Clear Channel SFO and SJO - which stations should go?

[newsperson]

The Inside Radio news release states that Clear Channel needs to sell 3 FMs in San Francisco and 3 FMs in San Jose. This is because they are grandfathered under the old rules and you loose that status when you sell to a new owner.

It is apparent that the San Francisco FMs and the San Jose FMs both have prohibited over lap in coverage so that they count against each other.

My question is that if they sold 3 FMs in San Jose, would they still l have to sell 3 FMs in San Francisco or vice versa? I count at least 5 Clear Channel FMs in San Francisco so they are over the limit.

This is really a surprise for a lot of us. Who ever thought that Clear Channel would be sizing down in the Bay area?

What stations does Clear Channel have in the South Bay? Could somebody list them?

Who will buy those stations? Entercom, Citadel or Next Media? Yes Next Media recently advertised for part time help, then they let go key full-time people and decided to automate on weekends. One of their personalities Dennis suffers a heart attack. Was part of that stress from work? There has to be some better potential buyers.

So how about us being one of the Clear Channel station buyers? If 100,000.00 of us each contribute 1,000.00 each then we would have $ 100,000,000.00 which may be enough to buy one station.

I look forward to your replies and comments.

Newsperson

 

[Michael Rivers Kramer]

It somes to the redefinition of Radio Market from common overlapping contours to actual Arbitron radio markets. Back in 2000, The facilities of KSJO and KUFX were downgraded enough to prevent the overlap of their respective 3.16 mv/m countours with their CC sister stations in San Francisco.

Enter the new rules...The market definitions are now based on Arbitron Markets. The three San Jose area stations (KCNL KSJO and KUFX) are not only in the San Jose radio market, but in the San Francisco arbitron market as well, being that San Jose is embedded in the larger San Francisco market.

It's not six stations that have to be sold, it's three. KSJO, KUFX and KCNL are in both Arbitron markets. I would put my be on the sale of the three south bay stations.

 

[newsperson]

It's not six stations that have to be sold, it's three. KSJO, KUFX and KCNL are in both Arbitron markets. I would put my be on the sale of the three south bay stations.
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Michael, thanks for the reply.

I had heard yesterday that Clear Channel was in denial about having to sell some of its major market stations. Also Inside Radio reported that they stand to gain 1.1 billion dollars if they sell all of those stations. So none of us will cry for Clear Channel.

In San Francisco I count 5-FMs for Clear Channel. I thought that the limit was 4-stations in the same service, say 4 FMs and 4 AMs in the largest markets. Do you know what the new rule says?

If the limit is four FM stations, which station would you expect them to sell? Which station would be the most attractive to a buyer?

Finally seeing that prices for stations like this are around one hundred million dollars(95 million for 106.9), is there really that much money out there and where does it come from?

I look forward to everyone's thoughts on this.

Newsperson

 

[Michael Rivers Kramer]

Here are the limits.... 8 stations is the max with no more than FIVE on any band. In San Francisco it's KMEL, KYLD, KIOI, KKSF and KISQ (Plus San Jose's KUFX and KSJO and Sunnyvale's KCNL) on the FM Dial. Over on the AM Dial it's KABL and KNEW Oakland.

This triggers 3 FM's over the limit as San Jose is also considered part of San Francisco's ARB limit.

Television stations even add more to the mix. In this case, if they owned a full powered station in San Francisco, it would still be counted based on over lapping countours of (in this case 2mv/m on AM....Remember the KFRC-AM/ KOVR situation...and 3.16 mv/m on FM).

I'm not sure what KFTY's situation would be based that it is not counted based on Arbitron Market, but on overlapping contours.
The signal is limited to pretty much the north bay. Anyway, it's a moot point since Clear Channel is dumping its television group.

 

[oldbossjock]

For those interested, the actual wording on radio station ownership (cross-ownership of tv, radio and/or newspapers reads a bit differently)

As a general rule, one entity may own (a) up to five commercial radio stations, not more than three of which are in the same service (i.e., AM or FM), in a market with 14 or fewer radio stations; (b) up to six commercial radio stations, not more than four of which are in the same service, in a market with between 15 and 29 radio stations; (c) up to seven commercial radio stations, not more than four of which are in the same service, in a radio market with between 30 and 44 (inclusive) radio stations; and (d) up to eight commercial radio stations, not more than five of which are in the same service, in a radio market with 45 or more radio stations.