I saw that Salem recently sold stations in Honolulu and Nashville markets. I’m sure $7 million is nowhere near what KTLY would sell for. But, I’m just curious…do you think Salem would let KLTY go to EMF for the right price? Looks like Salem is wanting to pay down debt and I’m sure that would definitely help. I’m pretty sure EMF has the money and KLTY has a signal they would want. Also, do Salem’s remaining stations make enough on their own for Salem to continue operating in DFW or if this happened, would they exit?
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Salem/EMF
- Thread starter chriscervantez
- Start date
I almost posted this same topic, but changed my mind. I thought 94.9 initially, but what about 100.7? Do you think EMF would have a better chance at that?
Word on the street is that anyone could have any of Salem's stations, or even the entire company, for the right price. That right price, however, borders on astronomical for some stations, and I'd hate to think what it wants for the entire company. So, yes, EMF, or anybody else, could have KLTY, but I'm sure it's asking a ton for it.
I suspect, with the change in leadership, EMF isn't as interested in airing K-Love in DFW as it previously was. I've heard conflicting accounts of which station and how much, but that it had been interested in a deal that ultimately didn't happen is well known. All the accounts I've heard also indicate EMF was the party who ultimately decided not to continue pursuing a DFW station for K-Love.
EMF does not want 100.7. They're only looking at Cedar Hill based full market signals. They want 94.9 for the right price... I've heard another Texas based Christian group (Don't jump to conclusions as there's more than one of those) has been circling 100.7 for their rapidly growing Spanish network, but the asking price is still a little too high for their tastes.
EMF still sees adding Dallas as a priority, but not at the prices that Audacy and Salem were asking for. One of the Audacy Dallas FMs (and stations in at least two other markets) were supposed to be part of the Memphis/Buffalo deal made between the companies before EMF higher-ups balked and shrunk the deal down.
Supposedly the asking price for KLTY right now is north of $40 million. I've heard multiple potential buyers will pursue once that drops below a $30 million price tag, but Salem will hold out to see if someone pulls the trigger. And there's still active talks of another EMF/Salem deal coming for another of the company's "Fish' stations.
That just screams Hope Media Group which would almost certainly love to have a DFW signal for Vida Unida, currently on their KAWA HD-2.
Houston Christian Broadcasters might want 100.7 for their Radio Amistad Spanish language network, though I’d think they would also want a better signal in their Houston home market instead of the current bad AM and extremely limited FM translator.
KLTY is easily one of Salem's most valuable properties. Maybe revenue from a Los Angeles or NYC Christian Talk and Teaching station is a bit more. But certainly KLTY is up there. 100,000 watts at 1,665 feet in Market #5. And consistent good ratings, currently #5. That's a gem.
Usually EMF and other Christian networks buy stations with poor to so-so ratings. After all, they are not buying it for what it is now. They want it for their own network. And they don't want to pay for an existing format that the network won't use.
OK, KLTY might be a bit different because it already has a built-in audience ready to accept a Christian Contemporary station. But that audience is accustomed to getting their CCM for free. No need for donations, they just have to put up with commercials.
Usually EMF and other Christian networks buy stations with poor to so-so ratings. After all, they are not buying it for what it is now. They want it for their own network. And they don't want to pay for an existing format that the network won't use.
OK, KLTY might be a bit different because it already has a built-in audience ready to accept a Christian Contemporary station. But that audience is accustomed to getting their CCM for free. No need for donations, they just have to put up with commercials.
I am curious about the price tag for the entire company?
Multiply the share price by the number of shares outstanding.
As David said, you could theoretically buy the company for the price of the majority of its stock. I doubt, however, that the majority of shareholders would actually sell at that price.
I seem to remember hearing Cumulus kicked tires at Salem before acquiring Citadel. I don't know exactly what price it offered, but it was substantially less than the $2.4 billion in cash and stock it paid for Citadel. I'd guess it would've been half to 60% of what Citadel cost, but that's purely a guess. I wonder if Salem wishes it had responded more favorably to that offer today. I can't think of too many people who would buy the company for what its leadership likely thinks it's worth today. Jeff Warshaw might be able to pull it off, but he doesn't have much experience with religious broadcasting and probably wouldn't want the AM's Salem has, which really can't do much more than what they're currently doing.
Salem’s market capitalization is $10.2M as of a check this morning, about one-fourth of the supposed asking price for KLTY.
The buyer would also have to assume about $170 million in debt.
I think I probably comment on Christian Radio posts too much lately. When I was a teenager I used to seek out formats like that, Brokered Ethnic and other stations that targeted a specific demographic because I thought that was a fascinating thing. I still have high respect for these formats.
Anyway, EMF bought my local Salem Fish station back in 2008 for K-LOVE. This was when Salem wanted to pull out of the Milwaukee market. EMF was still much smaller at the time. EMF never bought ratings from Nielsen in Milwaukee, but a newspaper column accidentally leaked them out once by not omitting the numbers for the station. From what I remember, they were very good. The signal is a Class A suburban signal.
K-LOVE on a station they were leasing also outlasted Salem's Fish format in suburban Chicago. Both launched the same week. The Fish signal went to Univision. Salem even let them run promos for K-LOVE on that station before it switched format under Univision.
What I'm saying is Contemporary Christian tends to thrive better in a Non Commercial setting.
That said, they do not have the heritage in Dallas that KLTY has. There is a reason they get the ratings they do. It goes beyond music.
Anyway, EMF bought my local Salem Fish station back in 2008 for K-LOVE. This was when Salem wanted to pull out of the Milwaukee market. EMF was still much smaller at the time. EMF never bought ratings from Nielsen in Milwaukee, but a newspaper column accidentally leaked them out once by not omitting the numbers for the station. From what I remember, they were very good. The signal is a Class A suburban signal.
K-LOVE on a station they were leasing also outlasted Salem's Fish format in suburban Chicago. Both launched the same week. The Fish signal went to Univision. Salem even let them run promos for K-LOVE on that station before it switched format under Univision.
What I'm saying is Contemporary Christian tends to thrive better in a Non Commercial setting.
That said, they do not have the heritage in Dallas that KLTY has. There is a reason they get the ratings they do. It goes beyond music.
KLTY also acted as a de facto AC between KVIL's flip to a hotter sound and the launch of Star 102.1. It generated a loyal audience during that time and likely still remains an alternative for Star listeners.
My first ex listened to AC, but, when Delilah came on or the station played a song she didn’t like, she would immediately go to one of the country stations. We weren’t in Dallas. So, KLTY wasn’t an option, but she might've liked to have had a CCM option without teaching and preaching. Her parents were more religious than she, but she was around it enough growing up that she was quite familiar with it.
I used to live in Northwestern Illinois and I would occasionally receive 106.7 The Fish during tropo. Although I didn’t listen to CCM music at the time, I still remember the jingles, “106 point 7 (two water drops) The Fish!” 🐠
The water drops were from a screen saver if I remember correctly. When they signed it off, the last jingle they played did not have it. They then put on audio of the screen saver while preparing to shift the station over to Univision. Should be able to find that up online
106.7 The Fish Gives Way To Pasion - Format Change Archive
Previous Format: Christian AC “106.7 The Fish” WZFS New Format: Spanish AC “Pasion 106.7” WPPN Date & Time Of Change: November 1, 2001 at 12:00am More Info: Wikipedia Aircheck contributed by Jeremy Andrews
formatchangearchive.com
Some Fish stations had people call in and say, “My favorite station is [frequency] Bloop Bloop The Fish.” When it was an XM channel, it would just play the drops of water between songs sometimes.
You’re right. There are several potential religious broadcasters that may be interested in acquiring a new signal.
One more I may add is First Dallas Media. They currently operate a Christian teaching format on KCBI-HD2. I could see them being interested in acquiring another signal to move the teaching format to.
Here on the east coast, when EMF purchased WRCM in Charlotte, NC, and sister station WMHK in Columbia, SC (both heritage CCM stations that had been locally operated), they inherited almost all of the audience immediately and kept them. More local competitors have come in, but K-LOVE still reigns due to having heritage signals that have only ever been known for CCM. So it's definitely a benefit, even though they don't keep any of the programming.
I guess we'll never know the DFW station Audacy was going to deal to EMF, but my money is on 107.5, or less likely, 100.3..but 107.5 is somewhat deficient in comparison being a C1. I wonder if Salem is wanting to get down to just their teaching and conservative talk stations?
I guess we'll never know the DFW station Audacy was going to deal to EMF, but my money is on 107.5, or less likely, 100.3..but 107.5 is somewhat deficient in comparison being a C1. I wonder if Salem is wanting to get down to just their teaching and conservative talk stations?
Salem has sold off pretty much every format they have so I don't believe it's about being format specific. They originate a lot of programming on their network which other stations use. Most of that is Talk, but they also have 3 music networks. The stations they sold in Nashville acted as the flagship for their main music network as a mostly 24 hour affiliate of it. I don't believe it will effect many people who are on the air at that station.