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Changes at WkLU

R

radioho

According to my "Ft Wayne" connection, there are SERIOUS changes in the works for WKLU.

Word has it Oasis is throwing in the towel with Indianapolis, has a buyer ready to go and will be done with the deal 'sometime to coincide with the WIBC changeover to FM.'

Supposedly, WKLU will be involved with a format/ownership change immediately following the New Year - and the word is -- OLDIES! But no word on identity of new owners/buyers, other than it IS a corporate already operating in Indy.

Two WKLU jocks have been offered jobs in Ft Wayne with Oasis stations, the others will GET THE AX following the Christmas Party! "Here's your Christmas bonus, now good-bye!" Wow. What a way to be let go.

All employees should be dusting off the resumes.

Oasis' plan of attack (second hand news of course) is that he wants to put MEGA resources into Ft Wayne and be the big fish up there, rather than a minnow losing his way in Indy.

Will be interesting.
 
Don't know who your "sources" are Ho, but I've been hearing the "Russ is going to sell" rumor since I started there in March of '05. I've since been employed and unemployed by WKLU, as have several other jocks that will remain nameless, but Russ is still there, as is the format. Say what you want about Russ, but he is not one to throw in the towel.

It is a bit amazing that the ratings have slipped that much. But my guess is that he will continue to try and make it work there somehow, someway, with the format that currently exists. He really loves that format and I remember him telling me once it was like the first station he owned that he could actually listen to. So I don't see him excepting defeat to "The Computer" that easily. Major changes may come to the station, but I would be very surprised if it is the music being heard.
 
EStreeter said:
Don't know who your "sources" are Ho, but I've been hearing the "Russ is going to sell" rumor since I started there in March of '05. I've since been employed and unemployed by WKLU, as have several other jocks that will remain nameless, but Russ is still there, as is the format. Say what you want about Russ, but he is not one to throw in the towel.

It is a bit amazing that the ratings have slipped that much. But my guess is that he will continue to try and make it work there somehow, someway, with the format that currently exists. He really loves that format and I remember him telling me once it was like the first station he owned that he could actually listen to. So I don't see him excepting defeat to "The Computer" that easily. Major changes may come to the station, but I would be very surprised if it is the music being heard.
Click to expand...

The thought is he will UNLOAD his Indy station, pick up more Ft Wayne stations, and one of them will 'inherit' his classic rock format - he can listen to THAT station. Problem solved.

And at the risk of assuming you're trying to get on his 'good side,' if the format doesn't work, it doesn't work. TRYING isn't getting it done. The ratings are sliding quickly. At some point, he will lose all agency money. It's not a toy, it's a business.

Word was when it fell below a 3, and STAYED there, he would pull the trigger. I'm being told that time is now. But I could be wrong of course.

It's easy to knock 'rumors' as not accurate, but I defer to the WIBC thread where everyone YELLED at the original poster who ended up being RIGHT! I'd suggest just waiting to see what happens. We're talking less than 45 days.
 
The "average" radio audience is likely quite different however I gave up listening to WKLU after Bruce was forced into the sale of the station. He had a fun eclectic format that dated back to the old RFN 1170 days. He also didn't make the audio sound like all of the other commercial stations on the air (run through a trash compactor). He did have a lot of studio noise that got picked up on the board mic and some occasional air-chain hum however you did not get listening fatigue in 5 minutes like you do with most stations currently.

It is no wonder Apple is selling so many iPods. [http://stockcharts.com/h-sc/ui?s=aapl] (great stock)

Mashed bit-limited 128 AAC and 192K MP3 has a lot more dynamic range than any of the commercial stations currently can offer. Radio is great for talk as far as I'm concerned as long as the loudness war must go on.
 
Word though the grapevine is that Bruce Quinn would be happier if the station had been sold to
Bill Shirk or Art. I hear the Quinn's had barely time to get the money in the bank before Russ filed a lawsuit to get a big chunk back.

For those of you who know this story, Bruce is nearly blind and his family sold the station in a firesale after he suffered a stroke.

A license that could be moved to Indy was worth double or
triple the price Russ offered. Radio One paid 18 million for a Cincinnati suburb and 11 million
for Lebanon Indiana.

Does anyone know the outcome of the Oasis case against the Quinns? Have they written
him that large check he seeks?
 
Dawg-
Do you have any more details on that? For those of us that just arrived into Indy over the last four years the whole WKLU time line is a little confusing. So Quinn sold that station to Oasis correct? Then Oasis tried to not pay the Quinns? Am I correct in understanding this? Or are you saying he paid them then tried to take the money back? How is that possible? Any details would be interesting reading. Maybe Mr. Quinn reads these boards and can come on to clarify?
 
The records are public. Marion Superior Court. Cause Number 49D02-0608-PL-32198.
Indy Radio LLC Plantiff V Quinn Broadcasting, Inc. Defendant.

Has Bruce written Russ that big check yet? Anyone heard anything?
 
Dawg-
Apparently Marion Superior Court does not make its cases available online. So for those of us who dont have the time to spend the day there gettin access to the records can you fill us in on some of the details you are aware of as to what the specifics are with this? Perhaps its me not understanding the business but why would Bruce owe Russ money if Russ purchases the station from Bruce? Any details you can shed would be great reading to pass the day here at work.
 
A call to the clerk reveals the Oasis VS Quinn case is quite active and will likely go to court in
2008. We don't have this fine reading material in hand yet.

FM radio stations in major markets are sold, based on their license value.

A new owner almost never wants the previous owners building, tower, sound, or ratings.
They want to put the station in their building and move the signal to their tower to
cut costs. The new guy wants to establish a new sound.

A dirty trick in broadcast station sales is to try to force the previous owner to buy
back the assets, you just trashed. I don't know for sure. But, I'd bet the Quinns are
being asked to buy back the OLD PET STORE STUDIO or OLD TOWER SITE or BOTH.
Also, I'd bet someone is trying to force them to take close to one million off the
6.7 milioon offer posted with the FCC.

We know that a FM Class A license for Indy is worth between 10 and 20 million.
Class B stations like WFBQ may be worth over 50 million.
 
Seems like to this outsider that Oasis has a track record of "shady" business transactions (ie Q-95, 3 Amigos, etc). Seems to me that his reputation is (or will be) tarnished, if not trashed in any other business dealings in the future.
 
The lawsuit is in regards to the tower leases that were in place when Oasis bought the station.

I'm curious as to why Oasis would bring his old partner back to Indy if in fact the station is already sold? There's no question this is a business - and they are getting there butt kicked, the last stunt (world record) is evidence of the creativity allowed in that building. You can apologize for a couple of bad books, but a consistant slide has to be costing him a fortune. For several months the revenue, w/6 units per hour, was in excess of 300k, w/a ton going to the bottom line. Now I hear 200 - 210.
 
Lots of 'closed door' meetings with Russ in town have the troups running scared.
 
Good. We can't get rid of him soon enough. Glad to see he got his hiney kicked and is moving on...I wonder who is buying? My guess is Entercom.

It does make me sad in a way, it was fun messing with his head on the board. I had a "doosie" in the wings regarding his EEO reports for a slow holiday weekend on the old board here.
 
Entercom could make it the all Smiley station. Or Cumulus could buy it and go up against X-103 while Jack takes on WFBQ.
 
Maybe Entercom will put their Talk format on 101.9. IBC and XNT take their fight to the FM dial.
 
Entercom could make it the all Smiley station.

Bite your tongue!!!
 
I just hope I get my Top 10 on the air before he sells the station! I really liked WKLU for the first year or so they were on the air but I have pretty much stopped listening. Just seems they take liberties when telling the truth to us listeners about silly things like playlist size or world records. I think that opinion may come from a lot of the stuff I read on here. Still rooting for the station to become Oldies.
 
Did your supplier of KLU-aid get arrested by some of Bart's new policemen and policewomen? :(
 
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