What it says to me is that 96.3 isn't likely to flip to a simulcast of The Score. They seem committed to keeping it some form of music.
Perhaps the plan is to rebrand and go against 101.9.
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Rumor Mill Reports Big Changes This Week
- Thread starter Schroedingers Cat
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What it says to me is that 96.3 isn't likely to flip to a simulcast of The Score. They seem committed to keeping it some form of music.
Perhaps the plan is to rebrand and go against 101.9.
I agree on point #1 for sure; 104.3 would be the station to flip (I'm growing doubtful that will even happen at this point).
I think someone in the company perhaps wrongly assumed D.F.'s alleged trip to Chicago was to usher in a flip of 104.3 to Sports.
As for point #2 - interesting theory. A Rhythmic AC music position would perhaps be viable, but only if 104.3 were to dump classic hip-hop. I think a straight up Hot AC is probably out of the question, and I also doubt the B96 brand name would be tossed to the curb.
I think someone in the company perhaps wrongly assumed D.F.'s alleged trip to Chicago was to usher in a flip of 104.3 to Sports.
As for point #2 - interesting theory. A Rhythmic AC music position would perhaps be viable, but only if 104.3 were to dump classic hip-hop. I think a straight up Hot AC is probably out of the question, and I also doubt the B96 brand name would be tossed to the curb.
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B 96 has not been the same since J, Julien, and Showbiz Shelly (later J and Showbiz Shelly's) show got canceled years ago. Drexx was a disaster before he event got here cause he outgrew the market. Next, Gabe and Nina was left to pick up the pieces and started to gain a loyal following. The station then bailed on them probably 6 months too soon.
They had a few jocks come and go to give the station glimmers of hope and now they are gone. Moving Julia out the city was a stupid mistake. Kenzie K just bailed and did not renew cause she probably knows the ship is sinking at the company and the station.
After all these issues, last thing B96 could hold onto was the remaining heritage the station had left which was the Street Mix. Yes, it was a shell of the days when Bad Boy Bill, Julian Jumpin Perez, Tim Spinnin Schommer, Brian Middleton, and Bobby D. were on, but it was the show that made B 96 famous across the country. Once they killed that, that was the downfall and they are just hanging on a string now. Could have turned off the lights then cause the party is over (no pun intended).
Kudos to the Beat Chicago (net radio), Chicago Dance Beat (net radio) and now 103.1 WPNA for keeping that spirit alive. Probably where most listeners who normally would go to B96 are now listening to on the weekends. And minus a few blips where Top 40 had a popular season of music, they are not coming back.
As for Kiss, they are garbage and get ratings by default. Look at their big decline in one book to explain that are not a well run station either. Some of that is the format, some of that is how they are run.
96.3 has a sister station (Also mainstream top 40) in Miami that is a regular bottom dweller, WPOW. It’s 16th place overall in the market and performs about half that of iheart’s CHR there, Y100/WHYI. The CHR in Philadelphia WTDY has never been successful since morphing from AC, but it is different due to the fact it’s never been successful overall and is used by Audacy to protect and enhance sales for other stations in the cluster. When another company has a CHR in a market, Audacy more often than not always comes in second.
WHYI and WPOW bill essentially the same amount of money.
Speaking of Audacy do you think the sell off any large market stations like what they did to WTSS in Buffalo and WAAF in Boston
Make them an offer.
Perhaps they will sell WXYT 1270 Detroit to Relevant Radio.
Something is definitely going down at that company. Too may people jumping ship or leaving. WTDY/Philadelphia also has format change rumors.
radioinsight.com
Nathan Graham Departs Audacy RVP/Programming & WTDY-FM PD Roles - RadioInsight
Nathan Graham has left his roles as Regional Vice President of Programming and Brand Manager of Audacy CHR "96.5 TDY" WTDY-FM Philadelphia. Graham has been with Audacy/Entercom since 2014 previously serving as night host and then APD/MD/midday host of "103.7 Kiss-FM" WXSS Milwaukee and then...
radioinsight.com
WAAF (now WVKB) is not a Boston station. It is pretty much a rimshot from the separate Worcester, MA, market (market rank 119) that got enough signal into Boston's metro area to compete somewhat marginally. But EMF does not program to markets, but to population coverage and they don't care about market rank per se.
And Buffalo is not even a top 50 market and most would consider it a "medium market" like McAllen/Brownsville, Naples/Ft Myers and Hartford, all of which are just a bit bigger.
In the case of WAAF, they sold an inferior commercial radio facility. In the case of Buffalo, it appears that having a cluster with "too many AMs and not enough FMs" is behind the sale.
Given their debt, $15 million gets them nowhere:
(From Inside Radio recently)
The date may be two years away, but Audacy executives said this week they are already spending plenty of time thinking about Nov. 17, 2024. That when $632 million of debt will come due. It is a sizable hindrance that has some Wall Steet analysts questioning how the company will clear the hurdle, especially if the economy slides into recession next year as many fear.
Facing Some Big Debt Hurdles, Audacy Says It Has Started Talks With Lenders.
The date may be two years away, but Audacy executives said this week they are already spending plenty of time thinking about Nov. 17, 2024. That is when $632 million
$15 million is less than half of the annual interest on the principle amount. And the company has, in its most recent annual filing, over $150,000,000 in annual EBITDA so $15 million seems insignificant... unless it is part of a deeper, broader plan.
From what I can see (one source is AUDACY, INC. Management's Discussion And Analysis Of Financial Condition And Results Of Operations (form 10-Q) | MarketScreener) they have variable rate loans that seem to be several percent above prime. Whatever the rate is... and whether they can refinance by next year... $15 million solves no long range problems unless it is just part of a much larger plan.
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They just sold WLFP Memphis to EMF too.
This is a problem I see coming for some other clusters owned by various operators. Perhaps the easiest and most obvious example is Cincinnati, where iHeart is running 4 AM's and only 2 FM's. Of course iHeart isn't in the situation Audacy is in, but eventually a day of reckoning in clusters like these will come.
Cumulus San Francisco is a similar example to Cincinnati: 4 AMs (KSFO, KNBR, KGO, KTCT) and 2 FMs (KNBR-FM, KSAN), with KNBR simulcasting on AM and FM. That cluster is also sports-heavy.
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Audacy just killed two strong rated Hot AC stations
the one in Memphis, FM 100, had been Hot AC for 30 years and CHR for 15 before that. They are moving the country format from the station they sold to EMF to the Hot AC station and killing Hot AC.
For Memphis that seems legit.
If WMC-FM is their top billing Memphis station why would they sell it. Will Audacy be able to make any money if they sell off too many stations
Embarrasment is their strong suit - what they know and do best.
101.9 has a weaker signal. They don't have any local jocks on it. They would simply change over to another generic feed with the same minimal programming.
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