CBS Shopping Its Atlanta Cluster

[Mr_Place]

That's what it sounds like from this quote from Tom Taylor's column here at Radio-Info. "but one savant says “Dan Mason says that in markets where they don’t have four or five FMs, they will be sellers.” They want a big presence in a market."

Who will be the next to own V103 and Dave?

 

[DToTheJ]

So if you take the theory that CBS is planning to sell all stations below market 20 (which equates to exactly 50) and turn it upside down, you'll have stations in...

Atlanta (3) + Denver (3) + Hartford (4) + Minneapolis (3) + New York (6) + Orlando (3) + Palm Springs (1) + Philadelphia (5) + Phoenix (3) + Riverside (4) + San Diego (2) + St. Louis (3) = 41.

Yes, CBS owns just three FM stations in both New York and Philadelphia, and were included in the above equation. Talk about fuzzy math...

 

[taylorengineer]

Keep yer powder dry folks.....CBS ain't gonna sell Atlanta.
WVEE billed 46 million last year - as much as WGN Chicago- too much cash flow for Sumner to part with.
Now.....WAOK may be a different matter although I doubt they could sell it for very much. Why just give it away when they can bonus ad buys with a schedule on WAOK.
Dan Mason is bright enough to see the growing importance of non traditional revenue - credit current leadership with the nads to aggressively seek out "other than radio" revenue streams.

 

[radiochic05]

This is an interesting angle provided by a poster from the New York board... It's plausible CBS may have to get creative to unload some of their stations in the current state of the economy. Perhaps some swapping may take place?



http://www.radio-info.com/smf/index.php/topic,105706.10.html

Re: Breaking News: CBS Radio to sell 50 stations.
« Reply #16 on: July 31, 2008, 03:52:21 pm » Quote

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I dont know...looking at the ownership list.

CBS likes Pittsburgh, and they are doing well there. Plus, KDKA is a flagship and a great tie in with their television outlet.

CBS also enjoys the performance in Hartford and Charlotte.

I have a feeling some swapping will go on so they can grow some of their clusters and get out of smaller markets. Maybe like swapping some stations. Could LincFin be part of the bigger picture?

Maybe in San Diego sell KYXY to LincFin and sell KSCF to another operator
Maybe in Denver sell KXKL and KIMN to LincFin and sell KWLI to another operator
Then after those stations are sold to LincFin, make an option to purchase WSTR Atlanta to add to their cluster

Then spin off Palm Springs, Riverside...maybe swap Phoenix for Saint Louis to Bonneville?

 

[RTibbs]

I would suspect within the next 18 - 24 months either CBS or Cumulus will buy out Star 94. Cumulus could overpay because they would benefit the most. They could move Star 94 to AC and go after B98 which is what Lincoln should have done anyway. Cumulus can thank them for weakening the product and therefore cheapening the value. They could also personally have some control over the 790 signal to benefit in the long run 680.

Star though would also make a nice companion piece to Dave and V103 being it is younger than Dave and more non-ethnic than V.

 

[kentuckymedia]

LincFin would love to get their hands on the AC in San Diego. KSCF could be sold to K-Love possibly....or another operator?

Give LincFin properties in Denver and San Diego to help strengthen their portfolio, then dump out of Atlanta by LincFin giving CBS - WSTR "Star 94". It would really help them bolster their sales demos.

 

[jabba17]

But doesn't Lincoln want out of radio altogether? Or is this to strengthen some clusters to get more for them when they do unload them?

I agree, I see CBS buying Star 94 more than I see CBS selling V-103 and Dave.

Besides the cash flow from V-103, the only Atlanta incumbent I see being in a buying position is Cumulus. I doubt some other non-ATL biggie like Entercom would buy their way in this way. Cox and CC are already maxed out (unless CC unloads their two Latinos), and Citadel is about broke. And if Citadel does go broke and threatens liquidation, the value of V-103 and especially Dave will take a hit.

Would CBS also be interested in Zone? Could they do something with WAOK and Zone together?

 

[deadman]

Cumulus had an opportunity to buy Star last year and they couldn't afford it. Burt Weiss's contract had it written that he had to be on a 100K watts. This is why Q moved to 99.7 and Rock moved to 100.5. I don't see them buying 94.1 anytime soon.

 

[RTibbs]

Cumulus had an opportunity to buy Star last year and they couldn't afford it. Burt Weiss's contract had it written that he had to be on a 100K watts. This is why Q moved to 99.7 and Rock moved to 100.5. I don't see them buying 94.1 anytime soon.

Star without Steve and Vikki is not worth anything close to what it was worth in the last negotiations. Also what does Bert's cotract have to do with this? I am sure his contract does not restrict his employers from buying whatever station they want to buy.

 

[RoddyFreeman]

I heard there's already been an offer for Dave FM. Not familiar with the company...Millman Broadcasting or something.

 

[craig_ashwood]

Roddy--now, that's funny! Good luck, Neil, and best wishes!!

 

[winreader]

Cumulus had an opportunity to buy Star last year and they couldn't afford it. Burt Weiss's contract had it written that he had to be on a 100K watts. This is why Q moved to 99.7 and Rock moved to 100.5. I don't see them buying 94.1 anytime soon.

Are you Bert's attorney? Cumulus' attorney? Or just a rampant speculator/gossip queen like Tom Taylor? What else is in Bert's contract? Do tell.

 

[kentuckymedia]

LincFin does want to get out, but..if they can strengthen their clusters in San Diego and Denver, they could get much larger purchase offers in the long run.

WSTR is a stand alone FM in the market. CBS could actually run that station and do well with it, under Dan Mason.

 

[TheRealOtherNeil]

I heard there's already been an offer for Dave FM. Not familiar with the company...Millman Broadcasting or something.

Thanks for driving the price up on me. See how many buys you get for the "New and Improved Zakk Tyler Morning Show." Now with 100% less Zakk.

 

[deadman]

Cumulus had an opportunity to buy Star last year and they couldn't afford it. Burt Weiss's contract had it written that he had to be on a 100K watts. This is why Q moved to 99.7 and Rock moved to 100.5. I don't see them buying 94.1 anytime soon.

Are you Bert's attorney? Cumulus' attorney? Or just a rampant speculator/gossip queen like Tom Taylor? What else is in Bert's contract? Do tell.

My source? http://seandemery.wordpress.com/

 

[RTibbs]

Cumulus had an opportunity to buy Star last year and they couldn't afford it. Burt Weiss's contract had it written that he had to be on a 100K watts. This is why Q moved to 99.7 and Rock moved to 100.5. I don't see them buying 94.1 anytime soon.

Are you Bert's attorney? Cumulus' attorney? Or just a rampant speculator/gossip queen like Tom Taylor? What else is in Bert's contract? Do tell.

My source? http://seandemery.wordpress.com/

Again what does this have to do with them buying Star 94?

 

[RoddyFreeman]

Deadman, you said it was in Bert's contract that he had to be on a 100KW signal. That's not what Sean said unless I'm missing something. He said Cumulus depends on the income from Bert's show so Bert "had to be" on the 99.7 signal (in order to generate the most income for Cumulus).

As important as The Bert Show is, I would be really surprised if Cumulus agreed to change frequencies to make Bert happy. That would have been a little much. What if 99X had come back in the fall book?

 

[RTibbs]

I don't see that anywhere in Sean's blog either. Just another case of people making things up to validate their posts.If TRG's ratings eclipse Bert's do they switch back? No I donlt believe they would but it woould make for an interesting scenario if TRG gets better ratings on the weaker signal. Bert loses a little of his luster.

 

[Kabrich]

But doesn't Lincoln want out of radio altogether? Or is this to strengthen some clusters to get more for them when they do unload them?

yes

I agree, I see CBS buying Star 94 more than I see CBS selling V-103 and Dave.

There is a big problem there. JP/LF has run that station with VERY HIGH MARGINS (read:cheap) and thus LFC wants a very high price for it (which is why no one stepped up to buy it). It would be very hard for CBS to make the numbers work considering what LF would want it valued at.

Besides the cash flow from V-103, the only Atlanta incumbent I see being in a buying position is Cumulus.

As seen from trying to go private, even Cumulus would have issues with WVEE for the same reason they did with LF which they would have loved to do, but its just damn impossible given the market right now. Although, Cumulus DOES have the complete list of stations on the block and they are at least looking at it - but again, financing is an issue in today's market.

 

[Kabrich]

Cumulus had an opportunity to buy Star last year and they couldn't afford it. Burt Weiss's contract had it written that he had to be on a 100K watts. This is why Q moved to 99.7 and Rock moved to 100.5. I don't see them buying 94.1 anytime soon.

Are you Bert's attorney? Cumulus' attorney? Or just a rampant speculator/gossip queen like Tom Taylor? What else is in Bert's contract? Do tell.

I will also confirm that Bert was only looking to go to a full power station as he felt that was his big problem with Q100.