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Entercom buys WBEB

AMRocks

AMRocks

Here's the memo from David Field, CEO of ETM, to employees

It is my pleasure to announce that Entercom is acquiring the legendary WBEB (101.1 More FM/B101) in Philadelphia. As many of you know, WBEB is one of the most award-winning stations in the US and has been the #1 rated station in Philadelphia for many years. It will be a terrific addition to our outstanding cluster that includes KYW Newsradio 1060, SportsRadio 94 WIP, 96.5 TDY , 98.1 WOGL and Talk Radio 1210 WPHT. Simultaneously, we will be selling WXTU, Philadelphia’s country station, to Beasley Broadcasting. I have attached a copy of the press release that just went out announcing the deal.

Since the first announcement of our transformational merger, we have been playing offense and making aggressive moves to enhance the organization and compete effectively against other media for much greater shares of advertiser spending. The addition of WBEB adds another leading brand to help us serve our listeners and advertisers.

I am also pleased to report that we continue to make great progress on the many company-wide initiatives and investments that we are pursuing to elevate our game. Our significant investments in our brands and content, new sales tools and systems, Radio.com, the Entercom Audio Network, new digital platforms and technology, the Entercom National Client Partnership team, advocacy, and data and analytics, are just a few of the areas in which we are making great strides..

I look forward to updating you on other important achievements and exciting developments in the months ahead.

Many thanks for all you are doing to lead us forward.

Here is the actual press release:

ENTERCOM ENTERS INTO DEFINITIVE AGREEMENTS TO ACQUIRE WBEB-FM 101.1 MORE FM AND DIVEST WXTU-FM 92.5 FM IN PHILADELPHIA

PHILADELPHIA, PA – July 19, 2018 – Entercom Communications Corp. (NYSE: ETM), a leading media and entertainment company and one of the two largest radio broadcasters in the U.S., today announced a definitive agreement to acquire 101.1 MORE FM (WBEB-FM) from Jerry Lee Radio, LLC in Philadelphia, PA for $57.5 million in cash. The company also announced that it has entered into an agreement to divest 92.5 XTU (WXTU-FM) in Philadelphia, PA to Beasley Broadcast Group, Inc. (Nasdaq: BBGI) for $38.0 million in cash. The transactions are immediately accretive to Entercom and are leverage neutral.

The acquisition of WBEB-FM, Philadelphia’s #1 rated station, is a complementary addition to Entercom’s existing portfolio of leading stations in the market that includes KYW Newsradio 1060, SportsRadio 94WIP, 96.5 TDY FM, 98.1 WOGL and Talk Radio 1210 WPHT.

“We are very pleased to add the legendary WBEB, one of the country’s most recognized and awarded stations, to our group,” said David Field, President and Chief Executive Officer, Entercom. “It is a terrific addition to our lineup that will enhance our ability to serve our listeners, customers and the community. I tip my cap to Jerry Lee, one of the industry pioneers and a visionary leader who built B101 into such a special station and has done so much for radio over the decades. We are saddened to say goodbye to our colleagues at WXTU, but know that they will be in great hands.”

A Local Marketing Agreement for WXTU will begin Monday, July 23. The transactions are expected to close by the end of the third quarter of 2018.

Entercom was advised by MVP Capital, LLC on the WBEB transaction. Methuselah Advisors acted as financial advisor to WBEB-FM.
 
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Safe to say WOGL won't be going all-Christmas this year, no?

This makes the TDY-BEB dynamic even more interesting... (please god let them drop the dopey "Today's" tag from the More-FM name).
 
I read this hoping it was going to turn out to be a joke. Guess not though. I was no fan of B101 but I always liked that they were independent. In the more recent days of More-FM, I've found that when I'm listening to the radio, they are a top choice. The presentation is pretty good, the station "sounds" amazing, and the music is almost always spot-on. And of course, they are independent. Now they'll be answering to muckety-mucks just like every other station. And muckety-mucks are the reason so many other stations suck (suckety-suck?) so hard. This feels to me like the end of an era; another nail in terrestrial's coffin. #sad
 
From my travels, I don't see anything all that different about More FM from many other ACs. That's not a criticism, and sure you can pick individual things here and there (like...shudder....the still widespread Delilah program), but musically they were on par with a lot of what's out there. I don't see any immediate reason Entercom will somehow "muck" things up. They bought it because they're getting a strong brand, so to deliberately mess with that is silly. Yes, corporations mean reporting layers. So be it. But this idea that corporations somehow mess up the business? I don't get it.
 
AbrahamJSimpson said:
Well now, that shakes things up on a couple of fronts. Should be interesting to see how it plays out short- and long-term.
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Yup. Wonder if Jerry Lee will hang around to consult? No doubt the budget line for research will catch Entercom's attention. As far as WXTU goes, it's back to the future for Beasley, who sold it to CBS in 2014.
 
AbrahamJSimpson said:
From my travels, I don't see anything all that different about More FM from many other ACs. That's not a criticism, and sure you can pick individual things here and there (like...shudder....the still widespread Delilah program), but musically they were on par with a lot of what's out there. I don't see any immediate reason Entercom will somehow "muck" things up. They bought it because they're getting a strong brand, so to deliberately mess with that is silly. Yes, corporations mean reporting layers. So be it. But this idea that corporations somehow mess up the business? I don't get it.
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Well, look at the state of the business. Radio sucks.
 
Jstnpspck said:
Safe to say WOGL won't be going all-Christmas this year, no?
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And really, aside from BEN-FM, what other station might want to reach for a slice of it? I like Christmas music so at least WJBR fixed up their library last year and stopped with most of the truly odd tune-out songs they used to play.

Jstnpspck said:
This makes the TDY-BEB dynamic even more interesting... (please god let them drop the dopey "Today's" tag from the More-FM name).
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They're still using the "Today's" tag? Today's 96.5 has been gone for quite a while. And didn't they (wisely) kinda move out of direct competition with 101.1?
 
scarecrow said:
Why is Entercom selling XTU? With More, they would be at 5 FMs. Perhaps for the cash?
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I always forget the ownership cap numbers. Entercom will have 94.1, 96.5, 98.1, 101.1, 1060, and 1210. So maybe for $$. Why not drop 96.5 if they were required to get rid of an FM?
 
atthestars said:
Why not drop 96.5 if they were required to get rid of an FM?
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Can't argue with that! WXTU makes money and of course has some heritage around here. Seems like no one knows what to do with 96.5! And since Entercom got it, they've shown that they don't even know how to name the damn thing. I guess they couldn't get as much cash for WTDY as they could for WXTU. But now they have to figure out what to do next with 96.5. Are they really going to program a Hot AC in the same market where they own the dominant AC? This is just weird. I miss WWDB. LOL
 
Miguelito said:
Well, look at the state of the business. Radio sucks.
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That's a fairly broad assertion that doesn't really say anything. It's a business that collects a pretty nice chunk of change overall. People continue to listen--yes, the pie has spread to incorporate other ways people get content--and advertisers reach them--but it's still getting good audiences.
 
Miguelito said:
But now they have to figure out what to do next with 96.5. Are they really going to program a Hot AC in the same market where they own the dominant AC? This is just weird.
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Not as weird as you'd think. There are plenty of markets with co-owned AC/Hot AC/CHR combos that can do well.

Los Angeles- iHeart owns AC KOST, Hot AC- KBIG and CHR- KIIS

New York- iHeart owns CHR- WHTZ and AC WLTW.

So I honestly don't see much of a problem between WBEB and WTDY. WBEB would skew older, WTDY is almost pushing CHR at this point. MY question is separating out WOGL from WBEB. Would WBEB leave the 80s to OGL and shift even younger sounding? Thus sending WTDY even more towards CHR?

We'll see. It'll be fun to see how all this shakes out. (I just hope no layoffs. Let's keep everyone employed please!)
 
In my pipe dream land, 96.5 goes adult album alt LOL.

Honestly though 96.5 is a tricky bastard. Having two relatively same stations with pretty much the same playlist is just not a good idea. Why listen to 96.5 when 101.1 is so damn well known? 101.1 is piped into nearly every office in the delaware valley and 96.5? Hell it's only remembered recently for Wired probably. No one's gonna be getting rich off of 96.5 ever again probably. Best thing they can do now is keep on playing what they are until they just can't afford it or avoid the tanking ratings.

Have we also all forgotten Q102? How could 96.5 compete with Q, seeing that everyone knows Q. It's nearly as universal around here as the behemoth B101. Not only that, but we have Mix99.5 WJBR, which is basically a philly local station, and WSTW and WPST. 96.5 cannot possibly stand out at all amongst all the basically current CHR and adult hits stations, other than that 96.5's stick is right in roxborough.
 
AbrahamJSimpson said:
That's a fairly broad assertion that doesn't really say anything. It's a business that collects a pretty nice chunk of change overall. People continue to listen--yes, the pie has spread to incorporate other ways people get content--and advertisers reach them--but it's still getting good audiences.
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Not quite sure why so many people on message boards seem to read messages as if the person were trying to speak the gospel. What I said isn't an assertion; it's an opinion. And is it really necessary for me to "say anything" about why radio sucks? There are plenty of reasons: Radio in general certainly sucks compared to what it sounded like even as recently as a few decades ago. Radio sucks because of trying to squeeze the last penny out of the most watered-down product. Radio sucks because big faceless companies are buying up all the stations and sucking out any trace of "local." And on and on and on. And it all goes back to the muckety-mucks I mentioned. These are opinions with lots of stories that can be tied in. These are opinions that you may disagree with, which is totally and completely 100% fine with me.
 
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By keeping 96.5 Hot AC, Entercom might be able to prevent a competing group from launching its own Hot AC.

Although, given the 12+ and 18-34 ratings mentioned elsewhere on this board for Q102 and 96.5, you have to wonder whether any other group would find it worth it to flip a station to Hot AC. iHeart abandoned Hot AC on 106 not too long ago.

I wonder if these station sales will have any real effect on formats in Philly. Maybe some small changes to playlists of WOGL, 101 and 96 that would be unnoticeable to the average listener - but that's it.
 
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