Clear Channel IDs the 55 stations getting the "Aloha" treatment

[houstonops]

Saw this banner headline and the article on the Home page, but no mention of any Houston stations (?). ???

 

[houstonops]

Never Mind! Saw the article further down that says Mega and Mix are the ones to go! Sorry. I'm already getting cabin fever! :-[

 

[MikeShannon914]

Hopefully this post won't fall under the copyright infringement rules of the site. If it gets 'bleeped," the stations CC is talking about dumping are apparently KLOL and *either* KHMX or KTBZ. Hope for you guys that someone with a conscience buys KLOL and flips it back to what it USED to be!

>>Four DVRs, no waiting
A TV and radio blog with David Barron

[EDIT]
http://blogs.chron.com/sportsmedia/2008/02/clear_channel_to_sell_two_radi.html

February 13, 2008
Clear Channel to sell two radio stations
Under an agreement with the Department of Justice, Clear Channel Communications agreed today to sell two of its Houston radio stations to comply with anti-trust requirements associated with Clear Channel's pending acquisition by two private equity investment firms.

According to the agreement, Clear Channel will sell KLOL (101.1 FM), the heritage rock-and-roll station that now airs Spanish contemporary hits, and either KHMX (96.5 FM) or KTBZ (94.5 FM).

Houston is one of four markets -- the others being San Francisco, Cincinnati and Las Vegas -- where Clear Channel must sell stations to meet government anti-trust requirements.

Clear Channel officials in Houston did not return a telephone call Wednesday afternoon seeking comment on the decision. The company currently owns eight Houston stations.

Clear Channel is in the process of being acquired by Bain Capital and Thomas He. Lee Partners. Those companies already have interests in Univision and Cumulus Media, which own five and three stations, respectively, in Houston.




[EDIT - Link courtesy of Radio-Info]

 

[dlm0078]

According to the homepage of this website, they have chosen KHMX as the "other station". I wonder who will pick this up? Will it be Cumulus due to KHMX's competition with KRBE and KHJK or will CBS boost their portfolio?

I hope whoever takes over KHMX doesn't change it too much. I enjoy listening to 96.5 when I come home to visit..

 

[Kent]

I doubt Cumulus would be able to muster DOJ approval since one of the private equity firms that now owns Clear Channel also owns part of Cumulus Media Partners, and that was one of the reasons Clear Channel had to unload an English-language station.

 

[latino2008]

My Guess will be and im almost certain this will happen.
The 2 stations will be purchased by SBS or CBS

 

[davideduardo]

My Guess will be and im almost certain this will happen.
The 2 stations will be purchased by SBS or CBS

CBS is in selling mode, while SBS' stock is around $0.60 a share. How likely does that make them as buyers?

 

[stan]

It would be funny if there were NO buyers.

 

[oldjohnny]

It would be funny if there were NO buyers.

Mhh, If there are no buyers, then I shall offer my old 1982 F-150 Pick up truck, 1,000 dollars, and a pack of chewing gum. And that is for both stations ;D

But on a serious note, I could see these stations selling to Cumulus or Cox. Or maybe even an out of towner. Anyone know how interested Emmis, Citadel, and Entercom are into buying these stations?

 

[davideduardo]

But on a serious note, I could see these stations selling to Cumulus or Cox. Or maybe even an out of towner. Anyone know how interested Emmis, Citadel, and Entercom are into buying these stations?

Cumulus is out; they are half the reason for the DOJ requiremnt.

Entercom has said they will not be bidding on the CBS properties due to cash issues, so they are out.

Emmis is sure not buying, but Houston would fit in with their Austin cluster.

Citadel with the stock so low and huge losses and charges is another unlikely one.

That leaves Cox. Or a smaller company moving up in markets like BMP.

Since this is a mandated sale by the DOJ, it's a buyer's market in all probability.

 

[houstonops]

But on a serious note, I could see these stations selling to Cumulus or Cox. Or maybe even an out of towner. Anyone know how interested Emmis, Citadel, and Entercom are into buying these stations?

Cumulus is out; they are half the reason for the DOJ requiremnt.

Entercom has said they will not be bidding on the CBS properties due to cash issues, so they are out.

Emmis is sure not buying, but Houston would fit in with their Austin cluster.

Citadel with the stock so low and huge losses and charges is another unlikely one.

That leaves Cox. Or a smaller company moving up in markets like BMP.

Since this is a mandated sale by the DOJ, it's a buyer's market in all probability.

Maybe an opportunity for a private investment group to buy cheap into the Houston market, David?

And I wonder what plans CC has for that additional space that just opened up?

 

[purpledevil]

I have been entertaining the idea of a "dark horse" such as BMP or Lotus picking up these two. BMP especially since they are HQ'ed here, yet hav no stations in the market. Couple that with Mark Landis' past here in Houston and it definitely seems plausible.

 

[oldjohnny]

I have been entertaining the idea of a "dark horse" such as BMP or Lotus picking up these two. BMP especially since they are HQ'ed here, yet hav no stations in the market. Couple that with Mark Landis' past here in Houston and it definitely seems plausible.

I was under the assumption that BMP was moved to Dallas, TX?

 

[purpledevil]

You learn something new everyday. Thanks for the heads up, johnny. There goes my theory...
http://www.bmpradio.com/

 

[MikeShannon914]

According to the homepage of this website, they have chosen KHMX as the "other station". I wonder who will pick this up? Will it be Cumulus due to KHMX's competition with KRBE and KHJK or will CBS boost their portfolio? I hope whoever takes over KHMX doesn't change it too much. I enjoy listening to 96.5 when I come home to visit.

How about a return to KSRR-"97 Rock"? Surely there's still a few rust buckets driving around Space City with those stickers still on their back windows (along with "K-101.") And what were the calls before that? Maybe ex-GM Jay Hoker will come out of retirement and put an offer on the table.

 

[ChuckTiller]

Before KSRR, it was KAUM and before that KXYZ-FM.

 

[Mediafrog+]

I have been entertaining the idea of a "dark horse" such as BMP or Lotus picking up these two. .

BMP would be interesting. Would result in a furious three-way battle for the Hispanic market. Also would be a tremendous addition to BMP's Texas cluster.

However, if a company such as BMP could afford the sticks, why wouldn't Liberman step up and also try to grab them? (Yes, they would have to sell a couple of existing properties here.)

Lotus seems to have a half-and-half mix of Hispanic and non-Hispanic oriented stations in its portfolio, so is more of a wild card format-wise.

 

[davideduardo]

However, if a company such as BMP could afford the sticks, why wouldn't Liberman step up and also try to grab them? (Yes, they would have to sell a couple of existing properties here.)

Liberman does not seem to like buying full signal, full price stations.

Lotus seems to have a half-and-half mix of Hispanic and non-Hispanic oriented stations in its portfolio, so is more of a wild card format-wise.

It's taken Lotus 40 years to build up to its current size. In fact, the addition of two stations this year is quite a lot for them to assimilate based on history. Further, they just got out of Texas (KZEP) to be more geographically centered, so a move back would be surprising.

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[kentuckymedia]

I have a feeling that CBS may want to bulk up their cluster here. If they take on both FM's it would only benefit their overall strategy. Right now they only have the two FM signals. 2 more sure would help, and the addition of Mix would be powerful!

I know...I know, CBS wants to divest. But look for them to divest markets where they know there isn't room to grow. Houston is not only growing, but now there are two more stations to grow with. It would be a great move and Im certain Dan Mason has entertained that idea too!

 

[jerrbud]

I really don't think that Lotus has the finances to purchase in this market. Many of their stations are being supported from funds from their Las Vegas Nevada cluster.