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Reading into Entercom's Divestures

TheBigA said:
I didn't say they were likely to spin to non-coms, but that it's that kind of thinking that makes the most sense.

Hubbard already has the highest rated stations in Seattle. Hubbard already has 15% market share. Seattle is a growing market, a technology market, and there will be facilities for an outside owner to use. Why not consider someone looking to expand, rather than a player who's already in the market?
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I consider non-coms to be a last resort for Entercom's divestitures, such as the ones in San Diego and Wilkes-Barre as those stations didn't look attractive for a commercial operator to pick up.

Hubbard could make KZOK a nice flanker for Rock 98.9, if they were to acquire that station along with 96.5 Jack FM and 1090 The Fan from Entercom.
 
xmtrland said:
How about this. When that week comes will it be made in the beginning, middle or towards the end. Early in the day or latter. I think it will be before Thanksgiving so employees can digest how they will handle last minute Christmas budgets. The sooner employees can settle down and figure out the holidays the better.
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I think that C-suite executives, when finalizing a $1.7 billion deal, do not consider such trifles as whether a few dozen employees at a handful of stations they are spinning off will have a "happy holiday" or not.
 
miketheradioguy said:
Hubbard could make KZOK a nice flanker for Rock 98.9, if they were to acquire that station along with 96.5 Jack FM and 1090 The Fan from Entercom.
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As I said earlier, adding Entercom stations to the Hubbard cluster might not pass the DOJ, given the size of the Hubbard cluster.
 
TheBigA said:
Others have said this before, and I'll say it again. Don't look for ways to make competitors stronger. That is not what Entercom wants to do. They want to spin off stations to companies that will not hurt Entercom. Hubbard and Bonneville could use additional stations to hurt them locally, or at least run more efficiently, and that's not good.

Spinning to non-coms doesn't hurt them, and that's what they already did in three markets. That's the way you have to think. Who can we spin these stations to who won't bite us in the butt? Who can we spin these stations to who, if the ownership rules change, might sell them back to us? Who can we form alliances with so that even though we don't own these stations any more, we can benefit from their success. Those are the questions you need to ask, and the answers aren't as obvious as Hubbard or Bonneville.
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That maybe true, and if that is the case, then Bonneville looks more favorable compared to Hubbard. Bonneville has no direct competitors to Entercom, and they also like spoken word, which Entercom, at leased in this market avoids.
 
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To those who question why Entercom would want to get rid of KZOK, think back to 2007 and KBSG. Sure, KZOK has evolved their playlist and are now in the '80s, but that will only last so long. The younger that Gen X crowd considers KHTP their 'classic' station. Remember, the youngin's grew up on hip-hop...they don't care about rock. At some point, KZOK will be just a memory.
 
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miketheradioguy said:
I consider non-coms to be a last resort for Entercom's divestitures, such as the ones in San Diego and Wilkes-Barre as those stations didn't look attractive for a commercial operator to pick up.

Hubbard could make KZOK a nice flanker for Rock 98.9, if they were to acquire that station along with 96.5 Jack FM and 1090 The Fan from Entercom.
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Hubbard could make a flanker for KVRQ, but more than likely if Hubbard bought KZOK, they would keep it as is and evolve KVRQ to take on KISW. Do you really think that Entercom would want that?

As to KFNQ, the odds seem to favor Salem. Why? Simple. When KZOK 1590 was put up for sale, who bought it? When KMPS 1300 was put up for sale after the EZ-ARS merger, who bought it? Also, who wants AM? Salem could easily buy 1090 kHz, and move their Answer talk-radio format to a better signal, which fits into their political philosophy.
 
First of all you can forget the whole FM sports thing or the likelihood that KZOK of JACK change formats as part of this transaction. Both are money makers and have more value as they are. 2nd- because they don't take Alcohol or Casino money, it's pretty unlikely Bonneville will purchase KZOK. 3rd, what if the filing is just that, a filing. In other words Entercom needed to put something on paper to meet deadlines and requirements, so this is what they did. Who's to say it's really is KZOK and JACK that are getting sold or traded?
I suspect we'll find hear more mid November when the Holiday money is already all in but before 2018 annuals really get going.
 
CarAgencyGuy said:
First of all you can forget the whole FM sports thing or the likelihood that KZOK of JACK change formats as part of this transaction. Both are money makers and have more value as they are. 2nd- because they don't take Alcohol or Casino money, it's pretty unlikely Bonneville will purchase KZOK. 3rd, what if the filing is just that, a filing. In other words Entercom needed to put something on paper to meet deadlines and requirements, so this is what they did. Who's to say it's really is KZOK and JACK that are getting sold or traded?
I suspect we'll find hear more mid November when the Holiday money is already all in but before 2018 annuals really get going.
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KBSG was also a money maker...what happened to them? (Remember, Bonneville evolved KBSG to classic hits as B97-3, before blowing it up. Nothing is sacred.)
 
TheBigA said:
Spinning to non-coms doesn't hurt them, and that's what they already did in three markets. That's the way you have to think.
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The other reason is EMF seems to be the only group owner paying top dollar for broadcast stations.
 
Kelly A said:
Oldies aged-out. That's what happened.
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That is true...but Bonneville updated the playlist to reflect younger demos and changed the moniker from 'Oldies 97.3 KBSG' to 'B97-3'. At that time, 70's based classic hits was still valid.

KZOK, for all of the money it's making is on the same road, and someday will fall off the same cliff.
 
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Kelly A said:
The other reason is EMF seems to be the only group owner paying top dollar for broadcast stations.
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EMF doesn't need another stick in this market, unless you're talking about Air1. They have it covered with KLSW (104.5) and KNBQ (98.5). (If you haven't noticed, EMF sells their FM's in the commercial band where possible to buy FM's in the non-com band...at good profits.)
 
At this point the only thing I think I can add to this tread is to say hello to Kelly, always good to hear from you and a good morning/afternoon to Big A.

Kinda like watching paint dry, cement setting up or the grass growing.
 
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KXA said:
That is true...but Bonneville updated the playlist to reflect younger demos and changed the moniker from 'Oldies 97.3 KBSG' to 'B97-3'. At that time, 70's based classic hits was still valid.

KZOK, for all of the money it's making is on the same road, and someday will fall off the same cliff.
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David and Big A could speak to this topic with more authority, but the bottom line is; demographics above 35 years old are just flat out not appealing to ad agencies. When you start talking about (now) Market #12, which is essentially saturated with radio stations battling it out, agency dollars are more important than ever. Calling your station Oldies is death. Focusing on a demographic that is over 50? That's getting close to death. Spending what it costs to change format to something that agencies aren't interested in? That would be a dumb, at least from a business perspective.

As mentioned, Classic Rock, or Classic Hits is the new Oldies.
 
xmtrland said:
At this point the only thing I think I can add to this tread is to say hello to Kelly, always good to hear from you and a good morning/afternoon to Big A.

Kinda like watching paint dry, cement setting up or the grass growing.
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Hey Steve. Glad to hear you're still banging the drum about MDCL.
 
Kelly A said:
David and Big A could speak to this topic with more authority, but the bottom line is; demographics above 35 years old are just flat out not appealing to ad agencies. When you start talking about (now) Market #12, which is essentially saturated with radio stations battling it out, agency dollars are more important than ever. Calling your station Oldies is death. Focusing on a demographic that is over 50? That's getting close to death. Spending what it costs to change format to something that agencies aren't interested in? That would be a dumb, at least from a business perspective.

As mentioned, Classic Rock, or Classic Hits is the new Oldies.
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I understand what you are saying, but it's a bit ironic that the only demo that seems to appeal to these big money agencies is merely 15 years in breadth. Even less, if you consider that many young adults don't really begin making decent money until they leave college at age 22, which would make it a 13 year spread -- age 22 to 35.
 
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