EMMS stock is trading at $1.80 now. The article came out in 2023. He had an escalator clause in it that says he has to now offer them $7.25 a share. That deal expires next year. My take is that he's waiting for that deal to expire, because he'd be absolutely crazy to pay them that much for those shares. In the meantime, he's having fun with the station. I think he's also waiting for the FCC ownership rules to change. That'll also happen next year.
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Emmis Hires a Manager For La Exitosa 98.7
- Thread starter Barry
- Start date
EMMS stock is trading at $1.80 now. The article came out in 2023. He had an escalator clause in it that says he has to now offer them $7.25 a share. That deal expires next year. My take is that he's waiting for that deal to expire, because he'd be absolutely crazy to pay them that much for those shares. In the meantime, he's having fun with the station. I think he's also waiting for the FCC ownership rules to change. That'll also happen next year.
I'm a shareholder. No way I'm selling for $1.80. Been waiting this long, I'll wait for the new ownership rules.
I’ve got a hard time believing in a city of 16 million people, enough dollars can’t be generated for an alternative rock format in NYC. I don’t buy that no one in NYC doesnt like alternative. I do believe the wrong radio cluster in NYC was programming the format
You're assuming audience leads to revenue. That's not always the case. If the advertisers don't want to reach the alternative audience, then it's a flop. In most places, the successful alternative station is non-commercial.
101.9 WRXP was billing at an annual run rate of $16 million a year before the plug was pulled according to some employees who were interviewed when it was announced the plug was being pulled. Of course, that was when most full market FM signals in NYC were billing $25 million or more annually.
Terrible morning programming helped doom Alt 92.3, in my opinion. Cane and Corey have got to be one of the five worst morning shows in NYC FM radio history. (Scott Ferrell is perhaps the very worst.)
98.7 is benefiting from some tailwinds, and 94.7 The Block has also seen a decent AQH share surge recently. I am happy to see both of these stations are generating decent listenership levels.
Terrible morning programming helped doom Alt 92.3, in my opinion. Cane and Corey have got to be one of the five worst morning shows in NYC FM radio history. (Scott Ferrell is perhaps the very worst.)
98.7 is benefiting from some tailwinds, and 94.7 The Block has also seen a decent AQH share surge recently. I am happy to see both of these stations are generating decent listenership levels.
Such a move would be a disaster. Didn't get good numbers at 102.7 WNEW in the late 90s. Failed miserably in Seattle in 2024 when it was attempted there, and Seattle's demos are more amenable to such a format than NYC.
As Lance noted, WRXP had a Triple AAA-ish vibe when it launched in the late 00s. The station over time transitioned away from that in favor of more straight ahead rock product because it wasn't working well. (Toward the end, the station even modified its brand to "Rock 101.9 RXP.")
WRXP was sold to CBS in 2012 and flipped to WFAN. WFAN at that time was billing $45 million a year. Which format makes more money? If you're CBS, what would you do? So that same CBS that bought WRXP revives alternative in NYC in 2017, and bills about $10 million. Then they flip it to news and it bills $40 million. What more do you need to know?
I don't need to know a damn thing. I was not suggesting that the format be brought back via my earlier post. You're reading way too much into that post.
Finding an FM signal for their heritage sports brand was the correct long-term move.
WINS was already billing at or near a $40 million level before the 92.3 simulcast began. The simulcast is intended to protect the brand as AM usage continues to fade more so than grow revenue.
Of course, the elimination of the (nearly) all-news format on AM 880 and ensuing partial migration of that audience to WINS should prove accretive to WINS' billing (versus a scenario where those events don't occur).
Finding an FM signal for their heritage sports brand was the correct long-term move.
WINS was already billing at or near a $40 million level before the 92.3 simulcast began. The simulcast is intended to protect the brand as AM usage continues to fade more so than grow revenue.
Of course, the elimination of the (nearly) all-news format on AM 880 and ensuing partial migration of that audience to WINS should prove accretive to WINS' billing (versus a scenario where those events don't occur).
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Are you sure? I thought WINS was billing $30 million before the simulcast.
The demos in NYC simply don't support a rock or alternative format ad-supported radio station. That should be the takeaway here. The format you're hearing on 98.7 now is the one that makes the most sense.
You are correct that WINS did indeed see a nice revenue jump in 2023 (first full year of 92.3 simulcast).
It billed an estimated $40 million that year versus $31.6 million in 2022.
That 2022 figure was substantially less than I expected!
So, I stand corrected. The launch of the FM simulcast did indeed bring WINS a nice revenue lift.
Pre-COVID, 1010 was doing $40 million a year on its own.
www.insideradio.com
It billed an estimated $40 million that year versus $31.6 million in 2022.
That 2022 figure was substantially less than I expected!
So, I stand corrected. The launch of the FM simulcast did indeed bring WINS a nice revenue lift.
Pre-COVID, 1010 was doing $40 million a year on its own.
Meet 2019’s Top Billers (Same As 2018’s Top Billers).
The unprecedented year of 2020 is almost over but data released Wednesday by BIA provides a radio scorecard for what’s now a distant memory – 2019. WTOP was radio’s top
Why don't the owners of 93.1 and 96.3 buy 98.7? It would fit in their portfolio well with 97.9.
Because they're $310 million in debt:
With $310M In Debt Soon To Mature, SBS Seeks A Lifeline.
Spanish Broadcasting System has released its year-end financial report, and the document underscores the company’s need to refinance a substantial debt load. SBS has $310 million in notes set to
Also 96.3 is not owned by SBS, but Univision, who wants out of the radio business. If either bought them, 98.7 would almost certainly get flipped to Regional Mexican. 98.7 picked its present format because it is a fad, but it only works in a market like Miami or Orlando. Not a market like New York where the immigrants are from rural or blue-collar backgrounds.Because they're $310 million in debt:
With $310M In Debt Soon To Mature, SBS Seeks A Lifeline.
Spanish Broadcasting System has released its year-end financial report, and the document underscores the company’s need to refinance a substantial debt load. SBS has $310 million in notes set to
Look at Thee BigA's post 81. The answer is there.
It is TelevisaUnivision now. And they have refocused on viable FMs in the larger HDHA markets, leaving ones like Fresno, McAllen and the lRGV which used lots of management time with little yield.
Possibly, but the PPM panel has a very low percentage of Mexican or Mexican Americans in NYC. And there is an issue that has been discussed at the highest levels at Nielsen and even the MRC about the difficulties in getting participation by Hispanics due to the ICE enforcement activities. In one very large Mexican origin or heritage Hispanic market, it has been necessary to consolidate 18-34 with 18-49 to get the proper Hispanic quotas.
The New York City MSA panel is over half Dominican.
It's not a fad. It has been used for the last 60 years at least all over Latin America. In Puerto Rico, I converted what is still the leading AC station, WFID, to that format around 1983.
It only works well where there is a middle class and upper income group that grew up listening to English language hits in their youth. That means the "big" groups are definitely in Miami and, somewhat, Orlando. But there seems to be enough such an audience in some places like NYC and San Antonio to get around a 2 share, give or take.
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It is not a fad where it is succesful. But many USA stations that have adopted this format outside of Florida adopted this format because they want to follow the leader without realizing what made WMIA successful.
The people who immigrate for New York likely were not the target audience of radio back home, because radio there never bothered to advertise to them. So stations like WMIA might exist in the DR, but not in Dominican diasporas in the USA.
Agreed. In general, the kind of people from Latin America who might have grown up listening to English language / American "Top 40/CHR" music are not the folks who will leave their own nation unless for sociopolitical reasons... mostly socialist regimes that threaten their professions and businesses.
In most of the U.S., the immigrants from Latin America are rural and of the lowest socioeconomic levels accompanied by low education levels. They are not listening to the station back in Guadalajara or Cuenca or Bucaramanga that plays U.S. pop music.
Good point. In Mexico, a station that is, perhaps, 10th or below in all classes, but at the top of the upper and upper middle class rankers, will bill several times more than the #1 station that has only lower-middle, low and "unemployable" class listening. So with, perhaps, less than a fifth of the audience size, they bill two or three times more than the low income favorite station.
What about Hubbard Radio, Radio One, or Townsquare? Aren't they even "kicking the tires"????
It would be their only station in a very expensive market. Townsquare has made it a point to stay out of major markets.
So smaller markets are profitable and not that expensive I bet....