Emmis Reiterates They Are Open to Selling One of their NYC Stations

[Barry]

From their new quarterly 10Q financial report:"we have one radio station in New York City and two radio stations in Chicago where we believe the sale value could exceed the prospects for cash flow generation as part of our portfolio. Although we remain optimistic about the growth potential of these stations, as the market for buying and selling radio stations improves, we may from time to time explore sales of one or more of these stations.."
That would appear to indicate Emmis would be interested selling WRXP and/or their two rock stations in Chicago if they can get a decent offer.
Link:http://biz.yahoo.com/e/101015/emms10-q.html

 

[WRXPinsider]

From their new quarterly 10Q financial report:"we have one radio station in New York City and two radio stations in Chicago where we believe the sale value could exceed the prospects for cash flow generation as part of our portfolio.

The $ that Emmis wants to get for RXP and what they'd receive from a buyer are football fields apart.

"Although we remain optimistic about the growth potential of these stations, as the market for buying and selling radio stations improves, we may from time to time explore sales of one or more of these stations.."

After 2.5 years, it's apparent that the growth potential is non-existent: RXP offers a poorly executed niche format appealing to a small percentage of a sliver of a slice of the NYC market, and the station is being helmed by self-absorbed, truth-bending "professionals" of highly questionable ability.

We've all updated our resumes and are actively looking for new opportunities.

 

[DToTheJ]

It's ironic that in today's PPM world, it's the rock stations that are considered to be sold.

 

[TonySantiago]

I was looking at the Billboard Hot 100 and I could see why the rock stations are being affected.

Going back, to as recent as grunge, there was always a rock presence on the charts (geared to those from the teens to early thirties, while the older generation still followed classic rock). Rock meant something in terms of mainstream radio airplay. Core fans will still swear to rock. Places like Boston are still very strong when it comes to rock music on the radio.

However, when you look at the trends, things have become MUCH stronger regarding pop, rhythmic and today's country on the charts. The CLOSEST rock act I've seen this week on the Hot 100, that sounds rock (and someone can correct me here) is "Waitin For The End" by Linkin Park - #95 (to which they are the "alternative" side to things). Even Reba McEntire, who has been around for a long time, has a bigger shot on the charts then rock acts.

I'm not dissing rock....that's something I DO NOT DO unlike some folks that disrespect dance music in here. I'm just looking at the trends and right now, in terms of currents, things aren't looking good for rock. You still have stations like Q-104 and 'BAB doing classic rock, but how long can that go on as the rock crowd continually gets older and very few in their 20's are tuning in to that, favoring the rhythmic trends going on CHR radio now (as in Lady Gaga, Drake, Rihanna, Kanye West, etc.).

Rock music needs another "revolution" somehow. And like I said, no diss...I'm just looking at things as I see them.

 

[TheBigA]

It's ironic that in today's PPM world, it's the rock stations that are considered to be sold.

I don't see any irony at all. Rock is the one format that has splintered the furthest, and its fans are the least tolerant of songs or artists that they don't like. Rock is also available in more personalized ways in other places (Pandora, etc). So there's no real need for it on traditional radio. There is no other format that inspires as much negativity, here and elsewhere, as rock. I'm at a point, and it sounds like Emmis agrees, that playing rock music on the radio is a no-win situation.

Also I agree with Tony that the tipping point was with grunge. That music alienated the rock base, and most stations, including WNEW, were hesitant to play a lot of it. There's a famous conversation Meg Griffin had with the rock station in Seattle, asking them how the public was responding to grunge there, and was surprised to hear it was popular. It never really was in New York, and this was the point where younger rock fans, the Gen Xers, broke with the older fans, and struck out on their own.

 

[TheBigA]

The $ that Emmis wants to get for RXP and what they'd receive from a buyer are football fields apart.

They had the same situation in LA last year with KMVN and ended up doing an LMA with a Mexican company. It wouldn't surprise me to see them doing the exact same thing in NY and CHI, at least until station prices increase.

 

[Barry]

Does this statement by Emmis indicate it is unlikely they will try another format on 101.9 before considering sale of the station? Apparently they would leave it up to a new owner to flip it from rock, to something else.

 

[Brooklyndon]

The final posts to this thread perfect reflect the myopia that has destroyed rock radio and that WRXP tried to overcome with its eclectic playlist.  Grunge didn't kill rock; Grunge revitalized rock.  Rock hasn't fractured into a million different styles intolerant of one another; there are the same three camps as their have been since the 70's corporate/butt rock, hard rock/metal, and progressive/alternative/indie/college.  To say that things are radically different from the 70s or even the 90s for that matter is just a cop out made by an overpaid programming consultant to explain away his or her failure.

Rock just has a natural lifecycle: progressive -> hard/metal -> butt.  We are still in a butt phase.  It looked like, in '08, like their might be a critical mass of indie to get the cycle started again, but then the record industry crammed the likes of 3 days grace, paramour, and rise against into our ears, crippling the revival of rock as a genre and also shooting itself in the foot in the process. 100m rock fans and I be here waiting for indie to come back, we aren't going anywhere, not anyway.

 

[TheBigA]

What format would they try? They've sort of exhausted the likely possibilities. They've demonstrated they aren't interested in country, which is the only major void in NYC. The other possibilities (other than sports on FM) are formats where they have no experience. But they'd be smarter to take an LMA deal from Disney than attempt to do Sports on their own.

 

[TheBigA]

Grunge didn't kill rock; Grunge revitalized rock.

I didn't say grunge killed rock. But it began a series of divisions that have splintered the format into sub-genres that make it difficult to build a profitable station around. Prior to that, rock was still mostly unified around core artists and cultural beliefs. You could still play power pop like Squeeze and throw in some punk like The Clash and it all still worked. Grunge and other sub genres challenged that. There are a handful of stations in markets like Minneapolis, mostly owned by Clear Channel, that are doing well with rock, and are often pointed out as examples of what RXP and others should sound like. I think there is a lot of intolerance among rock fans. You can see it on this board. Nothing is wrong with that. That's rock & roll! Defiance and self-expression are part of the genre. But they make it difficult to build a radio format around.

I worry that there isn't a lot of commercial rock music being made today. There are a lot of bands who are making music for their tribes, and they can live from it. But radio needs a mass audience to exist. Rock, as a general format, doesn't do that right now.

 

[MarcB]

I don't really like rock music other than classic rock. I have presets in my car for both WPLR 99.1 New Haven and Rock 102 Springfield, but while giving the dial a spin during my break at work the other day I came across 106.9 The Rock WCCC-FM. I heard them playing a couple songs that were close to 15 years old!!!! WCCC-FM is supposed to be the station playing current rock music.

 

[TonySantiago]

Grunge didn't kill rock; Grunge revitalized rock.

TRUE on both ends.

Yes, grunge did give rock a revitalization from a post "heavy metal" era. Grunge had such an effect even Z-100 "tweaked" their format around 1994 to a grunge sound. Remember X-107 in Westchester back then? Today's rock and it was a good presentation of it . The youth culture at that time followed rock very closely because of it. However, after grunge "died", rock for the most part was never truly able to recover from it.

I so equate this to the freestyle argument in dance music because the older generation will swear to the classics (Led Zeppelin, Grateful Dead, Tom Petty, Aerosmith, Kiss, etc.) and would NEVER (or at the very least be reluctant) to accept currents (Green Day, Incubus, Korn, Nickelback, etc.). And the reality appears that if after grunge, that youth went over to the popsy, rhythmic, commercial hip-hop aspect of the music since rock hadn't come up with the next "revitalization".

When you look at the trends now, it's as if "Gen Y" doesn't really know or care to follow rock. Look at the Billboard Hot 100. And you said it best Brooklyn about worrying that there isn't a lot of commercial rock music being made. Other rock fans should worry as well.

Granted, I don't follow rock....I don't hate it, just not into it as deep as I am with dance music. But hearing Now and Z on occasion, it is VERY rare to find something rock. And stations such as Q-104 and 'BAB cater to an older audience with the classics.

The big worry, as I do with dance....when that crowd continues to get older and die off, where would the legacy be if younger generations have nothing to follow on based on bashings and criticisms from others?

If rock can have that next "wave" like it was with psychedelic in the 60's and early 70's, punk rock, heavy metal and grunge, a station like 'RXP could benefit from that. But as it is, and correct me if I am wrong, there's nothing out there to get that young crowd tuned in....and they would consider the classics to be their "parents / grandparents" music.

No disrespect to those that love rock....this is what I am seeing and I'm not a core fan of it. If there is something I am totally missing, please correct me.

 

[TheBigA]

But as it is, and correct me if I am wrong, there's nothing out there to get that young crowd tuned in....and they would consider the classics to be their "parents / grandparents" music.

Hard to generalize, but I hear a lot of 70s/80s influence in today's rock. I went to a showcase the other day and heard a lot of Peter Green's influence in the 19 year old guitar player. My fear is that it all sounds derivative of the classic stuff, and the original stuff doesn't sound commercial. A genre can't grow if it doesn't create something new. Grunge was very new, but not very commercial. That was its essence. Even punk, which was anti-commercial, was built on melody. Today, only rap and hip hop are original art forms, although not necessarily music.

 

[hubcity]

Hard to generalize, but I hear a lot of 70s/80s influence in today's rock. I went to a showcase the other day and heard a lot of Peter Green's influence in the 19 year old guitar player. My fear is that it all sounds derivative of the classic stuff, and the original stuff doesn't sound commercial. A genre can't grow if it doesn't create something new. Grunge was very new, but not very commercial. That was its essence. Even punk, which was anti-commercial, was built on melody. Today, only rap and hip hop are original art forms, although not necessarily music.

Well, that's kinda my problem with a lot of Indie stuff - it's almost evenly divided between bands who embrace the Indie scene that rejected classic rock in the late seventies and early eighties, and bands who embrace the scene that got rejected by the Indie scene back then.

But in actual fact, that means it's almost exactly like the rock scene was back then - mods versus rockers. (And that means it's almost exactly like the scene twenty years prior to that. And probably twenty years prior to that. Didn't riots break out in 1913 at the premiere of "The Rite Of Spring" when Stravinsky went rhythmic?)

Same as it ever was...you shouldn't try to please both the dancers and the virtuoso worshippers. That's kind of where RXP needs to stop failing...pick one!

 

[radioguy39nj]

Emmis may have no experience with sports but ESPN sure does! Emmis cannot get mega bucks for WRXP, but they'd do well financially with an LMA to ESPN on 101.9. They did that in LA, LMAing the former MOViN' 93.9 to a Spanish broadcaster.

Speculation regarding ESPN to 101.9 FM was rampant about two years ago. It's likely to start again.

 

[ansky212]

I don't really like rock music other than classic rock. I have presets in my car for both WPLR 99.1 New Haven and Rock 102 Springfield, but while giving the dial a spin during my break at work the other day I came across 106.9 The Rock WCCC-FM. I heard them playing a couple songs that were close to 15 years old!!!! WCCC-FM is supposed to be the station playing current rock music.

Actually I thought in Hartford it is WMRQ 104.1 that is supposed to be playing the current rock tracks, or did they go back to the grunge/alternative stuff since flipping back from Urban?

 

[OhsnapsTV]

What format would they try? They've sort of exhausted the likely possibilities. They've demonstrated they aren't interested in country, which is the only major void in NYC. The other possibilities (other than sports on FM) are formats where they have no experience. But they'd be smarter to take an LMA deal from Disney than attempt to do Sports on their own.

Im guessing the only Format thats left is "Country".
i dont think that would survive in nyc

 

[ansky212]

Im guessing the only Format thats left is "Country".
i dont think that would survive in nyc

I know the topic of country not surviving in NYC has been beaten to death. But a couple points to consider:

1. Country music is much more mainstream today than it was 10 years ago when Y-107 tried country. I know more people now than ever that are listening to country, because the newer stuff is more "pop" and seems to appeal to a larger audience.


2. People say that country can't survive in NYC because people in the city won't listen. But for NYC stations, half their audience comes from people in suburban NJ, LI, NY and CT. I'm sure spanish stations like 96.3, 93.1 and 97.9 have little, if any, following in the suburban areas, yet they always seem to survive.

 

[TheBigA]

Regardless of whether or not country is viable in NYC, Emmis as a company feels they failed with it in LA, and therefore is not going to spend money launching it in NYC. The best thing they can do in NY is do exactly what they did in LA, which is LMA the frequency to someone else.

 

[WRXPinsider]

Regardless of whether or not country is viable in NYC, Emmis as a company feels they failed with it in LA, and therefore is not going to spend money launching it in NYC. The best thing they can do in NY is do exactly what they did in LA, which is LMA the frequency to someone else.

If Emmis keeps the 101.9 frequency and experiments with yet another format, expect horrific results once again: unless Smulyan completely cleans house, the same execs who drove Smooth Jazz CD101.9, New York Chill, and now RXP down the tubes would still be in charge and given yet another chance to screw up.

Emmis seems to be a company that not only tolerates failure - they also seem to embrace, celebrate, and reward it.