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Radio News ®
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Big City gets $137M for LA stations
RBR Daily Epaper readers knew this was coming last week (12/19 RBR Daily Epaper). Big City Radio (A:YFM) announced 12/24 that it is selling its Los Angeles trimulcast to Entravision (N:EVC) for $137M. The news shot Big City's depressed stock price up 378% in trading before the early market close for Christmas Eve.
| Full Story Click Here |
XM gets $450M refina ncing package
Santa gave XM Satellite Radio (O:XMSR) CEO Hugh Panero exactly what he wanted - - a $450M refinancing agreement that's supposed to handle the company's cash needs until it gets out of negative cash flow. Also, XM announced two new directors, including radio veteran Steve Hicks.
"With this financing package, we believe we have achieved full funding through cash flow break-even," Panero said in announcing the financing deal. He had said last month (11/15 RBR Daily Epaper) as the company announced Q3 results that it was negotiating a new finance package. | Full Story Click Here |
 Steve Hicks joins XM's board of directors
As part of the refinancing package announced by XM Satellite Radio (see above), veteran radio broadcaster Steve Hicks is joining the XM board of directors and BayStar Capital, in which he is an investor, is one of XM's new investors. Hicks spoke to RBR about his new involvement with the satellite broadcaster. | Full Story Click Here |
Consumer spending up, retailers still soft
The government reported Monday (12/23) that consumer spending jumped 0.5% in November - - the biggest gain in four months - - even as major retailers reported that sales remained disappointing as the Christmas shopping season draws to a close.
| Full Story Click Here |
 Sam and Michael K in the morning
They won't be signing on in time for a true wake-up in Las Vegas, but those eating breakfast at the National Association of Broadcasters 2003 Convention 4/8 will get to hear Sam, as in Donaldson, interview Michael K., as in FCC Chairman Powell.
Later that afternoon, the confab will feature the Regulatory Face-Off. Newly-seated Commissioner Jonathan Adelstein will be joining Kathleen Abernathy and Michael Copps at that session.
| RBR Observation |
SBS gets a 'Buy' rating
After years of having Lehman Brothers as the only Wall Street firm with an analyst following its stock, Spanish Broadcasting System (O:SBSA) has finally been picked by a second firm. First Albany, which is not a company known for being involved in broadcasting stocks, initiated coverage of SBS (12/23) and rated the stock a 'Buy.'
Valentine, not Disney, buys Henson stake
Amid expectations that Disney (N:DIS) would buy The Jim Henson Co. (12/20 RBR Daily Epaper), EM.TV has instead sold a 49.9% stake in the Muppet-making company to an investment group headed by Dean Valentine, a former Viacom (N:VIA) executive.
| Full Story Click Here |
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Bally Fitness Center at pains to spend some money
"The Beautiful Pain" is the theme of a flight scheduled to take off on behalf of Bally Fitness Centers. The pain is the satisfying feeling one experiences after a successful workout. Bally's "pain" will be broadcasting's gain, as it rolls out two :30 commercials on the theme earmarked for TV. | Full Story Click Here | RBR Observation |
 DQ TX takes to the airwaves
Dairy Queen is going to go to town in Texas. All the towns, in fact, in two languages and in two media - - television and radio. The Loomis Agency is handling the campaign to increase what DQ officials believe is the chain's already high profile in the state.
| Full Story Click Here | RBR Observation |
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Media, Markets & Money tm
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Triad buys a Peoria quartet
David Benjamin's Triad Broadcasting Company is going to find out if it will be able to play in Peoria - - and its spending $37M to find out. It has just struck a deal to acquire the market's dominant station cluster, a two-AM, two-FM operation which includes WSWT-FM, WPBG-FM, WMBD-AM and WWFS-AM. | Full Story Click Here |
Hinz Chases down another SoCal AM
Roland Hinz is adding to his small southern California group, and at the same time reducing Clear Channel's (N:CCU) JSA total by one (or so it appears). Hinz, who in addition to having an interest in Salem Communications (O:SALM) exec, owns a few stations on the side as Hi-Favor Broadcasting, is picking up KSDO-AM San Diego from Van Archer's Chase Radio Properties. | Full Story Click Here |
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Programming for Profit
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P2 power: Where are my second-tier fans coming from?
Part 10: Classical
This is a companion study to the Fall 1999 study produced by Arbitron which we ran in October and November. In that study, we looked at where P1 listeners stray when not listening to their favorite station. In this study, we look at each format's P2 listeners - - the best candidates to convert into P1s - - and show where they can be found for your audience plundering and raiding purposes.
| Full Story Click Here |
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Washington Beat
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 Frist has broadcasting on a back burner
Senator Bill Frist (R-TN) has gotten the nod from his colleagues in the Senate to take over as majority leader from politically-wounded Sen. Trent Lott (D-MS).
What does that mean for broadcasters? Not much, if Frist's record over the past year is any indication. We checked his press releases for the entire year and did not find one mention of any broadcast issue. Nothing on consolidation. Nothing on DTV. Nothing.
| Full Story Click Here |
New York ownership forum officially announced
As has been widely reported, a public forum on the FCC's six-headed omnibus Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) concerning broadcast and newspaper ownership regulation has been scheduled in New York for 1/16/03. It will be held at the Kernochan Center for Law, Media and the Arts at Columbia Law School. It will convene in the Frank Altshul Auditorium from 9AM-5:30PM. | Full Story Click Here |
FCC sputtering fluttering flag flies again
Citadel's $750K deal to acquire KTIK-AM in the Boise market (RBR Daily Morning Epaper, 12/17) has drawn yet another FCC red flag. Citadel is proposing to buy the station from Diamond Broadcasting. | Full Story Click Here | RBR Observation |
Florida buccaneer fails to buck FCC fine
Octavio Sarmiento is the latest FM pirate to walk the FCC's plank. He was caught in the act of broadcasting on 107.5 mHz out of Naples FL, and interfering with Clear Channel's (N:CCU) WCKT-FM, which beams on 107.1 mHz out of nearby Lehigh Acres. On 4/19/02, FCC field agents tracked the transmission of the station, which was calling itself WTEN "Tropical Estereo." | Full Story Click Here | RBR Observation |
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 Broadcasters need to focus on accountability
Kim Vasey, Senior Partner/Director of Radio at mediaedge:cia, is scheduled to be one of the panelists scheduled to speak out from the agency side at an RAB2003 panel 1/31 in New Orleans (12/19 RBR Daily Epaper). She's been outspoken on the need for stations to improve their accountability and wrote this article which first appeared in the November print issue of RBR. | Click Here For Story |
Turning pictures into great radio
RBR and friends have taken the AdBiz story above "Bally Fitness Center at pains to spend some money" and given you a creative radio solution. | Click Here For Story |
 NTR Tip of the day
Many stations that are in the hunt for NTR dollars bemoan the fact that retail driven programs seem to be harder and harder to initiate. Some stations have even decided not to pursue developing the retail/manufacturer side of the NTR equation. If new revenue streams are important to your station this is a risky strategy to pursue. Many stations have found it profitable to partner with some of the national mass merchandisers like Wal Mart and Target as well as national grocery chains to develop retail driven programs. This has produced outstanding results in many markets. Source: Bob Davis, Sell Thru Marketing and Sell Thru Software, Inc. www.sellthrumarketing.com (757)722-9170
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Radio Stocks
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Retail sales disappoint Wall Street
Continued bad news on the retail sales front sent stocks lower in the short session on Christmas Eve. Leading retailers suffered a sell-off after Goldman Sachs issued a slew of downgrades, although there had already been plenty of indications that Christmas sales were going to fall short of expectations.
Also, the Commerce Department reported that durable goods orders slumped 1.4% in November - - lessening hopes that an economic recovery is taking hold.
The Dow Industrials fell 45 points, or 0.5%, to 8,448.
The Radio Index declined 2.428, or 1.1%, to 228.737.
Saga Communications was the only gainer among the index components. It was up 1.2%. The big mover, though, was Big City Radio, which is not in the index. It quadrupled in value on news that it had sold its LA trimulcast to Entravision for $137M (see Radio News).
Entravision fell 3.4%, Clear Channel dropped 2.8% and Radio One was off 2.3% to lead the decliners.
Here's how stocks fared on Tuesday
| Company |
Symbol |
Close |
Change |
Company |
Symbol |
Close |
Change |
Arbitron
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ARB
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$34.00
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unch
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Jeff-Pilot
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JP
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$38.01
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+$0.04
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Beasley
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BBGI
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$12.72
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-$0.15
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NBG Radio Nets
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NSBD
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$0.04
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unch
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| Big City |
YFM |
$1.53 |
+$1.21
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Radio One, Cl. A
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ROIA
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$14.50
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-$0.33
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Clear Channel
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CCU
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$38.34
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-$1.12
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Radio One, Cl. D
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ROIAK
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$14.15
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-$0.35
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Cox Radio
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CXR
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$22.97
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-$0.08
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Radio Unica
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UNCA
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$0.28
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+$0.03
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Cumulus
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CMLS
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$15.35
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-$0.20
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Regent
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RGCI
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$5.91
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-$0.03
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Disney
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DIS
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$16.41
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-$0.22
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Saga Commun.
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SGA
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$18.57
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+$0.22
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Emmis
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EMMS
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$20.72
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-$0.28
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Salem Comm.
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SALM
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$25.18
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-$0.02
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| Entercom |
ETM
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$47.40
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-$0.48
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Sirius Sat. Radio
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SIRI
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$0.54
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unch
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Entravision
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EVC
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$10.00
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-$0.35
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Small Town
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STWI
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$0.15
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unch
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Fisher
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FSCI
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$56.75
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-$0.10
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Spanish Bcg.
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SBSA
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$7.49
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-$0.01
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Gaylord
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GET
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$20.75
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+$0.01
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Viacom, Cl. A
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VIA
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$41.84
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-$0.32
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Hearst-Argyle
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HTV
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$23.79
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+$0.16
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Viacom, Cl. B
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VIAb
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$41.69
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-$0.39
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Hispanic Bcg.
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HSP
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$21.97
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-$0.28
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Westwood One
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WON
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$38.02
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-$0.26
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Interep
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IREP
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$2.37
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unch
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XM Sat. Radio
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XMSR
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$2.92
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-$0.27
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Celebrating
20 Years of RBR
1983 - 2003
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Dear Jim,
It looks like it has taken a special occasion for me to finally write to you about Radio Business Report and the other publications you have been responsible for in the last twenty years.
I remember getting the very first issue. Had I written to you then, I might have politely mumbled something like: "Hey, Jim, I wondered what you had been up to since we worked together at KQV. Good luck on your, ah, er, new newsletter." You may remember, it had a few misspellings, typos and I think a smudge or two.
But I have been following your work all these years and the dedication you have given to the radio industry with some sense of awe. Each year the publications you have given us have gotten better and more valuable to those in the industry who just can't get enough information and comment. No question you and the people you gathered worked hard, took risks, stuck your neck out on many occasions, improvised, created and filled a void. Come to think of it, isn't that what a successful radio station does?
Keep doing it for another twenty years. And again congratulations to you, Cathy and the staff on this 20th Anniversary.
Ira
Ira Apple & Associates
This is your column, so send your comments to [email protected]
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RBR Bounceback
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A reader responds to our 12/20 article on telemarketing.
This new proposed rule is a terrible problem for the radio industry. I'm not sure that [RBR Publisher] Jim [Carnegie] is aware of the reliance of the radio industry on telephone marketing, call-out research, and ratings research.
| Full Response Click Here |
We want to hear from you.
Speak out to your colleagues in radio on any subject affecting this business.
This is your column, so send your comments to [email protected]
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Subscribe & Save
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Subscribe today to
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Upped & Tapped
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Yorke joins NAB staff
Former Radio & Records Washington Bureau Chief Jeffrey Yorke has joined the NAB Corporate Communications Department. He’ll be dealing with RBR and other publications as Director of Media Relations.
“I’ve known Jeffrey for many years and I think he will be a big asset to the department in many areas, including media outreach and internal industry communications,” said Dennis Wharton, Sr. VP of Corporate Communications.
RBR Observation: We too have known Jeffrey for many years and look forward to working with him. Congratulations to NAB on a great hire.
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Transactions
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$18,750,000 WKFT-TV Fayetteville NC. 100% of Capital Broadcasting Partners (Cy N. Bahakel et al) from Bahakel Communications Ltd. to Univision Television Group Inc. (N:UVN) (A. Jerrold Perenchio, chmn/pres/CEO). $1.5M escrow, balance in cash at closing. Price will be increased to include expenditures to build station's digital TV plant. Broker: Media Venture Partners (seller).
$547,000 KSXZ-FM CP Missoula (Pinesdale MT) from Idaho Broadcasting Consortium Inc. (Frederic W. Constant) to Fisher Radio Regional Group Inc., (Larry Roberts, pres), a subsidiary of The Fisher Companies (O:FSCI). $20K deposit, balance in cash at closing. Price is $450K plus total amount of IBC expenditures toward building station not to exceed $97K so it is possible final cost will be less than total published at the beginning of this item. Superduopoly with KZOQ-FM, KGGL-FM, KXDR-FM, KYLT-AM and KGRZ-AM. CP is for Class C on 106.7 mHz. LMA since 8/27.
$160,000 WJKM-AM Hartsville TN from Twenty Five Inc. (William J. Krejci Jr.) to G & L Aircasters Inc. (Gary W. & Lisa C. Frank). $42.5K advance payment, balance in cash at closing. However, both parties have agreed to try to sell the real estate associated with the station. If sold before closing, price up to $70K will be applied to purchase. If sold for more than $70K prior to closing, parties will split excess. Seller can veto deal for $56K or less.
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Industry Jobs
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Cumulus Media is seeking Market Manager for Southeast Coastal Market
Live at the beach, work with the best. Experienced in recruiting top notch people, driving revenue, controlling expenses and collecting your money? If you have what it takes to manage a multi-station cluster rush your resume to
Jon Pinch c/o Cumulus Media
3535 Piedmont Rd.
Building 14, Floor 14,
Atlanta, GA 30305.
[email protected]
More jobs..
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