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CBS sells one more - but no word on Greensboro

X

XTalker

R&R is reporting this morning that CBS has sold it's Buffalo stations to Regent Communications for $125-million! Still no word on the fate of WSJS, but speculation has Clear Channel as the most likely buyer! Now that the holiday is over, will we hear something soon?
 
I am SO curious to find out! The suspense is killing me! I really feel for the folks at WSJS. The uncertainty of it all has got to make it terribly difficult to concentrate on your job every day. I'm sure whatever salespeople are still there will be safe (maybe), but the office staff, etc., you never know what Clear Channel will do. I've seen some real bonehead moves from them in the past. I will say that CC's recent format changes have been pretty smart. I saw a TV ad during Oprah today for KISS, which was a huge surprise that they're actually spending money marketing! Plus, they have billboards! It just ocurred to me that they may be waiting to announce the WSJS purchase. They may not want to eclipse the launch of KISS. Not sure if they could control that, however. I believe we'll hear something within the next week or two.
 
Here's who should worry at WSJS:

1- GM - CC already has one and unless he wants to be sales manager of the AM properties, I suspect he will retire. I am sure CBS has taken good care of him in this transition period.

2- Controller/Office MGR - no doubt that person is history. CC will transfer all bookkeeping to highway 68. They might keep one office person in the Winston-Salem office (assuming they keet that office - the importance of which we have addressed before).

3- GSM - might have the opportunity to be a sales person again. Would probably be good. They will need a sales staff that understands the local/direct sell to keep the revenue numbers up. Raitings won't do it now!

4- Under most circumstances, I would say the engineering staff should be concerned, but knowing the CE at CC, I suspect he will want to keep someone who knows the SJS site and lives closer.

5- IT might be an issue, although, again, if they keep the WS office, they will need IT assistance.

6- Board Ops - lots of part time people will be history as CC will likely switch from Scott Studios to Profit and run without an operator overnights and lots of weekend. Sports schedules will require board ops, but lots of hours will not. It would be a mistake to operate that station unattended, but I suspect it will happen.

7- BAM shouldn't worry. It's about time for her to change jobs anyway. I suspect CC would have something for her on one of the music stations.

8- News Department might want to be on their toes, although CC is pretty astute in this area. Not sure about some of the new management structure, but previously, they understood the News part of News-Talk!
 
CC made no bones about buying in a recent edition of Biz Journal.

I have also heard that CC may be interested in stealing Brad and Britt from ZTK when Glenn Scott finally retires.
 
When Glenn Scott retires and WSJS is at the airport, WSJS will be on a major downward spiral. I think signal problems over Greensboro also makes this a Winston-Salem radio station and is further reason to leave it as is. It won't generate the revenue they are expecting at the airport. A large percentage of those ad dollars will go elsewhere. The question is: Who will benefit? The Winston-Salem Journal? These days anyone can throw together a print ad on their computer. The subscriber base of the Journal is very similar to the listener base of WSJS. I think this could be good news for your local paper. A loss of revenue will be bad news for WSJS listeners as money saving changes are made, which lead to futher decline.
 
Clear Channel BACKS OUT of CBS deal with WSJS

Clear Channel is now in a holding pattern on buying WSJS. The ride was too much for them and other deals fell through. Looks like WSJS is now back on the market and could be spinning it's wheels longer as cbs radio. The ride continues...
 
I like to think I'm pretty connected, and I haven't heard a single thing about this deal you guys have been discussing for weeks. Does anybody actually have any concrete proof that it even existed, apart from water-cooler gossip by folks who don't make the decisions?
 
Spoke with both CC and CBS today and know that the deal went sour because CBS would not package another market with WSJS. I can assure you this is not water cooler gossip and WSJS remains for sale with no bids on the table.
 
Anyone who is speaking "with both CC and CBS" about matters like this and posting to sites like this isn't speaking with people who actually know what is going down. No offense BAONE.
 
Well, we know the deal was in the works. CC officials visited the property and the CC market manager made some comment about it in a Business Journal article a couple of weeks ago. Otherwise, I doubt anyone on this board had first hand, inside knowledge of the deal.

It would not surprise me to see the deal go down as described BAONE. Knowing both parties pretty well, I can see that happening.

One other fly in the ointment is likely to have been the leases on 5th & Summit and The Radio Building in High Point. I know the HP deal is a horrible one! Doubt 5th and Summit is much better.

Does this open the door for the Nemenz group?
 
Centennial would be a good buyer .. small company, believes in local control. Howard knows the station like the back of his hand, and knows the market! They have always been interested - just too rich for their blood. Now the price is coming down, I suppose.

Biggest issue - and the biggest drawback - is that damn lease on the Radio Building in High Point. That thing would choke any potential buyer.
 
I would love to see the value of WSJS. I did have some connection to WSJS years ago ;), but don't have any inside info on any possible sale. :( It's been so long. I check this forum to see if anyone here knows. I would still like to see Cox enter the picture. Cox is good group to work for and Cox believes in quality in people and the end product you hear on the air. I think Cox could do great things with WSJS?

CCAlumni, I once posted a format change on this board in SC a few years ago and no one believed me until it happened. :D As long as you don't tell anyone who you are, you can have fun at these sites. ;)
 
When CC sold WSJS to CBS (Infinity) a value of $35-million was placed on the property. That was about ten times annual revenue which at the time was pretty close to the going rate. Today, I believe the number is more realistic in the $15-million range. I suspect billing in 2005 was closer to $2.8-million - and multiples have declined.
 
Mr Winston-Salem said:
I would still like to see Cox enter the picture. Cox is good group to work for and Cox believes in quality in people and the end product you hear on the air. I think Cox could do great things with WSJS?
Click to expand...

Huh? Are we thinking of the same Cox? Every Cox cluster I've ever heard has had serious problems in both the aspects you've mentioned. They have their good stations, yes, but just as many (if not more) of their stations flounder for one reason or another. One station I can think of can't seem to figure out how to program the one format they've been running for more than a decade, constantly tweaking in one direction or another. Another station has flipped formats twice in three years after dumping a 30+ year heritage format in the market that had solid numbers... each subsequent format garnering less in the Arbs. On top of that, as with most of the "big boys," the majority of their better stations were market leaders before Cox acquired them. Unlike the other "big boys", Cox has simply been smart enough not to screw around with them... too much. Except, of course, in the case of the second station I mentioned.

If Cox got their hands on SJS, I wouldn't look for much improvement. They likely wouldn't destroy it any further than it has been destroyed already, but they probably wouldn't do much to fix anything, either. Based on their record as I've seen it, I'd much rather someone else buy the station.
 
I know Cox keeps coming up, but how realistic is it for Cox to come to a market where they have NO other presence? I just don't seem them as a player in any way!
 
The value isn't hard to figure out at all, so long as you know how much cash-flow the stations generate. And no, multiples aren't close to what they were when CC sold WSJS to CBS.
 
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