Nothing is forever in radio, but Rodney Ho is reporting that 106.7 9-noon talk host Shannon Burke has signed a new 3-year deal. So it looks like the Cumulus brain trust expects the news/talk format to be around at least that long.
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Looks Like Newsradio 106-7 Is Here To Stay
- Thread starter RoddyFreeman
- Start date
Funny that Cumulus still calls the station by its name from its unsuccessful All-News days. In Market #8, Cumulus couldn't make a true all-news station work, even though there are successful All-News stations in smaller markets, Boston, Detroit and Seattle. I guess a number of talkradio stations around the country use the tag "Newsradio" even though they only employ a few newscasters and don't really do much news.
So WSB is #1 and Newsradio 106-7 is #20. But Cumulus is sticking with the talk format.
So WSB is #1 and Newsradio 106-7 is #20. But Cumulus is sticking with the talk format.
Any employment contract can be voided by a Bankruptcy Judge. I know this from personal experience.
But the judge can't order the station to change the format.
When Citadel went bankrupt, very little changed except the debt was gone.
I don't know where people get the impression that WBZ is an all-news station, especially since it's all talk during the hours when the most people can hear the station.
But those are the hours when the fewest people listen to radio at all. They are the hours that most big advertisers don't buy. And they are the hours when WBZ gets extended coverage due to skywave, which advertisers don't care at all about.
I think the poster above meant to say WSB.
That makes more sense.
If you call Citadel stock being wiped out, the lenders got stock in the "new" company, took a reduced debt position, or got shafted (or a combination) based on their size of debt and type of debt, no change then you are correct.
BTW The Judge or the appointed trustee can make any changes in the company he / she sees as in the best interest of the lenders. The "strategic" programmers could (should) be gone based on their performance at the old ABC stations in the big markets. If the trustee looks at the revenue estimates of the Fish 104.7 and 106.7 both on the same tower someone should have to answer some hard questions.
What the judge did in the Citadel case was leave existing management in place and allow them to continue what they were doing. I'd expect that's what a judge would do with Cumulus. However, unlike you, I have no reason to believe Cumulus is close to filing for bankruptcy. It would be counter to the goals of its biggest lender, which appointed the current CEO. Based on the Citadel experience as well as what we're seeing with iHeart, they have a couple more years before the debt becomes a problem.
If I, and not David, am the "poster above," I WAS referring to WBZ, and Gregg's characterization of it as an "all-news" station that works in a smaller market than Atlanta.
Oops. Sorry. But congratulations on being the "poster above."
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I highly doubt the station was thinking about bankruptcy when they re-signed Mr. Burke. The decision was probably business as usual.
Someone or a group apparently is sniffing around Cumulus. The Cloud Company’s board of directors put some anti-takeover measures.* This might be an attempt to protect Mary and her great turnaround plan. They only lost $510 million last year. Their EBITDA was only $79.9 million**. I am not a tax attorney but maybe the huge loses has made Cumulus have some value to someone with a huge tax bill. Yesterday over 44K shares were traded which is a record for the stock. *** I doubt that anyone really thinks Cumulus will ever earn enough to pay their debt without serious dilution (or worse) for the common shareholder.
*https://www.bizjournals.com/atlanta/news/2017/06/05/cumulus-media-adopts-anti-takeover-defense.html
**https://seekingalpha.com/article/27...-crushed-because-of-ratings-at-major-stations
***http://www.cnbc.com/2017/07/21/pr-n...media-cumulus-media-and-liberty-siriusxm.html
full disclosure: I did make money shorting Citadel stock. I do not have a position in Cumulus or it's options.
*https://www.bizjournals.com/atlanta/news/2017/06/05/cumulus-media-adopts-anti-takeover-defense.html
**https://seekingalpha.com/article/27...-crushed-because-of-ratings-at-major-stations
***http://www.cnbc.com/2017/07/21/pr-n...media-cumulus-media-and-liberty-siriusxm.html
full disclosure: I did make money shorting Citadel stock. I do not have a position in Cumulus or it's options.
What does any of this have to do with 106.7?
65 day typical volume for Cumulus is 405.7K shares so 44K is very light volume.
Interesting that only 7% of the float is shorted. Check out Entercom...almost a third(!!) of the float is shorted!!
I think there is a realistic chance that Cumulus and iHeart will survive intact. Someone WILL take a haircut, the question is who.
Entercom closed this week at $9.55 a share. Cumulus closed at 45 cents.
People typically don't short penny stocks because there's not a whole lot of upside and a LOT of downside, should the company get back on their feet without going BK first. Sure, you could short a large position dollarwise, but still.
As long as they can service their debt, they are fine. If they can't, the lenders could force their hand.
I agree. Until there's a lack of confidence expressed in some way at Blackstone, I don't expect any change.
because if (when) The Cloud company goes bankrupt, and they don't find a "friendly" court, the whole management could be out. Some Courts tend to "lean" more towards trying to keep the company alive, other Courts tend favor the folks owed money. That is why Delta and Northwest Airlines both used Chicago. Neither airline had a hub, corporate office or were charted there. Believe it or not companies (or their Lawyers) do "shop" Bankruptcy courts.
Once again, what does that have to do with this one station? The current format has survived entire management changes before. The Atlanta market manager was replaced, the PD of the station has been replaced, the head of talk programming has been replaced, the head of all programming has been replaced, and the CEO has been replaced, and the format is still there. So IF they went bankrupt, and IF a judge threw out the entire management, it's very likely the format would once again survive. Just because you don't like it doesn't mean a judge would agree.
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