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Could this rumor possibly be true regarding 680 and 790?

A

atlsportsnut

Guest
A sales executive from a station on the FM dial dropped this little nugget on me this morning since he knows that I advertise with the sports stations in town.
He claims that Lincoln Financial will sell off the 790 signal to the highest bidder and that will most likely be the Dickey's and 680. He claims that if this happens, they would use the 790 signal for all of the ESPN Radio syndicated programming, except for some urban local and that 680 would become all local merging talents from both stations.
If this is true, it sounds like an amazing deal for 680. They would get one of the best local sales teams in town that could sell both signals, local and national. They could create one local sports talk station with the best shows.
If it is true, I figure Buck and Kincade stay in afternoon drive where they usually win and then how would the rest of the day figure out? I would be much more attracted to buying one local sports station with the top talents on it and weeding out the weakling hosts.
Has anyone else heard this rumor or is it a bunch of "bull". (Feel free to read between the lines of the bull part!)
 
atlsportsnut said:
A sales executive from a station on the FM dial dropped this little nugget on me this morning since he knows that I advertise with the sports stations in town.
He claims that Lincoln Financial will sell off the 790 signal to the highest bidder and that will most likely be the Dickey's and 680. He claims that if this happens, they would use the 790 signal for all of the ESPN Radio syndicated programming, except for some urban local and that 680 would become all local merging talents from both stations.
If this is true, it sounds like an amazing deal for 680. They would get one of the best local sales teams in town that could sell both signals, local and national. They could create one local sports talk station with the best shows.
If it is true, I figure Buck and Kincade stay in afternoon drive where they usually win and then how would the rest of the day figure out? I would be much more attracted to buying one local sports station with the top talents on it and weeding out the weakling hosts.
Has anyone else heard this rumor or is it a bunch of "bull". (Feel free to read between the lines of the bull part!)
Click to expand...
Does anyone know when 790's lease is up? They wouldn't be able to do anything before then. I thought they just renewed their lease recently.
 
Sounds like rumor to me. I believe it was at least a five year-deal signed just last fall or so? The best of each programming? What does 680 really have to offer besides B & K? And what chances are the sales staff sticks around to work for the Dickey's?
 
Since the rumor came from a salesperson from "an FM station" I'm going to guess that he wanted to plant the seed of doubt that the station you were buying would change format. I'm guessing that the rest of the conversation involved switching those dollars over to his FM station. Rumors about the competitor switching formats started or passed on via salespeople is as old as Marconi, and speaking as a radio salesperson myself, a bad reflection on our profession. Besides, salespeople are usually out of the loop on such transactions. I would suggest consuming with a whole box of salt.
 
I believe the post about a 10-year guaranteed lease for 790 is correct.
 
I do not know the actual length of the deal as it has been ammended a couple of times. But the last renegotiation of the lease came right before the J.P. sale. It was made to guarantee security for BLB to lease the 790 signal regardless of ownership changes. It is grandfathered into any sale of the signal. There is probably at least another seven years left on the deal.

There could be a buyout clause in there for new owners to exercise. If there is, it is probably a hefty enough price tag that the Dickeys would not exercise it.
 
There are some rumors floating around out there in some very credible places (including the Wall Street Journal), and the rumors state that Lincoln Financial Group will be divesting it's broadcast assets, including radio and TV stations. There has been no confirmation of this, however. If it does happen, nobody knows whether the entire group will be sold as a single piece, of whether it will be divided up. However, under almost no circumstances can I imagine them selling the AM alone without the FM.
 
CMP has shown itself to be willing to pay top dollar for stations. They've yet to demonstrate that they're particularly good at operating major market properties, but they are, or at least were, certainly willing to pay for them.
If Lincoln selss, I'd expect them to be in the forefront of bidders.
 
atlsportsnut said:
A sales executive from a station on the FM dial dropped this little nugget on me this morning since he knows that I advertise with the sports stations in town.
He claims that Lincoln Financial will sell off the 790 signal to the highest bidder and that will most likely be the Dickey's and 680. He claims that if this happens, they would use the 790 signal for all of the ESPN Radio syndicated programming, except for some urban local and that 680 would become all local merging talents from both stations.
If this is true, it sounds like an amazing deal for 680. They would get one of the best local sales teams in town that could sell both signals, local and national. They could create one local sports talk station with the best shows.
Click to expand...

I wonder is the "FM" this sales exec works for is located on the dial at 94.1 Megahertz.

If Lincoln sells, Big League (the leasers) might have right of first refusal to purchase the station outright should Lincoln sell. Whether they do or not, I suspect they will buy the station regardless.

The issue is who will get Star 94. My money is on CBS, since Cox can't get anything else due to their ownership of the AJC.
 
It looks like Cumulus really wants to pick up more stations. If they don't want the AM, they will definitely want Star 94.
 
Well if Cumulus picks up the stations then by proxy this may be what the guy was talking about.
Cumulus and 680 are not tied by legal terms, but it is the same family group.
Then they could do exactly what the salesperson described.
 
atlsportsnut said:
Well if Cumulus picks up the stations then by proxy this may be what the guy was talking about.
Cumulus and 680 are not tied by legal terms, but it is the same family group.
Then they could do exactly what the salesperson described.
Click to expand...

I'd be real surprised if Big League didn't have right of first refusal. (If they don't....that would be sort of pathetic).
 
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