Meanwhile Elsewhere In The Finger Lakes...

[Bob1370]

...AllAccess is reporting the following, concerning the majority shareholder in the Finger Lakes Radio Group: "....GEORGE KIMBLE's 67% interests in THE FINGER LAKES RADIO GROUP, INC., licensee of Country WCGR-A/CANANDAIGUA, NY and WFLR-A/DUNDEE, NY; AUBURN BROADCASTING, INC., licensee of Talk WAUB-A/AUBURN, NY and Classic Rock WLLW (99.3 THE WALL)/SENECA FALLS, NY; LAKE COUNTRY BROADCASTING, INC., licensee of AC WNYR-F/WATERLOO, NY; and GENEVA BROADCASTING, INC., licensee of Talk WGVA-A/GENEVA, NY, has been assigned to trustee GAYLE ESKAY MILLS as part of KIMBLE's Chapter 7 bankruptcy. ALAN BISHOP retains 33% of the licensees."

I gather this is a personal bankruptcy proceeding involving Mr. Kimble and his financial situation as an individual and not the financial performance of his stations. Nevertheless, since his equity in these stations is an asset that figures in his overall finances, it'll indirectly affect those stations. Most likely it means Mr. Bishop is going to find himself with one or more new partners who'll buy Mr. Kimble's 67% share and perhaps control the future course of the group. This will bear watching...wonder who'll be in the mix to buy?

 

[Element9]

...AllAccess is reporting the following, concerning the majority shareholder in the Finger Lakes Radio Group: "....GEORGE KIMBLE's 67% interests in THE FINGER LAKES RADIO GROUP, INC. ... has been assigned to trustee GAYLE ESKAY MILLS as part of KIMBLE's Chapter 7 bankruptcy. ALAN BISHOP retains 33% of the licensees."

I gather this is a personal bankruptcy proceeding involving Mr. Kimble and his financial situation as an individual and not the financial performance of his stations. Nevertheless, since his equity in these stations is an asset that figures in his overall finances, it'll indirectly affect those stations.

Most likely it means Mr. Bishop is going to find himself with one or more new partners who'll buy Mr. Kimble's 67% share and perhaps control the future course of the group. This will bear watching...wonder who'll be in the mix to buy?

As of this writing, it appears Mr. Bishop has a partner: Gayle Eskay Mills, an attorney in Tuscon, Arizona, specializing in bankruptcy litigation. This could be a protection of assets case or a family feud, divorce perhaps. Intriguing.

 

[Mark Giardina]

So will someone please explain what Chapter 7 is? The closest I got to law school was watching Perry Mason as a kid.

Also will someone explain if the Finger Lakes stations are for sale or was the filing of Chapter 7 an attempt to keep them in the "Kimble Empire?"

 

[ThePickleReport]

So will someone please explain what Chapter 7 is? The closest I got to law school was watching Perry Mason as a kid.

Chapter 7 is "liquidation". I assume (I didn't study law either, "CHiPs" was the closest I got) that the assignment to a trustee is part of the process of getting the best price in a sale or auction.

 

[JustPastBuffalo]

So will someone please explain what Chapter 7 is?

Here's a good place to start: http://www.uscourts.gov/FederalCourts/Bankruptcy/BankruptcyBasics/Chapter7.aspx I'm not an attorney (never played one on TV, theater, cable or radio), but from observing the landscape over the years and reading, "non-exempt assets," and repayment to debtors, schedules as well as length of term of indebtedness seem to be the critical components in a Chapter 7 filing, as opposed to a Chapter 11 of Chapter 13 filing. This is your cue, Mr. Savage.

 

[Bob1370]

Bob Savage will know this best, as the board's resident legal mind...so take what I'm about to say here with a grain of salt, although it's based on covering a lot of business and personal financial epic fails which made the news. Think of Chapter 7 as a financial DOA pronouncement on your control of most of your assets. They free you of your further obligations to pay your personal debts, in return for taking everything you have except your pension account, your house and your car, selling it all off, and paying whatever is raised to your creditors according to the rules--the tax man gets first dibs if you owe outstanding taxes, and whatever's left gets paid out according to rules and procedures specified in law and regulation.

Equity in a business, cash savings, stocks and bonds exclusive of an exempt IRA or pension account, investment properties, collectibles, jewelry, and any and every other salable asset, are all sold off to feed the kitty to pay off creditors before you can walk away to try to make a fresh start. It's not something you want, you lose damn near everything you've worked for, which is why most people either work out their own deals for gradual payoff to their creditors outside the court system without a formal judgment on their records, or go through court-supervised Chapter 13 personal reorganization, which puts them on a very strict, even onerous, repayment plan out of future personal income but claims fewer assets.

That 67% stake in Finger Lakes Radio Group? The trustee will have to find a buyer or buyers and use the proceeds to pay off as much of Kimble's indebtedness as she can. Alan Bishop won't lose any of his own 33% stake, in this case he's just a bystander unless he's also a creditor--but he may not necessarily have a say in who his next permanent partner will be, unless he had a first-right-of-refusal deal with Kimble or he can just raise the cash to buy it from the trustee himself. If he wants to be certain to have a say in the final resolution of this, he needs either to recruit a suitable partner with deep pockets who'll be acceptable both to the trustee and to the FCC, or buy that 67% himself and become sole owner of record.

Stay tuned. I can't see a major group like Cumulus or Entercom coming in--or even the mid-level players like Saga or Townsquare. Whoever buys that stake in Finger Lakes Radio Group is likely to be someone with both deep pockets and regional roots, along with a plan for using these newly acquired media holdings to add to a marketing strategy for other business interests. Hopefully it'll be someone who understands how successful small town radio works, and/or is willing to supervise with a light touch and let the people who know radio do their jobs.

 

[Paul_Warren]

...Alan Bishop won't lose any of his own 33% stake, in this case he's just a bystander unless he's also a creditor--but he may not necessarily have a say in who his next permanent partner will be, unless he had a first-right-of-refusal deal with Kimble or he can just raise the cash to buy it from the trustee himself. If he wants to be certain to have a say in the final resolution of this, he needs either to recruit a suitable partner with deep pockets who'll be acceptable both to the trustee and to the FCC, or buy that 67% himself and become sole owner of record...

...or, sell his own shares into whatever new entity is created and try to acquire 50% + 1 of the shares.

 

[Savage]

I can't add much to what Bob1370 said - he's pretty much nailed the Chapter 7 situation. My only comment is, pity the poor unsecured creditors. Proceeds generated from 67% of a small regional radio group in a borderline-socialist state with high taxes, northeast weather, high energy costs and staggering regulation - well, they're gonna be slim pickins.

 

[Element9]

Makes you wonder what led up to this. Apparently Chapter 11 was totally out of the question. Austere.

 

[heydaybegone]

Niner....

What led up to this? Hello?? You spend more than you're bringing in. Simple.
(It's the personal expenses NOBODY ever sees...)

Chapter 7 is the death sentence, which means 11 or 13 wouldn't have helped under creditor protection.
BTW- 11 or 13 protection is a temporary fix...as few get through it..and continue to survive.

Not uncommon nowadays...even outside the radio industry.

HDBG

 

[20yearjock]

hmmm, was listening to their Wall station a bit ago and heard an announcement that there was new ownership taking over on the 16th. That was quick! Aired in a few commercial breaks. Wonder if they'll change formats?