Radio One Acquires Cox Houston

[ChuckTiller]

The question is who is the minority broadcaster that is buying it as their first Houston station? SBS, Entravision... or ?

As I stated earlier, I would like to see the folks who KCOH buy it. That would be great. However, it's all about the money.

 

[stan]

Here’s my prediction.

 

[JustinT]

The question is who is the minority broadcaster that is buying it as their first Houston station? SBS, Entravision... or ?

SBS makes a lot of sense. They’re not afraid to operate one-station clusters (see Chicago, Orlando, Tampa), and they’ve made post-Covid acquisitions for cash. They wouldn’t compete with Urban One’s four brands. But this is a crowded market for Spanish-language formats. Are there any obvious gaps?

 

[davideduardo]

SBS makes a lot of sense. They’re not afraid to operate one-station clusters (see Chicago, Orlando, Tampa), and they’ve made post-Covid acquisitions for cash. They wouldn’t compete with Urban One’s four brands. But this is a crowded market for Spanish-language formats. Are there any obvious gaps?

SBS is also flying solo in San Francisco, supporting your point.

There are no gaps in Houston, unless you consider a music-based regional Mexican to be lacking.

 

[Rusty Muck]

I wonder if this was done to help Cox facilitate the Tenga/Standard General TV stations deal they been part of sometime now.

This is, tbh, the beginning of Apollo Global Management’s liquidation of Cox’s entire radio portfolio. Then they’ll dispose of the TV stations at their best opportunity.

Virtually dead; I give Standard General-Tegna maybe a 2% chance of going through. Strange to think that a year ago we thought Cox would have a Houston cluster of two TV and four radio stations. Now they will be completely gone, how things can change.

I feel for the people at KHOU/KTBU, they’ve been left twisting in the wind for the past 14 months. Once the Standard General deal dies, they will still be in limbo as Tegna executives (who thought they were sailing into retirement with a nice buyout) will likely put the group back on the market, beginning another round of uncertainty.

If Soo Kim hadn’t acted like he deserved to get Tegna and sought additional financing for the deal besides another private equity firm that already owned TV stations in three Tegna markets, it would have gone through. He failed to play the game correctly and it’s his own fault the deal failed.

As for Tegna, the market is not conducive to further M&As in the land of higher interest rates and amid signs of an further economic cooldown.

 

[Identnut]

There are no gaps in Houston, unless you consider a music-based regional Mexican to be lacking.

And SBS usually goes all-in with personality shows. They have El Terrible in the mornings, and with Entravision's absence, likely become Houston's outlet for Erazno y la Chokolata.

 

[Rusty Muck]

The question is who is the minority broadcaster that is buying it as their first Houston station? SBS, Entravision... or ?

Let alone if Urban One is also selling the “Praise” gospel format and IP with 92.1 (they did a similar transaction a few years ago when leaving the Detroit market).

 

[Deleted member 108832]

As I stated earlier, I would like to see the folks who KCOH buy it. That would be great. However, it's all about the money.

I'd second this. Also would be great if Texas Southern could get ahold of KROI, take it non-commercial, and have "The Vibe" available as a full-time compliment to 90.9.

Looks like Mediafrog's drumbeat has gone unheard, as neither of the AM sports talkers will be moving to the FM dial.

 

[BamaTX]

The question is who is the minority broadcaster that is buying it as their first Houston station? SBS, Entravision... or ?

The George Soros backed Latino Media Network? Technically speaking, they can still be considered "new entrants" on account that they haven't taken over KLAT. It would make sense for them if they want to establish themselves in the market and become a successful propaganda mouthpiece for the DNC.

 

[Rusty Muck]

The George Soros backed Latino Media Network? Technically speaking, they can still be considered "new entrants" on account that they haven't taken over KLAT. It would make sense for them if they want to establish themselves in the market and become a successful propaganda mouthpiece for the DNC.

They were willing suckers for Univision’s rejects and misfit toys but I can’t see them being THAT dumb.

 

[Mrtejano]

I don’t think Entravision would want to come back. They sold their only houston presence they had here. But yeah, I agree it would be nice to have them back and be able to listen to Eranzo, is piolin or el genio Lucas.

 

[DarrenVision]

This is, tbh, the beginning of Apollo Global Management’s liquidation of Cox’s entire radio portfolio. Then they’ll dispose of the TV stations at their best opportunity.

If Soo Kim hadn’t acted like he deserved to get Tegna and sought additional financing for the deal besides another private equity firm that already owned TV stations in three Tegna markets, it would have gone through. He failed to play the game correctly and it’s his own fault the deal failed.

As for Tegna, the market is not conducive to further M&As in the land of higher interest rates and amid signs of an further economic cooldown.

Tegna also has 2 sports stations in Columbus when they bought WBNS and WTHR, Tegna already sold the 2 San Diego stations that are part of the KFMB purchase. Can Urban One look at Columbus?

 

[101tm]

Another thought (not sure if discussed earlier), if the 106.9/107.5 simulcast is broken, which one would Eagle continue on? Each signal has positives and negatives, but 106.9’s signal seems to have better coverage of the heavily white, more inland suburbs and exurbs that have grown so quickly over the past 3-4 decades.

I would be surprised to see this simulcast broken, at least for a while after Urban One takes over. They’ve spent the past decade trying to make something work on 92.1.

 

[Rusty Muck]

Tegna also has 2 sports stations in Columbus when they bought WBNS and WTHR, Tegna already sold the 2 San Diego stations that are part of the KFMB purchase. Can Urban One look at Columbus?

No. Urban One is already at the limit in Columbus.

And even then, Tegna won’t sell them. WBNS AM/FM are heavily tied into the operations of WBNS-TV and have the (extremely lucrative) radio rights to Ohio State football. That’s in stark contrast to KFMB having a conservative talk format and KFMB-FM having an adult hits format.

 

[DarrenVision]

No. Urban One is already at the limit in Columbus.

And even then, Tegna won’t sell them. WBNS AM/FM are heavily tied into the operations of WBNS-TV and have the (extremely lucrative) radio rights to Ohio State football. That’s in stark contrast to KFMB having a conservative talk format and KFMB-FM having an adult hits format.

they can sell it separately the am one to iheart while the fm to urban one, same as SD does iheart gets 760am while LMSD which operates 3 Tijuana stations gets Big FM.

 

[exdjted]

It's already been announced that the "Sugarland Station Trust" has been formed to sell off KROI and KTHT. KROI is already being sold to a new minority entrant.

https://www.radiodiscussions.com/whats-new/posts/628961/#:~:text=%E2%80%98Sugarland%20Station%20Trust%E2%80%99%20Ready%20To%20Spin%20Two%20Houston%20FMs

 

[Kent]

Urban One will sell off KTHT and KROI. From Inside Radio:

Urban One Will Pay $27.5 Million For Cox Houston Cluster, Spin Off KROI and KTHT.

Three days after announcing a deal to acquire Cox Media Group’s entire Houston radio cluster, Urban One has revealed it will pay $27.5 million for the four FMs. Urban One

www.insideradio.com

That's the most likely outcome by far, but an operation spinning off stations it's operating while taking back the stations it put in trust isn’t completely unheard of.

 

[Mediafrog+]

As I stated earlier, I would like to see the folks who KCOH buy it. That would be great. However, it's all about the money.

The KCOH programmers don’t even own their current 1230 outlet. Doubt they would have the money to buy KROI.

The KCOH audience is probably overwhelmingly 65+.

SBS makes a lot of sense. They’re not afraid to operate one-station clusters (see Chicago, Orlando, Tampa), and they’ve made post-Covid acquisitions for cash.

SBS would be my guess, but who knows…though they actually have been in the market before with their ownership of KTBU/55 from 2011-21.

They wouldn’t compete with Urban One’s four brands.

Wonder what sort of non-compete agreements might be in place?

But this is a crowded market for Spanish-language formats.

I would have thought that Houston was at a saturation point for Hispanic formats, especially when you throw in 102.5, 104.5, and 105.3. Who knows, perhaps a Hispanic targeted format on 92.1 would run off the current translator programmers.

This is, tbh, the beginning of Apollo Global Management’s liquidation of Cox’s entire radio portfolio. Then they’ll dispose of the TV stations at their best opportunity.

Radio might go, but I would be surprised if they dumped the TV stations, at least in the near future.

If Soo Kim hadn’t acted like he deserved to get Tegna and sought additional financing for the deal besides another private equity firm that already owned TV stations in three Tegna markets, it would have gone through. He failed to play the game correctly and it’s his own fault the deal failed.

The Apollo market conflicts were the biggest problem with the SG-Tegna deal. All the other angst about journalism commitment and staffing was just noise. Any new owner is going to make cuts sooner or later.

As for Tegna, the market is not conducive to further M&As in the land of higher interest rates and amid signs of an further economic cooldown.

Byron Allen had interest in acquiring Tegna for his Allen Media Group, that still might happen. Wonder if that silly deal involving a private equity group (can’t recall the name off the bat) and Trinity Broadcasting Network to buy Tegna might be resurrected, so to speak.

Let alone if Urban One is also selling the “Praise” gospel format and IP with 92.1 (they did a similar transaction a few years ago when leaving the Detroit market).

I suspect the Praise format will continue on 102.1 HD-2 as it did between the two 92.1 incarnations. And I don’t think Radio One would want the competition from their former station, even if the ratings were tiny.

Looks like Mediafrog's drumbeat has gone unheard, as neither of the AM sports talkers will be moving to the FM dial.

I tried.😭😜Not good for the future of sportstalk here.

Maybe a rimshot FM if Estrella Media gets out of radio, but 92.1 would have been a perfect fit.

The George Soros backed Latino Media Network?

🤣🤣🤣😖😖😖
A couple of years from now we’d be talking about yet another new owner and format for 92.1.

I would be surprised to see this simulcast broken, at least for a while after Urban One takes over.

I think they will leave it in place for the time being. But in a few years major tweaks will have to be made as the current Classic Rock audience ages out.

They’ve spent the past decade trying to make something work on 92.1.

Make that two decades. Maybe they should have stuck with the temporary “Best of the 90s and more” format they had for two weeks when RO purchased 92.1 In 2004.

 

[Mediafrog+]

It's already been announced that the "Sugarland Station Trust" has been formed to sell off KROI and KTHT. KROI is already being sold to a new minority entrant.

Link had expired, update: https://www.radiodiscussions.com/threads/‘sugarland-station-trust’-ready-to-spin-two-houston-fms.762353/

 

[tb_]

Welp, I’m just glad it’s not going to Centro Cristiano de Vida Engaño… well, KROI isn’t, at least.