Time to buy Salem?

[ajhenderson]

Stock got whacked 23% today and is now off over 86% in the last year. Yeah, so radio stocks suck, but I have to wonder if it's time to buy.

Heck, you could presumably buy all outstanding shares for $36 million and have effective control of the company. Seems there'd be enough assets (between 2 full market AMs in NY, a great FM in LA, etc.) to cover the debt. < fantasy over >

 

[dustintv]

WMCA, WIND, KRLA, KSKY, WFIL, WNTP, KNUS, WEZE and many more great signals in major markets. I'd go for it if I could, drop everyone except for Medved, and then have some sort of a mandate to encourage local programming. Maybe one of them will reach a 1.0 in the ratings book.

 

[ponderosaAZ]

WMCA, WIND, KRLA, KSKY, WFIL, WNTP, KNUS, WEZE and many more great signals in major markets. I'd go for it if I could, drop everyone except for Medved, and then have some sort of a mandate to encourage local programming. Maybe one of them will reach a 1.0 in the ratings book.

Medved is terrific especially when he debates with callers and guests

salem stations that have the salem clock that's all agenda, all the time, are doomed to fail in the ratings, even if they ad local religious or non-religious ultra right wing talk programs

same thing happened with air america when they started

a mixture of ideologies like KGO,KFI,KIRO, is best, and stimulates the listeners to listen longer than "preaching to the choir" (no pun intended) lol

I don't know why the stock fell -- "KBDJ" do you know? Could it be their all agenda all the time format?

 

[ajhenderson]

Their stock fell like every other radio stock. Radio One and Regent have been fighting to stay above $1 so they can remain listed on the exchange.

Salem's N/T in Phoenix recently put up some of its best numbers ever. 12+ was a 1.7. Of course, no one under 90 is listening, but still. You could do better with many of the stations, although I wonder who you would pawn the real money makers - the religious stations - off on. Who has that kind of money? KKLA alone is worth a ton.

 

[Don62]

WMCA, WIND, KRLA, KSKY, WFIL, WNTP, KNUS, WEZE and many more great signals in major markets. I'd go for it if I could, drop everyone except for Medved, and then have some sort of a mandate to encourage local programming. Maybe one of them will reach a 1.0 in the ratings book.

Medved is terrific especially when he debates with callers and guests

salem stations that have the salem clock that's all agenda, all the time, are doomed to fail in the ratings, even if they ad local religious or non-religious ultra right wing talk programs

same thing happened with air america when they started

a mixture of ideologies like KGO,KFI,KIRO, is best, and stimulates the listeners to listen longer than "preaching to the choir" (no pun intended) lol

I don't know why the stock fell -- "KBDJ" do you know? Could it be their all agenda all the time format?





Gotta agreee here.

I listen to Medved frequently. I didn't use to, as I find his conservativism sometimes repulsive. However, he makes it a practice to take on opposing views, which makes his shows interesting.
I listen also - as a sort of white noise while I work - because there's no local talk in the p.m. in my market.
That pipsqueak Scnn-itt is too monotonous and celebrity-oriented.

Dennis Praeger, however, seems more centrist in the way he runs his show. He seems to be a cross between an advice therapist and a more conservative Larry King. Dennis' show isn't agenda-driven, though he clearly has a position and will tell you. I like him and learn a lot from his show, especially during his Happiness Hours and other theme-oriented shows.

He had a great interaction between a caller just yesterday. When trying to tell women that their husbands aren't "perverts" for wanting more lovemaking, a woman called in and said she was the one that wasn't getting enough. She and her husband hadn't ML in perhaps 6 months. He was very understanding, but said in general, it goes the other way, and that women such as her were the minority.
He then brought her husband on, who said he was too busy with other things and ML'ing wasn't as important to him. What an idiot her husband was.

This is the kind of think you're not going to get with Limboob or Hannity, who only care about all-politics, all the time.

 

[dustintv]

That's interesting about Prager, I've never listened and I see he doesn't show up in Talker's ratings but he dd rank much higher in the Heavy 100 than other Salem personas, though not as high as Gallagher and Medved. I've listenend to Medved, and I like him. Even though his conservative views go against mine, he's had many liberal guests, and his style is refreshing when compared to Gallagher and Hewitt, both whom are so full of hate and anger their unlistenable. Bennett's a former Reagan cabinet secretary who hosts a snoozefest in morning drive.

 

[WTUX]

Salem had a good business plan at first. Buy the stations that had been the heritage Top 40 giants of the 60's and use them to attract the baby boomers who were hitting middle age and paying more attention to religion.

In Philadelphia, that meant putting preaching/teaching on WFIL and CCM on what had been WIBG. They knew the preaching/teaching will not be a big ratings earner, but they could sell the combo and bring in some revenue.

Trouble is, music's dead on AM, so the CCM did not work. So the CCM outlets were converted to N/T. The trouble is, by the time Salem moved into N/T big time, it was too late. You were not going to lure the big guns from WABC over to WMCA. They were left with third tier tallk hosts.

Salem's business plan was really a ministry. The trouble is, it is a ministry that worked in the 80's and 90's but is irrelevant today. Taking those stations now and trying to make something of them is pointless if you stay in the syndicated N/T world. Your only hope is to spend the money, hire a few local hosts, and try to groom the next generation of talk hosts. It could work, but it would cost.

 

[Rusty Muck]

Salem had a good business plan at first. Buy the stations that had been the heritage Top 40 giants of the 60's and use them to attract the baby boomers who were hitting middle age and paying more attention to religion.

In Philadelphia, that meant putting preaching/teaching on WFIL and CCM on what had been WIBG. They knew the preaching/teaching will not be a big ratings earner, but they could sell the combo and bring in some revenue.

Trouble is, music's dead on AM, so the CCM did not work. So the CCM outlets were converted to N/T. The trouble is, by the time Salem moved into N/T big time, it was too late. You were not going to lure the big guns from WABC over to WMCA. They were left with third tier tallk hosts.

Agreed. Medved had some buzz because he was a Rush fill-in, which did count for a lot. Trouble was, Salem in Cleveland bounced him from station to station, from time slot to time slot. That lasted until he wound up on former Top 40 giant turned conservatalker WHK/1420-Cleveland.

Aside from him and Dennis (who was a successful host on KABC-AM before being wooed over by Salem), there isn't anyone else to speak of in their syndication stable. Hugh Hewitt is more known for being a blogger and as a lawyer than a radio host. He gets zero notice in Cleveland, even though he's a Warren native (and Browns fan). And WHK delays Savage for his live clearance.

Bill Bennett is starting to clear some non-Salem stations, the biggest being WTNT-Washington. Which unfortunately gets zippo ratings, was just sold to Daniel Snyder and may change format.

And don't get me started on Mike Gallagher...

-nate81

 

[johnbasalla]

I too like Dennis Prager and learn a lot from him. He expresses himself very well. I like that he has more then just politics on his plate.
I just wish he would take more calls and cut down his monologues a bit. Listen at the end of his hours and you're likely to hear him apologizing to a number of callers, who he ofen names, for not getting to them. He's one of those guys who has so much to say that he has trouble controlling himself it seems. He often takes calls that disagree with his position. Michael Medved is good too precisely because his S.O.P. is to discuss/argue with callers who disagree with him. So, I'd say keep Dennis Prager and Michael Medved. I've heard Sean Hannity on a different station. He's real agenda driven but is a compelling host in my opinion.