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WAVH/Mobile back to Baldwin Broadcasting

S

Stelly

All Access reports that Cumulus is relinquishing control of Oldies WAVH/Mobile back to 105.5/WNSP and 92.1/WZEW owner Baldwin Broadcasting.

I also found an article on All Access from November speculating that Cumulus would change WAVH to Rock with Walton & Johnson mornings, seemingly insinuating that it would be called "the Fox." Hmmm...

Could Baldwin have been holding them to a non-compete with 92Zoo, and that's why they're giving it back - because they couldn't program it the way they wanted to?

Stelly
 
Re: Baldwin Broadcasting

Is Baldwin Broadcasting still in bankruptcy? Is it possible that they are putting the cluster back together to sell it?

Also, if it were a non-compete issue... would the non-compete clause have applied to all Cumulus owned Mobile stations? Could they be giving up WAVH in order to put rock on WYOK or WJLQ? I never understood why Cumulus let Lex & Terry go to TK-101 when they could have moved Rock 106 (with L&T) to 104.1 or 100.7.

> All Access reports that Cumulus is relinquishing control of
> Oldies WAVH/Mobile back to 105.5/WNSP and 92.1/WZEW owner
> Baldwin Broadcasting.
>
> I also found an article on All Access from November
> speculating that Cumulus would change WAVH to Rock with
> Walton & Johnson mornings, seemingly insinuating that it
> would be called "the Fox." Hmmm...
>
> Could Baldwin have been holding them to a non-compete with
> 92Zoo, and that's why they're giving it back - because they
> couldn't program it the way they wanted to?
>
> Stelly
>
 
> All Access reports that Cumulus is relinquishing control of
> Oldies WAVH/Mobile back to 105.5/WNSP and 92.1/WZEW owner
> Baldwin Broadcasting.
>
> I also found an article on All Access from November
> speculating that Cumulus would change WAVH to Rock with
> Walton & Johnson mornings, seemingly insinuating that it
> would be called "the Fox." Hmmm...
>
> Could Baldwin have been holding them to a non-compete with
> 92Zoo, and that's why they're giving it back - because they
> couldn't program it the way they wanted to?
>
> Stelly
>

Didn't Bernie Dittman try to buy 106.5 before Cumulus got control of it?

Speaking of which...WABB, WABB-FM, WAVH, WZEW, & WNSP.

Sounds like a cluster to me...but do any corps have their eyes on them?
<P ID="signature">______________
Let us live so that 100 years from now, someone may be proud of us.</P>
 
Re: Baldwin Broadcasting

How about this . Sell off the smaller station to buy a bigger stick. This would satistfy the FCC market rule. Guess what stick that would bbeee???<P ID="signature">______________
Singer Songwriter radio...
http://www.musiconradio.com/</P>
 
Stations for sale?

... but are any "big sticks" for sale? The only possibilities are WXBM, WMEZ, WABB, and WYCT. Cumulus and Clear Channel own the rest and wouldn't sell, right?


> How about this . Sell off the smaller station to buy a
> bigger stick. This would satistfy the FCC market rule. Guess
> what stick that would bbeee???
>
 
Re: Stations for sale?

> ... but are any "big sticks" for sale? The only
> possibilities are WXBM, WMEZ, WABB, and WYCT. Cumulus and
> Clear Channel own the rest and wouldn't sell, right?
>

There aren't any true 'standalone' FMs for Cumulus to purchase. WABB 97.5 also has WABB 1480. WXBM & WMEZ are owned by Pamal. ADX Communications' WYCT 98.7 is co-owned with 1620 WNRP.

I definitely don't see Cumulus adding anymore Pensacola stations to its portfolio, and I especially don't see Pamal breaking up it's duo that attracts Pensacola and Baldwin County listeners.

Cumulus buying WABB? Fathomable, but only if Dittman sells to them...I'd imagine he'd want to sell to anyone but Cumulus at this point, though. Didn't Bluewater say something about exploring other acquisitions?

I ultimately would love to see WABB AM & FM and the WAVH/WZEW/WNSP trio stay locally or independently owned, but the realist in me says things aren't likely to stay that way. <P ID="signature">______________
Let us live so that 100 years from now, someone may be proud of us.</P>
 
WAVH/Mobile and _____ _______?

Call me crazy, but do we see Clear Channel making a bid for WAVH and flipping it to a MOBILE-ONLY focused CHR? We all know WYOK is underperforming on that 100,000 watt stick and so many of you have speculated on the future of the radio station in that format.. You almost wonder if both WYOK and WABB spend too much time also trying to serve Pensacola and if a CHR focused solely on Mobile and the county would do well? We know that CC has the "KISSFM" brand name and some solid stations in the company that they could use as a starting point for modeling the station after, such as KHKS- Dallas, KIIS- Los Angeles, and WFLZ- Tampa. You have to think that if they were to launch a CHR on 106.5 that they could probably force 104.1 out of the format, as it is certainly the weaker of the two existing CHRs in the market.

Just a thought, for what it's worth!<P ID="signature">______________
"Random CHR Programming Mind"
</P>
 
> Didn't Bernie Dittman try to buy 106.5 before Cumulus got
> control of it?
>
> Speaking of which...WABB, WABB-FM, WAVH, WZEW, & WNSP.
>
> Sounds like a cluster to me...but do any corps have their
> eyes on them?


I REALLY like that idea, personally. Give a full cluster of radio stations to a man that has been operating a very successful station in the market for a long time and see what happens!

Corporate-wise, who would be a likely suitor for a cluster like that? CC, obviously, is out. What about Entercom or Citadel?
<P ID="signature">______________
"Random CHR Programming Mind"
</P>
 
Re: Baldwin Broadcasting

> Also, if it were a non-compete issue... would the
> non-compete clause have applied to all Cumulus owned Mobile
> stations? Could they be giving up WAVH in order to put rock
> on WYOK or WJLQ? I never understood why Cumulus let Lex &
> Terry go to TK-101 when they could have moved Rock 106 (with
> L&T) to 104.1 or 100.7.


"104.1 The Wolf?" That's a possibility, check on the possible domain names with that moniker and see if they're taken.. that's a good place to start, I think.<P ID="signature">______________
"Random CHR Programming Mind"
</P>
 
Baldwin, Cumulus, Dittman

I've heard rumors that WAVH was going to leave the Cumulus fold. Then I saw the other day where Oldies 106.5 had a storefront in the shopping center where Circuit city is. I guess this little news item makes it all official. The way I hear it was that Baldwin had serious issues with the flip to rock. That started a pissing match between Cumulus and Baldwin. Especially after Pizatti bought another moving van to be the new station vehicle after a flip to rock. It got to a point where G. Pizatti sent a letter to Baldwin "evicting" WAVH from the Cumulus compound.

As far as any other sales or moves? I heard that Baldwin hs no plans to sell, and that they were going to split the stations into two different entities, or something like that.

Cumulus won't buy WABB. That's how Hot 104 came to be. Because Dittman wouldn't sell to Cumulus, so the Dickey's out of ego, went CHR on 104.1. Now, I hear that WYOK is on seriously borrowed time and that a flip to country could come at any moment. Personally, I would not be surprised. That station sounds like Cumulus gave up on it and it's on cruise control until there's a plan. Why else do you not hire a PD for the station for over a year now? Plus, when you run a promo like they did where you set someone up for a year, and your winner looks like a roadie for the Grateful Dead, I'd be worried. What's worse is that they had this guy's pic up on the webpage in lights. If you were truely trying to win that CHR listener, this wouldn't help.

I can't see 106.5 coming in as "Mobile focused" CHR. Baldwin doesn't have the bankroll to do it right, and if someone were to buy it with that thought like CC. All they have to do is look at WYOK and know it ain't worth it. WABB just has too much history, and too much awareness, to be knocked off. That station IS hit radio to the population.

Oh, and the Lex & Terry thing? Cumulus didn't let them go. CC swiped them without Cumulus ever seeing it coming.
 
Re: Baldwin, Cumulus, Dittman... what about Clear Channel?

Dittman may not want to sell WABB to Cumulus but business is business and if Cumulus comes up with the right money then any smart business man would sell. If you can't beat 'um, buy 'um. If Cumulus could get their hands on WABB then format changes of WYOK and WJLQ would soon follow. That would give us a lot to talk about. On the other hand, maybe Clear Channel wants to buy WABB? If it puts them over the FCC limits they could spin off 107.3 just like they spun off 104.1 to Cumulus 10 years ago.

If WABB is available, the best buyer for local listeners would be Baldwin, but I think they are bankrupt (please correct me if I'm wrong). Maybe Baldwin could sell off their 3 small stations and buy WABB?

How long will it be before people start trying to move in stations to Mobile and Pensacola like they've been doing in Atlanta and Birmingham recently?
 
>
>
> I REALLY like that idea, personally. Give a full cluster of
> radio stations to a man that has been operating a very
> successful station in the market for a long time and see
> what happens!

Dittman buying them all? He's not the youngest chicken in the coop, but I wouldn't mind if he did buy them. WABB-FM has been a winner in spite of more 'efficient' corporate competition...and I wouldn't expect much to be different if he added WAVH, WNSP, & WZEW to the fold.
>
> Corporate-wise, who would be a likely suitor for a cluster
> like that? CC, obviously, is out. What about Entercom or
> Citadel?
>
Would they be interested in Mobile? Both Citadel and Entercom have stations in New Orleans and Baton Rouge, IIRC...maybe. <P ID="signature">______________
Let us live so that 100 years from now, someone may be proud of us.</P>
 
Re: WAVH/Mobile and _____ _______?

> Call me crazy, but do we see Clear Channel making a bid for
> WAVH and flipping it to a MOBILE-ONLY focused CHR? We all
> know WYOK is underperforming on that 100,000 watt stick and
> so many of you have speculated on the future of the radio
> station in that format.. You almost wonder if both WYOK and
> WABB spend too much time also trying to serve Pensacola and
> if a CHR focused solely on Mobile and the county would do
> well? We know that CC has the "KISSFM" brand name and some
> solid stations in the company that they could use as a
> starting point for modeling the station after, such as KHKS-
> Dallas, KIIS- Los Angeles, and WFLZ- Tampa. You have to
> think that if they were to launch a CHR on 106.5 that they
> could probably force 104.1 out of the format, as it is
> certainly the weaker of the two existing CHRs in the market.
>
>
> Just a thought, for what it's worth!
>

I'm not seeing CHR...they'd probably want it on a bigger signal.

If you'll allow me to indulge my own musical biases: There's a certain duo at the top of the [useless] 12+ ratings that combine for about a 20 share. Maybe a profitable piece of that could be taken if someone programmed around the newest and most buzzworthy syndicated offering from ClearChannel/Premiere.

The host? Steve Harvey.

Just a thought...! <P ID="signature">______________
Let us live so that 100 years from now, someone may be proud of us.</P>
 
I need a bit of a history lesson: I thought WNSP was owned by a seperate group and that group had ZEW LMA'd? Anyone know the details?

> All Access reports that Cumulus is relinquishing control of
> Oldies WAVH/Mobile back to 105.5/WNSP and 92.1/WZEW owner
> Baldwin Broadcasting.
>
> I also found an article on All Access from November
> speculating that Cumulus would change WAVH to Rock with
> Walton & Johnson mornings, seemingly insinuating that it
> would be called "the Fox." Hmmm...
>
> Could Baldwin have been holding them to a non-compete with
> 92Zoo, and that's why they're giving it back - because they
> couldn't program it the way they wanted to?
>
> Stelly
>
 
Re: Baldwin, Cumulus, Dittman... what about Clear Channel?

Well, with all this going on, what does that mean to WZEW?
 
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