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WABC Owner Intends to Buy “A Lot of Stations”

B

Barry

John Catsimatidis, owner of 770 AM in New York, said he is scouting out stations in various parts of the eastern U.S., to expand the reach of his Red Apple talk radio network. An indication he is serious is that he just hired a Chief Technology Officer, apparently to assist in the engineering needs of newly acquired stations.
Of course Red Apple is already syndicating many of the WABC talk and nostalgia music shows to various stations.
With so much talk of radio being in a decline, it’s interesting that a savvy businessman is so enthusiastic about the medium.

From RadioInk
 
Barry said:
John Catsimatidis, owner of 770 AM in New York, said he is scouting out stations in various parts of the eastern U.S., to expand the reach of his Red Apple talk radio network. An indication he is serious is that he just hired a Chief Technology Officer, apparently to assist in the engineering needs of newly acquired stations.
Of course Red Apple is already syndicating many of the WABC talk and nostalgia music shows to various stations.
With so much talk of radio being in a decline, it’s interesting that a savvy businessman is so enthusiastic about the medium.

From RadioInk
Click to expand...

Well, if he sticks with AM radio, he should be able to get some nice frequencies at fire sale prices. That said, I would think (and please correct me if I'm wrong) that he could earn more money with syndication as opposed to outright station ownerships.
 
ted chittenden said:
Well, if he sticks with AM radio, he should be able to get some nice frequencies at fire sale prices. That said, I would think (and please correct me if I'm wrong) that he could earn more money with syndication as opposed to outright station ownerships.
Click to expand...

My guess is that he wants to be able to air his content without some local station manager objecting or cancelling their affiliation contract.

He doesn't care as much about making money as he does having unencumbered platforms.

But I agree that he might save a few failing AMs from going permanently silent.
 
If he doesn't lowball and makes legitimate offers to groups like Cumulus like Townsquare, sure, he can buy whatever distressed or forgotten AMs he wants. Buddy Shula made an offer to Cumulus and saved a Buffalo AM from going to the scrap heap.

Will people listen to what will be little more than glorified relay transmitters for 77 WABC outside of NYC? Likely not.
 
Look, figure this out already: Cats likes to hear himself talk. He's in love with the sound of his own voice. (Damned if I can figure out why.) The content of what he says is almost irrelevant.
 
We are now entering the phase where buying up "a bunch of AM radio stations" could mean "buying up a bunch of 50kw clears."

If you've got enough money (and he appears to), it's really about the only potentially smart buy left on AM. And if all the programming is coming out of WABC, the overhead is nice and low. He could blanket the Eastern seaboard with a handful of stations if the right ones sell to him.
 
Indeed. The market has deteriorated such that Mr. Cats could buy all of the 20-ish stations Cumulus shut off for less than the $12 million he put up for WABC 6 years ago. Mostly a bunch of small markets, plus the former KSFO/San Francisco.
 
PTBoardOp93 said:
Indeed. The market has deteriorated such that Mr. Cats could buy all of the 20-ish stations Cumulus shut off for less than the $12 million he put up for WABC 6 years ago. Mostly a bunch of small markets, plus the former KSFO/San Francisco.
Click to expand...
Ah, but then he has to run them. He has *all* the overhead costs: electricity, tower rent (and/or land lease and/or property tax), maintenance, engineering, etc. Even without local studios or programming, his little hometown team there in Lodi and 800 Third Avenue won't be big enough to handle all that extra work, and so the headcount will rise and overhead cost will balloon, even if he gets those new stations for a buck apiece -- and you just know he won't. It will quickly devolve into one of those situations where the more he digs, the deeper his hole becomes. Even for a billionaire that will quickly start to pinch. And who, outside of the Big Apple, will want to hear Sid's bluster or Sliwa's nonstop blather, much less Cats himself? Guaranteed those new stations are going to be producing 0.1's, not 4.0's, after the initial sampling period because all those New York voices will wear thin quicker than an Upper East Side Gristede's.
 
PTBoardOp93 said:
Indeed. The market has deteriorated such that Mr. Cats could buy all of the 20-ish stations Cumulus shut off for less than the $12 million he put up for WABC 6 years ago. Mostly a bunch of small markets, plus the former KSFO/San Francisco.
Click to expand...
That wasn't the San Francisco AM station that came to my mind.
 
Weiserguy said:
Sorry, Mark, that station's busy now trying to be the west coast version of WOR. The west coast WABC will have to go somewhere else.
Click to expand...

Why, though? If Cats offered Cumulus the right number, you think they'd say no just so they can keep feeding right-wing satellite programming to (checks the June cume numbers) 113,000 people in a market of 6.6 million?


(and no, I'm not suggesting that the Bay Area is any more likely to listen to WABC-originated programming---just talking about Cumulus' attachment or lack thereof)
 
michael hagerty said:
Why, though? If Cats offered Cumulus the right number, you think they'd say no just so they can keep feeding right-wing satellite programming to (checks the June cume numbers) 113,000 people in a market of 6.6 million?


(and no, I'm not suggesting that the Bay Area is any more likely to listen to WABC-originated programming---just talking about Cumulus' attachment or lack thereof)
Click to expand...
It's not in the Bay Area, but KSCO & KOMY have been for sale in the past for $1.5 mil, with KSCO having 3 FM translators and already running Cats and Cosby.
 
michael hagerty said:
Why, though? If Cats offered Cumulus the right number, you think they'd say no just so they can keep feeding right-wing satellite programming to (checks the June cume numbers) 113,000 people in a market of 6.6 million?


(and no, I'm not suggesting that the Bay Area is any more likely to listen to WABC-originated programming---just talking about Cumulus' attachment or lack thereof)
Click to expand...
Logically, anyone would be more likely to offer "the right number" for a station that's already active, compared to one that's silent. Cumulus would perceive a benefit, too: either it could go down to a more desirable cluster where the number of AM and FM stations is at least equal, or it could just reactivate KZAC and put the syndicated stuff there.
 


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