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

LKellerIII said:
Huh? Why would an LA station move onto a Bay Area frequency? Though KCBS-AM is announced and marketed as "KCBS 740 AM and 106.9 FM," the call letters for 106.9 are KFRC, left over from the Classic Hits format.
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Oh. Wait. Maybe you meant "Does this mean that the KCBS-FM call letters move to 106.9?"

I doubt that. KCBS-FM Los Angeles is "Jack FM," so the calls are only announced once per hour. If they were going to move the calls to the Bay Area, they probably would have done it already. If they divest KCBS-FM in LA, they'd be more likely to move the call letters to another owned station.

Since the mid-80s, Channel 2 in LA has been KCBS-TV, so they're likely to stay in LA.
 
LKellerIII said:
Huh? Why would an LA station move onto a Bay Area frequency? Though KCBS-AM is announced and marketed as "KCBS 740 AM and 106.9 FM," the call letters for 106.9 are KFRC, left over from the Classic Hits format.
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I was going by what the link said its a decision process here for now. But who knows what the final result will be.

A total of 14 FMs across seven markets will be put into TDC Communications, a station trust run by broker Elliot Evers, for sale or swaps. It’s expected the spinoffs will come from a combination of assets held by each of the two companies but Entercom has not identified which stations will be placed into the trust. But in at least one market, it has narrowed the list. The company says in Los Angeles, either Entercom classic rock “100.3 The Sound” KSWD or CBS Radio adult hits “93.1 Jack FM” KCBS-FM will be spun off. Beyond L.A., Entercom will let go of two FMs in Boston, three FMs in Sacramento, one FM in San Diego, four FMs in San Francisco, two FMs in Seattle and one FM in Wilkes Barre-Scranton. The company has said it plans to close the deal in the second half of the year so which stations are sold will come into focus over the next several months.
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An update on Wed. morning 3/22/17 from AllAccess.com about which stations *might* be put into the Entercom Divestiture Trust (Elliot Evers of TDC Communications serves as trustee).
It's an interpretation of the FCC application that was filed (see link in previous post) and (maybe?) conflicts with that information, thus is open to discussion.

Entercom is placing into the trust more than the required 14 stations to be divested nationwide in order to provide flexibility.
It has been reported previously that 4 FMs in San Francisco would have to be divested.
The new list below also includes some AM stations.

Also affecting which stations would be divested is the 40% market cap on a company's radio billings.

Story link: http://www.allaccess.com/net-news/a...com-cbs-list-stations-potentially-to-be-spun-

Possible Entercom San Francisco stations to be placed in trust:

Classic Hip Hop KRBQ (Q102),
Sports KGMZ (95.7 THE GAME), and
AC KOIT/SAN FRANCISCO and
boosters KRBQ-FM2/SAN FRANCISCO, KGMZ-FM1/WALNUT CREEK and KOIT-FM3/MARTINEZ;
Urban AC KBLX-F/BERKELEY-SAN FRANCISCO;
Classic Rock KUFX (98.5 K-FOX)/SAN JOSE and
its boosters KUFX-FM2/MORGAN HILL and KUFX-FM3/PLEASANTON

Possible CBS Radio San Francisco stations to be placed in trust:

News KCBS-A-KFRC-F,
Alternative KITS,
Hot AC KLLC (ALICE),
South Asian KZDG-A (RADIO ZINDAGI), and
Top 40 KMVQ (99.7 NOW!)/SAN FRANCISCO
 
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LKellerIII said:
Oh. Wait. Maybe you meant "Does this mean that the KCBS-FM call letters move to 106.9?"

I doubt that. KCBS-FM Los Angeles is "Jack FM," so the calls are only announced once per hour. If they were going to move the calls to the Bay Area, they probably would have done it already. If they divest KCBS-FM in LA, they'd be more likely to move the call letters to another owned station.

Since the mid-80s, Channel 2 in LA has been KCBS-TV, so they're likely to stay in LA.
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Llew:

This depends on which of the two Los Angeles stations Entercom spins---KSWD or KCBS-FM. If it's KSWD, that's one thing. But the deal to keep CBS-related call letters is between CBS and Entercom, and probably isn't transferable. So, if...big if...Entercom decides to keep KSWD and spin KCBS-FM off to someone else, KCBS-FM would need new call letters and those calls would be free for Entercom to use on another station.

That's significant because Entercom is a big believer in parking calls that they think they might have a use for. KIFM and KUDL have both made their way to Sacramento stations when Entercom decided to make a change in San Diego and Kansas City, respectively. So it's not unreasonable to think they might put KCBS-FM on another signal, in Los Angeles (where KCBS-TV is---but in which Entercom has no interest), in San Francisco (where Entercom presumably will keep KCBS-AM) or in some other market.

Ditching the KFRC calls at this late date (9 years after the last failed attempt to cash in on past glories) is probably not handing someone else a loaded gun. Any equity left in those calls is with listeners well out of the sales demo. So we could, in the interests of simpler station IDs (KCBS AM and FM, San Francisco) see a move back to SF.
 
michael hagerty said:
Llew:

This depends on which of the two Los Angeles stations Entercom spins---
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And there is nothing that says that they can not shift the formats... the intellectual property... from one frequency to another.
 
michael hagerty said:
Llew:

This depends on which of the two Los Angeles stations Entercom spins---KSWD or KCBS-FM. If it's KSWD, that's one thing. But the deal to keep CBS-related call letters is between CBS and Entercom, and probably isn't transferable. So, if...big if...Entercom decides to keep KSWD and spin KCBS-FM off to someone else, KCBS-FM would need new call letters and those calls would be free for Entercom to use on another station.

That's significant because Entercom is a big believer in parking calls that they think they might have a use for. KIFM and KUDL have both made their way to Sacramento stations when Entercom decided to make a change in San Diego and Kansas City, respectively. So it's not unreasonable to think they might put KCBS-FM on another signal, in Los Angeles (where KCBS-TV is---but in which Entercom has no interest), in San Francisco (where Entercom presumably will keep KCBS-AM) or in some other market.
QUOTE]

I think I said that (possibly moving the calls to another LA station)...or that's what I meant, in any case. I don't see how simplifying the SF top-of-the-hour ID by saying "KCBS-AM and FM, San Francisco..." brings them any advantage. By the way - 97.3 (Now "Alice at 97.3") was KRQR before that, and KCBS-FM before that.

And I agree with you that the KFRC calls would have no importance to another broadcaster...with the exception of I-Heart's KOSF. But I think they're probably happy with their current branding - "I Heart 80s @ 103.7", and wouldn't find any advantage by saying "KFRC, San Francisco" once per hour. It might even confuse some people, since that station has gone through so many branding changes in the past few years (Oldies 103.7, The New 103.7, The Bay's 103.7, etc.)
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I'm guessing that Hubbard or Bonneville (for that matter) could likely buy the frequencies & swap it for the Cincinnati or Phoenix stations, which Hubbard is likely for sale in the #30th & #14th largest market in the U.S. (SF is #4, but Hubbard largest market, Chicago is #3.) Will that fit?
 
michael hagerty said:
Ditching the KFRC calls at this late date (9 years after the last failed attempt to cash in on past glories) is probably not handing someone else a loaded gun. Any equity left in those calls is with listeners well out of the sales demo. So we could, in the interests of simpler station IDs (KCBS AM and FM, San Francisco) see a move back to SF.
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Agreed. Consider the case of the legendary WNEW calls, which had a continuous run in New York from 1934 to 2007. Under Metromedia's ownership, the call letters were held simultaneously by a dominant AM, a pioneering progressive FM, and the nation's top-rated independent TV station. After John Kluge sold his broadcast properties, WNEW remained solely on FM. CBS Radio, the station's most recent owner, moved the call sign out of Gotham and parked it in the Washington, D.C. market. When CBS sold the Bowie, MD station to Bloomberg last year, it returned WNEW to 102.7 in New York. Perhaps the KFRC calls should have a similar hiatus.
 
LKellerIII said:
michael hagerty said:
Llew:

This depends on which of the two Los Angeles stations Entercom spins---KSWD or KCBS-FM. If it's KSWD, that's one thing. But the deal to keep CBS-related call letters is between CBS and Entercom, and probably isn't transferable. So, if...big if...Entercom decides to keep KSWD and spin KCBS-FM off to someone else, KCBS-FM would need new call letters and those calls would be free for Entercom to use on another station.
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At the end of the day, they do not absolutely have to spin either of them. Note that the biggest signal they have is going in the trust... likely because that station requires the least amount of day to day maintenance and can sit in the trust until the very day of the closing when they could, for example, put KROQ on the KSWD frequency and trade off the bad KROQ signal...

That's significant because Entercom is a big believer in parking calls that they think they might have a use for. KIFM and KUDL have both made their way to Sacramento stations when Entercom decided to make a change in San Diego and Kansas City, respectively. So it's not unreasonable to think they might put KCBS-FM on another signal, in Los Angeles (where KCBS-TV is---but in which Entercom has no interest), in San Francisco (where Entercom presumably will keep KCBS-AM) or in some other market.
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The chances that they will spin KCBS (AM) are about 9%. Unless the sub-caps are eliminated prior to closing, they do not need to spin that station as they have one dog AM, 1550, they can sell instantly.

And I agree with you that the KFRC calls would have no importance to another broadcaster...with the exception of I-Heart's KOSF. But I think they're probably happy with their current branding - "I Heart 80s @ 103.7", and wouldn't find any advantage by saying "KFRC, San Francisco" once per hour. It might even confuse some people, since that station has gone through so many branding changes in the past few years (Oldies 103.7, The New 103.7, The Bay's 103.7, etc.)
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Agreed. The instances of listeners in diary markets writing down call letters has been minimal for decades and confined to old-leaning AMs for the most part. In PPM markets, calls are only used because of such tradition or because the FCC requires it. They have little marketing value otherwise.
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I noticed on Wikipedia that KRZZ 93.3 La Raza is listed as an Entercom station, although it's owned by Spanish Broadcasting System. Did Entercom secretly acquire KRZZ from Spanish Broadcasting System?
 
At one time, CBS had an equity interest in KRZZ. Not sure if it still does, but I don't think I saw any applications to transfer any part of KRZZ to Entercom.
 
Kent said:
At one time, CBS had an equity interest in KRZZ. Not sure if it still does, but I don't think I saw any applications to transfer any part of KRZZ to Entercom.
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SBS gave a small bit of equity to CBS as part of the deal to buy KRZZ. While I do not know whether that interest continues, CBS does not appear as having 1% or more of the SBS stock on the Pink Sheet service I get.

At one point, IIRC, they had 5% of SBS shares and a seat on the board, but that was nearly two decades ago.
 
DavidEduardo said:


SBS gave a small bit of equity to CBS as part of the deal to buy KRZZ. While I do not know whether that interest continues, CBS does not appear as having 1% or more of the SBS stock on the Pink Sheet service I get.

At one point, IIRC, they had 5% of SBS shares and a seat on the board, but that was nearly two decades ago.
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I read this article on Radio Insight which hints a potential sale of Spanish Broadcasting System's Los Angeles pair to Alex Meruelo:
https://radioinsight.com/headlines/118167/meruelo-group-making-play-spanish-broadcasting-system/

I bet this could mean another deal after Meruelo bought KPWR from Emmis for nearly $83 million.
 
gendvild said:
I'm guessing that Hubbard or Bonneville (for that matter) could likely buy the frequencies & swap it for the Cincinnati or Phoenix stations, which Hubbard is likely for sale in the #30th & #14th largest market in the U.S. (SF is #4, but Hubbard largest market, Chicago is #3.) Will that fit?
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If Hubbard decides to buy the Spinoffs, maybe they should look into buying 95.7 and re-launch it as 95-7 The Drive, modeled after The Drive in Chicago.
 
HenryOchs said:
If Hubbard decides to buy the Spinoffs, maybe they should look into buying 95.7 and re-launch it as 95-7 The Drive, modeled after The Drive in Chicago.
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I'm trying to remember... Which station was it that rebroadcast "The Drive" for a few months while they were waiting to change format. Anyone recall? I remember it was really weird hearing all of those commercials for places in Chicago and how bad traffic was on "The Kennedy". I don't recall anything great about the music tho. Seemed to be just another ho-hum "we play the hits" station.

Dave B.
 
It was 101.9 FM Today's Rock Mix(WTMX) back in 1997. The station was owned by Bonneville back then and now it's owned by Hubbard!
 
DaveBayArea said:
No, it was a San Francisco station for sure - not WTMX. But the 1997 timeframe sounds about right.

Dave B.
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95.7 changed to KKDV The Drive in 2002 (was Z 95.7). Lasted about 18 months if I remember correctly. Followed by The Bear, MAX, The Wolf and now The Game. Cursed frequency anyone?
 
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