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Which Bay Area radio stations would both CBS and Entercom agree to sell

Knowing Bonneville, one should be concerned about KBLX and KMVQ. Their future doesn’t look bright at this moment.
 
Bonneville has done CHR several times in the past. There's little reason to think it won't keep the format on KMVQ going forward. It might not sound exactly the same as it does now, though.

As for KBLX, I wouldn't think it's definitely gone, though the employees there probably would've preferred to go to another operator. While I'm not aware of Bonneville having done urban AC in the past, the format really shouldn't have any content Bonneville would deem objectionable. Ultimately, the issues will likely be how much money KBLX is currently bringing in and whether or not there's another hole Bonneville thinks could bring it more money. I'm not sure exactly what KBLX bills these days, though I've been told it bills more than two of the stations Entercom ultimately decided to keep.
 
If I remember correctly, Bonneville tried CHR here in the late 1990's-early 2000's! Does anyone remember Z95.7? It tried and failed as a Top 40 station and I feel a little concerned about the people who work at KMVQ now! What if Bonneville decides to flip KMVQ's format?
 
HenryOchs said:
If I remember correctly, Bonneville tried CHR here in the late 1990's-early 2000's! Does anyone remember Z95.7? It tried and failed as a Top 40 station and I feel a little concerned about the people who work at KMVQ now! What if Bonneville decides to flip KMVQ's format?
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It's possible that Entercom could swap formats with the stations they're keeping and what they're divesting to Bonneville.
 
HenryOchs said:
If I remember correctly, Bonneville tried CHR here in the late 1990's-early 2000's! Does anyone remember Z95.7? It tried and failed as a Top 40 station and I feel a little concerned about the people who work at KMVQ now! What if Bonneville decides to flip KMVQ's format?
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Z never got anywhere near the ratings KMVQ has been getting. I wouldn't expect KMVQ to go anywhere, though, as I mentioned, it might not sound exactly as it does now after Bonneville takes over.
 
miketheradioguy said:
It's possible that Entercom could swap formats with the stations they're keeping and what they're divesting to Bonneville.
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That wouldn't be possible because the Department of Justice would have never approved the deal if flip-flopping was to occur.
In order for the entire deal to be approved, the formats (along with their target demos and revenue projections) must stay intact,
otherwise, why go to the trouble of doing these swaps in the first place?

There may be a "waiting period" built into the deal where after a prescribed period of time, format changes could be allowed.

I would gladly stand corrected should one of the board experts chime in with proper information.
 
pjc1961 said:
That wouldn't be possible because the Department of Justice would have never approved the deal if flip-flopping was to occur.
In order for the entire deal to be approved, the formats (along with their target demos and revenue projections) must stay intact,
otherwise, why go to the trouble of doing these swaps in the first place?

There may be a "waiting period" built into the deal where after a prescribed period of time, format changes could be allowed.

I would gladly stand corrected should one of the board experts chime in with proper information.
Click to expand...

Don’t know if I still qualify as an expert or not, but you’re probably right. If the DOJ was concerned with revenue concentration in San Francisco, the intellectual property must go with the sticks. It’s possible (though not probable) that the DOJ wasn’t worried about revenue, though that would most likely mean Bonneville asked for some of those particular properties.

Another possibility I've seen is that Bonneville could intend to swap KMVQ and KBLX for something more interesting. Don’t know if there’s any merit to that or not, but some seem to think it’s possible.
 
Kent said:
Don’t know if I still qualify as an expert or not, but you’re probably right. If the DOJ was concerned with revenue concentration in San Francisco, the intellectual property must go with the sticks. It’s possible (though not probable) that the DOJ wasn’t worried about revenue, though that would most likely mean Bonneville asked for some of those particular properties.

Another possibility I've seen is that Bonneville could intend to swap KMVQ and KBLX for something more interesting. Don’t know if there’s any merit to that or not, but some seem to think it’s possible.
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Entercom was able to build a "Wall of Women" in Boston, but they couldn't in San Francisco nor Sacramento. Anyways, I'm ready to see what changes are going to happen once the merger finally closes.
 
It looks like the LMA that Bonneville and Entercom agreed to is only for one year, must be sold out of a divestiture trust within 180 days, and cannot be changed or amended unless approved by DOJ.
 
HenryOchs said:
If I remember correctly, Bonneville tried CHR here in the late 1990's-early 2000's! Does anyone remember Z95.7? It tried and failed as a Top 40 station and I feel a little concerned about the people who work at KMVQ now! What if Bonneville decides to flip KMVQ's format?
Click to expand...

Why would they do that? IIRC, KMVQ is doing well in the ratings. As to KBLX - I don't know what their ratings are, but they now have the format to themselves, with Kiss-FM gone. I can see tweaking, but not a complete format change.
 
Do you think Bonneville is not buying the stations and only doing an LMA so that future swaps could happen? Maybe they plan to swap the stations that don't fit into the company "mold?"
 
AMRocks said:
Do you think Bonneville is not buying the stations and only doing an LMA so that future swaps could happen? Maybe they plan to swap the stations that don't fit into the company "mold?"
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My theory is it was done for the Reverse Morris Trust. They didn't have any stations they wanted to trade, and buying the stations would result in huge cap gains tax.
 
TheBigA said:
My theory is it was done for the Reverse Morris Trust. They didn't have any stations they wanted to trade, and buying the stations would result in huge cap gains tax.
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Since the LMA is temporary, it's too early to rule out if Bonneville will eventually trade their Phoenix stations to Entercom for their divestitures.
 
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AMRocks said:
Do you think Bonneville is not buying the stations and only doing an LMA so that future swaps could happen? Maybe they plan to swap the stations that don't fit into the company "mold?"
Click to expand...

I've seen several people, including a couple of publications, suggest this, and it's certainly not out of the question. I suspect, however, that the actual reason is a lot more mundane. It seems more likely that the two haven't finalized the terms of the sale or that one side's lawyers wanted a little longer to review the deal.

As The Big A suggests, it could also be a way to avoid the capital gains tax. Entercom and Tribune did a deal in Denver about 15 years ago where Entercom and Tribune worked together to find a TV station for Entercom to buy and swap to Tribune for 1430, 99.5 and 101.1. Something similar could be in the works here, too. Entercom and Bonneville could be trying to find stations Bonneville will acquire and swap for some or all of the stations.
 
Kent said:
As for KBLX, I wouldn't think it's definitely gone, though the employees there probably would've preferred to go to another operator. While I'm not aware of Bonneville having done urban AC in the past, the format really shouldn't have any content Bonneville would deem objectionable. Ultimately, the issues will likely be how much money KBLX is currently bringing in and whether or not there's another hole Bonneville thinks could bring it more money. I'm not sure exactly what KBLX bills these days, though I've been told it bills more than two of the stations Entercom ultimately decided to keep.
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LKellerIII said:
Why would they do that? IIRC, KMVQ is doing well in the ratings. As to KBLX - I don't know what their ratings are, but they now have the format to themselves, with Kiss-FM gone. I can see tweaking, but not a complete format change.
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KBLX has rebounded in its ratings since the beginning of the year after coming out of a time when the personality switches almost set the station's success back late last year. But Elroy RC Smith has done a great job of restoring the station's sound to what it was before Inner City sold the station. In the case of Phoenix and Los Angeles in the late 2000s, Bonneville wanted no part in any urban-related format, and I don't think KBLX will be the exception. In LA, Radio One did ruin heritage KKBT (later KRBV) before selling to Bonneville though, and rhythmic KKFR in Phoenix was forced to move to a rimshot as Bonneville put a news talk format on the former's original frequency.

Now Entercom has expanded its urban radio reach more (unlike CBS) in recent years; they launched urban stations in Austin, Greenville/Spartanburg and Boston (which is set to go to iHeart there) - and is set to acquire heritage urbans WVEE Atlanta (V-103), WPGC DC and WBTJ Richmond VA (iHeart) just to name a few. The Bay Area has been resilient with maintaining consistent urban radio the longest time, so I can only hope the KBLX intellectual property can be retained and relocated to a different frequency, and still be a part of the urban duopoly with KRBQ. (Side note: at last check, with Boston's WKAF's launch, all top 10 radio markets have an urban ac.)
 
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