Confirmed Via FCC Filing.
-
Get involved.
We want your input!
Apply for Membership and join the conversations about everything related to broadcasting.
After we receive your registration, a moderator will review it. After your registration is approved, you will be permitted to post.
If you use a disposable or false email address, your registration will be rejected.
After your membership is approved, please take a minute to tell us a little bit about yourself.
https://www.radiodiscussions.com/forums/introduce-yourself.1088/
Thanks in advance and have fun!
RadioDiscussions Administrators
BREAKING NEWS!...Star 102.5 sold in Buffalo
- Thread starter Tall Thin One
- Start date
Confirmed Via FCC Filing.
"In consideration for the sale of the Station Assets and the
assignment of the Audacy IP Rights as provided herein, Buyer shall, at the Closing, in addition to
assuming the Assumed Obligations, pay to Audacy Fifteen Million Five Hundred Thousand
Dollars ($15,500,000) (the “Purchase Price”), "
*Price also includes WLFP, Germantown, TN
assignment of the Audacy IP Rights as provided herein, Buyer shall, at the Closing, in addition to
assuming the Assumed Obligations, pay to Audacy Fifteen Million Five Hundred Thousand
Dollars ($15,500,000) (the “Purchase Price”), "
*Price also includes WLFP, Germantown, TN
Last edited:
Wow.
What's the next shoe to drop?
What's the next shoe to drop?
They are holding the press release till end of day so, due to the busy Easter holiday weekend, it will get less publicity. They are deeply troubled at Audacy Buffalo with parent stock at 11 centavos. They will keep this as quiet as possible.
Yup. this sums it up best.
Long story short, 107.7 was bought (back in the day) at a crazy high price to prevent someone from launching competition to WKSE.
NOW there is a return on the investment...but selling 102.5 instead of 107.7 was the only way to do it, I suppose.
So, Star will move to 107.7?
When all is said and done, the only thing that most likely matters is that K love is a far cry from being a direct threat to WKSE or Star, so all works out well (enough) for Ent...er, Audacy.
radioinsight.com
Long story short, 107.7 was bought (back in the day) at a crazy high price to prevent someone from launching competition to WKSE.
NOW there is a return on the investment...but selling 102.5 instead of 107.7 was the only way to do it, I suppose.
So, Star will move to 107.7?
When all is said and done, the only thing that most likely matters is that K love is a far cry from being a direct threat to WKSE or Star, so all works out well (enough) for Ent...er, Audacy.
Audacy Sells WLFP Memphis & WTSS Buffalo To Educational Media Foundation
The two stations held in Audacy's Audacy Atlas divestment holding company have been sold to Educational Media Foundation. EMF will
radioinsight.com
Last edited:
and a future draft pick
Something is not updating as often as it should As recently as the time of my post, I did not get the news item where it now appears at the upper left on the home page. That is why I questioned the item.
Now I see it!
That leaves them with just one good FM in the market, one dead AM and two in age-based decline. That sounds like step one of moving out totally.
D
Deleted member 76036
Guest
Well, I guess when you have 5 K-Love frequencies in a single market, that might be a way to pull in listeners. I also guess that the 6+ PPM ratings in certain markets aren’t too bad (I haven’t seen demographic breakdowns).
With financials, EMF stations aren’t on the same playing field as other formats. They’re non commercial, so they rely on money from their listeners. I’m not sure about EMF, but when fundraising drives don’t meet their goal, they’ll definitely let their listeners know. I don’t really think CCM lovers have a devotion to their music, but rather a devotion to their religion. K-Love to most is a ministry of the church. Often times you’ll hear listeners call during fundraising drives, saying that they had little to no money during a previous fundraiser, but they put their trust in God, donated and they’ve since been rewarded.
WNED is similar, because it’s also a non-comm and a niche format. Heck, put Channel Q on a primary signal (not an HD2 or HD3), make it non-comm, fundraise from the LGBTQ+ community and I think you’d see similar results.
Again, I think you’re comparing apples to oranges.
Why would Audacy give up their precious Country Wolf format on 107.7? It's done so well with its puny 1 share according to other posters here.
It makes little sense to rebrand STAR on 107.7 if they are unloading 102.5. They wouldn't generate the same revenue on a weaker signal. STAR would probably become a 1 share station if the format moves to 107.7. A niche format is the best option for a signal like 107.7 and the ratings history bears that out. It's moot anyway as Audacy is in crisis mode...
Last edited:
It wasn't there yet. Story was published at 4:57pm eastern. The tweet was sent out around 12:20pm.
D
Deleted member 76036
Guest
I agree! I check RadioInsight every single day (and subscribe from time-to-time), as it’s a spectacular source for industry news. However, I only stumbled across the K-Love article at the bottom of another article that I was reading. I didn’t see any link to the K-Love article on the home page.
I also don’t really use a desktop/laptop computer any longer and was viewing the website from Safari on my iPhone 12 Pro Max (running iOS 16.5).
What I'm talking about is a group of radio listeners banding together, buying a radio station, going non-commercial, and playing their favorite music. Just like EMF or WNED. It's being done with LPFMs and AMs around the country right now. Not so much with full power FMs. But the opportunity is there.
That seems like a strong possibility. CBS left Buffalo long ago. Audacy is just scrambling to raise some cash to stay alive a while longer...
The Audacy cluster is AM heavy and they now will have just one decent FM. Sounds like an exit plan. Maybe?
Realistically speaking, $15 million sounds like a lot of money, but it's a drop in the bucket towards paying down a #2 billion debt, or even meeting the $650 million payment due in 2024. There will still need to be lots of bigger divestitures or sales if they hope to get close to the amount they owe.
D
Deleted member 76036
Guest
Sorry, I misunderstood your post and I now see what you’re referring to. You’re right, it can be done…but I think nowadays, we’re looking for instant results. It took 10 years for K-Love to expand outside of northern California.
There are a lot of LPFMs and small market stations that do it right, sound great and super serve the communities they cover. However, I think most of those stations don’t. I feel that a lot of LPFMs I hear are put on the air to serve a single purpose and a majority of the time, they operate as a poor-programmed jukebox.
And although I’m not necessarily a fan of CCM music, I do respect EMF and believe they operate great products. I also appreciate that EMF takes care of their equipment, as I’ve never really heard a poor sounding K-Love or Air1 station. I also like that they have RDS with Artist/Title info on most of their stations and HD with Artist/Title info and station logos on quite a few stations.
I just wish they wouldn’t gobble up every single station. There is a lot of overlap in several markets, as it seems that EMF will purchase rimshots to enter a market and then buy up a station with full-market coverage at a later date. However, I guess in a lot of instances, those rimshots might serve a purpose and fill in coverage areas outside the boundaries of the market it’s a rimshot to.
It was at the top under Featured Stories as a major news story. I also sent a breaking news email alert about it if you're not signed up for our email lists that and Facebook/Twitter are the best ways to get stories immediately (Adding many other platforms later this month).
Attachments
Yes. The only full power FM left is KISS after this move.
Sports WGR is the only viable AM format going forward but it needs an FM signal. The Chess pieces are just beginning to move now with this sale...
The big biller for them and the market is WBEN, which is nearly 20% ahead of the market's #2 biller. Remember, this is not a national agency driven market as Buddy has explained when he was part of these discussions. Local direct and local agencies have not read the memo about 25-54 and do buy older demos.
- Status