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ESPN 98.7 FM to be no more come August 31, 2024

It is Emmis' radio station, even after August 31.

It's not going to go off the air.

The two most likely options appear to be:

A: a buyer meets Emmis' price, at which point the new format will be whatever the buyer wants it to be

or

B: no buyer meets the price, at which point Emmis resumes operation of the signal until a buyer emerges.
 
fybush said:
B: no buyer meets the price, at which point Emmis resumes operation of the signal until a buyer emerges.
Click to expand...

It sounded like he's also open to an LMA at $12 million a year. That's what he was charging GKB,

In an interview, Emmis founder and CEO Jeff Smulyan told Inside Radio he had discussions with Karmazin about buying the station but they were unsuccessful. “We’ve had discussions, it really hasn't been productive and we're in discussions with other people,” Smulyan said. Smulyan confirmed that the asking price for WEPN-FM is $50 million and that the current lease rate is in the $12.5 million per year range.
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Emmis is in no position to run a "placeholder" format. This and WLIB are their last two stations. The only practical option I see would be simulcast WLIB. Here's his plan, post sale:

www.insideradio.com

Stockholders OK Jeff Smulyan’s Plan To Take Emmis Private.

Shareholders of Emmis Corp. have given CEO Jeff Smulyan the greenlight to achieve his long-desired goal of taking the company private. During its annual meeting Tuesday in Indianapolis, stockholders voted
www.insideradio.com www.insideradio.com
 
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Nathan Obral said:
It'd be an interesting scenario and would reflect badly on Emmis that they could have totally misjudged the value of a full-market FM in market #1.
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This is no poor reflection on anyone. Emmis may, in fact, be well advanced in discussions with various potential buyers. There is generally no published listing for this kind of prime facility; those who are interested either contacted Emmis or Emmis contacted them.

And Emmis, now withdrawing from radio entirely, has no concern about its image or perception.
 
NYRadioFan22 said:
Yeah but isn't 95.5 already a religious station?
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That's like saying it "might be a music station". There are a number of viable religious formats, just as there are many viable commercial music formats.
 
TheBigA said:
It sounded like he's also open to an LMA at $12 million a year. That's what he was charging GKB,
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If "he" is Jeff Smulyan, yes, that is what he was charging. But Emmis wants to be out of radio now.
 
CTListener said:
That's where the slackers are -- in their 20s, 30s and early 40s, still living at home, still working low-level retail jobs. As with all stereotypes, not every alt listener conforms, but the cynical attitude toward advertising is real, and there's enough truth to the underemployed stereotype to create even rougher going for advertisers.
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If this is the radio industry stereotype of an Alternative Rock listener, then I'd hate to see what they think the average listener of Hip-Hop or EDM is like.
 
TheBigA said:
Emmis is in no position to run a "placeholder" format. This and WLIB are their last two stations. The only practical option I see would be simulcast WLIB.
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IF not sold by August 31, I can't see any problem with 98.7 playing some music, and maybe commercials, for a few weeks or months till there is a buyer. Similar to when 101.9 was up for sale.
 
kevtronics said:
If this is the radio industry stereotype of an Alternative Rock listener, then I'd hate to see what they think the average listener of Hip-Hop or EDM is like.
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It's not a radio industry stereotype. It's a function of advertiser demand.
You can draw your own conclusions as to advertiser perceptions based on the number of hip hop and EDM stations.
At least hip hop has some meaningful listenership in certain cases. The same can't be said for EDM.
 
Here's the thing: unless a buyer is clandestinely setting up a new station, or they're plugging in an existing format or station from elsewhere as filler, they're going to have to take time to build something out for 98.7.

That is as equally nebulous as whomever wants to buy this thing. No matter the buyer, they're getting a slip of paper, a transmitter mast, and nothing else. They'll need a studio, an announcer or two at least, and some sort of sales and promotions staff. Especially when it is fairly obvious an existing chain will not be buying it (depending on the uncertainty surrounding MediaCo).

The clock is ticking...
 
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Barry said:
IF not sold by August 31, I can't see any problem with 98.7 playing some music, and maybe commercials, for a few weeks or months till there is a buyer. Similar to when 101.9 was up for sale.
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Who would SELL those commercials? Who would play the music? Load that content into the automation? Merlin had radio employees. Right now the employees of 98.7 work for GKB.
 
Nathan Obral said:
Here's the thing: unless a buyer is clandestinely setting up a new station, or they're plugging in an existing format or station from elsewhere as filler, they're going to have to take time to build something out for 98.7.
Click to expand...

It's possible that kind of thing is happening, which is why I expect Emmis to announce a new owner a few months before the end of August. They don't have to hit the ground running on September 1st, and it's very common for new formats to operate without hosts or commercials for a month or more while the rest of the staff is hired.
 
CTListener said:
That's where the slackers are -- in their 20s, 30s and early 40s, still living at home, still working low-level retail jobs. As with all stereotypes, not every alt listener conforms, but the cynical attitude toward advertising is real, and there's enough truth to the underemployed stereotype to create even rougher going for advertisers.
Click to expand...
Did you get this info from a 1993 marketing kit on Gen X?

This is beyond ridiculous to even ridicule in terms of how farcical this stereotype is.

fybush said:
It is Emmis' radio station, even after August 31.

It's not going to go off the air.

The two most likely options appear to be:

A: a buyer meets Emmis' price, at which point the new format will be whatever the buyer wants it to be

or

B: no buyer meets the price, at which point Emmis resumes operation of the signal until a buyer emerges.
Click to expand...
Also in terms of getting a sale through the FCC, we're nowhere near a drop-dead date. Most sales are approved by the FCC within 60-90 days and that's without an LMA attached. That give Emmis until mid-June to have a deal filed with the commission to have a new owner be able to take over on 8/26 when the Good Karma lease ends without another LMA.

This thread has become a non-stop circle of people repeating the same thing over because there's no answers yet. They will be coming.
 
DavidEduardo said:
That's like saying it "might be a music station". There are a number of viable religious formats, just as there are many viable commercial music formats.
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This is what kind of baffles me that it seems people just say “religious” as if that’s a specific format. Same seems to apply to anything in Spanish language, as if there aren’t a multitude of types of music (and setting aside spoken word) that are as distinct format wise as country and rock to pick two.

Then again, there were people who largely said similar things about formats that skewed to Black audiences as if “Black music” was a single thing and not a rich range of styles and eras.
 
DavidEduardo said:
If "he" is Jeff Smulyan, yes, that is what he was charging. But Emmis wants to be out of radio now.
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That's what he was "asking". Different from "charging." Mr. Smulyan can ask anything, but unless he stumbles across a very rich sucker with an itch to own a NYC FM, he's only going to "get" what a willing buyer is willing to pay in the current market for stations in NYC.

He's a smart businessman, but maybe he should refresh his memory as to the definition of the word "emmis".
 
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Nathan Obral said:
Here's the thing: unless a buyer is clandestinely setting up a new station, or they're plugging in an existing format or station from elsewhere as filler, they're going to have to take time to build something out for 98.7.

That is as equally nebulous as whomever wants to buy this thing. No matter the buyer, they're getting a slip of paper, a transmitter mast, and nothing else. They'll need a studio, an announcer or two at least, and some sort of sales and promotions staff. Especially when it is fairly obvious an existing chain will not be buying it (depending on the uncertainty surrounding MediaCo).

The clock is ticking...
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Anyone know who's occupying the second floor of 1440 Broadway these days?
 
fybush said:
Long, long gone, of course. That building went through a major renovation about a decade ago and a lot of tech companies moved in, and probably back out again.
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It was a rhetorical question, Scott, and I realized as I typed it that few on this board would have any idea what I was talking about.

But damn, it was so cool to visit WOR-FM (the lessee of said 1440/2), as I did 5 or 6 times in my callow youth.
 
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