KMCQ - First Broadcasting - OOPS

[radioplayer]

I was taking artistic license when I said "looks like a sheriff's sale". In fact, it is a PUBLIC SALE of assets that were used as collateral for their financing. From the Public Notice:

"The Collateral includes all accounts, goods, inventory, equipment, fixtures, general intangibles, investment property (including certificated and uncertificated securities), deposit accounts, documents, instruments, chattel paper, copyrights, patents, and trademarks of the Borrower, all additions and accessions to the foregoing, all products and proceeds thereof, as more particularly described in the Credit Agreement."


The Public Sale is in Chicago on Wednesday. I've found nothing regarding a bankruptcy filing. While the FCC does need to approve transfers of control, it can and does approve involuntary transfers. Whether the lenders were smart enough to include language in the Credit Agreements to address this, we mere observers don't know.

Yes, I have fun with this stuff. A First Broadcasting representative actually drove to Aberdeen several years ago, attempting to convince me to give them an OPTION on one of my stations. I told her that I would entertain a sale involving large amounts of cash, but that an option was out of the question. I also had conversations with Chris Devine of College Creek, who wanted to move something like 12 (or 15 or 19, can't remember now) frequencies in order to improve two signals close Seattle (one of them mine).


Now I'm upping the ante. I found 2 Arby's Gift cards...

Hey Bill,

I just found out that I have a few extra 'rewards points' on my Macy's card that I can pitch in.....!

On a more serious note, you can bet your dollar that the creditors and the banks know the KMCQ license is the biggest asset in this case; they aren't foolish enough to let that get past them. I also take it that since we're talking big money, all parties involved have also hired big guns who KNOW their stuff.

It was interesting that you had previous contact with 1st....I can say the same with regards to some of the bigger folks in the company (at one time anyway) They were an interesting bunch to say the least.

Just for fun, I just looked up their website and it's no longer in operation everyone.

It looks to me like these guys grew ever so aggressive in their approach in manipulating the table of allotments in given markets, and in the process, spent far more $$ in speculative futures .... in the end, it's the station's speculative or stick value that is the only thing that's leftover after all the mess that First has done.

As Bongwater has said in the past, the programming on KMCQ is just a token place holder. The station will remain a glorified oldies jukebox (good or bad) for the near term until a real buyer takes hold and then makes a sizable investment to finally program the station RIGHT-or, someone will use it as a simul-translator of sorts, much like others have mentioned on this board from time to time.

 

[bossbill]

I just reminded myself that First Broadcasting still is licensee for the blowtorches north of me, in Forks. They bought the stations although they didn't need to, so that a frequency change could be made on the FM to facilitate the Bellingham frequency swap which in turn faciliated the Covington upgrade. They didn't need to, because they could have forced a frequency change without buying the stations.

They have lost many $$$ over the past several years in Forks, and had a couple of failed sales, and more recently taken off air due to "lightning damage", which was a convenient way to allow the stations to remain silent.

Did I dream this, or did I hear that someone made a deal to acquire this combo? There's nothing on the FCC site about it.

 

[TVradioguru]

Other than Bill's posts, I can't help but shake my head and roll my eyes at some of the posts here. At least you people are consistent!

First of all, pardoning the pun.. The only thing creditors hold is the physical assets. A license, whereas considered an asset when contemplating a purchase, sale, or LMA, is taken into consideration only as a means to doing business, is not part of the physical assets. You can conduct your discussion board pipe dreams about owning this station for pennies on the dollar all you want, but the fact is all that would be sold at auction would be assets purchased including equipment or land. Want to buy a transmitter or antenna tuned to 104.5? Perfect! None of that would make you a station owner, just some equipment. And I'd be willing to bet that there is some pretty serious debt in rent or legal expenses that whomever would like to operate this outfit, will be asked to cough up to continue operation.

 

[radioplayer]

As I had mentioned earlier, First B is in the 'broadcasting business'....and no good attorney would skip the chance to tie something towards their real asset; the license of KMCQ. Seriously folks, that's the only thing worth anything to the creditors. The Guru points to the 'hardware'....and you're right, it's worth about a buck 98 and I suppose you could make a bid come Wednesday.

I agree with the comment Bill made earlier: the FCC will allow for an involuntary transfer, especially if it ensures the "continuation of first service to the community of Covington" which is a laugh but yes, those folks may be deprived of first service 'if' KMCQ were to go off the air. Remember that the whole reason this turkey ended up in the poor radio deprived town of Covington was this language and reasoning. It would be quite interesting to see the very loophole that 1st used to move the station from The Dalles ends up actually biting them back by the same rationale I just described.

 

[dunno]

OK, got it.

So what do you think the whole, whole, thing with all the crap is worth.

 

[TVradioguru]

The unfortunate timing is the M&A market is just starting to thaw out, with radio and TV deals starting to move again. Had First's timing been a year sooner or a year later, they probably would have been able to pull it off.

Because each of their move-in deals are separate L.L.C or S/C Corps, they probably couldn't move money around from one entity to another. That or the proceeds from their other successful ventures were divvied-up to investors, leaving nothing to keep other markets going.

I guess we'll probably never know how it all went bad, but it is a good lesson on risk vs. reward.

 

[Goldilocks94941]

This morning while driving around doing some errands, I got a kick out of KMCQ playing the Ray Charles song "I'm Busted." Timely. And a good song, too.

They still have the touch, with some sonically perfect songs that followed. Whoever's doing their playlist deserves a prize for how well the segues usually match up, keeping a nice flow with the music (unlike their cash flow, I know), and taking you somewhere new every two or three songs, without a jarring transition. He/she shows real talent in selecting what songs follow each other. Something the bigger stations could emulate.

What have the rest of you, who like their music format, heard when you listen to KMCQ that stands out as worth noting? That you'll miss if whomever is programming the station doesn't get to do something similar elsewhere if KMCQ goes away?

 

[bossbill]

It's the full meal deal: The Public Sale will include a transition agreement with First Broadcasting for First to file a request with the FCC to transfer the licenses of the three stations.

Somebody will get a deal tomorrow.

 

[Bongwater]

The NAB-sponsored lifting of ownership limits has turned that sacred-cow "marketplace" into a members-only club for a chosen few who already hold licenses, plus a handful of religious empire builders who found a loophole to fill up the dial with their translators and used those stations to fill their treasuries with a nationwide tax-exempt status, to boot! Kinda like going up for the third time for the all you can eat Sunday brunch at the country club. To bad they don't even tip the rest room staff who have to clean up the product of their over-indulgence!

So with KMCQ, (which may in itself be cursed in an odd way for shutting down a viable station on the radio-underserved Columbia River Gorge to do this in the first place) -- a new, major market signal is waiting to be scooped up by a creditor. While, at the same time, radio specialty formats keep dropping like flies in a stuffy room.

What kind of future do the powers-that-control-commercial radio really envision for the radio industry? I'm talking ten to 20 years from now, and beyond. I'm hoping that some of these people actually care about the industry, apart from their own pensions. But I don't hear anything about that, here or in the trades. Not while the all-you-can-eat-members-only buffet is still open.

(MUNCH! SMACK! MUNCH! SLURP!)...What?...Oh....So you wanna talk about the future of radio huh? Well I got your future right here kid! You see that pile of fried chicken bones behind me? The one big enough to drive your 4x4 over? THAT'S your radio future kid! Bon Appetit! But don't worry kid. You'll NEVER enjoy it. That's why I'm enjoying it FOR YOU! And finally....outta the way kid, here comes my smothered pork chops..(MUNCH! SMACK! MUNCH! SLURP!)..Finally you got your YouTubes and your internets and cyber tweety things inside your Facebooks. Go play radio with those. That's what's wrong with you kids today. You're all ungrateful little socialists. We had to work and work for every single tax break, every single deregulation and loophole in the very system we've taken advantage of, corrupted and perverted worse than any Gathering of The Juggalos! And then you worthless punks come along with your "specialty formats" - Whatsa matter? The same Maroon 5 songs 15,000 times a day isn't good enough for ya? And yer Fairness Doctrines and yer Save KUSFs and yer Save KWJZs...and (MUNCH! SMACK! MUNCH! SLURP!) MORE GRAVY!!...Yeah? Well you ain't gonna save NONE of it! We'll run this damn industry either into the ground or wherever we see fit. You know what you need? (MUNCH! SMACK! MUNCH! SLURP!) You need some old time religion kid. And that's why we're standing back and saying nothing while our friendly little church fills up your precious non-commercial airwaves with Bible study....Oh I sure hope Mrs. Mays brings her Pineapple Upside-Down Angel Cake next Sunday....Nothing tastes sweeter than imported canned pineapple, aged in the tears of child laborers on a secret slave farm in deepest Indonesia. (MUNCH! SMACK! MUNCH! SLURP!) And Mrs. Mays says their blood gives it such a nice color. And that's something you'll never enjoy!...WHY?...Because of yer "REG-U-LAY-SHUNS"!! Give us more stations and MAYBE we'll give you your "specialty formats" and whatever your YouTube is twittering about. (MUNCH! SMACK! MUNCH! SLURP!) Because WE'RE the ONLY ones who can do it! What? You think you can make up a playlist? Like there's some music player thing on your cyberspace that lets you make them? Hahahaha....Uh-oh!....Hold on Martha, here it comes!......"BEEEEEEEEELLLLLLLLLLLLLLCCCCCCCCHHHHHHHH!!!".....Yeah, that's a laugh!....Well kid, it's been nice talkin' to ya. But you're in the way of my prime rib - SECURITY!!".....

 

[Randy Roadz]

This morning while driving around doing some errands, I got a kick out of KMCQ playing the Ray Charles song "I'm Busted." Timely. And a good song, too.

They still have the touch, with some sonically perfect songs that followed. Whoever's doing their playlist deserves a prize for how well the segues usually match up, keeping a nice flow with the music (unlike their cash flow, I know), and taking you somewhere new every two or three songs, without a jarring transition. He/she shows real talent in selecting what songs follow each other. Something the bigger stations could emulate.

What have the rest of you, who like their music format, heard when you listen to KMCQ that stands out as worth noting? That you'll miss if whomever is programming the station doesn't get to do something similar elsewhere if KMCQ goes away?

ummm you ARE aware you're talking about basically an iPod on shuffle?


RR

 

[Goldilocks94941]

Ummm - yes I am. And, ummm, funny how it's more musically satisfying than the hyper-researched playlists of KVI or KJR-fm, and a hundred other stations with the same limited selection coast to coast. You can dismiss it all you want, and it sure isn't a "full service" format - but then few stations are anymore than juke boxes with commercials and a bunch of "positioning statements" over and over again, delivered in voices that very closely resemble the retarded adult with tourette's syndrome who lives across the street from me and vocalizes in his darth vader voice all day long. (I'm not joking.)

For the reasons that a silly little bankrupt station with a big mp3 player, such as KMCQ, finds a way to present a more artful form of "radio" than many others -- despite its economic problems, and why the radio industry is so damned predictable -- like that's supposed to be a good thing, I suggest we start another thread or two.

 

[radioplayer]

It's the full meal deal: The Public Sale will include a transition agreement with First Broadcasting for First to file a request with the FCC to transfer the licenses of the three stations.

Somebody will get a deal tomorrow.

Thanks Bill. Nice to be confirmed by someone who knows what they are talking about on this panel. What we ought to talk about next is WHO might be in a real position to take on a bid for this thing....I believe that the local bidders (besides Bill and I who have already contributed our food stamp coupons to the cause)

Will be:

Bonneville + Entercom, as both seemingly have the $$ and could try and get one for themselves as an add to their clusters.

I would like to think Sandusky might get into this game as the $$ amount would be in their ballpark and they could walk away with something for cheap...particularly if the other 2 mentioned aren't serious or are no shows at the gavel event.

All I can say is enjoy your oldies on this turkey while you can.....hopefully the great playlist that Bong has on the other post will get it's airtime on the Q before the format blows up.....!

 

[TVradioguru]

I was speaking with a communications lawyer yesterday about this matter. The Lawyer, who will remain anonymous for obvious reasons, was working with a potential suitor, not only now but previously.

He said that even though this is essentially an asset sale, the investors want at a minimum, the investment in legal and other fees back before even considering relinquishing the license. That means a pretty steep reserve. Apparently the physical assets could be sold to pay back certain debt related to what is owed on the assets, leaving the license silent for up to a year. That would mean whoever were to be assigned the license, would have to rebuild the facilities after renegotiating leases, etc.

Unless a group owner comes along with quite a bit of cash in hand, I suspect this operation will be tied up in red tape and multiple lawyers for quite a while.

 

[dunno]

So it the full meal deal that we litle morons didn't understand?

Thanks for putting us in our place.

Back to my stupid question, or better yet, how much after all
the smoke and BS clears will this thing cost.

My best guess 13-20 million. One other has thrown out a number of 5,
which in my tiny, tiny little minion mind would be a frickin steal!!!


Even though the rest of you have no idea of what the #### you're talking, except Bill, dam the torpedo man and throw your bid out here.

 

[Bongwater]

So it the full meal deal that we litle morons didn't understand?

Thanks for putting us in our place.

Back to my stupid question, or better yet, how much after all
the smoke and BS clears will this thing cost.

My best guess 13-20 million. One other has thrown out a number of 5,
which in my tiny, tiny little minion mind would be a frickin steal!!!


Even though the rest of you have no idea of what the #### you're talking, except Bill, dam the torpedo man and throw your bid out here.

You can only have something on sale for so long before you begin to either resign to being stuck with it (not an option for First Broadcasting), OR have an EVERYTHING MUST GO! sale.

Does eBay allow for the sale of full blown radio stations anymore? (Not cheapo Chinese FM transmitters, but actual licensed radio stations?)........

My bid is $4.20.......

 

[LITTLEBOYBLUE]

My bid is $4.20.......

Put it back in your pocket. I'm already in @ $420.

 

[scott salvatori]

but, seriously fellers........if scott takes his saved up paper route money(500.00),and sells his old dodge pick up(800.00). if bongwater takes his saved up dennys dishwasher job money(4.20), and sells his old ford pinto(4.20). if mr blue takes his saved up wall mart night stocker job money(420.00), and sells his old toyota corolla(200.00), and we combine it, we can make a bid on this, and make it work......

first thing we need to do is form a corporation. hows bout this: blue, water& scott broadcasting inc. actually i want my name first..so its scott, blue, and water inc, since i have more experience broadcasting (on my CB radio).

we can format this into the "fun times and country, korean, and oldies mix station" in an effort to please all three business partners, okay? (although that positioning statement may be trademarked)

laugh it up ol boys....

 

[FMSteve]

Ok, now I'm REALLY confused. The winning bidder on the KMCQ auction is CapitalSource Financing, the lender associated with First Broadcasting.

http://www.radio-info.com/search/tagged_with?search=First+Broadcasting+Capital+Partners

This 8 year old fiasco has more twists and turns than an Olympic ice skater. Somebody's GOT to write a book on this someday.

:-\

 

[LITTLEBOYBLUE]

And note in the article that the licenses were NOT involved in the auction.

So the whole auction was really just more Wall Street horseshit ... much like the Citadel game of "screw the shareholders ... pay off FaGreed ... and gut the stations ... and keep the owners in the game with less debt to deal with". I keep asking Bank of America how I can get a loan like that but they're too busy hanging out on the links with Wall Street types to return my call.

I, for one, am hoping First ends up taking a serious bath on this whole thing. The 8-year story you're talking about seems to be missing that "protagonist" for whom the reader has any sympathy.

 

[Jay Peninger]

Well hell I will see your $420 and raise you $580 + 6 discount passes to AMC Movie Theaters and because I am a nice guy I will toss in your choice of X t-shirts.....

I have a pretty cool iPod to plug in over there