Star 94 off the market

[jal41]

Radio and Records is reporting that Lincoln Financial is holding on to the radio properties it has not sold yet, including Star 94 and WQXI. The economy going downhill has been cited.

 

[RoddyFreeman]

I thought they announced that several months ago.

I think they'll sell the stations over time. It's like selling a house. Now is not the best time. Lincoln Financial tried to sell the stations and, except for Charlotte, couldn't get what they felt the stations were worth.

Eventually, maybe in 2 or 3 years, the market will turn around; it always has. Look at Lincoln Financial right now. They've sold the Charlotte radio cluster to Greater Media. They've sold the TV syndication operation to Raycom. So what's left? What's left is a huge financial corporation and a (by today's standards) small radio group consisting of 4 markets. That doesn't sound like a logical combination of assets long term.

But for now, Star remains a part of Lincoln Financial.

 

[jabba17]

I thought they announced that several months ago.

I think they'll sell the stations over time. It's like selling a house. Now is not the best time. Lincoln Financial tried to sell the stations and, except for Charlotte, couldn't get what they felt the stations were worth.

WQXI is LMA'd to Big League, so it's in good hands for now--no rush. However, WSTR needs help--and like most unintentional owners of any kind of property (Lincoln got the radio stations when they bought Jefferson-Pilot), they probably don't want to put much into it. However, the longer it sits without maintenance, the less it will be worth. And, as oftentimes is the case when selling a house, your first offer is often your best offer. I think Lincoln is being greedy and the 5 C's know it, and they're keeping their powder dry.

Did you see that survey in allaccess.com of CHR station ratings in the what, top 25 markets--and WSTR was dead last (not counting CHR stations new this book).

Does Big League own any stations outright? If so, they would be a logical buyer for Quixie. No compelling reason to sell them both as a unit, especially if Lincoln wants top dollar.

If WWWQ @ 99.7 does well, and Z90-Dave picks up a point's worth of 99x listeners, WSTR may be next on the format rotisserie.

 

[jal41]

WQXI is LMA'd to Big League, so it's in good hands for now--no rush. However, WSTR needs help--and like most unintentional owners of any kind of property (Lincoln got the radio stations when they bought Jefferson-Pilot), they probably don't want to put much into it. However, the longer it sits without maintenance, the less it will be worth. And, as oftentimes is the case when selling a house, your first offer is often your best offer. I think Lincoln is being greedy and the 5 C's know it, and they're keeping their powder dry.

Did you see that survey in allaccess.com of CHR station ratings in the what, top 25 markets--and WSTR was dead last (not counting CHR stations new this book).

Does Big League own any stations outright? If so, they would be a logical buyer for Quixie. No compelling reason to sell them both as a unit, especially if Lincoln wants top dollar.

If WWWQ @ 99.7 does well, and Z90-Dave picks up a point's worth of 99x listeners, WSTR may be next on the format rotisserie.

Big League owns three stations outright in St. Louis.

Earlier this week, Lincoln Financial cancelled the LMA of 790 AM in Miami (also a sports station...double conicidence). I wonder if the Zone's LMA will be next.

I don't see anything happening with Star in the interim (depending on how long the sale is off). I do think Q100 will overtake Star, for all of the reasons mentioned. If/when this happens, a format flip may be neccesary in order to obtain top dollar for the 94.1 signal (since this does appear to be Lincoln Financial's intentions).

 

[RoddyFreeman]

I do think Q100 will overtake Star, for all of the reasons mentioned. If/when this happens, a format flip may be neccesary in order to obtain top dollar for the 94.1 signal (since this does appear to be Lincoln Financial's intentions).

You may be right. The morning show drives the station, and apparently I'm the only person in Atlanta who thinks The Morning Mess is good. Aside from mornings, however, Star seems to be paying attention to its product more than I can ever remember. New positioning, new imaging, new jingles, modified music mix at night.

 

[jinglemaker]

Star is already suffering big losses in revenue since the morning show change.
Point is they we're sold out with Steve and Vickie in spots....this juvenile change has lost them
dollars,and Lincoln(who does not care about the radio properties--they are an insurance company)
was always going to spin off the stations. They put a high price tag on star to begin with to see if
there we're any takers....The only one willing to pay the high price were The dickeys....they couldn't get
the bucks necessary....so now the landscape changes. Star has redecorated the house,and its not as
nice as it was. Lincoln had dropped all the radio trained people from their leadership in the last few yrs.
So its all insurance people running the operation at their headquarters and their board. So they will just
let Star go about their biz without giving them anything more than what they get right now.