There are rumors that Saga is about to buy a handful of stations in the southeast. Some speculation is that it's looking at some of the smaller iHeartMedia clusters there. I can't see Saga buying markets like Richmond or Norfolk from iHM, and it wouldn't have much use for Asheville as it's already maxed out, or nearly maxed out, there. I suppose it could be possible that Saga could go after iHM in Lynchburg/Roanoke or Greenville/Spartanburg. It's also possible there are other groups Saga might be looking at or that these rumors will turn out to be nothing at all.
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iHeartMedia planning to sell in Virginia/Carolina?
- Thread starter miketheradioguy
- Start date
As I said earlier, they just reported a down quarter. They tend to be very careful about the money they spend.
http://radioink.com/2017/08/03/christian-painful-report-quarter/
On the iHeart side, I can't remember the last time they sold a cluster.
I remember iHeart (Clear Channel having a "Departing Markets Manager" going back some time...maybe even 10 years. Most of those markets didn't depart and were integrated back into the company. I remember a few Ohio markets that sold (Sandusky area and others in North Central Ohio) but not many.
That sale is not "going on". It closed.
Unless the FCC gives a drop-dead date, those will likely stay in the Aloha Trust forever. In Dayton they've got a distant rimshot and a 6kW suburban station. Not a real attractive package.
In that case, I expect the format changes will take place next week.
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There are a bunch of two step sales, with third parties ending up with some of the stations. Look for at least a week or more for the changes to take place as all the moves and logistics take place.
When Bain Capital and Thomas H Lee Partners took Clear Channel (which iHeartMedia was called at the time) private, a third of their radio stations were sold, most of them being in smaller markets.
The most recent transaction involving iHeartMedia selling radio stations was in 2014, where iHeartMedia sold their pair of Long Island stations which were traded to Connoisseur for 29 stations in 4 small markets.
Okay, but I'm still wondering how American General Media plans to shakeup their new Albuquerque cluster.
Saga already owns 2 FMs and 1 AM in Norfolk, so they could acquire some stations while spinning off the rest. Since SummitMedia already owns 2 FMs in Greenville, they will probably acquire iHeartMedia's Greenville cluster and spin a couple stations.
And yet exactly three months ago, iHeart named a new SVP of Programming for the Greenville cluster. Why would they promote someone to this position if the were going to sell the cluster to an in-market competitor?
http://www.insideradio.com/people_moves/kix-layton/article_384bb974-4228-11e7-b694-efe0d0ffc753.html
http://www.insideradio.com/people_moves/kix-layton/article_384bb974-4228-11e7-b694-efe0d0ffc753.html
same company that would offer a pd a 3 year agreement and 10 days later fire him
https://www.allaccess.com/net-news/...charleston-pd-tyler-reese-leaves-after-two-ye
Maybe you linked the wrong article...that one says the PD was there for 2 years.
article has been removed but go to https://www.countryaircheck.com/archives and select august 1 2017 and scroll to weeks top stories
Interesting...I don't know anything about the particulars, but that station is the lowest rated station in the cluster, and has been for a while. At one time it was a market leader. They replaced him with a longtime station vet, which seems to mirror the choice in Greenville.
EMF has had 10 years to move on them and they haven't. With the WCDR purchase, they have all they need, and have sold translators.
a lot of shake-ups in that market over the past couple of years easy to promote and hand out titles in the virginia/carolinas region when you are the last manager in the building I am thinking that iheart needs cash flow and will sell profitable smaller markets at a bargain with low overhead......no employees it is almost fall and budgets end soon
As I've said throughout this thread, there's nothing they've done at any station in that region that is different from what they've done in Hartford, Chattanooga, or St. Louis. It happens all the time when you work for them.
If they sell the entire region, it wouldn't do a thing to make their $20 billion debt more manageable. That can only be solved by a refinance, which is what they're in the middle of doing, and why I say any market sales would interfere with the refinance. If they complete the refinance (and that is going to take a while), the lender will get 51%. They're expecting to get 51% of the company as it exists now, with the current revenue streams. Any changes in the company before the deal is done will affect the value of the deal. Understand?
BTW companies that have tried to make fire sale deals with iHeart for their stations get quick turn downs. That's partly why the Aloha Trust hasn't sold many stations. They're priced higher than their value, given the quality of their facilities.
Having no employees is easy for a company like iHeart to deal with, since they have VT services available in house. Things like Premium Choice and syndicated shows they already own. Saga, SummitMedia, and any other potential buyers don't have access to that.
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