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Cumulus & Pamal & Pensacola?
- Thread starter amfmxm
- Start date
I don't think they will have to spin anything.
Cumulus owns 3 stations in Pensacola. 2 FM's and 1 AM. If I'm not mistaken, the cap for that market is 5 signals. No more than 4 in each band. So they would be at the limit.
Since Pensacola and Mobile are separate markets, I'm not aware of any restrictions related to their Mobile properties.
Since Pensacola and Mobile are separate markets, I'm not aware of any restrictions related to their Mobile properties.
Clear Channel bought 101.5 and 107.3 in Pensacola while they already owned 94.9, 96.1, 99.9 and 104.1 in Mobile. Clear Channel had to spin off 104.1 to Cumulus in order to get the deal past the FCC. Apparently having all the signals from both markets on the same towers matters to the FCC.
Cumulus owns a whole bunch of stations in Atlanta, Some are owned by Cumulus, some by Dickey. That might be a work around for Pensacola.
Cumulus owns a whole bunch of stations in Atlanta, Some are owned by Cumulus, some by Dickey. That might be a work around for Pensacola.
It's a deal. According to both Inside Radio & radio-info's Tom Taylor: WXBM & WMEZ to Cumulus for $6.5 million. I'm guessing the price tag may reflect around $800K + change in cash flow.
Taylor says it is unclear whether or not Cumulus will need to divest anything to fit under the cap. However, as Poledo notes above, the precedent set by the FCC in the Clear Channel Mobile-Pensacola market indicates that some sort of shuffling may be needed. Poledo's citing of Cumulus' shenanigans in Atlanta, using the Dickey family as shell owners to skirt the cap, actually mirrors CC's use of a sham outfit (was it Concord?) as a "licensee" of 107.3 for many years in Pensacola--despite sharing the same building, the same management, the same sales staff... the same coffee maker...
Bottom line is that Cumulua has suddenly emerged as the dominant force in Pensacola radio.
Taylor says it is unclear whether or not Cumulus will need to divest anything to fit under the cap. However, as Poledo notes above, the precedent set by the FCC in the Clear Channel Mobile-Pensacola market indicates that some sort of shuffling may be needed. Poledo's citing of Cumulus' shenanigans in Atlanta, using the Dickey family as shell owners to skirt the cap, actually mirrors CC's use of a sham outfit (was it Concord?) as a "licensee" of 107.3 for many years in Pensacola--despite sharing the same building, the same management, the same sales staff... the same coffee maker...
Bottom line is that Cumulua has suddenly emerged as the dominant force in Pensacola radio.
Didn't WABB sell for $7 mil? If I remember that price correctly, Cumulus just stole the show by getting WABB's old format and listeners and I assume advertisers for it's red headed step child 104.1, plus two class C FM turn key operations for $6.5 mil. When do they take control of Pamal Pensacola?
Also, does anyone remember if Clear Channel owned WPMI NBC/Fox 15 back when they bought TK101 and Cool 107? I think they picked up WJTC several years later. How long did Pax own TK and Cool? Like from 91 till 94? That was a long time ago and I was high all the time then. If I was high now I'd remember everything. :
Unless Baldwin/92Zew gets a chance to pick up a Mobile/Pensacola signal as a spinoff from this deal or ADX of Pensacola gets a second Mobile/Pensacola signal, I don't see anything changing on the listener's end. It kinda sucks that Cumulus and CC are going to own all but 1 of our Mobile/Pensacola class C stations... but from a business sense, I bet many insiders like amfmxm saw this coming a decade ago.
Wow, Pensacola will only have 3 commercial FM's that aren't owned by the clouds, WHWY Highway 98 Country, WYCT Cat Country & WAAZ the Good Country. It's going to take a while to absorb that fact.
Also, does anyone remember if Clear Channel owned WPMI NBC/Fox 15 back when they bought TK101 and Cool 107? I think they picked up WJTC several years later. How long did Pax own TK and Cool? Like from 91 till 94? That was a long time ago and I was high all the time then. If I was high now I'd remember everything. :
Unless Baldwin/92Zew gets a chance to pick up a Mobile/Pensacola signal as a spinoff from this deal or ADX of Pensacola gets a second Mobile/Pensacola signal, I don't see anything changing on the listener's end. It kinda sucks that Cumulus and CC are going to own all but 1 of our Mobile/Pensacola class C stations... but from a business sense, I bet many insiders like amfmxm saw this coming a decade ago.
Wow, Pensacola will only have 3 commercial FM's that aren't owned by the clouds, WHWY Highway 98 Country, WYCT Cat Country & WAAZ the Good Country. It's going to take a while to absorb that fact.
G
Groove1670
Guest
3 million and some change. Probably some tax advantages too selling to a non profit.
Poledo, Paxson bought TK & 107.3 from Southern Broadcasting in late 1996 and passed TK onto Clear Channel in '97, with WOWW/WYCL (or whatever) sidetracked to Concord. CC's roughly simultaneous acquistion of the Mobile radio stations--KSJ et al--and their existant ownership of NBC-15 (& TV LMA/duop) played a role.
The key to remembering the general time frame is that the floodgates were opened by the Telecom Act of 1996. It virtually required consolidation ("Eat or Be Eaten").
The key to remembering the general time frame is that the floodgates were opened by the Telecom Act of 1996. It virtually required consolidation ("Eat or Be Eaten").
I guess it's safe to say that Cumulus won't touch WXBM; I understand it's a good performer. But something tells me they won't touch WMEZ, either. After all, doesn't the AC format still bill really well? Methinkst this change will only matter on paper. It's two formats that, as far as I know, they don't already own in Mobile or Pensacola.
... but Cumulus could decide to cede the title of "Pensacola's County Music Station" to Cat and focus XBM toward the big city of Mobile. It's the biggest change I could imagine Cumulus pulling without spinning off one of their FM's.
Compete with KSJ or compete with Cat or compete with both or compete with neither or compete with yourself. Three 100kw country signals with the same coverage area. Let them all stay the same or does XBM or Cat try something to stand out?
Does Clear Channel make a bid to buy 98.7 to stay on par with Cumulus? Could CC buy WAAZ and move it to the old 107.3 tower in Cantonment? Hum, K Love doesn't "need" 95.7 in Navarre anymore. Surely a C1 or C2 FM in FWB could be moved to Pensacola as a C3 or class A... would it be worth more over here? Stimulate the market for more frequency moves or a shuffle of the dial?
Now that all the radio stations in the Mobile/Pensacola market are either owned by Cumulus or Clear Channel will that further influence CC to put WNTM on FM? I noticed that Radio-Locator lists the 99.5 translator in Mobile as relaying WNTM. If it really was I'm sure someone would have already posted it here. So, what will happen with all the translator frequencies now.
There still could be something interesting to come out of this mess. And it all started when the Christians bought WABB. Chaos by God!
Compete with KSJ or compete with Cat or compete with both or compete with neither or compete with yourself. Three 100kw country signals with the same coverage area. Let them all stay the same or does XBM or Cat try something to stand out?
Does Clear Channel make a bid to buy 98.7 to stay on par with Cumulus? Could CC buy WAAZ and move it to the old 107.3 tower in Cantonment? Hum, K Love doesn't "need" 95.7 in Navarre anymore. Surely a C1 or C2 FM in FWB could be moved to Pensacola as a C3 or class A... would it be worth more over here? Stimulate the market for more frequency moves or a shuffle of the dial?
Now that all the radio stations in the Mobile/Pensacola market are either owned by Cumulus or Clear Channel will that further influence CC to put WNTM on FM? I noticed that Radio-Locator lists the 99.5 translator in Mobile as relaying WNTM. If it really was I'm sure someone would have already posted it here. So, what will happen with all the translator frequencies now.
There still could be something interesting to come out of this mess. And it all started when the Christians bought WABB. Chaos by God!
That 99.5 change of parent station is just on the APP, it hasn't been granted yet. But I guess it makes sense because that's the only way they'd get WNTM to cover "both sides of the bay" to steal a phrase from FM Talk 106.5. The 99.5 APP also happens to use the coordinates for the WAVH tower at I-65 and I-165.
poledo said:
It is for 250 watts. The WAVH tower is the WIJD 1270 tower in Pritchard, crime capital of the south. The tower itself is about 470 feet tall and the translator is at about the 370 ft mark.
Going back to the original topic for a moment, I stumbled across something on the Dallas board that does a good job of summing up why I am so continually wary of Cumulus as a company. It's a post in a thread about how Cumulus just let the #1 live local talk host Mark Davis go, and how they're a bunch of vultures. So with that in mind, I am not all that excited about Pamal selling these two stations. Anyone who still works at WXBM and WMEZ better start freshening up their resumes — they won't have jobs for long after the deal closes.
Poledo, I think you can safely put $50 on Cumulus keeping XBM & MEZ right where they are in Country and AC. With the acquisition of this pair, they now have a cluster that is as close to a "Spectrum Buy" as you can get: Country, AC, CHR, Urban, Urban AC & News-Talk on FM (is that right?).
If I was them (and, no, there is absolutely no chance that I'd entertain the thought) I'd most likely shift all local content from 1370 to 100.7 ASAP, and flip the AM to sports. And I'd do a very careful analysis of the two Urban FMs to determine how much revenue is unduplicated--that is, how much billing would just slide over to BLX if the UAC went away. Right now the cluster is heavily skewed to women, so a rocker might come in handy--or even a sports FM. Gotta get their share of the beer money...
Hey, it's real easy to run somebody else's company, isn't it?! LOL. They'll do what they'll do, and won't ask our opinion. But, no, I don't see them screwing with either 102.7 or 94.1.
If I was them (and, no, there is absolutely no chance that I'd entertain the thought) I'd most likely shift all local content from 1370 to 100.7 ASAP, and flip the AM to sports. And I'd do a very careful analysis of the two Urban FMs to determine how much revenue is unduplicated--that is, how much billing would just slide over to BLX if the UAC went away. Right now the cluster is heavily skewed to women, so a rocker might come in handy--or even a sports FM. Gotta get their share of the beer money...
Hey, it's real easy to run somebody else's company, isn't it?! LOL. They'll do what they'll do, and won't ask our opinion. But, no, I don't see them screwing with either 102.7 or 94.1.
Zach said:
So how do WAVH and WIJD broadcast without any copper? ;D
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amfmxm:
If Cumulus did away with UAC then putting Rush on 106.1 in Pensacola would be a no-brainer. Also with WRNE supposedly lighting up the 106.9 translator late this summer, 106.1 could take a lickin', yeah... they really could, I'm sure of it.
106.1 could easily go sports talk with Rush (and Boortz or whatever that other show is that 100.7 did not clear). If that happened Cumulus might be able to make a good oldies station out of 1370, with lots of local news inserts from the WCOA staff... old school WHEP radio style, maybe??? (probably not, right?) 1370 could also make a decent run as a secondary sports station, gotta have somewhere to put FSU football while Florida is playing on a bigger signal.
I'm not sure who owns or is banking 1450 and their soon to be 101.1 translator, but that 101.1 translator gives 1450 other options if Cumulus wants the Sports radio business. 101.1 on the FM dial, right between 99Rock and TK, is the perfect position for Alternative to return to Pensacola... and the South Palafox Place revival could very well support it. I think it would all depend on getting the signal from a 101.1 translator to reach the beach. I've played with 10 watts at 30 feet, so it seems easy enough in my head.
In my mind's eye I still can't see a full power rocker under Cumulus ownership, but I'm very happy to see an insider believes it would be one of the top routes to travel. Translators will still be available, and we now have at least one extra talker on AM. I can only hope someone gives a niche format a chance in PNS.
Doesn't WDLT still beat WBLX in the 12+ book every so often. Can't imagine WDLT going to sleep... I've always thought 100kw was it's destiny, but WCOA and WABD just took that option off the table. If UAC went away with 98.3 I would think moving WGOK over to FM would be the best/easy move.. then use the AMs to feed a translator or two... unless they can sell off those expensive AM's. Is anyone buying AMs like 660 and 900 now-a-days?
It sure is easy to play with other people's money. It's a little easier for me to see how large clusters can loose their way while little guys (i.e. Mark Carter/Baldwin) can do just fine.
Buying WXBM sort of negates any need challenging WKSJ, I would think. In relation to Mobile/Baldwin country fans, it's been their default #2 for years, long before 98.7 came on the scene. Cumulus can now claim 'victory' the same way WEAR does in local news. Maybe they coordinate more live events and promotions on the Alabama side, but there's zero need to move.poledo said:
If anything, Cumulus will look at consolidating operations at one location in Pensacola. News/Talk WCOA, Your Country WXBM, and Soft Rock WMEZ, all heard on 100kw FMs? That would seem to be a good trio of stations for a sales staff to work with.
Even if WXBM is #1 and Cat is #2 in little old Pensacola, KSJ is sitting pretty over in big bad Mobile with no competition. Could 102.7 possibly start targeting Mobile without dumping the entire Pensacola audience on the Cat at once... try to become a full market, Mobile/Pensacola, country outlet and pull more listeners away from KSJ than they loose to Cat. It seems to make sense to me, but I ain't all that smart when it comes to this type of thing.
If the Clear Channel Rockers and BLX can serve the whole Mobile/Pensacola market, why can't a country station do the same? All they have to do is make the music the most important part of the broadcast, right? It's Country music and this is Dixie after all. How hard could it be?
Plus, if it works, maybe Mobile/Pensacola will have ONE dominate country station just like we have ONE dominate Urban... freeing up two signals to flip to something cool. Yeah, I know that's a stupid idea, I have heard all the stations on the Dothan radio dial. I know damn well at least 2 of those 12 11 stations, now that 97.5 is out of the picture, are going to play shitty contemporary country music.
It's the most optimistic thing I can imagine coming out of the Cumulus/Pamal deal... come on, give me a little more rope to hang myself by. Today we have 11 commercial stations and the only one I can stand to listen to is the Rocket. It's been so long since there's been another decent radio station.
If the Clear Channel Rockers and BLX can serve the whole Mobile/Pensacola market, why can't a country station do the same? All they have to do is make the music the most important part of the broadcast, right? It's Country music and this is Dixie after all. How hard could it be?
Plus, if it works, maybe Mobile/Pensacola will have ONE dominate country station just like we have ONE dominate Urban... freeing up two signals to flip to something cool. Yeah, I know that's a stupid idea, I have heard all the stations on the Dothan radio dial. I know damn well at least 2 of those 12 11 stations, now that 97.5 is out of the picture, are going to play shitty contemporary country music.
It's the most optimistic thing I can imagine coming out of the Cumulus/Pamal deal... come on, give me a little more rope to hang myself by. Today we have 11 commercial stations and the only one I can stand to listen to is the Rocket. It's been so long since there's been another decent radio station.
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