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Cumulus Shopping List?

D

Dighton Rockhead

It was mentioned in today's "Tom Taylor on Radio" online column that Cumulus has found a way to re-load its war-chest, and may well be interested in going shopping for radio properties.

Given the current financial situation of both CC and Citadel, this could present an opportunity for one or both of them to prune off a signal or here and there......

Two questions, I suppose. First....If you were either CC or Citadel....what would you consider parting with?

Secondly....If you were Cumulus....what would you have your eye on here?

Thoughts, anyone?
 
Easy Targets for CC is HJJ & Coast, Citadel probably Hot 106. Seeing as for CC B101 & HJY still bill well and the same for PRO FM, 630 and 99.7 (to help with the signal in Washington Cty) and Lite, that is what I would see for them. CC might divest of the whole cluster seeing as they have Boston and NYC and the combination of all 4 stations would be more appealing for Cumulus....
 
While Cumulus is certainly cheap, they are not as cheap as Clear Channel. Their programming would be an improvement over what we have on Coast, WHJJ, and B101. I'd love to see them step in and buy CC Providence.
 
Don't expect anything spectacular in the way of programming if Cumulus did come to town. Coast and B101 are so pathetic that no matter what changes were implemented it would seem like an improvement, but Cumulus also isn't noted for treating their people well. Face it people, what you hear in Providence is probably as good as it's ever gonna get.
 
Really? You people WANT Cumulus? From what I've read they are THE WORST radio company to work for. No, local ownership would be better.
 
Voicetracked shifts - by local employees - are better than Premium Choice. Anything is better than Ryan Seacrest or nightly editions of Tom Kent (his show would be perfect for weekends). From my observations of Cumulus stations around the country, the quality of programming is superior to the aforementioned Clear Channel garbage.
 
I've read they are a very nasty company. Jerry Del Colliano's Inside Music Media blog has some more about the Cumulus influx of cash.
 
Scott---no offense...but "superior"?....i beg to differ...i worked for Citadel for 4 years and whatever people say (or their own experiences), I enjoyed working for them. Cumulus was the worst company I have ever worked for, and I'm not talking just about radio. I have been management in another field, and radio was my part-time gig...until I made the move to cumulus full-time..and it was the biggest mistake I don't regret...because I learned what radio shouldn't be...maybe it was because i was always a part-timer...and finally saw things full-time version...who knows...all i know is that the market i was in for cumulus, the consultant picked the music, which meant the PD pretty much just sat around and cried when he wasn't picked by clients for remotes..said verbatim " I could give a "F" about AllAccess and what they think"...which by the way------was a big kick in the behind for me seeing i'm friends with people there....i'm sure it's different in certain markets, but my experience with cumulus was horrible...citadel was a company that made a part-timer feel like a full-timer (that could be the station itself though)..if cumulus were to ener the providence market, I hope one consultant and one owner didn't make frequent visits there...and i will leave names out.
 
Things are so incredibly dull and boring these days, I almost don't care whether it's Cumulus or some other interested party who does the "shaking-up" in the market.

I'm of the belief that the whole mess we're living with here is a direct result of the consolidation brought on by the TeleCom act of 1996.

Just about anything has to be an improvement.
 
Erica, with all due respect - and I have always liked your work, and tried to listen to you on one of my many junkets to the Mobile/Pensacola area - but I was referencing the final product rather than what goes on behind the scenes. I know how bad Cumulus can be. I have a friend "on the inside" in a Cumulus market in the South, and I have heard stories similar to yours.

But in terms of the product that comes out of the radio, nothing is worse than Premium Choice. Not only do most Clear Channel stations not have music directors, but these Premium Choice shifts are even voicetracked themselves. It is like listening to one of those national, off-the-bird formats, such as "Today's Best Country." It is an embarassment that Ryan Seacrest's program is on Z100/NYC, and that many big market stations, such as Kiss 108, are nearly completely voicetracked outside of morning drive. Yes, there are many Cumulus stations that are completely jockless - I can think of one in Santa Barbara, CA - but jockless is far superior to Premium Choice.

EricaKay said:
Scott---no offense...but "superior"?....i beg to differ...i worked for Citadel for 4 years and whatever people say (or their own experiences), I enjoyed working for them. Cumulus was the worst company I have ever worked for, and I'm not talking just about radio. I have been management in another field, and radio was my part-time gig...until I made the move to cumulus full-time..and it was the biggest mistake I don't regret...because I learned what radio shouldn't be...maybe it was because i was always a part-timer...and finally saw things full-time version...who knows...all i know is that the market i was in for cumulus, the consultant picked the music, which meant the PD pretty much just sat around and cried when he wasn't picked by clients for remotes..said verbatim " I could give a "F" about AllAccess and what they think"...which by the way------was a big kick in the behind for me seeing i'm friends with people there....i'm sure it's different in certain markets, but my experience with cumulus was horrible...citadel was a company that made a part-timer feel like a full-timer (that could be the station itself though)..if cumulus were to ener the providence market, I hope one consultant and one owner didn't make frequent visits there...and i will leave names out.
Click to expand...
 
ScottBurns said:
While Cumulus is certainly cheap, they are not as cheap as Clear Channel. Their programming would be an improvement over what we have on Coast, WHJJ, and B101. I'd love to see them step in and buy CC Providence.
Click to expand...

I agree with Coast and B101, but WHJJ I disagree with. WHJJ has some big name talkers on it (Rush, Beck..) and the PawSox, its doing ok for itself what it is right now. I would hate to see that change anytime soon. And I know several others (co workers, friends) who agree with me.
 
Necrat said:
I agree with Coast and B101, but WHJJ I disagree with. WHJJ has some big name talkers on it (Rush, Beck..) and the PawSox, its doing ok for itself what it is right now. I would hate to see that change anytime soon. And I know several others (co workers, friends) who agree with me.
Click to expand...
That is fine; but they barely register a pulse in the numbers with the line-up they currently have (which is a portion of the reason the market is embargoed, CC doesn't subscribe to the trends, which means that everything is held back by Arbitron).
 
Not true Wknd, HJJ's ratings are not too far behind PRO. With Yorke in middays, don't be surprised to see Rush and possibly Glenn Beck beat them. And Clear Channel does subscribe to trends.
 
Considering how disasterous the Air America experiment was for 920.....I'm sure CC must at least be breathing a sigh of relief now that they've settled on a "safer" synidcated format.

It's "Rush-Radio 920" in all but name.
 
Dighton Rockhead said:
Considering how disasterous the Air America experiment was for 920.....I'm sure CC must at least be breathing a sigh of relief now that they've settled on a "safer" synidcated format.

It's "Rush-Radio 920" in all but name.
Click to expand...

An audience that tuned out because of Air America would naturally feel betrayed by the station and would not be likely to resume listening no matter what replaced the failed format. They'd have to at least change call letters to get those folks back.
 
HJJ used to be such a classy station. They were first in News before WPRO was first in News. I'm talking about their identity as a whole. In the 80's WPRO was still playing music. HJJ was THE place for News/Talk. It's a shame that they lost their grasp.
 
S DANMAN said:
Not true Wknd, HJJ's ratings are not too far behind PRO. With Yorke in middays, don't be surprised to see Rush and possibly Glenn Beck beat them. And Clear Channel does subscribe to trends.
Click to expand...
My source, who is in the building in Maryland where the numbers come from, has told me otherwise. Clear Channel may subscribe to trends; but maybe not all of their stations in Providence do. It isn't the sole reason for the embargo, there are others in the markey who don't as well. As far as the ratings, last we saw HJJ was in the 2ish range, Pro-AM was in the 5ish range. So technically, yes they aren't too far behind. Until ratings or PPM becomes available for general viewing, all discussion on ratings are moot anyway.
 
Take a look at the new list of the top 10 American Cities in Economic Freefall at forbes.com, which has Providence listed at #10...given the chronic problems in Rhode Island with job creation and retention, why would anyone want to buy anything in this particular market?

If Clear Channel does indeed fail to hit its debt obligations, what you'll likely see are a lot of struggling AMs and FMs simply go dark..and never return.
 
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