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Lincoln Financial Group...Seems like we hardly knew you!

I know they have properties in ATL, Mia, Denver, and of course the QC what other markets does lincoln have stations in... This could be a good fit for Entercom as far as the radio properties goes... CC1
 
They also own radios in San Diego and Tvs in Richmond and Charleston. Did you really think a company called "Lincoln Financial Group" would stay in the broadcasting biz? This was strictly a financial transaction.
 
This could mean a split for radio/TV. Talk about the end of an era. Lots of people said LF would only run it for a year.

Giving it some more thought. This can't be good. It will leave the new owners with something the Charlotte stations haven't had in a long time. A large debt to service. Guess they might be moving too.

Mike
 
My guess is the group gets split up. I would think CBS would be interested in a couple of markets - like Atlanta, Miami, Denver maybe. Surely CC would like a few.
 
Wow, so when they said they had no changes planned, what they meant was they had changes planned.

Which anybody with knowledge of the industry figured. This is a true shame. I appreciate my local based radio company more and more every day.
 
Anyone think Curtis Media Group might have an interest in the Charlotte radio stations? Having WPTF, WZTK, WSJS, and WBT would be pretty big - not to mention the FM possibilities between Raleigh and Charlotte!
 
Even so, LFG seems to have made some positive changes at WBTV in the past year. Number one, no more infomercials during prime, daytime, fringe periods, a practice which was VERY inappropriate for a station of that statute. The news operation, while not seeing big changes, does not seem as silly as it did, and I believe ratings are increasing---and the new Seven O'clock News is decent. WBT radio, however, is still the same right-wing rag. BTW, I read in the Observer this morning that the profit margin for LFG broadcast properties in the past year was 40%!!!!!!!! So broadcast licenses are still a license to print money....wow!
 
I don't see Curtis having the money to swing that. I doubt Lincoln would really want to go through the trouble of chopping up the company for sale rather than go for that one time 1.5 billion check.
 
Lincoln Financial has incorporated all their media properties independently, so don't be surprised to see it chopped up. On the Atlanta board, someone mentioned Fox trying to acquire the tv stations. Could you imagine Fox 3 WBTV? I think Curtis would be a good fit for the radio stations and Capitol Broadcasting could get the tv station. Of course Capitol would have to sell WMYT for that to happen. They won't sell WJZY.

Disclaimer: This is all pure speculation.
 
I never understood why Lincoln Financial Group would purchase broadcast
stations and then turn around and sell them, but you have to admit this
was a smart move and in the long run will make their money back and
some profit.
I can see them selling off their television properties to one or two owners,
depending if they don't have either newspaper or radio stations in their
markets, as far as their radio outlets, several companies come to mind,
one is Cumulus, who spent close to a billion dollars a few years ago and
bought out a company who had stations in Atlanta, Kansas City, and
Cincinnati, if they were interested in a purchase, especially Charlotte,
they might want to consider selling some of their smaller market stations
that are less profitable.
Whatever decision Lincoln Financial Group makes, will be positive.
 
tothedj said:
Cumulus, who spent close to a billion dollars a few years ago and
bought out a company who had stations in Atlanta, Kansas City, and
Cincinnati, ...Whatever decision Lincoln Financial Group makes, will be positive.
Click to expand...
That "Company" was Susquehanna, and had one of the best corporate cultures in the biz. Cume-less spent OVER a Billion, came in and decimated it The decision that Lincoln makes may be positive for them, but what about their employees?? Open your eyes!
 
God help the QC if the Cloud Company were to buy LF... I may be wrong, but atleast every market I have heard a cloud company station in it was like transporting me back to the 1980's... Look at some of the other radio info boards where the cloud company has purchased radio properties and you will notice a trend... They took what was once great stations and have choked them to the point to where they are lifeless and have no personality... JMO... CC1
 
I do think CBS would be interested in the radio in some markets where they don't have full clusters - like Atlanta, nothing in Miami, or Denver. CC would probably be interested in a few. They could easily generate more $$ selling separately.

Curtis doesn't need a truck load of cash to buy - all they need is a lender and DC is pretty well connected in NC. Don't think he would want BT as a stand alone. I believe CC and CBS are not in the picture for the Charlotte stations.

Lincoln didn't just buy a group of radio stations as a previous poster suggested. The radio and TV stations came with the package when they bought Jefferson-Pilot Insurance Company!
 
IF Curtis bought WBT it would not be because if its "fit" in the plan of his stations. He would buy it as a way of "coming home" as he grew up and first got into broadcasting in neighboring Gaston County.

If he bought WBT AM/FM and WLNK, he would likely do it in a separate company, as he has done with WDNC and WRBZ in Raleigh/Durham, and their P&L would not reflect in the corporate "pie" or management structure.

Later....
Matt Smith
WGSR-TV
 
wncc said:
On the Atlanta board, someone mentioned Fox trying to acquire the tv stations. Could you imagine Fox 3 WBTV?
Click to expand...

That would be me, and here's why: If Fox acquired WBTV, or even in addition WWBT in Richmond and WCSC in Charleston, it would be a huge boon for carriage of its NFC Panthers, and as we all know, Fox prints money with the NFL. I know in these days fewer and fewer homes are not cable-connected, but come on, you're telling me the Panthers wouldn't rather have their games shown on powerful VHF stations, than 18 in Charlotte, 24 in Charleston, and whatever the channel is in Richmond?

I aslo agree with Carroll on the previous page that Entercom would be a good suitor for most, if not all, of LFG's radio properties.
 
I hate to tell you, but ask anyone in Charlotte which channel they recieve more clearly with an inside antenna and the answer will be 18 over 3. Probably the same in Richmond, 35 over 12, but I would guess 5 still beats 24 in Charleston. WBTV has SERIOUS reception issues in Charlotte. Still, I can see FOX being interested in WBTV but certainly not WWBT or WCSC---Charleston is a sub-100 market, after all, and Richmond is #61.
 
It's likely that the TV stations will all be sold as a group. So it's quite possible Fox might buy all three of them and sell off WCSC and WWBT to another entity. Although I really wouldn't hold my breath about them cashing them out too soon: As you may be aware, all the Fox O&O stations have websites whose domains start with "myfox". That said, there are a HELL of a lot of domain names registered by Fox and Akamai with "myfox" followed by the city, that are dead at the moment - including "myfoxcharlotte" and "myfoxcharlestonsc".
 
;D How about "mydogcharlotte" and 'mydogcharleston" Entercom my eye!
 
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