Potential Audacy/Cumulus Merger?

[Deleted member 108832]

The combined company would have to spin off four FMs in DFW, so you’re two stations short. No way they keep 93.3.

No way. WBAP would lose it's FM partner all over again. Only the 50kW clear left. The horror! 107.5 would certainly be kicked to the curb, too. But do you drop 96.7, given its success since moving to The Ticket?

Audacy has four FMs and two AMs in Houston, while Cumulus has a stand-alone FM. Perfect fit.

Ugh. Audacy CHR. Hot 104.1 KRBE, anyone? I'd rather iHeart bring it into their portfolio and restore the station to actual contemporary hit radio. The last time I heard KRBE, it had two problems. Too much gold, and too many recurrents. Much like our "CHR", it's actually a Hot AC masquerading around as current hit music.

 

[LibertyNT]

Are you going to take one of the most popular stations in the area off the air on FM? If so, where do you put The Ticket or just leave them on 1310AM with limited coverage?

I'd move it to a cedar hill stick. The format itself is what is worth keeping, 570 has the superior facility in both coverage and maintenance. The real question is, how much money would be lost by merging it with The Fan?

 

[Mediafrog+]

Who would get the divested stations IHeart?

iHeart is already at market cap for FM stations, and all their current signals are Class C from Cedar Hill. They could add two AMs, however.

 

[chrocket87]

The question I have is who would buy the entire whole cluster that would need divested? I can’t imagine anyone, even EMF, buying the whole cluster and I can’t see the whole clusters in major markets being allowed to be placed in a divestiture trust.

 

[Mediafrog+]

No way. WBAP would lose it's FM partner all over again. Only the 50kW clear left. The horror!

Of course both 820 and 93.3 could be spun off together, possibly preserving the simulcast. Who knows.

107.5 would certainly be kicked to the curb, too.

100% certain in this scenario, as it is a Class C1. EMF would want the Class C that would have to be spun.

But do you drop 96.7, given its success since moving to The Ticket?

The Ticket, or much of its intellectual property, might go to 105.3. Problem is, does all the Rangers and Cowboys PxP and ancillary programming wreck the formula that has made The Ticket a huge success? And where do the Stars wind up?

Ugh. Audacy CHR. Hot 104.1 KRBE, anyone? I'd rather iHeart bring it into their portfolio and restore the station to actual contemporary hit radio. The last time I heard KRBE, it had two problems. Too much gold, and too many recurrents. Much like our "CHR", it's actually a Hot AC masquerading around as current hit music.

In Houston I would think both KRBE and KHMX would be tweaked in order to have distinct musical identities while working together in a broader sales and marketing play.

iHeart only has room for one more FM in Houston as they currently own four AMs there.

 

[Mediafrog+]

The question I have is who would buy the entire whole cluster that would need divested? I can’t imagine anyone, even EMF, buying the whole cluster and I can’t see the whole clusters in major markets being allowed to be placed in a divestiture trust.

93.3, 96.7, 107.5 and either 100.3 or 103.7 are the probable FM spins. They don’t all have to go together. If EMF ever wants a Cedar Hill stick, this would be the time, unless there is something cooking for a KLTY acquisition.

Wonder if all this could finally spur Service Broadcasting’s long speculated exit from DFW radio.

 

[davideduardo]

Where is “Channatoga”?🤔🤣

it's...
Way down yonder on the Chatahoochie.

 

[Kent]

But they would be keeping the most profitable stations from either company, which should increase overall revenue.

As I mentioned above, I don’t think a Cumulus/Audacy merger would cause problems in DFW with that scenario unless the DOJ were to flex its muscle and say the sports rights on The Ticket and The Fan were a problem. Maybe there's a scenario where the combination would go above 40% of the market's radio revenue, but imagining that is difficult. Too many other clusters bill too much. Kansas City, however, might trigger that issue. Despite KCMO-FM and KCFX doing so well, you'd undoubtedly keep the Audacy cluster and dump the Cumulus one if forced to choose.

Who would get the divested stations IHeart?

That's the theory because iHeart doesn't have stations in KC, Buffalo, Chattanooga, and Scranton-Wilkes Barre. I don’t know, however, how likely that would actually be. While iHeart has recently paid cash for properties, I'm not sure it would pay as much as those stations are worth. It might be willing to swap, say, Tulsa and Omaha for Kansas City, but I can’t imagine it doing that for an incomplete Buffalo cluster or stations in Chattanooga and Scranton. Those two markets are roughly the same size, and swapping those similar sized markets doesn't make much sense.

 

[101tm]

That's the theory because iHeart doesn't have stations in KC, Buffalo, Chattanooga, and Scranton-Wilkes Barre. I don’t know, however, how likely that would actually be. While iHeart has recently paid cash for properties, I'm not sure it would pay as much as those stations are worth. It might be willing to swap, say, Tulsa and Omaha for Kansas City, but I can’t imagine it doing that for an incomplete Buffalo cluster or stations in Chattanooga and Scranton. Those two markets are roughly the same size, and swapping those similar sized markets doesn't make much sense.

IF iHeart were to buy the Chattanooga cluster, it would be full circle as iHeart swapped that cluster (as well as Richmond) to Entercom in 2017 in exchange for the required Seattle and Boston divestures by the DOJ, if I recall.

 

[Will_H_69_9]

if this merger was to go through, i imagine Alpha Media, Townsquare Media and a couple of other smaller Radio conglomerate could just enter the market to buy the stations owned by Cumulus or Audacy that the merged company would have to divest to get through the cluster cap in this market for AM & FM stations in this market. the factor on whether or not divestments will happen is if the FCC changes the number for stations a company can own in one cluster in a market.

 

[Kent]

IF iHeart were to buy the Chattanooga cluster, it would be full circle as iHeart swapped that cluster (as well as Richmond) to Entercom in 2017 in exchange for the required Seattle and Boston divestures by the DOJ, if I recall.

True, though I would expect the existing Cumulus cluster to be the one getting spun should such a scenario transpire.

if this merger was to go through, i imagine Alpha Media, Townsquare Media and a couple of other smaller Radio conglomerate could just enter the market to buy the stations owned by Cumulus or Audacy that the merged company would have to divest to get through the cluster cap in this market for AM & FM stations in this market. the factor on whether or not divestments will happen is if the FCC changes the number for stations a company can own in one cluster in a market.

I can’t imagine Alpha or Townsquare buying into a market like Dallas, though Alpha does have a few stations on the edge of the market. Alpha is owned by people who didn’t really want to own radio stations as the company has already been through a bankruptcy. Townsquare's business model is more centered toward medium and small markets. I don’t see it working well in DFW since it's heavy on agency buys, and Townsquare's model is to act as an ad agency for clients in areas where agencies tend not to operate. Plus, Townsquare is carrying a lot of debt. I believe it's mostly owned by private equity, which can likely handle that debt, but I can’t imagine the current owners want to add heavily to said debt.

 

[chrocket87]

True, though I would expect the existing Cumulus cluster to be the one getting spun should such a scenario transpire.



I can’t imagine Alpha or Townsquare buying into a market like Dallas, though Alpha does have a few stations on the edge of the market. Alpha is owned by people who didn’t really want to own radio stations as the company has already been through a bankruptcy. Townsquare's business model is more centered toward medium and small markets. I don’t see it working well in DFW since it's heavy on agency buys, and Townsquare's model is to act as an ad agency for clients in areas where agencies tend not to operate. Plus, Townsquare is carrying a lot of debt. I believe it's mostly owned by private equity, which can likely handle that debt, but I can’t imagine the current owners want to add heavily to said debt.

Exactly. Maybe Bonneville or Hubbard might want to get into DFW, but I think multiple buyers buying a station or two a piece would make this merger even more complicated, which would likely end up Audulus selling stations for significantly less than they’d desire.

 

[Deleted member 108832]

it's...
Way down yonder on the Chatahoochie.

Make sure you pack sunscreen for the trip. It gets hotter than a hoochie coochie down there.

 

[LibertyNT]

Exactly. Maybe Bonneville or Hubbard might want to get into DFW, but I think multiple buyers buying a station or two a piece would make this merger even more complicated, which would likely end up Audulus selling stations for significantly less than they’d desire.

Wasn't Bonneville already in DFW at one time? I want to say they owned KZPS.

 

[Kent]

Exactly. Maybe Bonneville or Hubbard might want to get into DFW, but I think multiple buyers buying a station or two a piece would make this merger even more complicated, which would likely end up Audulus selling stations for significantly less than they’d desire.

Hard to say who would be the buyers if such a merger were to happen. Might not be predictive of the future, but talks between Hubbard and Entercom following the CBS deal reportedly went extremely poorly and didn't get far at all. Hubbard has made clear it would like to expand but won't pay a premium to do so. The price, however, could be right in a forced sale.

Wasn't Bonneville already in DFW at one time? I want to say they owned KZPS.

Yes. Bonneville owned KAAM/KZPS and later owned KDGE. It sold DFW to Evergreen Media either at the end of '96 or sometime in '97 right before Evergreen became part of Chancellor Media.

 

[Gopher]

I'd move it to a cedar hill stick. The format itself is what is worth keeping, 570 has the superior facility in both coverage and maintenance. The real question is, how much money would be lost by merging it with The Fan?

Why put it on a signal that has to power down at sunset? Part of that station's success was getting an FM signal. Don't kill the voice of the Golden Goose.

 

[Mediafrog+]

Bonneville owned KAAM/KZPS

Of course that was the 1310 incarnation, not the later ripoffs on 620 and 770. The FM was then KAFM, so the KAAM call fit for what had previously been WRR.

and later owned KDGE

The 94.5 incarnation.

Why put it on a signal that has to power down at sunset?

Has the diplex of 570 with 1310 and nighttime power reduction affected the 570 signal that much? Day signal seems the same, but I haven’t really “studied” the 570 night signal since the move.

 

[salemjedi54]

But do you drop 96.7, given its success since moving to The Ticket?

The Ticket, or much of its intellectual property, might go to 105.3. Problem is, does all the Rangers and Cowboys PxP and ancillary programming wreck the formula that has made The Ticket a huge success? And where do the Stars wind up?


Why merge KRLD-FM and KTCK AM/FM? Keep them as separate entities to maximize revenue.

 

[Mediafrog+]

Why merge KRLD-FM and KTCK AM/FM? Keep them as separate entities to maximize revenue.

I doubt the merged company would want two FM sportstalkers with only three music stations.

 

[Deleted member 108832]

Has the diplex of 570 with 1310 and nighttime power reduction affected the 570 signal that much? Day signal seems the same, but I haven’t really “studied” the 570 night signal since the move.

The only real difference I've noticed lies in the farthest reaches of its coverage area. In, and directly around, the Metroplex, it sounds the same as always. At least on the Dallas end. I don't venture towards Fort Worth very often, at all. Where the night signal starts to fade now is places like Greenville, Wills Point, and Gun Barrel City. It did have a listenable enough signal in places like Sulphur Springs and Athens before. The night signal still does well south, reaching towns like Corsicana, Hillsboro, and Mexia pretty reliably.