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Rumor that iHeart seeking more FMs in Houston

Mrtejano

Mrtejano

A guy who works for Iheart (clear channel) or what ever it’s called now told me that they’re trying to get 2 more stations here in houston now that they have some different owner?

He said they regret divesting KLOL but had no choice they would love to get it back. But they’re trying to her 2 more stations, one will have a format in Spanish.
 
They were forced to divest KHMX and KLOL as there was then investor/ownership overlap with KFNC and KIOL/KHJK, which were owned by Cumulus Media Partners. Both those stations are now under different ownership, so the restriction is moot.

Keep an eye on KRBE, which is a Cumulus stand-alone. Also wouldn’t surprise me if Urban One puts KROI on the block.
 
The guy said that they’re not owned by the same people so they can now have 2 more stations here in houston.
 
Mediafrog+ said:
They were forced to divest KHMX and KLOL as there was then investor/ownership overlap with KFNC and KIOL/KHJK, which were owned by Cumulus Media Partners. Both those stations are now under different ownership, so the restriction is moot.

Keep an eye on KRBE, which is a Cumulus stand-alone. Also wouldn’t surprise me if Urban One puts KROI on the block.
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I would've expected Entercom to pick up KRBE from Cumulus, which didn't happen. There was also that investor/ownership overlap with Univision, which was also why those stations were traded to CBS Radio, and are now both owned by Entercom.
 
Can I just remind everyone that the title to a post should be about what's in the post. In our busy lives, we can't know whether or not we want to click "This Just In" or "Just Wondering" or some similar non specific title.
 
Gregg. said:
Can I just remind everyone that the title to a post should be about what's in the post. In our busy lives, we can't know whether or not we want to click "This Just In" or "Just Wondering" or some similar non specific title.
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You don’t have to read it, you’re not required to read any post.
 
Mrtejano said:
You don’t have to read it, you’re not required to read any post.
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That's not the point. A title that does not at least hint at the content is annoying. I changed the title as an example of being specific.
 
Not sure how this is news. Not sure how it’s anything, really.

Of course iHeart would like to get more quality FMs here. I’m sure Entercom would like to obtain one more too if the price was right.

The only prime station that would really make sense for either group is KRBE. Unfortunately for iHeart and Entercom, Cumulus wants ridiculous money for it. Last I heard, they were asking for 12X cash flow. Nobody is going to buy it at that price.
 
2Speakers said:
Not sure how this is news. Not sure how it’s anything, really.

Of course iHeart would like to get more quality FMs here. I’m sure Entercom would like to obtain one more too if the price was right.

The only prime station that would really make sense for either group is KRBE. Unfortunately for iHeart and Entercom, Cumulus wants ridiculous money for it. Last I heard, they were asking for 12X cash flow. Nobody is going to buy it at that price.
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The normal is 20x cash flow...BUT then KRBE IS making money while the rest of the market is down
 
ContinuousWave said:
The normal is 20x cash flow...BUT then KRBE IS making money while the rest of the market is down
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20 x cash flow was not even normal when the buying frenzy of the 1996-2000 was at its peak and radio was not declining in revenue and audience.

Today, 7 to 8 times cash flow is good for an FM if the seller can get it. 5 x cash flow for an AM is probably optimistic.

Houston's revenue in 2017 was off by about 3% over 2016, but it is projected to be up about 3% this year. Revenue is, if anything, flat.

KRBE, as a stand alone with billing that is about 10th in the market (and less than half the billing of the #1 revenue station, is probably not immensely profitable. The Entercom, iHeart, Urban One, Univision and even the Cox clusters are the most profitable.
 
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2Speakers said:
Not sure how this is news. Not sure how it’s anything, really.

Of course iHeart would like to get more quality FMs here. I’m sure Entercom would like to obtain one more too if the price was right.

The only prime station that would really make sense for either group is KRBE. Unfortunately for iHeart and Entercom, Cumulus wants ridiculous money for it. Last I heard, they were asking for 12X cash flow. Nobody is going to buy it at that price.
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What if I told you Cumulus could swap KRBE to Entercom for some of the stations in San Francisco currently being programmed by Bonneville. It was rumored that some of those stations could be swapped to Cumulus, and it could be a perfect opportunity for Cumulus to trade KRBE to Entercom.

I know that Entercom helped iHeartMedia max out their Boston and Seattle clusters during the CBS Radio merger, but I haven't seen any other rumor that iHeartMedia is looking to expand their Houston cluster, especially given their financial problems.
 
miketheradioguy said:
What if I told you Cumulus could swap KRBE to Entercom for some of the stations in San Francisco
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They also COULD have swapped KRBE for one station in LA, but that didn't happen.

Now Cumulus is going through bankruptcy, so nothing can happen without the judge's approval. Not very likely for a while.

And yes, with iHeart about to go through bankruptcy itself (this week), all possible deals will be on hold.
 
ContinuousWave said:
That's not what was said in staff meetings
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What was not said in the staff meeting?

(Is this like the "the station has been sold, but you are all secure in your jobs" staff meeting?)
 
ContinuousWave said:
No,that KRBE was the only station in Houston making money
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Impossible.

Someone has a good grasp on hyperbole and its practice, though. Don't trust whoever told you that.

KRBE is, for starters, a decent station.

But it is a stand-alone in the era of consolidation. It has no other cluster mates to share administrative, back office, and engineering costs with. It has no way of splitting among multiple stations fixed costs like offices, business licenses and the like.

It is not a top biller. It is about 10th in the market, with billings of less than half those of the #1 station and well below the top 5 billers by $7 to $10 million.

And many of the "little" stations... the ones with paid religion or programming in languages other than English and Spanish... are making good money and a nice return on their investment.
 
TheBigA said:
They also COULD have swapped KRBE for one station in LA, but that didn't happen.

Now Cumulus is going through bankruptcy, so nothing can happen without the judge's approval. Not very likely for a while.

And yes, with iHeart about to go through bankruptcy itself (this week), all possible deals will be on hold.
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I understand that there will be no deals with Cumulus already going through bankruptcy, and iHeartMedia eventually following suit. It's also possible that Cumulus wasn't interested in KSWD anyways.
 
Liberty Media filed today to propose a 40% stske in iHurt bankruptcy if it goes that way... And it probably will....they have little to no other choice y
 
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