CUMULUS/CITADEL DEAL IS OFFICIAL

[bossjock 56]

It became official yesterday. How will it impact Central PA? Will 105.7 be a York station and move in with WARM/WSOX/WSBA? Could WIOV also move to Susquehanna Plaza? If so, would they dump 1240 in Reading? Let the games begin!

 

[Seltzer]

This is truly a sad day for Central PA radio. But fortunately for the Citadel people in Central PA, they will have a really good GM in Ron Giavanelli and a solid head of programming in John O'Dea.

First to be decided is they actually get to keep all the stations. But assuming they do, I hope Cumulus is smart enough to realize they have now acquired a couple really strong assets...The Peoples Morning Show on the X and and Murf & Casey on WIOV..as well as thestations themselves.

 

[gophergirl]

Big companies do not view talent as assets, they're viewed as liabilities. Thus, they will be disposed of with little consideration if there is a need to reduce the bottom line. But I guess we can dream. However, I fear some very talented people will be on the street before this is all over.

 

[ericjbard]

As for the makeup of the stations, here is my thoughts

CUMULUS HARRISBURG
1400 WHGB ESPN Radio
92.1 WWKL CHR/Mainstream
93.5 WTPA Classic Rock
102.3 WCAT Country
104.1 WNNK Hot AC

CUMULUS YORK
910 WSBA News/Talk
1440 WGLD ESPN Radio
96.1 WSOX Classic Hits
103.3 WARM Adult Contemporary
105.7 WQXA Mainstream Rock

HALL BROADCASTING
1490 WLPA Sports
92.7 WSJW Smooth Jazz
101.3 WROZ Hot AC
105.1 WIOV Country
106.7 WMHX Adult Hits

 

[winkerfunk]

Big companies do not view talent as assets, they're viewed as liabilities. Thus, they will be disposed of with little consideration if there is a need to reduce the bottom line. But I guess we can dream. However, I fear some very talented people will be on the street before this is all over.

Good point gophergirl. Cumulus has already cut loose (locally) Mad Dog on WSOX kept Dave and hired Diane Grey at I'll bet a quarter of Mad Dog's salary. They did not replace Kelly on WARM and instead put the midday girl in there to play more music. Then there's Amy who does an 8 hour show on WTPA to save costs on a midday talent. It would seem to be about saving money, not about what's best for programming.

Can you see anyone from the X morning show or Murph and Casey doing their thing till 2p? If so, what does that mean for the midday positions at those stations? Are they the first casualties besides sales or are the PD's the first to go? Or since 105.1 and 105.7 seem to both be stronger properties than anything Cumulus has right now do they keep Citadel staffing and start chopping current Cumulus staff?

Then again, they could follow Amish Twerps advice and hire Bruce Bond, clear out both sides and then run non-stop repeats of his show on all the properties and clean up big time. With that kind of coverage and that kind of talent, how could they lose!? The possibilities are endless!

In all seriousness, I hope nothing but the best for all those involved and hope everyone comes out ok in the end.

 

[sprtschick]

EricjBard....are you saying that you see Hall buying/obtaining WIOV and Channel 106.7?

 

[bl40modulimiter2]

I'd be shocked if they dumped either WIOV or 106.7---WIOV because it's a license to print money and 106.7 because of the huge signal. Can you say Hot 106.7? I'd think IF they have to dump anything---and my understanding is if they can get WQXA moved back to being a York station, they won't have to---but if they did, I'd think the Class A's like 102.3 and 92.1 would be the ones to go.

 

[grandoleopry]

BL
I am in complete agreement with you.
No chance of them selling WIOV, OR 106.7 Those two
stations along with QXA have great
value. WIOV & QXA already powerhouse stations in terms of billing.
It wouldn't take much to turn 106.7 around either.
I would agree with you that the ones most likely to be sold off would
be 102.3 & 92.1.

 

[danwxman]

I'd be shocked if they dumped either WIOV or 106.7---WIOV because it's a license to print money and 106.7 because of the huge signal. Can you say Hot 106.7? I'd think IF they have to dump anything---and my understanding is if they can get WQXA moved back to being a York station, they won't have to---but if they did, I'd think the Class A's like 102.3 and 92.1 would be the ones to go.

As much as I really want to see an FM News/Talk station like NJ101.5 on 106.7's signal, I know it's even less likely to happen with this merger. As I noted in another thread, I really think Cumulus moves Hot 92 to 106.7's much larger signal. A true three-market CHR... Has central PA ever had such a station?

On another note -- if Cumulus has to give up one of their Class A's, is Clear Channel eligible to pick one of them up? I think they'd go for a simulcast of WHP if they got 102.3. Perfectly covers the most conservative part of the market and conveniently also the area where 580's signal gets lost at night due to going directional.

 

[RockofHBG]

A true three-market CHR... Has central PA ever had such a station?

Yes Q106, WQXA from about 1978-88. They were CHR/Hot AC from 1974-95.

Here's a question that interests me and one that might shed light on the Cumulus/Citadel merger:

In 2000, WNNK, WTPA, WWKL (then WNCE) and 1400 The Touch were all briefly Clear Channel Stations because of a merger. As a matter of fact, complications from that were behind the first aborted format change of 99.3 from oldies to CHR in September 2000(remember "It's the End Of The World As We Know It"?) After the transfer, 99.3 finally became KISS in the summer of 2001. The reason for the abrupt format change halt is that Cumulus did not want Clear Channel attacking WINK until the sale was final. Flipping at that time would have nullified the sale.

Clear Channel obviously had to spin stations. Does anybody know or remember why they spun WNNK? Would it not have made sense to keep WNNK and spin 99.3 instead? They ended up spinning the cluster intact. Anybody know why?

 

[vetguy]

I remember talk about that. The story was that WNNK was pretty much maxed out in inventory and rate. It was a very expensive station to run. Couldn't add more spots and couldn't get any higher rate. There was talk that it had about peaked all the way around, even format wise. It was best to sell it off at that time for as much as they could get and let someone else deal with the mess.

They had growth available in the other stations revenue wise and could keep the expenses lower=profit.

I can't say all of this was the real reason, but that is the talk that was circulating.

 

[RockofHBG]

A couple of thoughts I had about WNNK being spun off from Clear Channel in 2000 instead of 99.3:

1. Removing WNNK from the deal may have devalued the cluster so much that they may not have been able to get anywhere near what they wanted/needed for the cluster.

2. The FCC may not have been happy with Clear Channel controlling all three class Bs in Harrisburg...WRVV, WRBT and WNNK.

Just thoughts.....

 

[Kent]

Clear Channel obviously had to spin stations. Does anybody know or remember why they spun WNNK? Would it not have made sense to keep WNNK and spin 99.3 instead? They ended up spinning the cluster intact. Anybody know why?

The DOJ forced it. Clear Channel was given the option of keeping the former AMFM stations or their own stations. They weren't going to give up WHP and WRVV. So, they spun the AMFM stations.

I believe the deal was actually a swap with Clear Channel getting some stations in Tennessee (Chattanooga, I think) for the Harrisburg cluster. Right after that, Cumulus was hit with a stock scandal that forced one of its officers from the company, and Cumulus sold almost 100 stations to Clear Channel for some much needed cash.

 

[RockofHBG]

Clear Channel was given the option of keeping the former AMFM stations or their own stations.

They couldn't have cherry-picked which to keep and which to sell, as long as they kept the same number of stations?

 

[Kent]

They couldn't have cherry-picked which to keep and which to sell, as long as they kept the same number of stations?

Nope. The FCC can't prohibit cherry picking stations, but the DOJ can. The DOJ doesn't operate off of station caps; it operates off of revenue caps. Owning WNNK, WHP and WRVV would've put them WAY over the revenue cap the DOJ requires. So, they were, in effect, given a one cluster or the other option.

 

[winkerfunk]

They couldn't have cherry-picked which to keep and which to sell, as long as they kept the same number of stations?

Nope. The FCC can't prohibit cherry picking stations, but the DOJ can. The DOJ doesn't operate off of station caps; it operates off of revenue caps. Owning WNNK, WHP and WRVV would've put them WAY over the revenue cap the DOJ requires. So, they were, in effect, given a one cluster or the other option.

Thanks Kent. That is very interesting. So we can create scenarios about which one or ones Cumulus will spin off all day long, the reality is that it won't really be up to Cumulus. Because I had 102.3 in my "spin pool". Now with that info it would be 105.7 or 105.1. I saw an earlier post that had 106.7 and 105.1 in the Hall cluster. Maybe he wasn't too far off?

 

[ericjbard]

Hall has been looking to build out their cluster in York/Lancaster. They aren't as concerned with Harrisburg which makes me thing they wouldn't try to make an offer. Only company that would come into Harrisburg with the smallest signals available might be KLove but you won't get the money you are looking for of course.

105.1 makes sense for Hall. They KNOW country, very well. They LOVE country too. It's located in BFAC (Amish Country) and while it makes money it might push them over the DOJ limit. I could see them keeping 106.7 but Hall would really want another York stick. Harrisburg stand alone would fail.

 

[Seltzer]

Hall has been looking to build out their cluster in York/Lancaster. They aren't as concerned with Harrisburg which makes me thing they wouldn't try to make an offer. Only company that would come into Harrisburg with the smallest signals available might be KLove but you won't get the money you are looking for of course.

105.1 makes sense for Hall. They KNOW country, very well. They LOVE country too. It's located in BFAC (Amish Country) and while it makes money it might push them over the DOJ limit. I could see them keeping 106.7 but Hall would really want another York stick. Harrisburg stand alone would fail.

I wouldn't rule out Radio Hanover trying to get another York signal if they could. If Cumulus brings WQXA back to York, could that put them over the limit there? Then WARM or WSOX has to go.

 

[XCountry285]

92.1 should go straight CHR and so should 106.7 or at least some station in York to cover that area. Areas like Shippensburg and such can't pick up a CHR anywhere and 96.7 FM is Hip Hop Not CHR

 

[Kent]

Thanks Kent. That is very interesting. So we can create scenarios about which one or ones Cumulus will spin off all day long, the reality is that it won't really be up to Cumulus. Because I had 102.3 in my "spin pool". Now with that info it would be 105.7 or 105.1. I saw an earlier post that had 106.7 and 105.1 in the Hall cluster. Maybe he wasn't too far off?

Probably a better way to say it is that it MAY not be entirely up to Cumulus as to what they keep and what they spin off. The DOJ will definitely be reviewing this deal. The law requires it. However, it's up to them as to how they flex their muscle. The Bush DOJ was a lot more permissive than the Clinton DOJ, and, while we can expect the Obama DOJ to be more regulatory than the previous DOJ, we really don't know how or where they'll draw the line. This is really the first major deal since Obama's taken office, and it will be interesting to watch.