• Get involved.
    We want your input!
    Apply for Membership and join the conversations about everything related to broadcasting.

    After we receive your registration, a moderator will review it. After your registration is approved, you will be permitted to post.
    If you use a disposable or false email address, your registration will be rejected.

    After your membership is approved, please take a minute to tell us a little bit about yourself.
    https://www.radiodiscussions.com/forums/introduce-yourself.1088/

    Thanks in advance and have fun!
    RadioDiscussions Administrators

Jefferson-Pilot to Merge with Lincon National Corp.

W

Whammy1978

Guest
According to the Charlotte Observer, Jefferson-Pilot is being aquired by Lincon National Corp. Click here to view the article from Charlotte.com (registeration may be required).

The article says that there are no immediate plans for Jefferson-Pilot Communications, which operates 3 TV stations, 18 radio stations, and Jefferson-Pilot Sports.

Any thoughts on what COULD happen to the Charlotte properties of WBTV, WBT, and WLNK?<P ID="signature">______________

Moderator of Charlotte Board</P>
 
WBT-1110 and WBTV-3 both have traditions of excellence that span generations.

I'm worried that those stations (and the others being acquired by Lincoln Financial) may be run "on the cheap" by management that does not know how to run radio and TV stations. In the cases of WBT and WBTV, such a philsophy could result in these legendary stations being "run into the ground".

Hopefully, Lincoln will keep the senior management of the JP broadcasting division, and that the broadcasting unit will still be known as Jefferson-Pilot Communications. Jefferson-Pilot is a well-known name, and I would venture to guess that if you were to ask people in Charlotte what Jefferson-Pilot was, most would say "Oh yeah, they're a broadcasting company. They own Channel 3 and WBT radio". Few would say "Jefferson-Pilot sells insurance".

This is a story from Billboard Radio Monitor, strongly hinting that Lincoln Financial has no plans to sell-off the broadcasting properties it will acquire in the Jefferson-Pilot merger.
 
It would make perfect sense for Lincoln Financial to spin off the Broadcasting division with an IPO. Perhaps Senior Management at JPB could pull together a buyout with private equity. To me, this presents the best opportunity for the Communications properties to continue to be run in the spirit of Jefferson Pilot.
 
> It would make perfect sense for Lincoln Financial to spin
> off the Broadcasting division with an IPO. Perhaps Senior
> Management at JPB could pull together a buyout with private
> equity. To me, this presents the best opportunity for the
> Communications properties to continue to be run in the
> spirit of Jefferson Pilot.
>
Thanks, Danny
 
> > It would make perfect sense for Lincoln Financial to spin
> > off the Broadcasting division with an IPO. Perhaps Senior
> > Management at JPB could pull together a buyout with
> private
> > equity. To me, this presents the best opportunity for the
> > Communications properties to continue to be run in the
> > spirit of Jefferson Pilot.
> >
> Thanks, Danny
>

Heh... took me a second to get that one.

That kind of deal is probably not in the cards, as the properties are too lucrative that any private group could swing it.

Just a guess on my part, I would see Lincoln definitely spinning off JP Sports. It's a cash cow, but an insurance company is effectively a finance company and would see more profit in selling it at a very high price rather than operating it.

I can't imagine anybody other than JP would put up with the Link. That may go, too.

A good harbringer will be if you see the JP name disappear. Lincoln will operate the communications arm as JPComm if they understand the heritage. If you go by 1 Julian Price Place and see the JP name coming down, get ready. They're willing to spin it all.

The overall performance of JP is incredibly strong. They make more with their 20 stations than a lot of companies make with hundreds. But it takes a lot of work and know how.

Goodbye, JP. It was fun working for a class joint in my misspent youth.
 
> According to the Charlotte Observer, Jefferson-Pilot is
> being aquired by Lincon National Corp. Click here to view
> the article from Charlotte.com (registeration may be
> required).
>
> The article says that there are no immediate plans for
> Jefferson-Pilot Communications, which operates 3 TV
> stations, 18 radio stations, and Jefferson-Pilot Sports.
>
> Any thoughts on what COULD happen to the Charlotte
> properties of WBTV, WBT, and WLNK?
>
It will be sold. The problem is that the players that could buy it are Clear Channel, Infinity, Radio One, Entercomm, and Cox Radio. Not Good.

Lets hope Mr. Fontana can get some of his conservative investor buddies to leave management in place, sell San Diego, Atlanta, Miami, Charleston TV and Richmond TV, keep Denver and Charlotte, and keep the strong performance and passion for the radio biz that is evident when you hear WBT.

As far as I'm concerned, WBT ranks up there with the these stations:

WABC 770 NY
WLS 890 Chicago
WLW 700 Cincinatti
WWL 870 New Orleans
WSB 750 Atlanta
KOA 850 Denver
KDKA 1020 Pittsburgh
WBZ 1030 Boston
WSM 650 Nashville (not N-T)<P ID="signature">______________
I am not an employee of Jefferson-Pilot, Clear Channel, Infinity, Radio One, TimeWarner, Cox, Belo, Bahakel Communications, Capital Broadcasting, or Knight-Ridder</P>
 
Danny? Not quite.

Plenty of private equity folks could afford the deal, and it honestly makes perfect sense. The company is half as big revenue-wise as Susquehanna, and there has been a good bit of rumbling lately about that particular company going to private equity investors. Never unerestimate the amount of private money that can be found, especially for radio deals.

JP is ranked the 16th largest broadcast group by revenue, with a gross of about $132M/year. It could easily be an acquisition target for another group, such as Cumulus, Emmis, Cox or even Bonneville. However, I think it's doubtful that if JP were spun somehow, the TV assets would remain a part of the group. Operators like Emmis have been selling TV assets recently to focus on radio. In fact, if a deal were forged, it would make sense for the buyer to acquire JP as-is, then spin sports and TV to help with debt service.

It makes sense for Lincoln Financial to spin the group, because insurance companies as a rule don't understand how radio works. JP was a rare exception. The assets of JP Broadcasting could easily be worth over a half a billion dollars. Why sit on that kind of value and run it into the ground when it isn't part of your primary business? Plus, they could work out a deal to hold the paper and thereby have huge tax advantages.

I suppose we can all armchair-quarterback until Havana freezes, though. Personally, I'd rather see JP's stations go to another group through a merger rather than them be run into the ground slowly by an inexperienced owner.
 
> Danny? Not quite.
>
> Plenty of private equity folks could afford the deal, and it
> honestly makes perfect sense. The company is half as big
> revenue-wise as Susquehanna, and there has been a good bit
> of rumbling lately about that particular company going to
> private equity investors. Never unerestimate the amount of
> private money that can be found, especially for radio deals.
>
>
> JP is ranked the 16th largest broadcast group by revenue,
> with a gross of about $132M/year. It could easily be an
> acquisition target for another group, such as Cumulus,
> Emmis, Cox or even Bonneville. However, I think it's
> doubtful that if JP were spun somehow, the TV assets would
> remain a part of the group. Operators like Emmis have been
> selling TV assets recently to focus on radio. In fact, if a
> deal were forged, it would make sense for the buyer to
> acquire JP as-is, then spin sports and TV to help with debt
> service.
>
> It makes sense for Lincoln Financial to spin the group,
> because insurance companies as a rule don't understand how
> radio works. JP was a rare exception. The assets of JP
> Broadcasting could easily be worth over a half a billion
> dollars. Why sit on that kind of value and run it into the
> ground when it isn't part of your primary business? Plus,
> they could work out a deal to hold the paper and thereby
> have huge tax advantages.
>
> I suppose we can all armchair-quarterback until Havana
> freezes, though. Personally, I'd rather see JP's stations go
> to another group through a merger rather than them be run
> into the ground slowly by an inexperienced owner.

Cumulus doesn't have the money. I think you're overlooking the individual price per station in this deal. It's a lot easier to buy 15 million dollars worth of small market stations than it is to buy one station worth $15 mill. A private equity group might be able to swing the Charlotte stations, but not the whole group along with JP Sports. If you know of a group that can, please direct them to a dark alley near me. At any rate, they won't want to sell to individual buyers.

I'm sure several groups are knocking on Lincoln's door right now.

Here's a link to the official word from Lincoln:

http://tinyurl.com/ajwfz

headquartered in Philly... hmmmm.... what other broadcast group is headquartered there.<P ID="edit"><FONT class="small">Edited by Timothy on 10/11/05 01:04 PM.</FONT></P>
 
> > Danny? Not quite.
> >
> > Plenty of private equity folks could afford the deal, and
> it
> > honestly makes perfect sense. The company is half as big
> > revenue-wise as Susquehanna, and there has been a good bit
>
> > of rumbling lately about that particular company going to
> > private equity investors. Never unerestimate the amount of
>
> > private money that can be found, especially for radio
> deals.
> >
> >
> > JP is ranked the 16th largest broadcast group by revenue,
> > with a gross of about $132M/year. It could easily be an
> > acquisition target for another group, such as Cumulus,
> > Emmis, Cox or even Bonneville. However, I think it's
> > doubtful that if JP were spun somehow, the TV assets would
>
> > remain a part of the group. Operators like Emmis have been
>
> > selling TV assets recently to focus on radio. In fact, if
> a
> > deal were forged, it would make sense for the buyer to
> > acquire JP as-is, then spin sports and TV to help with
> debt
> > service.
> >
> > It makes sense for Lincoln Financial to spin the group,
> > because insurance companies as a rule don't understand how
>
> > radio works. JP was a rare exception. The assets of JP
> > Broadcasting could easily be worth over a half a billion
> > dollars. Why sit on that kind of value and run it into the
>
> > ground when it isn't part of your primary business? Plus,
> > they could work out a deal to hold the paper and thereby
> > have huge tax advantages.
> >
> > I suppose we can all armchair-quarterback until Havana
> > freezes, though. Personally, I'd rather see JP's stations
> go
> > to another group through a merger rather than them be run
> > into the ground slowly by an inexperienced owner.
>
> Cumulus doesn't have the money. I think you're overlooking
> the individual price per station in this deal. It's a lot
> easier to buy 15 million dollars worth of small market
> stations than it is to buy one station worth $15 mill. A
> private equity group might be able to swing the Charlotte
> stations, but not the whole group along with JP Sports. If
> you know of a group that can, please direct them to a dark
> alley near me. At any rate, they won't want to sell to
> individual buyers.
>
> I'm sure several groups are knocking on Lincoln's door right
> now.
>
> Here's a link to the official word from Lincoln:
>
> http://tinyurl.com/ajwfz
>
> headquartered in Philly... hmmmm.... what other broadcast
> group is headquartered there.
>
This morning's Greensboro News and Record says that Lincoln
does not plan any changes re JP Sports.

Back before JP owned WBT, it was a CBS o&o. What if WBTV
became one now?
 
>
> Back before JP owned WBT, it was a CBS o&o. What if WBTV
> became one now?
>
Interesting thought. Certainly, considering WBTV's current news and programing efforts (silly "news alerts" and infomercials all over the place) it could be nothing but an improvement.
 
> This morning's Greensboro News and Record says that Lincoln
> does not plan any changes re JP Sports.
>
> Back before JP owned WBT, it was a CBS o&o. What if WBTV
> became one now?
>

Would it be conceivable that JP Sports might get shopped off to Raycom? Honestly, with them having a working relationship in the past, it could make some sense.

I could still very easily see WBTV as a CBS O&O, but one would have to figure that Viacom would like to have a duolopy in Charlotte, but I don't see anyone else selling off.<P ID="signature">______________

Moderator of Charlotte Board</P>
 
I still disagree. I work with private equity firms all the time, and I've seen deals much larger than a small $15M. And, it doesn't make a difference whether you get six hundred stations for that $15M, or just one. It's simply about cash-flow. According to RBR this morning, JP Communications is actually worth as much as a Billion and a Half. I could give you a half-dozen examples of private equity raising this much money, with the last year.

And, groups such as Cumulus use private equity money quite often to make acquisitions. What they can afford is not a matter of how much money they have in the bank, but their abilty to service the debt after the acquisition. Since JP is currently a cash-cow, an acquiring company could handle the debt service.
 
> This morning's Greensboro News and Record says that Lincoln
> does not plan any changes re JP Sports.

That doesn't really mean anything. To preserve Wall Street share price, take over companies always say they won't change a thing. The fact that Lincoln tanked after the announcement tells me that not many people believe their statement.
 
Status
This thread has been closed due to inactivity. You can create a new thread to discuss this topic.


Back
Top Bottom