Renda Broadcasting

[JAWilson]

First of all today the news came out that the first station that Tony Renda bought formerly known as WIXZ now WMNY 1360 AM in Pittsburgh has been "donated" to Pentecostal Temple Development Corporation that is based in the Pittsburgh area. This will be considered a charitable donation and thus leaving Renda Broadcasting with two stations in Pittsburgh WSHH 99.7 FM and WJAS 1320 AM.

Now how do I tie this in with the area...well I am getting there...

Over the last year we have now seen Renda sell off its six stations in Oklahoma (OKC & Tulsa) and now donating a station to a religious organization.

The question is are we getting closer to seeing Renda selling off its Florida properties? I know Tony Renda had deny any possible sale of the Florida properties in the past, but you have to figure something has to be coming down the line with the way the transactions have been happening in this last year.

I got to really think if Renda is heading for a sale, could this be an explantation as to why an application to upgrade WSOS 94.1 FM was filed. My thinking is if they get the application approved and do the upgrade, then the signal at 38kw as a C2 would generate a better sale price than at 5.5kw as a C3. Am I thinking right here?

Now if Renda does sell who would the likely buyer be? I think at this point if Renda sells both the Jacksonville and Fort Myers/Naples clusters you would think Cumulus would be a likely buyer since these are two markets in Florida they are not in yet. Also possible that a local owner, say for Jacksonville, would be Seven Bridges Radio, the owners of 1010XL/92.5 FM, could swoop in and buy? All though I love local ownership, an owner like Cumulus could likely right what I think is a sinking ship on Atlantic Blvd. Maybe they could take 94.1 and go Classic Hits since they seem to support the format in a lot of markets. I am sure they would also infuse the NASH brand into Jacksonville if they had a chance to buy the cluster. Also I think Renda had the right idea of Classic Country on 100.7, but again whatever works seems to get blown up. Doesn't make sense.

I am presenting this as a possible topic to watch because in all honesty, why you would just donate a station like that out of the clear blue sky? Something is going on and I have to think Renda Broadcasting is downsizing here. You just don't sell of six stations and donate one for no reason other than trying to cash out at this point. If he was selling to infuse his stations with upgrades, it sure ain't happening, at least in Jacksonville outside of a possible upgraded signal for WSOS.

This my two cents...have it with your opinion. I am sure this will stir the water cooler talk on radio for a while.

 

[fybush]

The Pittsburgh AM that was donated was a money pit. It's a two-site operation, with the daytime facility on a leased tower and the nighttime on a decaying four-tower array that needs lots of work. A few years ago, Renda had a plan in place to swap out the 1360 frequency for a rimshot 910, and then upgrade 910 to a full-market Pittsburgh signal from a new site. That turned out not to be cost-effective, and 1360's been limping along with a variety of third-tier formats ever since. Donating it probably gave Renda a nice tax writeoff, and took some ongoing losses off the books. I'm not sure I'd read much more into it than that.

 

[JAWilson]

Interesting about that....did not know they had been sinking money into it for years like that. Perfectly good reason to pass it on to a charity as a taxwrite off. I just hope that with the reduction of stations and getting rid of the money pit that Tony Renda will focus on why his Jacksonville stations are running on the cheap. Having two overlapping country formats is a waste of signal space considering Jacksonville could use a pop leaning Classic Hits station badly.

 

[upstate29651]

Interesting about that....did not know they had been sinking money into it for years like that. Perfectly good reason to pass it on to a charity as a taxwrite off. I just hope that with the reduction of stations and getting rid of the money pit that Tony Renda will focus on why his Jacksonville stations are running on the cheap. Having two overlapping country formats is a waste of signal space considering Jacksonville could use a pop leaning Classic Hits full signal active rock station badly.

Fixed your post! ;D

G

 

[Parttimer]

I think Renda would sell anything for the right price at this point.

 

[JAWilson]

Interesting about that....did not know they had been sinking money into it for years like that. Perfectly good reason to pass it on to a charity as a taxwrite off. I just hope that with the reduction of stations and getting rid of the money pit that Tony Renda will focus on why his Jacksonville stations are running on the cheap. Having two overlapping country formats is a waste of signal space considering Jacksonville could use a pop leaning Classic Hits full signal active rock station badly.

Fixed your post! ;D

G

I am not sure if I can be amused by that right now....both formats would be well served if the ownership groups would just wake and smell the dang coffee at the Maxwell House plant on the river...sheeze...how hard is that right? LOL

 

[raZadio]

Interesting about that....did not know they had been sinking money into it for years like that. Perfectly good reason to pass it on to a charity as a taxwrite off. I just hope that with the reduction of stations and getting rid of the money pit that Tony Renda will focus on why his Jacksonville stations are running on the cheap. Having two overlapping country formats is a waste of signal space considering Jacksonville could use a pop leaning Classic Hits full signal active rock station badly.

Fixed your post! ;D

Rock is the format hole there right now. The north market 100.7 signal is perfectly located for rock.

G