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Salem sells it's CCM stations to EMF

xmusicmatt said:
The Preaching and Teaching signals are pure profit as they charge for airtime! The only cost (is in time) to Salem is loading the files in automation and that can be easily done in a shared production role with one of their conservative talkers.
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Stations have lots of expenses beyond what you mention.

First, there is tax or rental of the studio and the transmitter site. Utilities for both. Insurance of several kinds. An engineer on staff or on a fee basis. Someone to load the programs on the system. Someone to do required logs, someone to do billing and a manager who sells the time. There is FICA, business licenses, all sorts of state and city permits and fees. Cleaning and maintenance of the offices and transmitter site. Periodic painting of the tower or lease payments for a rented tower. Dues in NAB, the state association and RAB. Trade magazines and newsletters. Internet access, website costs. Software (most broadcast industry programs are on a fee basis, not a buy-out). Repairs and parts for transmitter and studio gear. Computers, printers and related supplies. Commissions for sales persons.

I could go on with what I'm sure are a number of things I have omitted.

Such stations are NOT pure profit. In many cases today, they are very difficult, particularly in smaller and medium markets.
 
secondchoice said:
It is still hard to believe that a "tax exempt Christan" organization felt it necessary to go in debt to take out another ministry. Otherwise IMHO it's more about the "building the Empire" than reaching the masses with the Christian message.

I still can't rationalize this with the 10th commandment's coviting other folks properties.
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None of this is true. You are very confused. Salem wanted to sell the stations to get out of debt and exit Christian music and they were happy to be able to sell to someone who would continue Christian music on the stations. Salem wanted to sell to K-Love Inc.
 
brian marchand said:
None of this is true. You are very confused. Salem wanted to sell the stations to get out of debt and exit Christian music and they were happy to be able to sell to someone who would continue Christian music on the stations. Salem wanted to sell to K-Love Inc.
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And EMF / K-Love had the CASH to buy the stations.
 
brian marchand said:
None of this is true. You are very confused. Salem wanted to sell the stations to get out of debt and exit Christian music and they were happy to be able to sell to someone who would continue Christian music on the stations. Salem wanted to sell to K-Love Inc.
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Salem sold to put off Bankruptcy*. From a business point of view why would anyone sell off their assets that have more value than the AM transmitter land value? IMHO: AM properties don't have much future as an ongoing business 10 years from now. It will be interesting to look at Salem's next 3 quarterly reports. Will the "slim" Salem generate positive cash? Why did KLove take the Fish intellectual property too? I believe they usually buy the "frequency" and tower equipment only. If the Fish was a failure, it shouldn't have affected KLove's business model.

IMHO this was eliminating competition.

*I have questioned a supposedly for profit corporation making money with "teaching and preaching". I guess there is some money in picking up the talk radio "crumbs" that iHeartRadio, Cumulus, and Audacy leave behind.
 
secondchoice said:
Will the "slim" Salem generate positive cash?
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With the help of the investment by WaterStone, they will build a new business in the digital space that will hopefully more than replace the revenue they got from broadcast. That's the rest of the story. Salem is contracting the broadcast footprint with the hope of growing someplace else.

The difference between the music stations and the talk stations is that the talk stations create content that Salem owns. The music stations simply promote music owned by record labels. Salem can't make additional revenue from that business other than the ad revenue the stations attract. The talk content can be sold multiple times in multiple ways and can continue to generate revenue after the real-time airing ends. In order to understand this, you have to look beyond AM radio and linear broadcasting.
 
secondchoice said:
Salem sold to put off Bankruptcy*. From a business point of view why would anyone sell off their assets that have more value than the AM transmitter land value? IMHO: AM properties don't have much future as an ongoing business 10 years from now.
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Which is why they are developing their new media assets.
secondchoice said:
Will the "slim" Salem generate positive cash? Why did KLove take the Fish intellectual property too?
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Yes, it does, based on the brokered time AMs and the new media projects.
secondchoice said:
I believe they usually buy the "frequency" and tower equipment only. If the Fish was a failure, it shouldn't have affected KLove's business model.
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The Fish was not a failure. It simply represented the biggest salable asset that Salem had that they could spin off to solidify the rest of the company.
secondchoice said:
IMHO this was eliminating competition.
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No, it was moving into markets where the Salem stations offered an opportunity at a good price.
secondchoice said:
*I have questioned a supposedly for profit corporation making money with "teaching and preaching".
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They did not make money from "teaching and preaching"; they made money selling time blocks to groups that do that kind of programs.
secondchoice said:
I guess there is some money in picking up the talk radio "crumbs" that iHeartRadio, Cumulus, and Audacy leave behind.
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Yes, there is.
 
DavidEduardo said:
Which is why they are developing their new media assets.

Yes, it does, based on the brokered time AMs and the new media projects.

The Fish was not a failure. It simply represented the biggest salable asset that Salem had that they could spin off to solidify the rest of the company.

No, it was moving into markets where the Salem stations offered an opportunity at a good price.

They did not make money from "teaching and preaching"; they made money selling time blocks to groups that do that kind of programs.

Yes, there is.
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IMHO they should "shopped different Bankruptcy Courts" and taken a favorable restructure, like the 3 biggest radio operators have. They would have had the cash from the Fish operations to start "new" media ventures and not gave up control.
 
secondchoice said:
IMHO they should "shopped different Bankruptcy Courts" and taken a favorable restructure, like the 3 biggest radio operators have. They would have had the cash from the Fish operations to start "new" media ventures and not gave up control.
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If they went through bankruptcy, they would have to give up control. That's what the three big operators did. That's why David Field resigned. The lenders would then sell Fish stations to EMF. That's what Cumulus did. So you get same result combined with loss of control.
 
TheBigA said:
If they went through bankruptcy, they would have to give up control. That's what the three big operators did. That's why David Field resigned. The lenders would then sell Fish stations to EMF. That's what Cumulus did. So you get same result combined with loss of control.
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It's been several years but at least one of the stations (106.7 Atlanta) was programmed poorly and the New York FM station was in a weak cluster.

If the books were opened up "via Bankruptcy" and folks knew how much the Atlanta and Dallas Fish stations took in, things might have been different. I am afraid the US Radio business is headed towards the European or third world model. One station per format nationwide. No competition. Not even local commercials. No regional tastes allowed.

I guess I am just looking at this from a personal view point. My wife use to listen to the Fish. After an Air 1 "beg-a-thon" she is done Air 1. She will listen to commercials so she doesn't have to listen to someone trying to shame by "hinting" that the ministry will come to an end if she doesn't pledge.
 
secondchoice said:
If the books were opened up "via Bankruptcy" and folks knew how much the Atlanta and Dallas Fish stations took in, things might have been different.
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The CEO can open the books. He knows how much they make. He chose to keep his company and sell the Fish radio stations to EMF. It's HIS company. He is the one who knows. It was his choice, and he wasn't forced by a bankruptcy court or outside investors. Radio owners all over the country are doing the same thing.
 
Coming soon to K-Love:

Nashville, TN -February 7, 2025 - Today, the K-LOVE Fan Awards announced live on the nationwide K-LOVE radio network that award-winning artists Matthew West, Jeremy Camp, Mac Powell and Bart Millard will host the 12th annual K-LOVE Fan Awards. Taking place on May 25, 2025 at Nashville’s iconic OPRY House, Coca-Cola Consolidated will once again serve as Title Sponsor for the fan-voted awards show that concludes the biggest weekend in Christian music.
More details for weekend events including the Friday night kick-off concert, Emerging Artist Showcase, Songwriter's showcase, Sunday morning worship service and more will be announced soon.
Fans come from all over the country to participate in the K-LOVE Fan Awards and the preceding weekend to hear great music, meet their favorite artists, and have fun with the whole family. Providing an experience for fans that is impossible to match anywhere else, tickets for the 2025 K-LOVE Fan Awards Weekend are on sale with travel packages still available here: www.klovefanawards.com.
 
TheBigA said:
Coming soon to K-Love:

Nashville, TN -February 7, 2025 - Today, the K-LOVE Fan Awards announced live on the nationwide K-LOVE radio network that award-winning artists Matthew West, Jeremy Camp, Mac Powell and Bart Millard will host the 12th annual K-LOVE Fan Awards. Taking place on May 25, 2025 at Nashville’s iconic OPRY House, Coca-Cola Consolidated will once again serve as Title Sponsor for the fan-voted awards show that concludes the biggest weekend in Christian music.
More details for weekend events including the Friday night kick-off concert, Emerging Artist Showcase, Songwriter's showcase, Sunday morning worship service and more will be announced soon.
Fans come from all over the country to participate in the K-LOVE Fan Awards and the preceding weekend to hear great music, meet their favorite artists, and have fun with the whole family. Providing an experience for fans that is impossible to match anywhere else, tickets for the 2025 K-LOVE Fan Awards Weekend are on sale with travel packages still available here: www.klovefanawards.com.
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Yep, this has been an annual EMF (K-Love) event for them since 2013.
 
Salem still has one music station in existence. Former 95.9 the Fish that serves Columbus OH on a translator became 95.9 Today's Christian Music in January and still airing music.
 
We have had somewhat 'one format nationwide' since the 1980s when the satellite services made it possible to run a station off a satellite dish, plugging in news, weather and commercials. A cross-country trip I took about 2006 I heard 5 stations using the same format in different towns just scanning the dial. We act like this is all new but this has been happening for decades.
 
RadioRonnie285 said:
Salem still has one music station in existence. Former 95.9 the Fish that serves Columbus OH on a translator became 95.9 Today's Christian Music in January and still airing music.
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Yes, they are utilizing the former Today's Christian Music syndicated satellite format that is now owned by Christian FM "Smart Radio Suite" out of Florida.
 
The sale was finalized today by the fcc. Salem on hd 2 and 3 on most stations should dropped soon. The application to convert the signals to non com is still pending at which point the Salem feeds have to be dropped.
 
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