Foreclosure in Elmira

[Element9]

Given the Wall Street meltdown of 9/15, it may be a while before investors stes up to purchase these (fine) properties. Money's tight and looks like it's going to get tighter. Even the banks are looking for bailouts. In this economic climate, about only groups who have the cash and the will to invest are the pray for pay outfits.

 

[BrigThomson]

So what is the latest news about C/E? I've been waiting to see some updated posts on here, but nadda.

All the powers that be have shuffled off to the NAB to try and find a suck..um..er..uh...buyer for the stations. You know it's amazing..they don't even have money for basic things like simple office supplies, let alone timely rent & electricity payments, not to mention raises that have been promised but reniged on. BUT..they do have the money for first class airfare, hotels, rental cars, meals and convention fees for their little jaunt. I'm beginning to understand why some people get nuts and then suddenly show up at their workplace with automatic weapons.

 

[Mark Giardina]

You know it's amazing..they don't even have money for basic things like simple office supplies, let alone timely rent & electricity payments, not to mention raises that have been promised but reniged on. BUT..they do have the money for first class airfare, hotels, rental cars, meals and convention fees for their little jaunt. I'm beginning to understand why some people get nuts and then suddenly show up at their workplace with automatic weapons.

One year, when I worked in public radio, the staff was informed that because of "financial conditions" the staff would not receive raises for the next fiscal year.

I thought okay, while I'm not pleased with the idea, if the station is in trouble, then I can understand.

What I later learned is while most of the staff went without a raise, some of the top executives at the station not only received raises, but bonuses too.

 

[MediaQueen]

Sounds like corporate America to me ... AIG goes under but the CEO gets a multi million dollar bonus ....

 

[kfitz]

So what is the latest news about C/E? I've been waiting to see some updated posts on here, but nadda.

All the powers that be have shuffled off to the NAB to try and find a suck..um..er..uh...buyer for the stations. You know it's amazing..they don't even have money for basic things like simple office supplies, let alone timely rent & electricity payments, not to mention raises that have been promised but reniged on. BUT..they do have the money for first class airfare, hotels, rental cars, meals and convention fees for their little jaunt. I'm beginning to understand why some people get nuts and then suddenly show up at their workplace with automatic weapons.

Brig....I was at the show and Ira was indeed there. KF

 

[JustPastBuffalo]

Since more than a few weeks have passed since we last discussed these stations and given the financial market's severe downturn, I'm curious to know if any further developments have occured. Any buyers, sniffers or tire kickers?

Might Waller-Sutton realize it's between a rock and a hard place and invite Route 81 and/or Lloyd Roach back into the picture to (properly) run these properties? Can't see Ira Rosenblatt waving his magic wand (sword) over these properties and making them any more successful than they might have been when they were run by Route 81.

Seems there isn't a lot of credit and lending capital available these days. W-S is stuck holding a bag that's getting heavier and heavier with each miserable day on Wall Street.

Has W-S altered the operating schedules of the radio stations? Has there been a reduction or change in staff?

Any word, Brig?

-JPB

 

[Element9]

I realize that resurrecting an old thread may is like playing a 10 year old song in a CHR format, but I was trolling the NEPA Board and the WARM thread, which contained this response which is relevant to the Route 81 discussion we had last year, when a lot more people in the business still had jobs...

All through this discussion we keep hearing about WBZ, WCCO, KDKA and the rest of the major-market 50 gallon non-directional AMs. Yeah..of course they are doing great. They are owned by companies that are very interested in keeping them going, they never really dipped out of sight in the ratings, and they NEVER got the kind of management neglect that WARM got.

A poster by the name of Baltimore Jack replies:

A lot of people rag on Route 81 Radio. Route 81 gets a bad rap that I don't think is exactly deserved. In the very beginning of the company, there was a serious interest in "going back to the future". But..their original CEO was a bit of a dreamer. So he gets a handful of venture capital firms to fund his dream. Now, he gets a selection of unused & essentially unloved frequencies mostly from Citadel. He pays more than they are worth, (just like the big boyz did) and most of these stations have no staff, no buildings, no format. They been running on a computer out of a closet in some cluster-center. Within 18 months, the venture guys start getting itchy for their money. The money's not coming in because in the long run, nowhere near enough of the various market's audiences give a damn about these old, long-forgotten stations. So now the bankers get nuts, and they bring in someone else to do THEIR bidding. Exit Lloyd Roach..Enter Ira Rosenblatt. Ira also gets a bad rap. he was hired for one thing, and one thing only. Trim the fat off the bacon, and get these stations ready to sell. The bankers want their cash back. There is no longer any vision for a group of "community radio stations". There is a vision of "SOLD" stickers on the real estate signs. While this is beginning to take place the perfect storm erupts. All of Route 81's licenses come up for regular renewal. At this moment, Lloyd Roach pops out of the grave and files a formal license challenge. The FCC looks at the legal briefs filed by both sides and decides Lloyd has a good enough complaint that the licenses MUST now go to a comparative hearing. Now, bear in mind that the FCC is about 14 months behind schedule in holding comparative hearings. The Route 81 bankers are now screwed, because no sales can be consumated while a formal license challenge is in front of the FCC. So all of the bankers efforts to have these stations sold have to be put on hold. So they have to go into a holding pattern while they await FCC action. During this time, the bankers only want Ira Rosenblatt to keep the costs at a very minimum, and just make things go until they get a decision from the FCC. They don't get the challenge cleared until mid-January 2008. Now it's off to the races to get these things sold off because the bankers are really nuts and they want these things gone..and gone quickly. But ladies & gentleman we all know what was beginning to happen to the economy, and buy the summer of '08 the financial meltdown was in full flush. So now..once again, they can't sell the stations because..there's no money available to potential buyers. So they manage to sell off a couple of them, but they're stuck with the rest. So the only option for them is to cut costs even more..and they are back into a holding pattern. Wash, lather, rinse..repeat.

The Route 81 scenario is exactly what would be very likely to happen should someone manage to make a local purchase of WARM. While a new owner might get enough financing to sort of re-open the store...as soon as the money isn't coming in like the lenders want, they are going to want their money back quickly. Please bear in mind that when Route 81 was borrowing money..credit was flowing as free as the beer at a polish wedding. Given how short a time it took Route 81's lenders to get antsy in that atmosphere, can you imagine the pressure to produce or perish in these times would be for a new owner of WARM?

 

[BaltimoreJack]

Since you brought up my post, it's interesting that the Corning/Elmira cluster of Route 81 was the largest, best revenue producer and the least like what Lloyd Roach had in mind for Route-81. Lloyd didn't want cluster stations, he purposely went out and set up separate operations for his stations..but then he bought up the group in Corning, which was the antithesis of all his other operations. Oddly..and for good reason..it made the most money, and was really the only viable set-up they owned. I would be willing to wager that if Lloyd had kept his station in West Chester and purchased only the Corning cluster, his company would still be in operation today with him at the helm.

Now with that said, the Corning cluster gets stuck with the same fate as what little else is left of his original plan..sitting in a holding pattern with no direction other than to keep money flowing in with minimal staff & costs while Waller & Co. finds someone to buy it, so that they can get out of the radio business. Then Route 81 can be declared dead & buried, Ira Rosenblatt can go back to New Hampshire to await the call of another group that needs a gunslinger to clean up their sagging operation for sale and Waller can go back to just lending money.

The whole thing is sad if you ask me.

 

[TheDr]

It's too bad about Lloyd Roach (Tee Hee Hee). I knew right from day one, that he wouldn't last. He just seemed to have the attitude that made me feel he knew it all and was better than anyone on earth but didn't know straight up. I WAS the Chief at WENY Inc. When Bob and Dee bought the AM and FM from Lilly. I went with the stations and was Bob's chief for a few years, until he sold to Roach. I didn't see eye to eye with Roach and the GM (Rick) was told to let me go. I have done GREAT, I owe it to Rick. I was chief at a pair of 100,000 watt FM's in Kansas.... two 25KW transmitters combined into a 12 bay for an ERP of 100KW. Just retired from a 6 station group in Kentucky..... one 50 KW FM, one 32KW FM, a 3 tower DA and three low power, 6 & 12, KW FM's. Thanks to Roach, I have had a chance to work at stations around the country, worked with some GREAT people and some of the very best equipment there is.... New Harris and New BE transmitters, Wheatstone Boards and Armstrong STL's. I moved on and bettered myself, while, know it all Roach, has become a laughing stock. Hello Elmira Corning.