopoly" became a thing.

Pre-1992 was when RKO General, NBC, General Electric, and Westinghouse owned radio stations. Those companies make Audacy look like a mom & pop.