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Emmis Exits Indianapolis Radio

R

Ryan Williams

The cluster is going to Urban One. I'm surprised to say the least.


I guess this means U1 will have to spin off one FM. WNOW? If that is the case then it is a shame, because that would make a good new home for The Fan.

Here is the official release from Emmis:

Emmis Announces Sale of Indianapolis Radio Cluster to Urban One

For Immediate Release Monday, June 13, 2022 Contact: Kate Snedeker, [email protected] Indianapolis…Emmis Communications today announced an agreement to sell its Emmis Indianapolis radio stations to Urban One, pending approval from the Federal Communications Commission. The sale includes B105 (WYXB...
www.emmis.com www.emmis.com
 
Ryan Williams said:
The cluster is going to Urban One. I'm surprised to say the least.


I guess this means U1 will have to spin off one FM. WNOW? If that is the case then it is a shame, because that would make a good new home for The Fan.

Here is the official release from Emmis:

Emmis Announces Sale of Indianapolis Radio Cluster to Urban One

For Immediate Release Monday, June 13, 2022 Contact: Kate Snedeker, [email protected] Indianapolis…Emmis Communications today announced an agreement to sell its Emmis Indianapolis radio stations to Urban One, pending approval from the Federal Communications Commission. The sale includes B105 (WYXB...
www.emmis.com www.emmis.com
Click to expand...

The Radio Insight story is up and has more detail, including that WHHH will be divested along with the Radio Now IP. Does that mean The Fan is going to 100.9 or that Hot is going to 100.9. Probably the latter.

Also, I wonder where that leaves the 1070 AM "long wire" project on Monument Circle. WFNI was not mentioned in either link.

 
Ryan Williams said:
The Radio Insight story is up and has more detail, including that WHHH will be divested along with the Radio Now IP. Does that mean The Fan is going to 100.9 or that Hot is going to 100.9. Probably the latter.

Also, I wonder where that leaves the 1070 AM "long wire" project on Monument Circle. WFNI was not mentioned in either link.

Click to expand...
It sounds like Hot is going away but might re-surface under another owner.
 
Ryan Williams said:
The Radio Insight story is up and has more detail, including that WHHH will be divested along with the Radio Now IP. Does that mean The Fan is going to 100.9 or that Hot is going to 100.9. Probably the latter.

Also, I wonder where that leaves the 1070 AM "long wire" project on Monument Circle. WFNI was not mentioned in either link.
Click to expand...
I see the former being slightly more probable.

In terms of suitors for the WHHH & the Radio Now IP, iHeart might bite. WHHH is WZRL's direct competitor, and it would allow WZRL to flip to CHR with an established identity.
 
This is not a surprise at all, with Emmis shrinking to essentially just Indianapolis over the last decade, and the Cumulus acquisition of the former Entercom cluster giving Cumulus greater scale than the other operators in the market.

iHeart would seem like the only potential suitor who would keep WHHH commercial. Cumulus is at the market cap. Could be a nice upgrade for "Freedom 95" but I doubt they have the financing to make an acquisition happen.
 
PTBoardOp94 said:
This is not a surprise at all, with Emmis shrinking to essentially just Indianapolis over the last decade, and the Cumulus acquisition of the former Entercom cluster giving Cumulus greater scale than the other operators in the market.

iHeart would seem like the only potential suitor who would keep WHHH commercial. Cumulus is at the market cap. Could be a nice upgrade for "Freedom 95" but I doubt they have the financing to make an acquisition happen.
Click to expand...
I assume EMF has all they want?
 
EMF has KLove on WKLU with 6kW based in northwest Indy, and rimshot WQRA running Air1. WKLU and WHHH are similar facilities.
So I guess EMF might consider buying if they want a better signal for Air 1. I'm not sure how many resources they've been putting into Air 1 lately.
 
PTBoardOp94 said:
This is not a surprise at all, with Emmis shrinking to essentially just Indianapolis over the last decade, and the Cumulus acquisition of the former Entercom cluster giving Cumulus greater scale than the other operators in the market.
Click to expand...

The only major surprises are the timing and the buyer. Smulyan is 75, and his kids have no desire to be in the radio business.

That's what happened to Susquehanna, too. The grandparents built the business. The parents grew it, and the kids just wanted to cash it out. Within three years of the founder's death, 70% of all family businesses are either sold, closed, or in bankruptcy. The family business that gets passed from generation-to-generation is largely a myth and/or a fantasy.
 
Ryan Williams said:
The Radio Insight story is up and has more detail, including that WHHH will be divested along with the Radio Now IP. Does that mean The Fan is going to 100.9 or that Hot is going to 100.9. Probably the latter.

Also, I wonder where that leaves the 1070 AM "long wire" project on Monument Circle. WFNI was not mentioned in either link.

Click to expand...
Per fccdata.org, nothing has been filed indicating a transfer of control of 1070 to Mr. Walsh.
 
PTBoardOp94 said:
EMF has KLove on WKLU with 6kW based in northwest Indy, and rimshot WQRA running Air1. WKLU and WHHH are similar facilities.
So I guess EMF might consider buying if they want a better signal for Air 1. I'm not sure how many resources they've been putting into Air 1 lately.
Click to expand...
They also have Air1 at 98.7 in Anderson which serves Indianapolis from the North
 
tsherck said:
They also have Air1 at 98.7 in Anderson which serves Indianapolis from the North
Click to expand...

I never found that signal did as well as its parameters would seem to dictate. Then again, during my brief time in Indy, I had a 1990 Geo Prizm, and those things didn’t have the best radios. About the only time I was really ever in the northeast part of the city was to visit Circle V Brewing, and it closed right after I moved there!
 
AceBiscuits said:
100.9's future seems pretty set then, if that's the case.
Click to expand...
It certainly seems like Hot is moving to 100.9, but The Fan could use a better and more permanent home. There is a substantial number of potential listeners in the southern parts of the metro that are not currently being served with 93.5 or 107.5.

I think Hot is a strategic format for U1 and it seems unlikely they would give up that position even though Hot's performance has not been all that great.

100.9 is definitely the better signal over 96.3, but if Hot was the keeper why have they not done the swap already?

What if they first moved The Fan to 100.9 and then subsequently Hot to 93.5/107.5 before unloading 96.3?
 
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