Bills Leaving Cumulus...who will get them?

[Bob1370]

"OMG Bob! If you only knew how close big Larry was to losing it all...he was not a good businessman. Great creative guy, lousy at the numbers. Larry could not have kept the Bills, he'd be sitting with a tin cup outside of Tops on Elmwood right now if he had tried to keep his stations."

Were you there?

Looking at it from the inside, was a lesson in how quality can make strongly profitable enterprises. There's a reason he not only was able to buy out his partners but ultimately quadruple his money in the sale to Kerby Confer. The reason he sold, had a lot to do with the fact that the next generation in the family just wasn't interested in carrying on in the radio business...so he wisely decided not to force the issue, but to sell at a premium at a point not far from the top of the broadcast market. Don't feel sorry for him.

Had Bob Rich stayed in command at WGR, that station probably would have also been a good home for the Bills over the long term....not to mention baseball, given that the National League's first choice for an expansion site in the NL Eastern Division in the early 90s expansion round was apparently Buffalo, not Miami. But of course, Rich examined what operating a competitive MLB team would cost, decided the numbers didn't make sense and wouldn't be sustainable in the long run in Buffalo (sadly true), and pulled the plug on the baseball bid and ultimately on its intended broadcast flagship, Rich Communications. Everything changed in the Buffalo radio market afterward, and we've seen how it played out. No one will probably want to make the commitment to marketing the Bills that they want--so they'll have to get realistic and take the best deal they can get, just like they'll have to make the most of the Buffalo market as a permanent site because there's no better place for the team for the foreseeable future..

 

[radioguywhoknowz]

@Bob...yes you could say I was there...take my word or not if you like, what I wrote is the truth. The thing I find interesting, so many people in this area want to believe all the so called legends in the broadcasting business were the absolute best of all time. Fortunately for them at the time it was a lot easier. Less competitive media, better economies, no public investors, etc. Truth is most of these legends couldn't last a minute in today's battlefield.

 

[SirRoxalot]

Heh. Most of the "legends" were smart enough to get out when today's "battlers" threw stupid amounts of money at them for the properties that they'd developed. The "legends" were smart enough to know that what the "battlers" promised the banks and public investors in order to aggregate huge sums of money to buy stations was unsustainable. Citadel and Regent proved that. Cumulus was on the cusp of bankruptcy before handing the keys to their kingdom over to their creditors. The Dickey's are virtual bank lackeys at this point. Clear Channel ain't far behind. They virtually snookered the banks when they went "private", and they're still juggling debt in an attempt to avoid breaking covenants.

 

[radioguywhoknowz]

Rox I'll give you that...but remember the point I made...as soon as radio only importance was to feed stock investors the battlefield changed. Most of the legends had to get out because they couldn't compete against the big guys. They were offered huge amounts of money to go away. What was that guys name from BLK...Frank I think

 

[TheBigA]

Cumulus was on the cusp of bankruptcy before handing the keys to their kingdom over to their creditors. The Dickey's are virtual bank lackeys at this point.

That's pretty funny. You sound like someone who has never borrowed money. Anyone who ever has is the "lackey" of the bank they borrow from. The amount is inconsequential. The US is the lackey of its creditors.

You obviously are among those in denial about the depression this country went through in 2008. This was a world depression, not just a radio depression. The rest of the world is still in it. Had we not gone through that crisis, Citadel, Regent, and a half dozen other broadcasters would still be in business today. Cumulus was NEVER on the "cusp of bankruptcy." Otherwise, they would not have been able to get such a huge line of credit. The banks have proven they don't want to own radio stations. Cumulus and Clear Channel are a lot more stable than hundreds of other bigger companies in the country. In fact, I'd suggest they're more stable than several of the privately held broadcasters in the country.

 

[SirRoxalot]

Uh, Clear Channel IS a privately held company.

There's a difference between owing a bank money, and having a bank take over your company. After the equity swaps, the banks own controlling interest in Cumulus. They're not just holding notes. The Dickey's are virtual property managers. Regent's in pretty much the same situation.

 

[ThePickleReport]

Regent's in pretty much the same situation.

Townsquare, but point taken.

 

[majicrockstar]

Maybe they should sell the rights to the bills games by halves

 

[Element9]

Maybe they should sell the rights to the bills games by halves

Patriots 49, Bills 21. After that game like that, maybe they should sell rights fees by quarters. Ugly. You can almost imagine Atlanta saying , "We're paying how much per season to broadcast this?!"

But wait. If the Bills take the games in-house why wouldn't Cumulus keep the Bills? It minimizes Cumulus' risk and adds to the bottom line. Could be the Bills aren't taking the games in-house after all but brokering a rights deal? The radio broadcast sounded good, but there was a "last game" tone to it. Or maybe it was just the final score that made it sound that way.

 

[GeorgeKramer]

"Last game" tone to the radio broadcast?

Really? Did Murph or Mark Kelso or the sideline reporter imply something?

I watched on TV and didn't listen to any of the game but heard some of the pregame coverage.

Fill us in please.

 

[Radio_bored-Op]

an honest observation:
I first read:
And how did know one else not know this was happening on these boards?
*Just because NO ONE Posted it, doesnt mean: no one KNEW!!!
(best illustrated when a crime goes unsolved; and then COLD) there are
PEOPLE who KNOW but they also KNOW:::: zip their LIP,

i read most,skimmed over a few longer threads:
did any one touch on HD-2 (exclusive)
as most use the radio to just "check" the score
as the arrive at the establishment/friends house to
watch on TV... sure the occassional guy at work
or working in the garage just having the game
"on" in the background.....

OR, am I MISSING the point
who cares if NO ONE Listens as LONG AS we sell the spots !? lol

 

[TheBigA]

The radio broadcast sounded good, but there was a "last game" tone to it. Or maybe it was just the final score that made it sound that way.

It WAS the last game. Not going to the playoffs. Traditionally, the final game of the season, you credit all the people who've been part of the broadcasts for the season.

 

[SirRoxalot]

Well, thank you Captain Obvious. In this case, I heard a couple of names mentioned who haven't been with the broadcast in a couple of years. It certainly did feel like a final goodbye.

 

[TheBigA]

Speaking of "Captain Obvious," maybe you've lost track of the subject line in this thread.

 

[John C]

Maybe they should sell the rights to the bills games by halves

Patriots 49, Bills 21. After that game like that, maybe they should sell rights fees by quarters. Ugly. You can almost imagine Atlanta saying , "We're paying how much per season to broadcast this?!"

Maybe they could work with Stevie Johnson and sell rights fees on his t-shirts? ;D

 

[GeorgeKramer]

IF ENTERCOM GETS THE BILLS...

Any early thoughts/predictions on how the game-day presentation would change in terms of the on-air personalities?

I'm thinking the current WGR pregame guys (Jeremy White real early, then Howard Simon) would slide right into those roles, and Mike Schopp and Chris Parker could handle postgame like they do now on 550 AM.

But the questions about the broadcast team/sideline reporter are interesting.

Obviously John Murphy should be retained for play-by-play, but what about a change at color commentator? Mark Kelso is steady, pretty much error free, but if you ask me kind of a homer (picks the Bills to win on the postgame show almost every single week) and a bit bland.

I'd love to see Steve Tasker get the gig. He's obviously probably making a lot more $$$ doing TV games for CBS and radio work for the Monday night games as a sideline reporter, but if Entercom could entice him with a nice salary that would include more work during the week as a guest on the various WGR shows, maybe he wouldn't mind being able to spend more time at home in WNY and working with a guy he likes and respects in Murph.

Sideline reporter is wide open, with Paul Hamilton probably licking his chops at the change to try out for that. Brian Koziol of WGR is also very good, but my pick would be Channel 4's Paul Peck, who was the team's best sideline guy since the Super Bowl days.

Other candidates may include Nick Mendola, Brad Riter and Sal Cappaccio of WGR, perhaps even Channel 2's Ed Kilgore since his TV duties have been cut back a bit and he's always desired to be part of the game day experience.

Maybe Chris Brown somehow has more of a role in the game day broadcast besides pregame duties, especially since he's a Buffalo Bills employee.

Throw some names, ideas and thoughts out there since there is a very good chance this may happen.

 

[SirRoxalot]

Speaking of "Captain Obvious," maybe you've lost track of the subject line in this thread.

I think that's been pretty well hashed over by people in the market who actually know something about what's going on.

 

[Bob1370]

"Let me throw a wild idea into the mix: Suppose the Bills bought a radio station. "

The Redskins example in the NFL has already been mentioned, and of course there's the further example of all the baseball teams that control their own TV broadcast channels (and in the case of the Blue Jays, radio broadcast flagships as well). It could be done in Buffalo too, but it's hard to imagine any of the groups busting loose one station for the purpose. The Bills would have to buy out an entire group (either Entercom, Cumulus or Townsquare) and then decide either to keep the whole thing, or spin off the stations it doesn't want to a third party, maybe Clear Channel.

Could that happen? Maybe. But it would have to begin with one of the existing players in the market being bought out completely, then the bulk of the cluster being sold off to a third party. That kind of multi-stage transaction, sort of like a multi-player, multi-team trade, isn't easy and it's unlikely--but it isn't impossible....

 

[ThePickleReport]

from the Buffalo News today 1/2/11. So this is a company-wide decision, not just Buffalo.

"Stations in the Buffalo Bills Radio Network, including 1290 AM WNBF in Binghamton, 1250 AM WSKO in Syracuse, 1260 AM WRIE in Erie and 1180 WHAM in Rochester are also affected by the decision."

 

[Radio_bored-Op]

this is definately a SIDE NOTE: but this will be quick and this forum
is the best for the info, ( you guys are the best)...
If time warner, doesnt want to deal w/ MSG: can they do something
....unconventional, and "assign" YNN: (for example) to cover the games?
-
YNN: will be THE NEWS channel (OUTSIDE) of game times, however from
7m-10m or so (game nights), they will broadcast sabres games... would that
fly ( LEGALLY) / if fees, are paid;
-
OKAY
onto the bills, ANY CHANCE they DONT get picked up locally,
YES: it is CRAZY, but affifilates(?sp) still cover the games,
(canada,rochester),pa_etc - but people's disgust and
more interest in other things (besides the same losing
disappointing bills) . . .or the switch in culture, to go from
(or away) from radio and just focus on TV (in this home market)...

just a thought