Billionaire Radio Owner John Catsimatidis Says He Wants To Buy CNN.

[DavidEduardo]

This is a TV subject but "Cats" is currently just a radio owner....

Supermarket mogul John Catsimatidis, who has clearly enjoyed his venture into media ownership with WABC New York (770), says he would be open to buy CNN if Warner Brothers Discovery is willing to sell.

“I’d go run the place tomorrow morning, and all I’d want is one dollar per year and a piece of the upside,” Catsimatidis tells the New York Post. Although no formal deal is in the works, he tells the tabloid that he should have no trouble lining up the financing. But Catsimatidis sidestepped a question about how much he would be willing to pay.

“We are capable of putting down a substantial amount of money,” Catsimatidis told the Post. “We could always bring partners in, but I want to run the place,” he said.

Billionaire Radio Owner John Catsimatidis Says He Wants To Buy CNN.

Supermarket mogul John Catsimatidis, who has clearly enjoyed his venture into media ownership with WABC New York (770), says he would be open to buy CNN if Warner Brothers Discovery

www.insideradio.com

 

[lanceventa]

Same way he has claimed for years he wants to buy other radio stations and New York newspapers. All for PR...

 

[Kelly A]

“We are capable of putting down a substantial amount of money,” Catsimatidis told the Post. “We could always bring partners in, but I want to run the place,” he said.

Translated: I want to go head-to-head with Rupert Murdoch and Fox News by turning CNN into an amalgamation of OANN, Newsmax, and Fox News. I venture a guess CNN would become the new home of Tucker Carlson.

 

[Mikey Radio]

It doesn't sound to me like he's saying he "wants to buy CNN". He's basically just throwing out a hypothetical...If WB Discovery would ever toy with the idea of selling, he'd in turn toy with the idea of buying it, or becoming part of a group ownership plan where he'd have decision-making power:

Supermarket mogul John Catsimatidis, who has clearly enjoyed his venture into media ownership with WABC New York (770), says he would be open to buy CNN if Warner Brothers Discovery is willing to sell.

Here's more from the article in the OP above:

Warner Brothers wound up with CNN last year as part of its $43 billion merger with Discovery Networks. It has shown no indication of plans to shed the network, despite speculation that CNN could be sold.

 

[Kelly A]

Catsimatidis is one of those semi wealthy (by today's standards) egotistical d*ck-swingers, who loves to see his name in the press. It amounts to a lesser version of Elon Musk claiming he wanted to overpay for Twitter. The difference is; Elon is much richer than Catsimatdis.

 

[TheBigA]

The fact is that he personally isn't rich enough to buy CNN. What he says is that investment companies would actually buy the brand & channels (it's much more than one channel) from WMD and then offer to run it for $1 a year, Very different thing, and it pre-supposes that an investment company will spend their money and hire someone with minimal experience to run it.

Right now WMD is looking for a new CNN CEO. He could apply for that job if he was interested. Something tells me he's not.

 

[DavidEduardo]

Catsimatidis is one of those semi wealthy (by today's standards) egotistical d*ck-swingers, who loves to see his name in the press. It amounts to a lesser version of Elon Musk claiming he wanted to overpay for Twitter. The difference is; Elon is much richer than Catsimatdis.

While I'd stop short of the phallic reference, I do agree that Cats loves his name in print and seems to believed that any press he can get is of real monetary value. So he is capitalizing on the negative publicity that CNN is getting, knowing that for weeks if not months any further CNN stories will bring recall of his comments about buying it.

If CNN further slips down the drain, Catsimatidis will further benefit with people saying, "see, if they had sold to Cats they would not be such a disaster".

 

[DavidEduardo]

The fact is that he personally isn't rich enough to buy CNN.

Sure he is. His successful businesses in oil and supermarkets give him huge borrowing power and the most favorable interest rates. If, in fact, he wanted a strait purchase.

Various of the notoriously vague and inaccurate "net worth" estimates online show him in the $3 to $5 billion range, enough to definitely be in play for CNN if it sells alone.

What he says is that investment companies would actually buy the brand & channels (it's much more than one channel) from WMD and then offer to run it for $1 a year, Very different thing, and it pre-supposes that an investment company will spend their money and hire someone with minimal experience to run it.

As I said in my prior post, the greatest advantage for Cats is that he gets great publicity out of this.

Right now WMD is looking for a new CNN CEO. He could apply for that job if he was interested. Something tells me he's not.

He is proposing something that is likely not on the table: a sale of just one division of a broad cable content provider. If there is an interest in spinning just CNN, perhaps to avoid future "contamination" of the whole enterprise, he is there to present an offer.

 

[Kelly A]

If CNN further slips down the drain, Catsimatidis will further benefit with people saying, "see, if they had sold to Cats they would not be such a disaster".

I think he'd be the only one who cared what he said. Everyone else in the media industry would say: 'Huh? Who are you again?'

 

[Voicetrack of Reason]

Ignoring the vitriol in this thread, there are a lot of people in Detroit who secretly wish that "Cats" would buy WJR.

 

[DavidEduardo]

I think he'd be the only one who cared what he said. Everyone else in the media industry would say: 'Huh? Who are you again?'

But in his "area of influence" which is the New York City and surrounding zone region, this enhances his image. He is not playing to the media nationally, but definitely to the New York City publications, websites and TV stations.

 

[DavidEduardo]

Ignoring the vitriol in this thread, there are a lot of people in Detroit who secretly wish that "Cats" would buy WJR.

I doubt that more than a fraction of a percent of people in Detroit even know who he is and fewer know what he has done with WABC.

 

[TheBigA]

Sure he is.

Read the article. He wouldn't buy the whole thing. There would be investors, and he would work for them.

“It’s up to the investment bankers to come up with the numbers,” Catsimatidis said, although he also signaled that he didn’t believe financing a bid would be a problem.

He's worth $4 billion. I think CNN is worth about $7 billion, including worldwide rights and real estate.

If financing a bid isn't a problem, there are a lot of more qualified people who could make an offer.

 

[DavidEduardo]

Read the article. He wouldn't buy the whole thing. There would be investors, and he would work for them.

That's what I mean in that he is tossing "newsworthy" quotes out there to get publicity. He can change the idea, structure or concept instantly to keep his name in the center ring.

He's worth $4 billion. I think CNN is worth about $7 billion, including worldwide rights and real estate.

With a need for, perhaps, 10% in cash he could easily do a $7 billion deal and more.

If financing a bid isn't a problem, there are a lot of more qualified people who could make an offer.

But how many want CNN? In any case, I think that Cats is simply riding a good wave for as long as he can. He does not intend to put the wave in bottles and take it home.

 

[TheBigA]

With a need for, perhaps, 10% in cash he could easily do a $7 billion deal and more.

So he puts in 10% and the investors put in 90% and he thinks they will hire him to run it? Not any investors I know.

But how many want CNN? In any case, I think that Cats is simply riding a good wave for as long as he can. He does not intend to put the wave in bottles and take it home.

Once again, the business of CNN is more than a single channel. It's a content machine. That content machine is valuable to someone. The question is who can do the most with it. I don't know. Discovery thinks they can use it to help the value of the rest of their business. We'll see.

 

[Mediafrog+]

Were I MSNBC I would be rooting like crazy for Catsimatidis to buy CNN. It would wreck whatever credibility CNN has with political centrists and liberals, while causing a great deal of damage to Fox News.

 

[Kelly A]

Were I MSNBC I would be rooting like crazy for Catsimatidis to buy CNN.

I don't think NBCU needs Catsimatdis to buy CNN for that to happen. Licht already did a fair share of damage to the brand. That's why he's out.

It would wreck whatever credibility CNN has with political centrists and liberals, while causing a great deal of damage to Fox News.

Look at what Catsimatidis did to WABC. Doubt if centrist or liberal-leaning viewers would be of any interest to him.

 

[kevtronics]

Were I MSNBC I would be rooting like crazy for Catsimatidis to buy CNN. It would wreck whatever credibility CNN has with political centrists and liberals, while causing a great deal of damage to Fox News.

That's the whole reason CNN is in this mess. Chris Licht wanted to swing the network to the right to peel away viewers from Fox News. Instead, the only viewers they peeled away were their own.

Cats can buy WABC for vanity and self-promotion. But if he's going to buy CNN, it'll need to make money. And it won't do that by trying to be Fox News Lite.

 

[TheBigA]

But if he's going to buy CNN, it'll need to make money. And it won't do that by trying to be Fox News Lite.

Again, he's not buying it. Investors are buying it. He thinks they'll let him run it. The only way he'll put up his percentage is if they let him run it. They might be willing to let him do it if he also eats the losses. But he's only asking to get paid $1. He needs to be willing to take financial responsibility if it flops. Businessmen don't do that. That's why they set up LLCs.

 

[Nathan Obral]

UPI wound up in the hands of the Unification Church, so nothing is impossible here.