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WWZN Sold (Jeff Santos Silenced?)

L

Laurence Glavin

Guest
All-access.com reports that Peter Davidson and Katherine Drew McGhee have sold their AM outlets in the NY City area and Boston: WSNR-AM 620 and WWZN-AM 1510 respectively, to Media Americas Corporation for $23,000,000 plus liabilities. PLUS LIABILITIES? THEY'RE NOTHING BUT LIABILITIES! I can't find anything about Media Americas Corp even on Google, but the word "Americas" with a plural sounds suspiciouly like Spanish- or even Portuguese-language programming. Jeff Santos (if he doesn't already do so) better learn Spanish, or he may soon enjoy the luxury of sleeping late.
 
Trilight enterprises:
http://www.trilightenterprises.com/
>>...a Christ-centered consulting firm that's helping to preserve the body, soul, and spirit of
individuals, businesses, and churches

Anything to do with future programming? Or just they happen to be among the group buying the station.
Not turning up anything else of value yet.
 
Sure looks like dollar-a-holler of some sort, be it Godcasting, Spanish or even Spanish Godcasting. More redundant clutter for the Boston AM dial. I hope overmodulation is part of the new ownership's plans, otherwise they'll never be able to compete with the pirates.
 
Oh the long sad slow death of the AM band. Sad.

By the way, I always thought that WWZN had the perfect call letters for a New Age station. :D
 
I have another thought. Given the insane amount of money Santos and his investors are probably giving the station already, I bet the Christian Conservative group that bought the station would keep them around. Think of it .... a liberal host and liberal investors paying conservatives to further the new owners' conservative causes elsewhere. And given the fact that Santos is doing the morning and afternoon shifts, it shows that he is probably desperate to try and syndicate himself and become rich (even he doesn't want to be a 99%-er all his life). I'm sure he would gladly give to his new christian conservative owners to stay on the air. Although I could be wrong. He could step up and say, "no way, this would be wrong. I would be interviewing people living in tents in Boston right now, yet giving money to the people who work against their views." This should be a very interesting decision for Santos and his investors. Pure speculation, nothing more. Although if the new owners do decide to sit back, collect money by keeping the present format and programming, it should be interesting to watch what happens.
 
Well, President/Treasurer Russell Jones was listed in the last ownership report to already be on the board of directors of WWZN/WSNR, althought not an owner.

The Rapoza Family Trust is actually Craig Rapoza, as in 25% owner and Vice President of Cumbre/WALE Greenville Craig Rapoza.

Craig Rapoza is listed in the purchase agreement as Vice President of the new company, and 45% owner through the family trust that shares his home address.
 
MarcB said:
reelyreal said:
The Rapoza Family Trust is actually Craig Rapoza, as in 25% owner and Vice President of Cumbre/WALE Greenville Craig Rapoza.
Click to expand...

Well then look for WWZN/WSNR to only be on the air about 2 weeks a year to keep the license active. :D
Click to expand...

Thanks!.....That's the best laugh I've had in quite a while!
 
I really don't think these folks ponied up a portion (1510) of that $23m to keep an opposing (Santos) viewpoint on the air; indeed IF it is an opposing viewpoint.
 
The burning question is, does Brother Stair stay with the station under new ownership?
 
DToTheJ said:
The burning question is, does Brother Stair stay with the station under new ownership?
Click to expand...

Actually, I don’t think he’s been on there for a while.
 
(The Other) Big John said:
Here are the details of the sale for those of you who may be interested.
https://licensing.fcc.gov/cdbs/CDBS...?appn=101450886&qnum=5060&copynum=1&exhcnum=1
Click to expand...

$23.46 million for those two stations sounds like an incredibly high price given today's market for AMs--especially AMs that most people would call signal-challenged. In fact, if you compare WWZN with the other station in the deal, WSNR, WWZN isn't signal-challenged at all! That notwithstanding WWZN's top-of-the dial frequency, rather poor transmitter location, and severe nighttime interference from first adjacents WWKB and WFED. It's also notwithstanding WSNR's prime 620 dial position in the US's #1 market. WSNR is incredibly hemmed in by such stations as WIP and (believe it or not) WPRO. The five-tower array produces narrow, teardrop patterns that send out a signal that is unlistenable in much of Manhattan, all of the Bronx, lots of northern NJ, and all of Westchester and Fairfield counties. Of areas in New York State, only Brooklyn and southern Manhattan get a listenable signal.

I would say that the price is the most bizarre amount I've seen since WHAT (a signal-challenged graveyarder on 1340 in Philadelphia) sold for $5 million about five years ago. (WHAT just sold again for around $500k.)

On the other hand, the principals of the buyer--unlike the buyers of WHAT five years ago--include people who would seem to be quite familiar with the two stations, so they should not be buying pigs in a poke.
 
Is it a sale or new investors, new name? Can't be bothered with all the legalese but Mark from Boston Radio Watch emailed them and got details and he mentions on twitter there should be no changes.

http://twitter.com/#!/bostonradio

Taylor on radio-info on other hand calls it a sale.
 
raccoonradio said:
Is it a sale or new investors, new name? Can't be bothered with all the legalese but Mark from Boston Radio Watch emailed them and got details and he mentions on twitter there should be no changes.

http://twitter.com/#!/bostonradio

Taylor on radio-info on other hand calls it a sale.
Click to expand...

Inside Radio agrees with Mark.

Inside Radio said:
New York and Boston AMs sold.

On paper it’s one of the biggest sales of 2011 outside of the mega-group deals, but the impact on two AMs in New York and Boston may be small. That’s because the buyer is the president of the company selling them.
Click to expand...

May be more of a tax/accounting shuffle/transfer, than anything else (like Tanger’s WBOQ?)—? ???
 
(The Other) Big John said:
Here are the details of the sale for those of you who may be interested.

https://licensing.fcc.gov/cdbs/CDBS...?appn=101450886&qnum=5060&copynum=1&exhcnum=1
Click to expand...

The value of his two AM outhouses actually went up? You could only finance this deal with outside cash because no loan officer in their right mind would ever allow it. If I read all this correctly. he basically consolidates all that extra debt under a new phoney entity which he still owns and the other clowns get 10% of the action. Genius!
 
BosRad said:
I have another thought. Given the insane amount of money Santos and his investors are probably giving the station already, I bet the Christian Conservative group that bought the station would keep them around. Think of it .... a liberal host and liberal investors paying conservatives to further the new owners' conservative causes elsewhere. And given the fact that Santos is doing the morning and afternoon shifts, it shows that he is probably desperate to try and syndicate himself and become rich (even he doesn't want to be a 99%-er all his life). I'm sure he would gladly give to his new christian conservative owners to stay on the air. Although I could be wrong. He could step up and say, "no way, this would be wrong. I would be interviewing people living in tents in Boston right now, yet giving money to the people who work against their views." This should be a very interesting decision for Santos and his investors. Pure speculation, nothing more. Although if the new owners do decide to sit back, collect money by keeping the present format and programming, it should be interesting to watch what happens.
Click to expand...

People talk about "the liberal media" all the time, but the reality is that the broadcast media is OWNED overwhelmingly by conservatives (Murdoch, Mays Family, Disney, Dickeys) who always put their political views aside when it comes to the entertainment divisions of their companies.
 
It's tough to say whether or not the big media companies are owned mostly by conservatives or liberals but the bit about the entertainment divisions is true: Rupert Murdoch's Fox Broadcasting (not the news channel
but the broadcast network) puts on shows like the Simpsons and Family Guy, etc. which aren't
necessarily right-leaning. Asked about how he feels doing a show run by Rupert Murdoch, whose political
views are opposite his, Family Guy's Seth MacFarlane replied, "Rupert is a businessman first and
a Republican second".

And Stewie's teddy bear....
 
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