Maybe they can throw in an Alt 92.3 NFT and some free sports betting credits to sweeten the deal.
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Audacy Stock.... a new low!
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Maybe they can throw in an Alt 92.3 NFT and some free sports betting credits to sweeten the deal.
More detail on Audacy discussions with lenders.
www.insideradio.com
We've seen this process before. They reorganize the debt, and kick the can down the road.
Here's the real truth: The lenders don't want to foreclose, because that means they have to lose money. Nobody is rushing to buy radio stations, and any asset sale would be below market value. The people with cash are spending it on things like Twitter. You see how that worked out.
Facing Some Big Debt Hurdles, Audacy Says It Has Started Talks With Lenders.
The date may be two years away, but Audacy executives said this week they are already spending plenty of time thinking about Nov. 17, 2024. That is when $632 million
We've seen this process before. They reorganize the debt, and kick the can down the road.
Here's the real truth: The lenders don't want to foreclose, because that means they have to lose money. Nobody is rushing to buy radio stations, and any asset sale would be below market value. The people with cash are spending it on things like Twitter. You see how that worked out.
BigA. Why are they overcomplicating this? They need COMMERCIALS. Why can’t they friggin give sales people a bigger percentage of their outside sells and get out there? They are doing the same stupid things Clear Channel did. Sitting in cubicles staring for hours at nothing making them money now. National this. National that. That’s not enough now. I know they can’t solely raise this money on air only, but they have 250 stations. Figure out a damn way to raise $250 million. What are they really making on their “non radio” online platforms? There is still plenty of money out there. Is there anyone that is properly selling radio in this country? How do you payoff $600 million vs losing the company? Any way you have too. Instead of further on air cuts, get a company wide plan and incentive program, drive it for one quarter and then take a percentage of that to invest back into the on air product. Right now, what the heck else can they do? Every day matters. Every station matters. Every minute of sold air time matters. This is not easy, but any positive momentum in the next year will pave the way for better increases when the economy comes back. It may not be enough, but if they stay this mediocre 7 points course, they might as well just concede the company. Delisting is the last thing they need to worry about because they have already sealed that fate. This is obviously a simplistic comment on this radio board, but this is no different that years ago when people like Sam Walton and other businessmen went back to the basics and stayed a course and built a business from scratch. They have to look at this whole thing differently than all the last bad episodes of corporate radio. Next bright idea? Change the name again?
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I'm not sure I understand what you're saying. Haven't you been following the story about the advertising depression that's going on right now. It's affecting all ad-based media, including cable, online, even Twitter is being hurt. This is after a two-year pandemic, when the company lost a ton of money.
Borrell: Local Advertising Flattens In 2023 As Business Profiles Change Dramatically.
Local advertising will hit $120.7 billion this year and inch up 0.6% to $121.5 billion in 2023, according to a new forecast from But growth within individual markets is expected
All of this at a time when inflation is causing costs to increase, in terms of utilities, insurance, salaries, etc.
On top of that, there are really only two day-parts that advertisers want to buy: M-F morning and afternoon drive. The rest doesn't matter. I'm sure Audacy would love to double the number of spots during those times, but I don't think the listeners would accept that.
Twitter is a bad example. Advertisers are pulling out due to their concerns over what Elon Musk is doing to the platform.
Radio broadcasters need to double their rates and halve the number of spots. The length and quality of commercial breaks is a huge problem, especially given the number of commercial-free streaming alternatives available at reasonably low subscription rates.
Facebook is also being hurt and is laying off thousands of employees.
Competition drives down prices. Radio is competing with all other media. Streaming is much cheaper. Plus there are fewer advertisers in the market right now. Not a good time to raise rates. The ONLY chance radio has is to build another strong revenue stream that isn't as expensive as local radio.
Ad buyers that use metrics to buy have long ago established a desirable cost per listener in radio. Traditionally expressed as "cost per thousand" or "cost per point" (with a ratings "point" representing a percentage of the market, not just of listeners), they are based on delivery.
If stations increase rates without increased delivery, radio will be less efficient than other media and agencies will simply stop buying the medium, totally
Another bad example. Zuckerberg is betting the farm on VR and most people don't care about it. Not only that but his latest, greatest, insanely expensive VR headset is not getting a warm reception.
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That's doubtful. Denial is not river in Africa, it flows through radio executives brains. They are unwilling to accept that radio has a problem with the length of stop sets and the offensive quality of ads by so many bottom feeding advertisers. The concept of raising the rates and focusing on quality over quantity seems to not be in their orbit.
Not hysterics... reality. From Facebook to local TV and radio, from streams to sponsored interactive gaming, every ad medium is way, way off in the last 90 to 120 days.
We thought that things were getting better in the first quarter, but the combination of oil prices, inflation, the Russians, excessive government spending and other economic variables have us in a true recession preamble. One of the first cuts in a recession is in the area of discretionary expenses and that includes advertising, business travel, meetings, conventions, even lunches with clients and contributions to the company IRA.
That is not "hysterics". It is well founded fear... based on statistics and sales.
Maybe. Revenues are down all over. All media companies are laying off staff. They all cite a drop in advertising revenue.
‘Harsh Advertising Headwinds’ Push Audacy Revenues Down 4% In Q3.
A 2% gain in digital revenue wasn’t enough to counteract a 6% decline in radio ad sales at Audacy in the third quarter. As a result, radio’s second largest company
Ad expenditures on all web platforms is down, from Huntington Post to the New York Post, and, of course, in all the podcasts and social media categories.
Google's core ad business is off by double digits.
It's not in anyone's "orbit" to increase the CPM or CPP by the double because that would simply drive radio advertisers to other channels. They can all eliminate one medium and not feel a bit of pain or sorrow.
Who is "unwilling to accept?" Every conference I go to has programming people wanting to find a way to cut spot lengths. When David Field bought CBS, it was one of his top priorities. Then the pandemic hit. Then inflation. It's easy to talk about cutting spots when your income isn't dependent on it. The only solution to spots on the radio is a different revenue stream that is built on subscriptions. There is no other way. That's what the TV industry is doing. That's why all of the quality shows are moving to subscription platforms.
The quality of the advertisers is based on the quality of the audience. You give advertisers an older audience base, and they'll sell you drugs, medical plans, and insurance. You give advertisers a younger audience base, and all of a sudden you see a completely different kind of advertising. Believe me. I see it every day.
It's stock is down by 40% this year.
Like Dolly Parton, I don't give it away for free.
But I'll say the one thing both Audacy and Beasley are doing wrong is ignoring where the media audience is going. They're doing a bad job of merchandising their content. They have a big platform, and they're not using it well.it isn't AUD, it is the whole industry
They are competing against pop up ads and other newer ways to place advertisements, and some of those are pretty well targeted to the sponsors P1's
What has not been siphoned off is split lots of ways and is a fractions of former buys.
Unlike newspapers that have a lifeline by way of printed obits and legal notices, radio has no such income stream, and even the non traditional revenue streams they set up before like concerts, wedding planning fairs, etc are way off of previous levels.
But skipping over the NTR stuff, radio is a business built on sales,and the ability to deliver listeners.
Listeners now use alternate methods ( SXM, Pandora, Spotify) and although IHrt and AUD are pushing podcasts on their platforms they are not making near enough money from them to make up for the loss of traditional advertising like car dealers... and it is the lack of car spots that almost every person in sales points to as the problem.
Unfortunately there is no (easy) way to monetize listeners outside of advertising, it isn't like they can go behind a paywall like newspapers have online once the physical newspaper fell out of favor. Is the whole industry going to go to the WJIB model of survival?
They are competing against pop up ads and other newer ways to place advertisements, and some of those are pretty well targeted to the sponsors P1's
What has not been siphoned off is split lots of ways and is a fractions of former buys.
Unlike newspapers that have a lifeline by way of printed obits and legal notices, radio has no such income stream, and even the non traditional revenue streams they set up before like concerts, wedding planning fairs, etc are way off of previous levels.
But skipping over the NTR stuff, radio is a business built on sales,and the ability to deliver listeners.
Listeners now use alternate methods ( SXM, Pandora, Spotify) and although IHrt and AUD are pushing podcasts on their platforms they are not making near enough money from them to make up for the loss of traditional advertising like car dealers... and it is the lack of car spots that almost every person in sales points to as the problem.
Unfortunately there is no (easy) way to monetize listeners outside of advertising, it isn't like they can go behind a paywall like newspapers have online once the physical newspaper fell out of favor. Is the whole industry going to go to the WJIB model of survival?
But those are primarily music distribution services, and they all offer commercial-free versions. Traditional radio needs to think beyond music formats. The audience already can get music. What does radio have that the other platforms don't? Can they monetize it in multiple ways? They way to make money is to take one thing and sell it many different ways.
Music, news, and variations on talk
Am I missing something?
Oh ya religion and foreign language .... they are not doing bad compared to traditional formats IMHO
News is very expensive to do, lots of warm bodies
Music ... well the current music scene is fragmented and on life support.... thank heaven Taylor Swift broke up with another boyfriend so we have 10 fresh tracks to overplay
Left wing talk has never caught on commercially, and right wing talk is pretty boring, besides they just got their backsides handed to them, so are they going to talk about their failures for a few months then move on to 2024? There are fewer and fewer angry white guys to shake their cane at the radio every day....
On the FM side we were promised all this new and interesting content on the HD's and that is just about dead.... many HD's are just simulcasts of a co-owned AM so it is free content, and nothing new.
Am I missing something?
Oh ya religion and foreign language .... they are not doing bad compared to traditional formats IMHO
News is very expensive to do, lots of warm bodies
Music ... well the current music scene is fragmented and on life support.... thank heaven Taylor Swift broke up with another boyfriend so we have 10 fresh tracks to overplay
Left wing talk has never caught on commercially, and right wing talk is pretty boring, besides they just got their backsides handed to them, so are they going to talk about their failures for a few months then move on to 2024? There are fewer and fewer angry white guys to shake their cane at the radio every day....
On the FM side we were promised all this new and interesting content on the HD's and that is just about dead.... many HD's are just simulcasts of a co-owned AM so it is free content, and nothing new.
Read my last sentence.
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