Must it be that way?
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Rock 92.9 To Bloomberg
- Thread starter lanceventa
- Start date
No, but I doubt Audacy sees any upside to hiring local talent for that station. If people want local talent, listen to WEEI.
Many people may still be accessing "rock929" via their app. Yesterday at work someone used app on their phone and cast to a bluetooth speaker. Not 1330, not 106.1 but the app.
Streaming for listeners.
Streaming for listeners.
I was out and about Tuesday afternoon and 106.1 (1.330's xltr) was still Bloomberg, and didn't switch to the "Rock 92-9" feed until sometime before 3am Wednesday.
I thought I was getting it on 128 in Wakefield etc and it said "Rock 929 on 106.1" on display, the WRCA translator--you could have been getting Haverhill if it was Bloomberg. This was Tue just before 2 pm
More changes at Beasley. @bostonradio reports Mike Lockhart [@Lockhart81] is departing from 98.5 and "also hearing that longtime executive producer Dan O’Brien was whacked after yesterday’s T&H show. More details to come. This is a developing story."
Update from @bostonradio: "Some additional details around production support staff changes at the Hub : longtime morning show exec producer Dan O’Brien was let go yesterday. That job was offered to producer Mike Lockhart who passed on it and quit. The opening will now be filled by former Rock 92-9 jock/PD Adam “12” Chapman. How is that for musical chairs?"
I'd been mentioning how someone at my workplace has a bluetooth speaker and feeds it from his phone--things like classic rock from his own musical library, or XM 80s on 8. Past couple days he was using the 929Rocks app...the old format, minus DJs...and perhaps minus ads.
Update from @bostonradio: "Some additional details around production support staff changes at the Hub : longtime morning show exec producer Dan O’Brien was let go yesterday. That job was offered to producer Mike Lockhart who passed on it and quit. The opening will now be filled by former Rock 92-9 jock/PD Adam “12” Chapman. How is that for musical chairs?"
I'd been mentioning how someone at my workplace has a bluetooth speaker and feeds it from his phone--things like classic rock from his own musical library, or XM 80s on 8. Past couple days he was using the 929Rocks app...the old format, minus DJs...and perhaps minus ads.
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In the meantime, Beasley has delayed their debt deadline by two more years:
www.insideradio.com
This doesn't change the situation at their stations, however.
Beasley Announces Exchange Offer That Would Move Debt Obligations To 2028.
Beasley Broadcast Group has announced an exchange offer that aims to move some of its debt obligations until 2028. Under the plan announced today, Beasley’s wholly owned subsidiary, Beasley Mezzanine
This doesn't change the situation at their stations, however.
Another recent Beasley-Boston change is that WMGK Philadelphia PD/Afternoon host Eric Johnson is now tracking middays on 105.7 WROR. I don't know if he replaced automation, a different tracked DJ, a live DJ etc. though.
Another Beasley-Boston change ..
WXTU mid day host Nicole Michalik is now tracking Kruser's old slot on WKLB.
WKLB and WXTU share two thirds of their daypart personalities. Mornings and 10a-3p.
Thankfully WOKQ comes in swimmingly here from NH. More local than anything else in these parts. About to give up on Boston's radio offerings.
That debt exchange offer BigA mentioned indeed will be their temporary lifeline, if it can be implemented successfully. It's a kick the can down the road strategy. The company will still be burning through cash on a levered basis.
Removal of financial maintenance covenants will be good for them as it will take risk of a loan default off the table for a while, but the fact remains its balance sheet capitalization and levered basis cash flow will still be horrendous.
I suspect the company is not finished in seeking opportunities to sell or lease out certain assets in order to raise liquidity.
On a related note, will the FCC ever get off its butt and make a final decision on Audacy's post-BK ownership structure? The judge erred in confirming the Plan of Reorganization, in my opinion. A Plan of Reorganization is supposed to meet a feasibility test. If the proposed ownership cannot meet regulatory muster, then the Plan should not have been confirmed, because it is not feasible!
The inertia is great for Audacy's current C-Suite and horrible for the company's pre-petition debt holders who currently are receiving no cash interest payments and are unable to wield any control over the company. All they can do is be patient or try to sell their pre-petition claim to another party.
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But it won't solve the real problem in Boston, which is that advertising money isn't enough to support local staffing. So even though the company itself is in better shape debt-wise, none of that will benefit the local operating budgets. Radio's problems aren't just caused by debt. The bigger problem is that fewer people are using radio, and that is causing advertising rates to drop. This isn't a recent problem either. It's just exacerbated by inflation.
Apparently the slowdown is because of the Foreign Ownership review that's part of the plan. The company asked for it to be expedited, and some republican congressmen demanded that it be done properly. So that added months to the process.
Could Beasley consider selling some of their properties to pay off some of their debt obligations? Who would be a potential buyer?
Any sale would be at a loss, and would decrease the amount of revenue the company takes in. Radio is their only source of revenue.
The debt isn't the real issue in Boston, but rather a shortage of revenue. So selling stations just makes the problem worse.
Clearly, the BIG format is the Jack-FM format without paying for the licensing rights. The playlist is the same, the wise cracks and ironic quips are the same. Audacy owns the leading Jack station in the U.S., KCBS-FM. It employs writers to pen those sarcastic remarks, which WBGB uses.
Since KCBS-FM has never used DJs in its nearly 20 years on the air, WBGB does the same.
I never heard the Jack format, though you say the BIG format is essentially it. Personally, I don't care for it; it reminds me of Entercom's Mike-FM. FWIW, the audio sounds muddy, as it did with Mike.
And then there was that whole huge flap when WCBS-FM 101.1 flipped to Jack and listeners hated it. CBS got the message loud and clear, and, though they didn't bring back "oldies", they at least brought back jocks playing classic hits.
Granted, it's not like Jack FM-style stations have never had DJs.
I recall WARH in St. Louis, with liners from John O'Hurley, having a morning show, which has been hosted by many personalities, including Spencer Graves, who went on to work with iHeart.
David E. has a different explanation for the demise of Jack on WCBS-FM. Listener complaints had nothing to do with it.
True. I think the problem in New York was that Jack-FM had too many Alternative Rock songs from the 1980s and 90s. NYC never had a successful Alternative Rock station, although several stations tried the format and failed. So WCBS-FM as Jack was playing songs that might have been very familiar in LA, Seattle and Minneapolis that were not familiar to New Yorkers.
It was an interesting turn of events. CBS Radio began putting Jack on multiple stations after its initial success in Los Angeles. Many of those former CBS stations still have Jack-FM to this day, still going strong. But others like WCBS-FM NYC and WJMK Chicago saw Jack fail and never return.
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