The Untold Story of the Cumulus/EMF Sale

I thought Cumulus was between a rock and a hard place.

The “victory lap” and turnaround that they are selling this week is far from that.  In fact, Cumulus is still in a precarious position unless it gets to choose its own facts.

That they were forced to sell iconic WPLJ-FM, New York and other major market properties to EMF for a lot less than they were worth is not the win-win they are trying to sell the public. 

Who calls selling major market stations a win-win when you essentially vacate a market?

After all, they must have needed the money to remain as a going concern.

Cumulus sold those valuable assets for virtually nothing not to keep operating or investing in future businesses as they tried to spin it to the public.

You could almost forgive and understand that.

Mary could now use the proceeds to fund her wall – I mean, her podcasting business.

But it’s worse.

Is Mary Berner even still calling the shots?

Remember this name – Paul Stone. 

Where is the $103.5 million EMF check really going?

Are more Cumulus stations being readied for sale?

Read the full article now

Entercom Labor Troubles

  • Here is the employee lawsuit that David Field should fear the most – and it’s being considered.
  • Details on a disturbing firing allegedly designed to get the union’s attention.
  • How Entercom is trying to pushback unions in 50 markets.
  • How the feared “messing” with his moneymaking all-news stations has begun.
  • What radical severance cuts Entercom is trying to impose.
  • What about digital?
  • Union fears on outsourcing revealed.

Read the full article now

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Lew & John Dickey and I will be together on stage at the 2019 Conclave in Minneapolis June 20thin a wide ranging and deadly honest conversation about what happened at Cumulus and where the future of the radio industry is – obviously, it’s not working for companies that can’t fire people fast enough.  We will talk about growth opportunities for radio people in the new modern media.  Details here.

The Westwood One Sale Attempt Revealed

  • There is an offer on the table right now involving Westwood One – here are the details.
  • Westwood parent Cumulus reportedly wants to sell -- what they want in return.
  • Why one prospective buyer is now going over Mary Berner’s head to get the deal done.
  • How many other Westwood One buyers are making their move.
  • How Westwood has started to consolidate operations detailed – first word on offices to be closed.

Read the full article 

Compare monthly vs annual subscriptions here

Report news in confidence here.

Lew & John Dickey and I will be together on stage at the 2019 Conclave in Minneapolis June 20thin a wide ranging and deadly honest conversation about what happened at Cumulus and where the future of the radio industry is – obviously, it’s not working for companies that can’t fire people fast enough.  We will talk about growth opportunities for radio people in the new modern media.  Details here.

Spotify & Apple vs. Radio for Hitmaking

At the end of 2018 there were 278 million paid subscribers to streaming services according to The MIDIA Research Global Music Forecasts.

And many more users who listen through free ad-supported options.

Nielsen says free terrestrial radio reaches 270 million people per week.

The radio industry claims radio is the number one source for music discovery although anyone with children or who work with Millennials will have a hard time with that claim.

We hear a lot about that special relationship between radio and the record labels being over now in the era of streaming music services such as but not limited to Spotify and Apple.

So, the question is – which is more critical for breaking new hits?

Radio?

Or streaming music services and playlists?

Now we have the answer based on data including every song that broke either the top 50 on Spotify or radio according to Billboard dating back to the week of December 29, 2016.

  • How many weeks does it take radio compared to Spotify to break a new hit record – the evidence is in.
  • What curated playlists mean to Spotify and streaming music services and how they work.
  • Does a song last longer on radio or Spotify?
  • Does radio work simultaneously with Spotify or separate from it in exposing hits?
  • Which genre gets the fastest traction when exposed to today’s hitmaking process.
  • What is the main new role of radio airplay?

Read the full article now

How the Internet Impacts Radio Time Spent Listening

Lori Lewis and Chadd Callahan’s outstanding annual collaboration “This Is What Happens In An Internet Minute” gives an accurate and sobering snapshot of how we – and our audiences – live in the digital world.

Interestingly, Nielsen either doesn’t have or will not release radio listening statistics to offer a comparison.

There are trends that are important – some of them startling:

  • The state of concerns about privacy based on actual metrics.
  • Is Facebook fading?
  • The first real read on Stories, the Instagram feature that owner Facebook bet heavily on in which users can easily produce their own content.
  • Paid subscriptions for video, audio and music – how does this vie for consumer attention.
  • The relationship between consumers and their smart devices.
  • Attitudes about bots and building stronger relationships with our friends.

Radio used to compete with TV and maybe one or two other mediums. 

Here’s what the competition for attention looks like every 60 seconds in the era of social media and mobile connectivity.

Read the full article now

SiriusXM’s Aggressive Expansion Plans

In the early 90’s – just ahead of consolidation – radio executives were suspicious of the two satellite radio monopolies authorized by the feds.

They thought pay radio with a no-commercial option could really hurt them.

It tuned out they were worried about the wrong thing.

Sirius merged with XM and somehow CEO Mel Karmazin talked the DOJ into believing that this wasn’t a monopoly and Liberty rescued Mel just before they showed him the door.

Satellite radio is a good cash flow business that no one under 45 will continue to pay for and they know it.

They have aggressive expansion plans that specifically target terrestrial radio.

  • What are their plans for iHeart?
  • What’s the present status of their move to control iHeart stations? Is it definite?
  • Who will run all the assets?
  • The untold disruption ahead as a satellite company also runs a terrestrial radio group for the first time – some examples.
  • What happens to iHeart’s 850+ stations under SiriusXM – a preview.
  • What other acquisitions is SiriusXM eying?

Read the full article now

The Next Cumulus Markets to be Sold

Not one of my current NYU students knows what WPLJ is.

It is true that they come from a generation that has never been without Napster, music piracy, iTunes, iPods and, of course, streaming.

So, they have no horse in the race that an iconic and technically superior radio signal is being sold off to Educational Media Foundation (EMF) to turn into a religious station.

I still can’t believe Mary Berner went there.

Selling WPLJ, all but eviscerating DC, trading stations with Entercom to cut costs.

Sure doesn’t sound like someone who wants to remain in the radio business.

And now, it appears the Cumulus auction is not finished and other markets may soon become available for purchase.

  • Which 2 markets are thought to be next?
  • Is EMF in the equation or are there other value buyers stepping forward?
  • What is the time frame for the next round of Cumulus station sales?
  • Why one of these markets will be a tough call because it is a cash cow that helps revenue but can get them a big payday – weighing the factors.
  • Are they done selling super signals like WPLJ – in other words, was PLJ a one-off?

Read the full article now

Westwood One Bombshell

Since Cumulus, owner of syndicator/network Westwood One went into bankruptcy rumors have surfaced that Westwood One is for sale.

It appears any attempt to sell Westwood One fell short of a decent offer so the company plunders on with an asset some believe they would rather monetize for their lenders by selling.

And yet it appears something major is up with Westwood One.

If not a sale – say to Entercom which would just about kill their stock price if they even tried – then what? 

  • The most likely solution that would leave affiliate stations in a quandary. 
  • A sale – not to the likely buyer Entercom, but to this company that is not on anyone’s radar.
  • Why keeping Westwood One is becoming untenable for Cumulus.
  • Where podcasting fits into the Cumulus Westwood One strategy. 
  • Why a frontal attack by this interested party could terminally drive what’s left of Westwood One’s value down. 

Read the full article now

Entercom’s Real Revenue Revealed

Now we know why David Field is letting analysts carry Entercom’s water on adjusted EBITDA and “assumed” synergies.

The real adjusted numbers belie reality which suggests that Entercom has already begun what could be a long spiral down.

Digging in to the reported numbers, actual performance of Entercom/CBS Radio is headed the wrong way and it suggests that lots of changes are coming or else this merger experiment is as good as over.

The market has been suspicious of the merger from almost day one as the reasons are becoming more apparent.

  • How the massive Entercom salary and expense cutbacks are factoring in to overall revenue using real numbers they reported.
  • Projection of real revenue for 2019 compared to the past few years.
  • How analysts fears about Entercom have come true.
  • The most pressing problem that Entercom must address quickly.
  • Will current levels of station operating expenses be retained or will there be reductions?

Read the full article now

Cumulus Financials Unpacked

Mary Berner is just like the other radio CEOs when it comes to putting lipstick on a pig.

She just does it with more enthusiasm.

The happy talk radio trade press picks up on this combination of carefully selected information and brute optimism without challenge to give Cumulus a pass.

These free passes are based on no specifics, details or quantifiable metrics that a sophisticated public media investor would ever wrap their arms around.

Things are worse there than Berner is letting on.

Revenue problems, EBITDA problems, digital future problems and the evidence is all there for those who know where to look deeper into their Q4 pre-release and investor deck filed in the 8-K.

It turns out to be a lot of half-truths and taking liberty with the numbers.

Here are the real Cumulus numbers unpacked.

  • The real Cumulus revenue figure and how they compare to the adjusted ones Mary Berner is selling.
  • What’s being thrown in to prop Cumulus performance up.
  • It’s right there in the numbers – the specific group of employees who will be taking the brunt of coming expense cuts.
  • What’s the impact of Berner’s podcasting initiative?
  • The expected effects of the sale of WPLJ and watering down major markets on revenue.

Read the full article now.

David Field’s Reboot of Entercom

Have you noticed recently that David Field has muzzled his criticism of CBS Radio and its employees who he acquired through the merger?

Where he seemingly and publicly blamed them for almost everything that went wrong on the assimilation of the two companies, he has now fallen silent.

It’s not an accident.

Entercom is in big trouble missing investors’ expectations, failing to perform up to company estimations and all of this as radio continues to battle declining ad revenue and searching for a solution to the digital puzzle.

It’s not your father’s Entercom anymore.

Or maybe it is – more like founder Joe Field’s company than the grandiose dream of his son, David.

In any case, Field has decided to shake it up and the Entercom that we will see is nothing like the bumbling company that screwed the CBS merger.

  • Will Field give up more control and rely on others to help turn around Entercom?
  • Where’s Weezie – does she keep doing “Where’s Waldo” or does she reemerge and if so, how does she help the reboot?
  • The all-news franchise is in trouble and it was one-third of CBS’s revenue, who comes in to straighten that out?
  • The SAG-AFTRA pissing match – the new David Field.
  • What new initiatives are coming to pick up lagging revenue?
  • The list of what gets rebooted – and what does not.

Read the full article now

The Cox Radio Apollo Acquisition

We know that Cox Media Group is selling off its TV division to the private equity firm Apollo Global Management. 

This includes 13 Cox television stations, a radio cluster in Dayton along with some publishing assets.

No so fast with the rumor that private equity firm Apollo will also roll up the remaining radio stations which are an integral part of TV and publishing.

There are other interested buyers. 

We also know Cox will not solely retain the radio assets so they are on the move, but because Cox is a well-run media company albeit in a declining media industry, there are some breathtaking possibilities beyond the obvious.

  • Some really good buyers don’t have a chance in hell, here are a few of them.
  • Cox is keeping a minority interest so they want a deal their way so the question is what is their way?
  • Why Cox Radio is in such demand when Cumulus is out selling off icons like WPLJ and essentially vacating New York and DC among other places they need to be.
  • What it will all come down to – and what’s fascinating is that price has very little to do with it. Here’s what it will take to win the 61 Cox Radio stations.

Read the full article now

The Next 4 Radio Bankruptcies

A few years ago we predicted the Cumulus and iHeart bankruptcies.

Few believed it then.  Pure speculation, they said.  Can’t be. And the companies denied it up and down until the bitter end.

Now we’re back with 4 more radio bankruptcies and the reasons why.

Obviously when these 4 radio groups file, it will have an adverse effect on the struggling radio industry.

  • Who are these 4 groups?
  • Why will they be forced to seek bankruptcy protection?
  • Which one has the best chance of maybe – just maybe, dodging it – but even then, no guarantees.
  • We’re warning you now, some of the names on this list are shockers.
  • The latest intel on each of the 4 companies and why they are headed down.

Read the full article now

Record Labels To Squeeze Radio Events

Headlines …

  • How record labels plan to disrupt radio’s live event business.
  • The 5 radio groups with the most to lose.
  • What the record labels now want from radio and what they are willing to give in return.
  • The new difficulties of using artists for live radio events.
  • Why, of all broadcasters, SiriusXM could be a surprise live event player.

Read the full article now.

The New Radio Business Model

  • The “new” number of spots per hour.
  • Where expenses will be cut beyond what’s happening today.
  • Where does programmatic buying fit in – and does it fit in?
  • Live and local will be replaced by a new approach that begins with a “P” – this is the replacement.
  • What is reverse digital – it’s coming to radio.

Read the full article now.

Entercom Debt Worries

  • How serious are Entercom’s debt problems?
  • What is behind yesterday’s big Entercom stock selloff?
  • Is it time to be concerned about the future of Entercom.
  • How much time does Entercom have to deal with debt (remember, both iHeart & Cumulus denied bankruptcy up to the end)?
  • What they will do to cut expenses further.

Read the full article now.

Google Targeting Radio

  • How Google has plans to go after broadcast radio.
  • How Google aims to amass audio content without paying for it and profiting from day one.
  • Why Apple, Amazon, Facebook/Instagram are likely to follow Google’s lead.
  • What these tech giants see in radio while radio is flirting with podcasting and digital.
  • How radio can stop Google in their tracks by changing its business model – here’s one to consider.

Read the full article now.

Cumulus Asset Sales

  • Here’s what’s up with Westwood One – plus two buyers who could steal the company.
  • Will Cumulus entertain offers for other WPLJ-type properties now that they’ve all but exited major markets New York & DC?
  • Besides religious broadcaster EMF, who are potential buyers for prime Cumulus assets?
  • The surprising answer to what happens to money made from selling iconic radio stations.
  • The surprising market Cumulus would love to sell off major stations.

Read the full article now.

The 9-year span of listeners that could save radio

  • The sweet spot – the next great group of people who are available now to provide great radio audience growth for the next 12 years.
  • How should a station target a super group this narrow?
  • What is the secret to unlocking their passion – it comes down to one word.
  • Does “narrow targeting” involve inventing entirely new formats or making critical adjustments to existing formats?
  • What are some major do’s and don’ts with which to get started.

Read the full article now.

Entercom’s Event Business in Question

  • The “new look” live events business shaping up under Entercom
  • Puzzling revenue numbers, revamping of what’s a live event
  • New practices and policies created largely by non-CBS people
  • How even Taylor Swift lays an egg for Entercom live events
  • Walking away from money – Entercom’s new strategy

Read the full article now.

The Sale of Westwood One

  • Did Cumulus try to sell Westwood One? Is it still trying?
  • What is Westwood now worth without major New York and DC stations to clear spots?
  • What it is likely to take to buy Westwood One at this point.
  • The best buyer for Westwood.
  • What happens to Westwood One should Cumulus enter a second bankruptcy?

Read the full article now.

Cox Radio

  • Now that the TV stations are sold, why selling part or all of Cox’s Radio division could be very complicated.
  • The kind of prices Cox will be seeking?
  • Who might have the greatest interest in Cox Radio?
  • What happens to Kim Guthrie?

Read the full article now.

Cumulus Without Major Markets

  • The effect of the Cumulus selloff on competitors
  • Will more stations be sold
  • What could make Cumulus giveaway WPLJ
  • The fate of WABC-AM
  • The selloff side effects on Westwood One 

Read the full article now.

The Cumulus Motive for Its $100 Million Selloff

How prophetic was Wednesday’s headline – “Cumulus Starting to Panic”?

Several hours after it was published Cumulus announced a $103.5 million sale of WPLJ-FM, New York, WYAY-FM, Atlanta, WRQX-FM, Washington, KFFG-FM, San Jose, WZAT-FM, Savannah and WXTL-FM, Syracuse – all FM stations for pennies on the dollar to the bottom feeder in radio acquisitions Educational Media Foundation (EMF).

And EMF gets towers or leases that will generate an additional $5-7 million in revenue.

Separately, Cumulus did a swap with Entercom in which Cumulus gets three Indianapolis stations in exchange for Nash-FM in New York (Newark, NJ) and two stations in Springfield, MA.

Cumulus CEO Mary Berner said “These transactions are consistent with our portfolio optimization strategy and both deals are accretive,” as her nose grew.

And Entercom CEO David Field apparently crossed his fingers and toes when he said “We are saddened to part ways with our colleagues in Indianapolis, but know that they will be in great hands.”

Huh?

Great hands?

Cumulus is so desperate it is selling off pieces for scrap to give long suffering lenders recovery value. 

How would Field like to work on the Titanic.

You don’t need to be reminded of what the decision to sell major markets means to a radio company.

And nowhere in all this is their reference to the many jobs lost, the lies told, careers ruined all by a CEO who made her employees believe that it was the previous regime that was toxic.

Cumulus in effect announcing it is weakening itself, selling majors and running from the radio business is just the beginning of the story, here are 7 key ramifications no one dares to mention. 

Read the full article now.

Cumulus Starting to Panic

An entirely new way to run the company.

A different approach to handling employees.

A warning that as Berner begins to sweat, sudden and unusual actions will be taken to preserve her job.

Unthinkable changes just a year ago are now back on the table.

And there’s Mike McVay. 

Read the full article now.

Lew Dickey’s Altered Plan for Radio

We know Lew Dickey’s first acquisition for his new company.

Akazoo, the emerging markets music streaming service that has been profitable for the last 7 plus years and is uniquely positioned to take advantage of “glocalism”, the complex business of appealing to local musical tastes.

And we know he’s rumored to be kicking tires at TuneIn, the struggling radio streaming site that is looking for a buyer. TuneIn would easily eclipse Entercom’s Radio.com and include podcasting and music streaming at more favorable music rates.

So, what about radio?

Is Lew Dickey over it or does he have a plan to buy radio stations?

A lot of things have altered plans in recent weeks with Dickey having what every other radio group wants – a real digital platform.

Where is he on wanting what theyhave – a radio group?

Read the full article now.

What’s Wrong with the Grammys

Here we go again.

Did you watch the Grammys? Did it suck? 

Are you pissed that Arianna Grande did not participate or was she right to join the artists who are saying no to showcase performances?

Wasn’t Lady Gaga great?

Does it matter.

The Grammys are a lightning rod for what is right and wrong in the music/media space.

And every picture tells a story if you don’t mind me borrowing a phrase from an album of the glory days --- they were the glory days, right?

An industry that no longer needs radio airplay and is being attacked by at least one of the streaming music services that helped it turn in another profitable year seems to thrive on disruption. 

Read the full article now.

Connected Cars & Smart Speakers

Read the full article now.

  1. The car radio is still very much available in today’s autos – so why is radio losing car time to mobile content.
  2. Streaming music playlists are cutting into on-air listening – how does radio fight thousands of playlists some with as many as 8 million listeners a day?
  3. Consumers keep paying for satellite radio in record numbers but few Millennials will pay for it – where does this leave free radio.
  4. AM is being taken out of cars – what are the ramifications for thousands of AM stations that are increasingly excluded from the connected car.
  5. Radio is losing share to popular in-home smart speakers – how to gain it back.

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The Deloitte Radio Study

There are some pretty amazing assertions in this year’s Deloitte media study.

Deloitte is one of the big four accounting organizations and the largest professional services network in the world so it’s not nothing when they pool information and publish reports.

Audiences will soon prefer radio over TV.

And how radio can survive by just being “there”.

And we’re not making this stuff up even though it seems Deloitte is way out on a limb.

But the most fascinating and perhaps revealing aspect of this Big Four accounting group’s state of the media has to do with where djs rank among the top ten reasons to listen to radio.

That’s worth unpacking because as it turns out, this finding actually tells a lot about the future of radio.

And also, the most popular thing about radio today that most people even in radio don’t know.

Read the full article now.

The Increasing Threat of SiriusXM

I have a contentious but glorious relationship with one of my readers, a portfolio manager who just loves everything SiriusXM does.

So, he takes me to task and I dish it right back.

Example of his prose about my critical SiriusXM comments: “You keep saying that and they keep putting up numbers unlike your radio shit crowd. And unlike radio, they are pivoting hard and are really good at digital, marketing, a wide breadth of content, sports etc. I might be old..but you are radio and old! :)”

I’m not used to being accused of being a radio apologist so you can see why this is so intriguing.

I mention my friend because he serves as a great introduction to today’s piece on the increasing influence of his favorite media company.

One scenario is they totally disrupt radio and leave it permanently injured.  And then there’s the other – that SiriusXM and all the media companies it is acquiring collapses under its own weight. 

God knows the “love letter” I’m going to get after this story.

Read the full article now.

Entercom’s Manager Problem

At the time of the merger, David Field was so anxious to offload CBS salaries higher than he was paying any of his Entercom employees that he pushed CBS to start doing it even before the merger officially closed.

Remember?

Andre Fernandez and Scott Herman were pressured to keep Field happy and as it turns out tried to talk David out of blowing things up even more interestingly enough acting like the adults in the room.

Field got his way and when he took over, he had no one to stop him.  Nine qualified and highly compensated CBS managers lined up and fired from the get go. 

Field has another big personnel problem but what he’s planning to do now can no longer be blamed on CBS. 

Read the full article now.

The Sale of TuneIn

  1. It appears one or more radio-related companies may be interested in buying TuneIn streaming music service – here are the potential contenders.
  2. The acquisition of TuneIn could instantly turn one of a handful of radio-only companies around on a dime – here’s why.
  3. SiriusXM just now closed on its acquisition of Pandora, a much larger player than TuneIn – now could SiriusXM be a serious bidder for TuneIn?
  4. Entercom took possession of Radio.com in the CBS merger – are they in for TuneIn?
  5. Doomsday scenario – if this radio buyer winds up with TuneIn it could be lights out for Cumulus’ digital hopes and a total disruption of the radio industry – here’s why that’s a real possibility.

Read the full article now.

Cumulus Valuation Using “Clean” Numbers

To be really honest, no one knows what Cumulus is worth.

In fact, the new board of directors doesn’t even know because their CEO is using adjusted accounting figures (as other failing radio groups are doing) so they can’t see whether Cumulus is coming back strong or whether its insufficiencies are being covered up.

The bankruptcy court assigned a value to Cumulus when it emerged earlier last year and that’s it.

When I ask people familiar with Cumulus and with extensive background running radio companies to cut through the window dressing and get down to a fair value for Cumulus something strange happens.

Here are the clean numbers.

Read the full article now.

The Future of Distressed Radio

Nobody is making money in radio.

Unless you accept the new digital reality, radio’s impressive reach and free cash flow stream will no longer be enough to both pay debt and post significant profits.

Radio stations are becoming distressed properties.

That’s why it seems like almost every station is on the market right now with no buyers and fewer lenders.

Is this the time to buy into radio?

Read the full article now.

Cumulus CEO Search

From the beginning of the Mary Berner regime there has been talk about if it could even be possible that a former publishing executive could turn around Cumulus Media.

She had no radio background and her time at Reader’s Digest was marked by two bankruptcies, one that she initiated and one that the board reluctantly refiled after she failed to turn the publishing giant around.

But Berner has lasted long enough to have her employment contract renewed, bonuses paid even with bankruptcy looming and a generous golden parachute agreed upon should she leave the employment of Cumulus.

And that’s the big question – will Berner stay or will she go?

One radio CEO has been IDed at reportedly pitching it and something appears to be up with the board.

Read the full article now.

Entercom on Hold

If one thing best describes Entercom since its merger with CBS Radio, it is shrinkage.

David Field’s promised EBITDA to Wall Street was and is nowhere near $400 million.

It’s hard to deny that CBS Radio is a mere shadow of its former self.

An estimated $60 million in cutbacks with approximately $40 million is coming.

Shrinkage.

This is starting to feel like an episode of Seinfeld.

Except David Field just blinked.

Read the full article now.

iHeart’s Bankruptcy Secret

I get that Bob Pittman has the credibility of a snake oil salesman.

But employees and anyone investing in or doing business with iHeart going forward are in for a big letdown and financial uncertainty.

Yes, the company is coming out of bankruptcy in a few months but as you’re about to read today all the company spin about a new iHeart is not going to happen.

Turns out Bain and iHeart made a big mistake and they are about to pay for it.

You wouldn’t admit this publicly, either, would you?

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            Lew Dickey’s New Non-radio Company

            iHeart’s Suitors

            #1 in Billboard with No Radio Airplay

            The Changing Station Buying/Selling Market

            Beasley’s Financial Troubles

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Lew Dickey just bought a little-known digital company. Now his former radio competitors should be concerned.

They have radio burdened with debt. He just bought a digital streamer that has no debt and has made money from day 1.  They need what he’s having.  Does Dickey need radio?

Read more >>

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Fake Local is about to be replaced by personalized radio

Owners are on board with a new type of cost-cutting with a name (personalized radio) that seems as sacred as The Patriot Act.  What are they hiding?

Read more >>

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The end of bankruptcy, the beginning of uncertainty at iHeart

To hear Bob Pittman tell it, they’ve survived bankruptcy and it is back to business as usual in a few more months.  For a guy who frequently enhances the truth, is he telling it this time?

Read more >>

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#1 in Billboard with no radio airplay

This is a bad precedent that caught the radio industry sleeping at the wheel.  Study the way this unknown artist just recently went to the top of the album 200 without airplay or for that matter actual album sales.  Then don’t let it happen again because the record industry is watching.

 Read more >>

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“Fake Local” is about to be replaced by “personalized” radio. What’s that?

Today’s topics …

“Fake Local” is about to be replaced by “personalized” radio.  What’s that?

The end of bankruptcy, the beginning of uncertainty at iHeart

#1 in Billboard with NO radio airplay – how is this even possible?

Everything is for sale in radio.  So where are the buyers?

The reason John Malone has to have iHeart.  It’s not for radio

Why Wall Street is hating on Beasley

Subscribers access all stories here.

Try a monthly or annual subscription here.

The end of bankruptcy, the beginning of uncertainty at iHeart

Today’s topics …

The end of bankruptcy, the beginning of uncertainty at iHeart

#1 in Billboard with NO radio airplay – how is this even possible?

Everything is for sale in radio.  So where are the buyers?

The reason John Malone has to have iHeart.  It’s not for radio

Why Wall Street is hating on Beasley

Lew Dickey’s new company has a change of plans

Subscribers access all stories here.

Try a monthly or annual subscription here.

#1 in Billboard with NO radio airplay – how is this even happening?

Today’s topics …

Everything is for sale in radio. So where are the buyers?

The reason John Malone has to have iHeart.  It’s not for radio

Why Wall Street is hating on Beasley

Lew Dickey’s new company has a change of plans

Liberty wants to add 2 more media mergers to the iHeart takeover

CEOs publicly talk up radio’s future but secretly look to diversify

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Everything is for sale in radio. So where are the buyers?

Today’s topics …

Everything is for sale in radio.  So where are the buyers?

The reason John Malone has to have iHeart.  Its not for the radio

Why Wall Street is hating on Beasley

Lew Dickey’s new company has a change of plans

Liberty wants to add 2 more media mergers to the iHeart takeover

CEOs publicly talk up radio’s future but secretly look to diversify

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The reason John Malone has to have iHeart. It’s not for the radio

Today’s topics …

The reason John Malone has to have iHeart.  It’s not for radio

Why Wall Street is hating on Beasley

Lew Dickey’s new company has a change of plans

Liberty wants to add 2 more media mergers to the iHeart takeover

CEOs publicly talk up radio’s future but secretly look to diversify

Are any radio groups safe?  These 3 are bullet proof

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Why Wall Street is hating on Beasley

Today’s topics …

Lew Dickey’s new company has a change of plans

Liberty wants to add 2 more media mergers to the iHeart takeover

CEOs publicly talk up radio’s future but secretly look to diversify

Are any radio groups safe?  These 3 are bullet proof

Entercom really is in trouble and, yes, David Field could even lose the company

Cumulus is now onboarding new people to fire a large number of existing employees

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Lew Dickey’s new company has a change of plans

Today’s topics …

Lew Dickey’s new company has a change in plans

Liberty wants to add 2 more media mergers to the iHeart takeover

CEOs publicly talk up radio’s future but secretly look to diversify

Are any radio groups safe?  These 3 are bullet proof

Entercom really is in trouble and, yes, David Field could even lose the company

Cumulus is now onboarding new people to fire a large number of existing employees

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Liberty wants to add 2 more media mergers to the iHeart takeover

Today’s topics …

Liberty wants to add 2 more media mergers ti the iHeart takeover

CEOs publicly talk up radio’s future but secretly look to diversify

Are any radio groups safe?  These 3 are bullet proof

Entercom really is in trouble and, yes, David Field could even lose the company

Cumulus is now onboarding new people to fire a large number of existing employees

While Cumulus was pivoting to digital, Westwood One just got hit with major defections

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CEOs publicly talk up radio’s future but secretly look to diversify

Today’s topics …

CEOs publicly talk up radio’s future but secretly look to diversify

Are any radio groups safe?  These 3 are bullet proof

Entercom really is in trouble and, yes, David Field could even lose the company

Cumulus is now onboarding new people to fire a large number of existing employees

While Cumulus was pivoting to digital, Westwood One just got hit with major defections

The 80’s infusion – is adding more 80’s music working out

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Are any radio groups safe? These 3 are bullet proof

Today’s topics …

Are any radio groups safe? These 3 are bullet proof

Entercom really is in trouble and, yes, David Field could even lose the company

Cumulus Is now onboarding new people to fire a large number of existing employees

While Cumulus was pivoting to digital, Westwood One just got hit with major defections

The 80’s infusion – is adding more 80’s music working out?

Townsquare’s demise – what it means

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Entercom really is in trouble and, yes, David Field could even lose the company

Today’s topics …

Entercom really is in trouble and, yes, David Field could even lose the company

Cumulus is now onboarding new people to fire a large number of existing employees

While Cumulus was pivoting to digital, Westwood One just got hit with major defections

The 80’s Infusion – is adding more 80’s music working out?

Townsquare’s demise – what it means

Liberty Media’s iHeart play

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Cumulus is now onboarding new people to fire a large number of existing employees

Today’s topics …

Cumulus is now onboarding new people to fire a large number of existing employees

While Cumulus was pivoting to digital, Westwood One just got hit with major defections

The 80’s infusion – is adding more 80’s music working out

Townsquare’s demise – what it means

Liberty Media’s iHeart play

Radio predictions for 2019

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While Cumulus was pivoting to digital, Westwood One just got hit with major defections

Today’s topics …

While Cumulus was pivoting to digital, Westwood One just got hit with major defections

First look at how adding more 80’s music is affecting listeners

Townsquare’s Demise – What it means

Liberty Media’s iHeart play

What radio will look like by December

Soft AC “Breeze” projected ratings

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The 80’s Infusion – Is Adding More 80’s Music Working Out

Today’s topics …

The 80’s Infusion – Is Adding More 80’s Music Working Out

Townsquare’s Demise – What It Means

Liberty Media’s iHeart Play

Radio Predictions for 2019

Soft AC “Breeze” Projected Ratings

Entercom News & Sports Downsizing

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Townsquare’s Demise – What It Means

Today’s topics …

Townsquare’s Demise – What It Means

Liberty Media’s iHeart Play

Radio Predictions for 2019

Soft AC “Breeze” Projected Ratings

Entercom News & Sports Downsizing

Alpha Media’s Selloff Plan

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Radio Should Be Very Afraid of Liberty Media

Beasley, Cumulus, Townsquare and even Entercom have the most to lose because Liberty isn’t just looking to takeover iHeart, it’s thinking even bigger.

Read more >>

_________________________________________________________________________

Scary Predictions for 2019

80% came true last year so what’s ahead for a music performance tax, Mary Berner, Lew Dickey, The Breeze, Entercom’s comeback, 3 groups resorting to auctioning stations, podcasting, voice-activated listening and Spotify. 

Read more >>

_________________________________________________________________________

Projected Ratings of Soft AC “Breeze” Format

PDs tracking early meter results show “The Breeze” is killing it.  But unfortunately, Air Supply and friends appear to be killing the wrong thing.

Read more >>

_________________________________________________________________________

Entercom’s Salary Dump

David Field promised Wall Street Entercom would save $110 million in shared expenses after the CBS merger.  As 2019 starts, he’s only half way there.  As revenue declines, this promises to get ugly.

 Read more >>

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Radio Predictions for 2019

Today’s topics …

           Radio Predictions for 2019

           Soft AC “Breeze” Projected Ratings

           Alpha Media’s Selloff Plan

           Entercom’s Salary Dump

           Deep Personnel Cuts for 2019

           Cumulus Digital Concerns

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Tom Taylor’s Retirement

Every morning when I awake, the first thing I do is reach for my iPad and scroll to open Tom Taylor Now.

Today is significant because it marks the last day Tom will ply his trade.

Now that he is retiring, I can tell some tales out of school about my friend and former associate.

When we worked together at Inside Radio, Bill Moyes did his yearly research project as usual but this particular year, we asked him to test what would happen if we stopped publishing the printed issue and started delivering news daily by – are you ready – a fax machine?

The results were predictable. 

After all, who would really want to read their radio news on thermal fax paper which was prevalent at the time – before the onset of the Internet.

Tom and I and Steve Butler, Kyle Ruffin and Christine Burke digested the research results and I drove Bill to the airport.

But when I returned to our Cherry Hill, NJ office, Tom was the first person I encountered.

He looked me in the eye with a twinkle and said “we’re going to do it, aren’t we”?

My memory of the moment was to fumble and say something stupid like “why would we risk losing all our subscribers to do a faxed publication” to which I remember Tom repeating “we’re going to do it” almost as if he would have been disappointed if I had said no.

We did it.

He did it, really.

One human dynamo found a way to come up with four pages of news everyday in an era when radio people were for R&Rto be delivered overnight or the other printed trades to arrive.

Our competitors hesitated for years giving Inside Radiothe advantage and some tried to hire Tom away.

This was a rehearsal for radio publications in the Internet era in which Tom had developed all the advantages and he thrived.

Over the past six years, Tom, Robert Unmacht and Kristy Scott published the must-read daily Tom Taylor Now.

Tom blended his curiosity with humor and humility – a great advocate of radio but not blind to radio’s challenges.

He loves radio people and they love him – it’s evident in everything he writes.

Tom was not among the trade press happy talkers who sold their soul for an ad or an interview – the publications that I made fun here in this space.

Respectful of advertisers and grateful, but he didn’t let them influence his reporting in any way.

That’s saying a lot in an industry of spin doctors, promotional experts and eventually powerful consolidated companies.

Tom wanted to be fair and in all his iterations he always succeeded.

Now, Tom is retiring.

You have to keep in mind that it may take only 5-7 minutes to read radio news but it takes all day and sometimes well into the night to gather it. 

Tom is an antiques buff.  He’ll now have time to pursue his other passion and spend more time with his sainted wife, Sharan without whom he could not have devoted such passion to such monumental tasks.

I’ve have had the honor of working with Tom, the horror of having to compete against him and respect for how Tom Taylor has handled a daunting task with grace, professionalism and conviction.

I hate to see him go, but I am grateful to have known him, called him a friend and now get to see his well-earned next act in a life well-lived in an industry so grateful to have felt his reassuring presence.

Comment on this story for publication by scrolling down to “comment” (public) or send your thoughts for my eyes only not for publication.  I value your input, wisdom and opinions and respond to every email that you write to me personally.

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Soft AC “Breeze” Projected Ratings

Today’s topics …

         Soft AC “Breeze” Projected Ratings

         Alpha Media’s Selloff Plan

         Entercom’s Salary Dump

         Deep Personnel Cuts for 2019

         Cumulus Digital Concerns

         Auditioning for Mary Berner’s Job

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Entercom News & Sports Downsizing

Today’s topics …

          Entercom News & Sports Downsizing

          Alpha Media’s Selloff Plan

          Entercom’s Salary Dump

          Deep Personnel Cuts for 2019

          Cumulus Digital Concerns

          Auditioning for Mary Berner’s Job

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Alpha Media’s Selloff Plan

Today’s topics …

Alpha Media’s Selloff Plan

Entercom’s Salary Dump

Deep Personnel Cuts for 2019

Cumulus Digital Concerns

Auditioning for Mary Berner’s Job

iHeart’s Misleading Bankruptcy

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Entercom’s Salary Dump Begins

The unspoken reason why David Field is now pushing full speed ahead with millions in expected personnel firings.

The brutal firing of key WBEB, Philly PD Chuck Knight and why Entercom is willing to risk a ratings collapse to please Field who lives in the market.

Entercom’s new war on CBS employees – the ugly story of a major market CBS programming talent being chopped to save salary.

How low will David Field go to cut program directors’ salaries?   From a source:  a word-for-word revealing account of how little Field expects to pay some major market PDs.

Read more …  

Preview the Deep Personnel Cuts for 2019

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Subscribers will read …

  • The radio group most likely to lead 2019 personnel cuts.
  • Another group most that could seriously reduce its employee costs by a whopping 50%.
  • The one job you don’t want to have in radio because it’s going to get hit the hardest.
  • Which of these groups will not survive an economic downturn: Townsquare, Cumulus, Alpha Media, Entercom or iHeart?  Don’t be so sure you know.  One of them is a shocker.
  • Plans to cut up to $60 million in cost synergies from this radio company that may surprise.

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The Cumulus Digital Contradiction
Auditioning for Mary Berner's Job
The Cumulus WGN Rumors
iHeart's Bankruptcy Ball
Half of Radio’s Workforce To Be Laid Off
Liberty Media’s Brilliant iHeart Strategy

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The Cumulus Digital Contradiction

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If you’ve been thinking about joining our group and would like to access this story, here’s what you will read …

  • How Cumulus is slashing digital even as it is publicly touting it as the key to its turnaround. 
  • We’ve got a list of digital VPs and employees who are leaving – and a big name that hasn’t announced it publicly yet. 
  • How one critical Cumulus market stands to lose $2 million when its Digital VP exits stage left December 31st. 
  • The role of Dave Milner in eradicating digital simultaneously as his boss talks it up.

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Auditioning for Mary Berner's Job
The Cumulus WGN Rumors
iHeart's Bankruptcy Ball
Half of Radio’s Workforce To Be Laid Off
Liberty Media’s Brilliant iHeart Strategy  

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Auditioning for Mary Berner’s Job

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  • The name of a radio exec everybody knows who reportedly has been secretly pitching the Cumulus CEO gig for years – still. 
  • And the over/under that the Cumulus board will hire him.
  • Plus Berner’s new thinking about spot ad revenue that is scaring account execs.
  • And why Cumulus can no longer either buy or sell stations without wrecking the company.

A new subscription also unlocks these full articles …    

The Cumulus WGN Rumors
iHeart's Bankruptcy Ball
Half of Radio’s Workforce To Be Laid Off
Liberty Media’s Brilliant iHeart Strategy  
The Fraudulent iHeart Bankruptcy
Berner: Everything Is For Sales

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The Cumulus WGN Rumors

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  • She’s kidding, right? But Mary Berner is not denying the rumor Cumulus is interested in WGN. 
  • What’s really going on with the Cumulus WGN rumors. 
  • What’s just changed at Cumulus that is making the group look like a station builder.
  • What Bob Pittman has to do with the purchase of WGN.
  • Why Chicago and why a station with predominantly older listeners.

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iHeart's Bankruptcy Ball
Half of Radio’s Workforce To Be Laid Off
Liberty Media’s Brilliant iHeart Strategy
The Fraudulent iHeart Bankruptcy
Berner: Everything Is For Sales
Cumulus Blows Up Detroit

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iHeart’s Bankruptcy Ball

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  • The employee housecleaning that follows the end of bankruptcy and how it will likely unfold despite the circus atmosphere surrounding this process.
  • Tuesday’s bankruptcy court confirmation of iHeart’s bankruptcy plan has been postponed at the request of iHeart – what does that mean?
  • Why iHeart’s Pittman can’t just have a serious bankruptcy instead turning it into a promotional event.
  • Is the bankruptcy outcome assured or not in light of recent developments?
  • The one thing that is certain is what iHeart will look like – stations, markets, personnel once bankruptcy is concluded. Take a peek.

A new subscription also unlocks these full articles …     

Half of Radio’s Workforce To Be Laid Off
Liberty Media’s Brilliant iHeart Strategy
The Fraudulent iHeart Bankruptcy 
Berner: Everything Is For Sales
Cumulus Blows Up Detroit
The Death of Live & Local

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Half of Radio’s Workforce To Be Laid Off

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  • There have been layoffs for over a decade, why is the worst yet to come now? 
  • The time period over which a whopping 50% workforce reduction will take place industry-wide. 
  • Which operators are least likely to resort to halving their existing staff? 
  • Will it apply to markets 75 and smaller?
  • Beyond dropping spot revenue, what are the things that are forcing owners to cut half of their employees? 
  • And the big question, what will radio look and sound like once their cost synergies have been enacted.

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Liberty Media’s Brilliant iHeart Strategy
The Fraudulent iHeart Bankruptcy
Berner: Everything Is For Sales
Cumulus Blows Up Detroit
The Death of Live & Local
The Threat of SiriusXM
Bankrupt iHeart’s $80 Million in Bonuses

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Liberty Media’s Brilliant iHeart Strategy

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  • How Liberty Media’s John Malone has a lock on the iHeart bankruptcy not Bob Pittman and Bain.
  • Why an aging satellite company SiriusXM wants to own free radio that comes with its own aging problems.
  • But Liberty is not willing to pay more than $1 billion for iHeart -- how it plans to steal the company for pennies.
  • When Liberty got control of Sirius they went it alone without Mel Karmazin, remember?  If they could live without a master media operator like Karmazin, what happens to Pittman?  Turns out it’s complicated.
  • Okay, let’s just blurt this out – why does a smart guy like Malone want increasingly irrelevant media companies. Is it just low prices or does he know something other moguls don’t know. 

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The Fraudulent iHeart Bankruptcy
Berner: Everything Is For Sales
Cumulus Blows Up Detroit
The Death of Live & Local
The Threat of SiriusXM
Bankrupt iHeart’s $80 Million in Bonuses
Brutal Entercom Firing

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Berner: Everything is for Sale

CEO Mary Berner was in San Francisco last week meeting with employees and management.

The market is reportedly trending down 13% in the fourth quarter.

Dave Milner, the major market VP who is usually by her side on these visits was not with her.

Instead what followed according to employees who were there and talked on the condition of anonymity because they fear for their jobs was almost an acceptance on the part of Berner that anything could happen in the future.

This is in marked contrast to the public Mary Berner who speaks with the intensity of a motivational speaker as she assures and reassures employees that the future of Cumulus is secure.

The facts are closing in on Berner.

Just Friday Cumulus stock, which is outrageously high priced at $11, was being shorted by investors – 40,000 trades were conducted that day on a stock that usually trades only 13,000 shares on average.

A second bankruptcy is apparently baked in so that is probably not the reason investors are betting against Cumulus.

Berner’s admissions to some San Francisco employees suddenly took on new meaning because they were scary and revealing.

Read the full article now    

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Cumulus Blows Up Detroit

Read the full article now    

  1. Why Cumulus is willing to shoot its billing in the foot to save a salary.
  2. How the manager who exceeded Mary Berner’s expectations with the number one billing in the market wound up “re-tirefired”.
  3. Who the cheap frontrunner replacement reportedly being considered is and why employees derogatorily refer to him as “pee pants” reportedly because he’s so nervous.
  4. “Panic at the Frisco” – More intrigue in the Bay Area.
  5. How Berner intends to implement the Entercom (Bain) school of management.

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The Death of Live & Local

Tuesday 11 Hubbard firings in Chicago.

Yesterday another 11 in St. Louis.

Hear me out.

If Hubbard put out a news release that they had hired 22 MORE people instead of firing them, it would be seen as a positive sign of growth and stability.

To not see the mass firing of employees before the holidays can easily be seen for what it is.

Desperation.

But Hubbard is not alone.

New intelligence that I will share with you this morning indicates that radio groups are giving up on the concept of live and local and although they’ve been chipping away at it for years, something major has happened now to accelerate the process.

Read more >>

The Threat of SiriusXM

  • Radio’s nightmare from 25 years ago has come true – satellite radio is the future of traditional broadcasting.
  • What about digital where radio efforts are virtually non-existent – is it advantage SiriusXM?
  • Why 2019 will be the end of live and local terrestrial radio.
  • But SiriusXM has some dirty secrets that they don’t want its radio competitors to know.
  • How does a satellite service that doesn’t compete with radio for advertising and doesn’t offer its programming for free be the future of the radio industry?

Read more >>

The Next Radio Audience

  • The last Baby Boomer has moved past the 25-54 demographic so why are there so many stations doubling down on efforts to reach them?
  • Demographers reveal radio’s new target audience — one that is worth pursuing for a long time to come.
  • A warning about programming to Millennials and why radio can’t program to an entire generation.
  • Why this new “sweet spot” for radio could give birth to 6 or more innovative new formats that can drive new listening for the first time.
  • Surprising revelations about alt-rock and The Breeze (flanker adult contemporary format) — do they hit radio’s new desired demographic target?

Read more >>

Bankrupt iHeart’s $80 Million in Bonuses

iHeart is being pillaged even before it exits bankruptcy.

This is the story of Bob Pittman and 100 junior executives running off with the spoils to the tune of $82 million or more in future bonuses (not counting what was already awarded).

Publicly, Pittman is acquiring companies as if when iHeart emerges from bankruptcy current ownership will be around to manage the whole thing.

Privately, Pittman is planning an exit and the company is going to be sold but the real damage will be to the radio industry that remains.

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A new subscription also unlocks these full articles …

            Brutal Entercom Firing

            Pittman & Bressler’s Removal From iHeart

            Efficacy of iHeart’s New “Breeze” Format

            iHeart’s Troubling Bankruptcy Board

            Cumulus Closer to a 2nd Bankruptcy

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Brutal Entercom Firing

I get that things are bad in radio right now.

Employees treated like they are less than human while their bosses get all the benefits and respect that, by their performance, they don’t earn.

We get a lot of reports about mistreatment, toxic workplaces and abuse of power.

But the one you’ll read today is as bad as it gets and it’s from Entercom.

This harrowing treatment may be the new normal for today’s radio industry.

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A new subscription also unlocks these full articles …

            Pittman & Bressler’s Removal From iHeart

            Efficacy of iHeart’s New “Breeze” Format

            iHeart’s Troubling Bankruptcy Board

            Cumulus Closer to a 2nd Bankruptcy

            Dickey to Strike In 3 Weeks

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Pittman & Bressler’s Removal From iHeart

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            Efficacy of iHeart’s New “Breeze” Format

            iHeart’s Troubling Post-Bankruptcy Board

            Cumulus Closer to a 2nd Bankruptcy

            Dickey to Strike In 3 Weeks

            iHeart’s Secret Buyer

            $45 Million in Entercom Cutbacks Coming

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Efficacy of iHeart’s New “Breeze” Format

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            iHeart’s Troubling Post-Bankruptcy Board

            Cumulus Closer to a 2nd Bankruptcy

            Dickey to Strike In 3 Weeks

            iHeart’s Secret Buyer

            $45 Million in Entercom Cutbacks Coming

            The Alpha Bankruptcy

            Why Investors Keep Buying Entercom

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iHeart’s Troubling Post-Bankruptcy Board

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Cumulus Closer to a 2nd Bankruptcy

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Dickey To Strike In 3 Weeks

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  • What Lew Dickey’s new company is buying and you can take this to the bank.
  • The part Cumulus plays in all this
  • This is Lew’s first acquisition – what comes second?

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            iHeart’s Secret Buyer

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            The Alpha Bankruptcy

            Why Investors Keep Buying Entercom

            Apple/iHeart Investment Rumors

            Market Manager Sues Cumulus

            Alleged Sex Harassment/Disability Issues at Entercom

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YouTube Is the New Radio

Radio is certainly having its trouble attracting new audiences and sustaining advertisers.

Satellite radio, as we mentioned recently, looks better on paper than it does in reality.

An expensive paid subscription service that provides less music discovery than, say, Spotify, is never going to gain traction with Millennials and the Gen Z youth that follow.

Network TV long ago lost its luster with young people who now define TV with the words “Netflix” or “Hulu”.

Times have changed and in the midst of that change is a major reordering of media priorities that cannot be ignored.

  • YouTube is the new radio – This is not sudden.  It’s been happening for many years now although you’d have to be watching teenagers to see the power of YouTube developing.  If you have children – teenagers – then you know YouTube is as potent an instrument as television was when it came on the scene.  But the fact that a video app can also be replacing radio takes a little further understanding.
  • A replacement for talk radio?
  • Pirate radio on YouTube
  • YouTube as a radio with no video
  • YouTube “stars” 
  • Where does this leave the future of radio when radio doesn’t have a competitive model for IP delivered audio?

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iHeart’s Secret Buyer

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Another $45 Million in Entercom Cutbacks Coming

Summary

  • Revenue down 4% again, stock tanks to $6.85 – how CBS employees will pay with their jobs.
  • The only things that are working at Entercom were started by CBS – here’s the proof.
  • There is already a three-stage plan to start the cost savings – how it is spread out and when.
  • Things are so bad Entercom threatens to double down on the $110 million in cost synergies already promised.

Read more

The Alpha Bankruptcy

It appears that Alpha is headed for the junk heap.

Larry Wilson is out – his plan to grow a live and local radio company ran into the reality that he could never take Alpha public with a market increasingly disinterested in radio.

Yet there is a fascinating set of circumstances that could augur an outcome where the leading lender and the company employees could emerge better off than their founder. 

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            Sexual Harassment Allegations At Entercom

            Entercom’s Operational Problems

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Why Investors Keep Buying Entercom

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            Sexual Harassment Allegations At Entercom

            Entercom’s Operational Problems

            The Coming SiriusXM Meltdown

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Apple/iHeart Rumors

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            Radio Music Performance Fee Surprise

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Market Manager Stands Up Against Cumulus

INSIDE …

  1. If Cumulus employees don’t like Bob Walker and Dave Milner, they’re going to like them less after they read what happened to this Cumulus market manager.
  2. She’s suing and it’s ugly – details.
  3. Awarded, never written up, willing to take a pay cut but something happened where this market manager drew the line.
  4. Alleged verbal abuse so bad she wound up with PTSD – you be the judge.
  5. How this case against Cumulus is being built as employees are learning how to stand up to toxic workplace culture.
  6. The one thing you can never do at Cumulus not matter how good you are and still keep your job.
  7. How the names Lew and John Dickey and Gary Pizzati fit into all of this.

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Alleged Sexual Harassment & Disability Issues At Entercom

INSIDE …

  • How can Entercom afford to fire a $2 million biller when they are losing $25 million a quarter?
  • One who allegedly worked 16 hours many days and ran promotions because their Philly station was understaffed.
  • Details of the heart issues, stress and nervous breakdown that followed – how she pleaded for help and was denied.
  • The Entercom conference call that went wrong when two sales execs allegedly thought the phone connection with this employee had ended and what they proceeded to say about her behind her back not knowing she was still on the line. 
  • The reason for denying an alleged $27,000 bonus claim.
  • The way Entercom fired her immediately after a short disability extension.

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Entercom’s Emerging Problems

About $1.20 in additional losses and Entercom makes it to the $4 stock range.

That would be a catastrophic fall from $16 thanks to a CBS merger that shareholders didn’t like from the word go.

But with expected third quarter losses due to be made public soon, Entercom has so many problems that sooner or later everyone will see its real value or lack of it.

For Entercom to deliver on David Field’s merger promises, he would have to greatly outperform a radio industry that is also experiencing declining revenue.

To be fair this company is still in decent shape but another year like 2018 and Entercom will be in serious trouble.

Their emerging problems are major ones – cannot be ignored.

Wait until you hear about how their much-vaunted sports operation is being received in the sports world and some of the issues Field is trying to outrun.

He can work off this list.

Read the full article now.

SiriusXM Preparing For a Big Meltdown

What kind of b.s. is SiriusXM peddling these days?

They talk about the future like they have one, but satellite radio is ready for its big meltdown based on metrics, generational changes and the one new competitor they can’t even see coming after them.

I’ve got the weaknesses they are trying to cover up for you.

And you’ll be the first to know who is going to knock satellite radio off.

No, it isn’t terrestrial radio.  Come on.

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  1. There’s trouble ahead with paid subscriptions – the kind SiriusXM relies on for most of its revenue.  Here’s what kind of trouble they’d rather not talk about.
  2. Former SiriusXM CEO Mel Karmazin threatened to stop selling ads altogether.  Here’s why he said it and why they still can’t sell ads very successfully.
  3. The SiriusXM/Pandora merger – this is spooking Wall Street.  Seriously.  It’s seen as a drag on their stock.  Here’s why.
  4. The real value of SiriusXM is a relative secret, but Liberty Media boss John Malone knows what it is and is betting the future on something that I’ll bet you don’t even know. I didn’t – until now.
  5. That expected Liberty/Sirius takeover of iHeart from bankruptcy looks great on paper, but here’s why it is a horror show in reality.

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Dropping Entercom

A few days ago a major lender became the next to the last firm to stop coverage on Entercom.

Wells Fargo remains, but their former analyst Marci Ryvicker lost her job recently and some feel because she overstated Entercom’s upside.

David Field stubbornly refuses to acknowledge that he has blown the CBS merger integration and covers up critical problems that could turn Entercom into bankruptcy babies like Cumulus or iHeart.

As of yesterday, Entercom is now only $2.24 away from being a $4 stock (down from $16).

Now he’s about to make it worse.

Read the full article now.

The Hype Over Podcasting

What’s the big deal about podcasting?

It doesn’t make significant money.

Certainly not enough to make up for mounting radio revenue losses.

Podcasting actually hurts radio station billing.

These are facts.

So why are Bob Pittman, Mary Berner, Ginny Morris, David Field and others betting on podcasting?

Fate of CBS Radio Employees in 2019

DIG DEEPER …

  • Is Entercom finally done ridding itself of CBS employees?
  • What about benefits and salaries?
  • The unsafest job by far for a CBS “leftover” in the year ahead.
  • Year two of the CBS formats all-news and sports under Entercom.
  • CBS female employees under David Field in 2019.

Read the full article now.

Top Sellers Exiting Cumulus

There are stunning new numbers on the extent of the talent drain at Cumulus.

And, like Entercom that has in essence purged CBS market managers and programming talent from their company, Cumulus is doing the same thing with the same results.

The employees they think they don’t need, they are laying off and the ones they can’t afford to lose are leaving – and the evidence is convincing.

Mary Berner did this exact same thing when she bankrupted Reader’s Digest and perhaps you don’t know how that worked out for her.

She was fired (or left) and Reader’s Digest eventually entered a second bankruptcy.

Employees want to know the Reader’s Digest strategy as they fear for their future and want to get a read on what’s going to happen next -- should they stay or go?

Read the full article now.

Losing FM on Smartphones

When Jeff Smulyan throws in the towel on his NextRadio smartphone FM project, you know the radio industry is calling Dr. Kevorkian.

No one has been more adamant and perhaps even too optimistic about unlocking smartphones to become ready FM radios than Smulyan.

And in the end, his efforts were thwarted by a small handful of incompetent radio CEOs that can somehow find the money to pay for other non-consequential things they want.

I’m thinking of $55 million to buy an unproven podcasting company, wasteful “advertiser” cruises in the south of France, an investment in the cannabis magazine High Times and pissing away millions on Nielsen. 

The repercussions for a radio industry that is publicly showing such disregard for activating the FM chips in radio will be great.

Some of the trouble starts immediately.

Read the full article now.

Pizzati Raiding Cumulus

On August 1, 2016 Mary Berner called trusted Lew Dickey loyalist and EVP Gary Pizzati into her office and asked him point blank “How do you want to go out?”

He had a three-year $1.5 million no cut contract and asked for a lump sum and contract termination.

Berner refused instead opting to honor the deal to keep him from rejoining Dickey so she benched Pizzati until the end of 2017 when he left.

Then Pizzati’s non-solicit kicked in which prevents him from hiring Cumulus employees during that period.

Now it’s payback time.

Read the full article now.

Entercom Investors Panic

Just when you worried that David Field couldn’t find anyone to replace Wells Fargo’s Marci Ryvicker to carry Entercom’s water over their failed CBS merger integration, another sucker steps up.

Ryvicker lost her gig in a very public way on the eve of the recent NAB Radio Show where she was to be a headliner.  There is no way to know whether her college friend David Field muddied her view of Entercom.

She’s now in the entertainment industry’s version of Siberia so to speak as the managing director of Wolfe Research, a company that covers oil and gas, the trucking industry – not radio, or TV, or digital, her specialty.

A lot of effort is going into covering up the fact that Entercom is ready to crash.

But it’s the changes that haven’t been implemented yet that are of real concern.

Read the full article now.

Change of Plans for Lew Dickey

Lew Dickey has wanted to buy Cumulus ever since he was removed in a bloodless coup by board chairman Jeff Marcus several years ago.

That was then.

In the meantime, Dickey has secured the money it would take for the current board (a group of lenders not operators) to seriously consider his takeover bid.

But something has gone very wrong.

Read the full article now.

Making Sense of the Entercom Mess

2nd quarter numbers that don’t add up.
 
Irrational exuberance for seemingly no reason that drove the stock up and down within 24 hours.
 
Promises about the 3rd quarter and an amazing prediction by David Field about the future of the CBS/Entercom merger.
 
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The Entercom Programming Cuts

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            New Playlists From Listeners' DNA

            Entercom Hired Bain -- Here's Their Advice

            Stations & Studios Are About to Change

            iHeart, Townsquare, Beasley, Cumulus in 2019

            Entercom's Gutting of Jerry Lee's MoreFM  

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New Playlists From Listeners’ DNA

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            Entercom Hired Bain -- Here's Their Advice

            Stations & Studios Are About to Change

            iHeart, Townsquare, Bealsey, Cumulus in 2019

            Entercom's Gutting of Jerry Lee's MoreFM

            Alpha's Surprise Exit

            Startling Revised Purchase Price of Cumulus

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Entercom Hired Bain — Here’s Their Advice

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            Entercom's Gutting of Jerry Lee's MoreFM

            Alpha's Surprise Exit

            Startling Revised Purchase Price of Cumulus

            A New Warning About Entercom  

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Stations & Studios Are About to Change

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            Alpha's Surprise Exit

            Startling Revised Purchase Price of Cumulus

            A New Warning About Entercom

            Nielsen's New Way to Prevent Cutbacks & Cancellations

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iHeart, Townsquare, Bealsey, Cumulus in 2019

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            Alpha's Surprise Exit

            Startling Revised Purchase Price of Cumulus

            A New Warning About Entercom

            Nielsen's New Way to Prevent Cutbacks & Cancellations

            Streaming is Now 75% of All Music Revenue     

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Entercom’s Gutting of Jerry Lee’s MoreFM

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            Cumulus Expands Cuts

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Alpha’s Surprise Exit

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Startling Revised Purchase Price of Cumulus

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A New Warning About Entercom

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Nielsen’s New Way to Prevent Cutbacks & Cancellations

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            The Uncertain Future of Cumulus

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Streaming is 75% of All Music Revenue

  • Troubling new numbers that indicate a consumer preference for streaming music and a decline in radio as a source of music.
  • Metric based conclusions that radio is morphing into a new role in exposing music to audiences.
  • How record labels now fear losing control of how their music gets played on voice activated smart speakers.
  • Where does all of this leave SiriusXM that has just tendered a $3.5 billion offer to buy all of pioneer streaming site Pandora.
  • Streaming nightmare for record labels:  How Spotify threatens to disrupt music distribution.

Read more …

Cumulus Expands Cuts

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  • What’s eating at market managers being squeezed harder.
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Voice Activated Listening & Peak Screen

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  • Details on the two opportunities for radio to reignite its reason for existing.
  • The truth about radio listening via Amazon Echo and other smart speakers.
  • Millennials have peaked on staring at their screens – the findings.
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SiriusXM’s Pandora Strategy

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  • The thinking behind buying the rest of Pandora outright.
  • The potential sales opportunities SiriusXM can build to drain more revenue from terrestrial radio.
  • The chances SiriusXM’s owner, Liberty, will still buy iHeart.
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Entercom Without Marci

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  • What does this mean for David Field and Entercom.
  • Why the most powerful Wall Street analyst and Entercom cheerleader was relieved of her duties.
  • And why just days before her high profile appearance at this week’s NAB Radio Show.
  • Now no major lender is left to cover the industry – what does that look like for the future of radio.
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The Only Way Podcasting Can Save Radio

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  • How Cumulus & iHeart are going about embracing podcasting the wrong way.
  • How their game plan comes up short to add more revenue.
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  • Separate sales teams, just one or none?
  • How the Pittman & Berner plans could backfire on radio revenue.

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The Uncertain Future of Cumulus

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  4. Details and timeline of the fire sale that is coming.
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  7. The big cost cutting ahead.

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Dickey Steals Lori Lewis From Cumulus

INSIDE …

  • Why Lew Dickey hired radio’s top social media expert away from Cumulus.
  • Why now.
  • How he plans to use her expertise.
  • The other Cumulus employees who also want to join Lew.
  • What happens to Berner’s “toxic workplace”.
  • The rehearsal for what is to come.

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iHeart’s $55 Million Podcasting Gamble

Cumulus & iHeart are first to bet radio’s future on an unproven medium…

  • Why bankrupt iHeart is buying a $55 million podcast network
  • How podcasting will kill spot sales
  • The sudden interest in podcasting to replace lost radio revenue
  • The airline industry’s warning to radio about embracing podcasting
  • Why radio is redirecting from digital and social

The answers start here

Entercom’s Nagging CBS Problem

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  1. Mary Berner feel good tactics are coming to Entercom – here’s a sampling.
  2. The most pissed off CBS employees working at Entercom – and why.
  3. Is it possible for Entercom to undo parts of the merger?
  4. The reason why CBS employees are not assimilating well into Entercom.
  5. How they plan to handle widespread morale problems on the CBS side.

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Radio Revenue Tanking

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  1. How iHeart, Cumulus & Townsquare are putting themselves in extreme financial trouble.
  2. Group owners demanding top dollar – for trade, not cash!
  3. Relaxed advertiser credit standards – how low some radio groups are now willing to go.
  4. The new normal for getting top ad rates – and there’s nothing normal about it.
  5. Townsquare’s mind-blowing barter deals.
  6. How TS explains their loose credit policies in their own words.

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CBS, Entercom, iHeart, Cumulus, Nike

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  • The CBS Merger Fix – What Entercom is going to do now to fix their botched CBS merger assimilation.
  • iHeart’s Bankruptcy Bluff – Why nothing seems to be urgent about coming to an agreement to emerge from bankruptcy.
  • What Cumulus Employees Want – One group of employees actually faced down CEO Mary Berner with this request.  She denied it.
  • Nike, Kaepernick & Radio – How radio used to ignite the passions of P1s – the way Nike just did.

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Dickey’s First Acquisition

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  • The timetable for Dickey’s first acquisitions.
  • What’s the surprise first purchase out of left field.
  • The other acquisitions that Dickey’s New Modern Media is planning.
  • The two radio groups being considered in addition to an expected run at Cumulus.
  • The new management team, re-hires and employment opportunities.

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Entercom Debt Woes

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  • How debt is suddenly squeezing Entercom.
  • The 2 programming issues that worry lenders and investors the most.
  • What happens if Entercom’s quarterly $7 million losses continue.
  • The lone analyst who is not buying Entercom profitability predictions and why.
  • A look at the Entercom plan to fix the botched integration of CBS Radio.
  • Emergency spare cash is almost tapped out – now what?

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Pizzati Hired, Dickey Hovers

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  • How Pizzati’s hiring previews Lew Dickey’s return.
  • Pizzati’s new C-level job, responsibilities.
  • The possibility of recruitment due to future expansion.
  • What’s next with Pizzati in place and an acquisition coming in 60 days.
  • Why competitors – even iHeart deep in bankruptcy – are panicking over digital.

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The Cumulus Trade Cover-up

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  • How trade put on the books as cash will be used to cover-up expected big losses in the third-quarter.
  • How that actually works -- legal but deceptive.
  • The latest Cumulus revenue pacing numbers based on their own metrics with only one month left in the third quarter.
  • The cover-up revealed – even board members may be fooled by this disguise.
  • The Cumulus markets leading the race to the bottom.
  • The most endangered market managers.

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Cumulus Bankruptcy #2

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  • The reasons financial people expect Cumulus to file for a second bankruptcy along with what will trigger it.
  • The affect another bankruptcy will have on the fragile station group and Westwood One.
  • The true financial condition of Cumulus by experts – not speculation or corporate hype we’ve been hearing.
  • The list of costs that should be going down after emerging from bankruptcy that are actually going up.
  • Why Cumulus is suddenly losing key people at the worst time possible.
  • The prognosis for Westwood One.

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5 Questions for the New Cumulus Board

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  • The 5 major questions that the new Cumulus board needs Mary Berner to honestly answer according to analysts and financial people.
  • What constitutes accounting tricks and what are sound and generally accepted accounting principles necessary to stop the bleeding.
  • 11 hours of board questions and concerns boiled down to these indicators of a turnaround or a failure.
  • How to tell the early signs that a second bankruptcy will be needed.
  • Troubling company financial indicators that are rarely discussed in public.
  • The concerning story of what’s really going on today at Westwood One.

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Lew Dickey’s Return

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  • A timetable you can take to the bank – the specific month all of this goes down.
  • What happened to his takeover bid for the failing Cumulus.
  • What Dickey’s first acquisitions will be from these sellers – either in part or whole.
  • The large group that is also being considered.
  • The plan to prevent a repeat of Cumulus 1.0.
  • First look at Dickey’s new management team.

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The Cumulus Lori Lewis Breakup

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  • How a company touting a digital revolution let radio’s acknowledged best social media expert quit?
  • The role “flipping” may have played in her departure.
  • The rumored Mary Berner Hit List – 2 of the alleged targets are gone already – what it means for the others.
  • Money walking out the door – the latest Cumulus top-biller and Key Account Manager also quit Berner.  How that went down.
  • The Cumulus employee who was just fired after commenting on a post by a former Dickey confidant – you have to see this, the post, the comment that ends ugly.
  • Little known details of jealousy and demands of loyalty that may further impact the bottom line that even the board of directors doesn’t know about.

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Entercom’s Toxic Workplace Coverup

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            Liberty’s iHeart Takeover

            Cumulus Asset Sales

            Entercom Adopts Cumulus Policies

            Cumulus Future Plans

            Entercom Commission Rate Cut

            iHeart, Cumulus Market Manager Peril

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Liberty’s iHeart Takeover

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            Cumulus Asset Sales

            Entercom Adopts Cumulus Policies

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            Entercom Commission Rate Cut

            iHeart, Cumulus Market Manager Peril

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Cumulus Asset Sales

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            Entercom Adopts Cumulus Policies

            Cumulus Future Plans

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            iHeart, Cumulus Market Manager Peril

            Entercom Name Change

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Entercom Adopts Cumulus Policies

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            Cumulus Future Plans

            Entercom Commission Rate Cut

            iHeart, Cumulus Market Manager Peril

            Entercom Name Change

            Breakup of Alpha Media

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Cumulus Future Plans Leaked

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  1. Future RIFs – Berner has repeatedly denied saving money through personnel reductions but now we know how much she actually saved – one time or ongoing?
  2. Selling assets – Is Berner ready to start selling off stations to keep Cumulus afloat?
  3. Money to fix and maintain stations – how Cumulus is planning to handle that going forward.   
  4. DC land sale – Something’s up with the troubled $75 million sale of land near Bethesda that keeps getting delayed.
  5. Podcasting to offset declining local radio?  Wait until you see their plans.
  6. Digital – The surprising approach to a category that Cumulus is betting its future on. 

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Entercom to Slash Commissions

David Field loves the iHeart system of cutting commissions for top sales people.

And, yes, that’s what it has come down to.

Entercom badly needs to get revenue back up after its disastrous merger with CBS Radio and yet what he’s beginning to do is likely to have the opposite effect.

If you want to see what poor morale gets your sales department, look no further than Cumulus that lost many of its best sellers when the company sapped them from selling with corporate red tape and unnecessary procedures.

This trick that Field is going to pull – you’ll see the details in a moment – is his dream compensation strategy because iHeart does it and anything iHeart does, Field seems to want to do.

And second, because he will make more money and the sellers will make less.

Field is not a warm and fuzzy guy.  He doesn’t connect with employees because he makes all the money and they get nickel and dimed to death.

This plan being installed at some Entercom stations right now is the future for the entire merged company as well as dangerous temptation for other groups to follow.

Read the full article here

Newstips

Market Managers in Peril at Cumulus, iHeart

INSIDE …

  • Which market managers will be more at risk – the ones at Cumulus or iHeart.
  • Huge cutbacks have been leaked for iHeart employee RIFs – take a look.  Here’s what will trigger them.
  • The new market manager-lite setup coming to iHeart and Cumulus.
  • And it’s not just these two groups – here’s a radio company that is likely to ask their market managers for hometown discounts. 
  • This begs the question if market managers are about to take a big hit, is there a well-paying job in radio that is relatively safe?  Yes – this is the one.

Read the full article now.

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Cumulus’ Surging Stock Price

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  • How does a just out of bankruptcy radio company with suspended stock worth only a few pennies start trading again at over $20 a share -- $17.70 as of closing yesterday.
  • Cumulus stock is worth more than the merged Entercom and CBS Radio.
  • Cumulus outperforming Entercom?
  • Is this a sign of a successful  “Hail Mary” from Berner?
  • What does the stock market know about the future of Cumulus that everyone seems to be missing?
  • The critical indicators to watch.

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More Entercom Cutbacks

  • Entercom can’t deliver promised cost savings. 
  • 7 Incremental fixed expenses are going up. 
  • Meaning that David Field’s $110 million promise is way too low. 
  • What is Entercom going to do to make good on merger efficiencies it promised lenders?
  • New cuts to CBS stations, Entercom stations or both?
  • Down to one last option.

Read the full article now

Entercom Name Change

  • A name change to double down on radio.
  • A way to stop the unfavorable comparisons with CBS.
  • Rumblings from sellers, buyers and competitors too loud to ignore.
  • The reported leading choice to replace the name “Entercom”.
  • More consumer-oriented.
  • Reportedly inspired by iHeart.

Read the full article now

That 11-Hour Cumulus Board Meeting

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  • WTF?  What was so urgent that it took a virtually unprecedented marathon board meeting to unpack?
  • Their biggest concern -- it’s not what most people think.
  • First read on their feelings about CEO Mary Berner.
  • With big losses to be reported this week, how long are they giving Berner to turn things around.
  • How important is “toxic work culture” to the board.

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The Coming Breakup of Alpha Media

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  1. Why the future of Alpha is no longer assured.
  2. An honest look at the many problems in selling the company that made one strategic mistake after another.
  3. Who is likely to pick the bones of the radio group that once had everything going for it – and how long will it take to liquidate.
  4. But wait, before the stations can be sold off – there is a glitch that could blow up and make things even worse.
  5. What Alpha employees can expect.

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iHeart’s Bankruptcy Promotion

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  1. Why Bob Pittman is handling the bankruptcy like a radio promotion but the “second caller” doesn’t win and the new owner has already been identified.
  2. The main reason – and there is a big one – that Bob Pittman is dragging this thing out.
  3. Why you should keep an eye on this potential bidder.
  4. The surprise ending soon-to-be-burned iHeart lenders want.
  5. The toll this drawn out bankruptcy is already taking on iHeart stations and employees – ratings for this major format are beginning to erode from neglect.
  6. If you want to get past all the circus optics and get to the new owner, here’s who will come in and take iHeart away.

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How Entercom Made a 7% Loss Into a 20% Stock Price Gain

Radio CEOs are just like politicians.

They don’t let facts get in the way.

So yesterday, David Field showed us all what he was doing at Ivy League schools while he should have been learning the radio business.

Field took a whopping 8% decline in revenue and turned it into a 20% stock price gain.

Here’s the stunt David Field pulled off that employees, investors and lenders are going to pay for big time.

Read the full article here

Univision’s 71 Radio Stations

There are rumors that Cumulus is getting ready to buy some or all of Univision’s radio stations.

But Cumulus can’t buy a copy machine right now and Univision is just as dysfunctional as Cumulus.

Here’s why everyone is looking in the wrong place.

READ MORE …

David Field’s 3 Broken Promises

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            Bonneville’s Back – Or Is It?

            Cumulus Reboot – Strange Things You Didn’t Know

            The Sale of Westwood One

            Alpha Media After Larry Wilson

            Entercom/USTN Deal Gone Bad - What Really Happened

            Cumulus & Univision Together

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Bonneville’s Back – Or Is It?

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            Cumulus Reboot – Strange Things You Didn’t Know

            The Sale of Westwood One

            Alpha Media After Larry Wilson

            Entercom/USTN Deal Gone Bad - What Really Happened

            Cumulus & Univision Together

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Cumulus Reboot — Strange Things You Didn’t Know

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  1. Potential conflicts of interest with Mike McVay.
  2. The truth about that new stock Cumulus just issued.
  3. Westwood One has been turning in profits quarter after quarter, so why is Cumulus now acting to separate the two companies.
  4. The rumor that Cumulus is a buyer – well, is it?
  5. The untold story of Dave Milner and Bob Walker.
  6. How is the relationship going between Mary Berner and her new board representing lenders who have traded equity for debt.
  7. The over/under on a second Cumulus bankruptcy as incredible as it may seem.

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Alpha Media After Larry Wilson

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            Entercom/USTN Deal Gone Bad - What Really Happened

            Cumulus & Univision Together

            Panic At Cumulus

            Beasley Blowing It

            Who Will Buy Cox Radio

            iHeart’s Silver Lake Takeover Bid

            Less FM For Entercom

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Entercom/USTN Deal Gone Bad – What Really Happened

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            Cumulus & Univision Together

            Panic At Cumulus

            Beasley Blowing It

            Who Will Buy Cox Radio

            iHeart’s Silver Lake Takeover Bid

            Less FM For Entercom

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Cumulus & Univision Together

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            Panic At Cumulus

            Beasley Blowing It

            Who Will Buy Cox Radio

            iHeart’s Silver Lake Takeover Bid

            Less FM For Entercom

            iHeart, Entercom & Cumulus

            Lew Dickey's Next Venture Heating Up

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Panic at Cumulus

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            Beasley Blowing It

            Who Will Buy Cox Radio

            iHeart’s Silver Lake Takeover Bid

            Less FM For Entercom

            iHeart, Entercom & Cumulus

            Lew Dickey's Next Venture Heating Up

            Voice Activated Radio Listening on Smart Speakers

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Beasley Blowing It

Inside 

  • Suddenly, their growth plan is in jeopardy.  The serious ramifications. 
  • Can they stop the race to the bottom stock price decline that THEY caused because of bad strategic planning?  
  • How David Field snookered Caroline Beasley. 
  • Future acquisition plans – what now? 
  • Why Beasley is hanging around without any prospect of attaining scale. 
  • Is Beasley a SELL?

Recent Stories

            Who Will Buy Cox Radio
            The likely buyer is the most unlikely buyer

            iHeart’s Silver Lake Takeover Bid
            Another suspicious offer Bain is not accepting 

            Less FM for Entercom
            Repeating how they killed the CBS merger

            iHeart, Entercom & Cumulus
            Which one is the next Toys “R” Us? 

            Lew Dickey’s Cumulus Takeover Bid Update
            When, how & chances of success

            Cumulus Troubles
            Now add the new board to their problems   

            Entercom’s Dire Future
            A bombshell announcement is coming

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Who Will Buy Cox Radio

Summary

  • With Cox Media Group announcing the sale of its TV assets, there is no longer any synergistic reason to keep radio.
  • Which radio groups or investor is most motivated to make an offer to buy some or all of the Cox radio properties.
  • Why this is the worst time for Cox radio to be in play for groups that desperately need their stations more than ever.

Cox has no reason to keep its 60 plus radio outlets when it sells its TV stations as the company announced it would do yesterday.

Either a sale or a merger, but a sale is most likely.

Perhaps to the dreaded Sinclair or to Tribune to make it Sinclair-proof going forward.

Cox radio stations are highly desirable because unlike other radio groups, Cox knows how to super monetize them.  They hire outstanding people and their stations are well managed.

There are a number of radio groups that would like to cherry pick the Cox radio roster and one potential stealth buyer who could buy the entire radio group.

Because even purchasing Cox radio does not make another iHeart or Entercom for an existing radio group but the companies nibbling at some Cox stations are looking to grow more than dominate.

And look what happened when Beasley bought back WXTU-FM, Philadelphia at very high multiples.

Their stock tanked because they will have to issue more stock and dilute current shareholder’s value. Since Monday Beasley stock has dropped from the $9 range to the $7 range.  Does that leave Beasley out of the Cox radio sweepstakes?

Nevertheless, there is a surprising group of suitors who will find the money if they can pry some Cox stations away. 

Read more 

iHeart’s Silver Lake Takeover Bid

  • Why iHeart has gotten 2 takeover bids and apparently rejected both.
  • The main reason Liberty pulled its $1.1 billion initial offer for 40% of iHeart.
  • What is suspicious about Silver Lake’s recent and lesser bid.

It shouldn’t come as a surprise that the company that ran like a circus with CEO Bob Pittman selling snake oil should find itself in a circus-like bankruptcy.

A second company has come forward to bid on iHeart.

Private equity firm Silver Lake is offering $500 million to its largest creditor groups (Franklin Mutual Advisors and Pacific Investment Management) that could go toward making lenders who will be taking a haircut more whole.

But as with the previous Liberty Media takeover bid, iHeart is not acting.

Liberty has withdrawn its $1.1 billion offer for a 40% stake in the company for reasons that are both strategic and concerning.

Why so many bids and none of them being seriously considered?

Read more 

Less FM For Entercom

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            iHeart, Entercom & Cumulus Which one is the next Toys “R” Us?

            Lew Dickey's Takeover Bid Update When, how & will he succeed?

            Cumulus Troubles Now, add the new board to their problems.

            Entercom’s Dire Future – Eye-popping revenue slide coming.

            iHeart Bankruptcy – 2 bidders, so why aren’t they taking any offers?

            Smart Speakers & Radio Truth about Alexa and radio usage at home.

            Ramifications of 8 FM Stations Per Market – Scary unintended consequences.

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iHeart, Entercom & Cumulus

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  • Why is it so difficult for radio’s three biggest groups to start regaining audience and revenue again?
  • iHeart’s biggest strategic mistake.
  • How Entercom keeps losing revenue with all those great CBS stations onboard.
  • Why Cumulus is obsessed with controlling the narrative instead of growing revenue share.
  • How lenders are prepared to turn radio’s best assets into Toys “R” Us.

A new subscription also unlocks these full articles …

            Lew Dickey's Takeover Bid Update

            Cumulus Troubles

            Entercom’s Dire Future

            iHeart Bankruptcy

            Smart Speakers & Radio

            Ramifications of 8 FM Stations Per Market

            Entercom’s Projected CBS Merger Cutbacks

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Lew Dickey’s Next Venture Heating Up

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  • Details on what is Lew going to do with that $207 million blank check that expires in November.
  • Why Dickey is raising even more money beyond what it would take to buy Cumulus back.
  • 3 radio groups from which Dickey could buy stations.
  • First look at his radical new plan and where radio fits into it.
  • We pinpoint the month when Dickey is going to make that offer to buy Cumulus.

A new subscription also unlocks these full articles …

            Cumulus Troubles

            Entercom’s Dire Future

            iHeart Bankruptcy

            Smart Speakers & Radio

            Ramifications of 8 FM Stations Per Market

            Entercom’s Projected CBS Merger Cutbacks

            Cox – Seller or Buyer?

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Cumulus Troubles

  • 3rdquarter ad revenue pacing revealed
  • The July 25th Town Hall
  • The new Cumulus board
  • Those market manager surveys
  • Layoffs

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Entercom in Worse Shape Than Originally Thought

  • Revenue – why is it continuing to nose dive.
  • How long before an Entercom turnaround.
  • Trouble ahead at their former CBS all-news stations.
  • New danger for 24 major market sports outlets.
  • No ad revenue growth means more cutbacks – whose next and when.
  • An Entercom bankruptcy?  Is that even possible.  What financial people say. 

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iHeart Bankruptcy Leaks

INSIDE …

  • Liberty or Silver Lake – which one is going to make a bid for iHeart.
  • What about all those leaks to the news media about interest in buying iHeart – who’s the source?
  • The major victory for iHeart in bankruptcy court that is going unnoticed.
  • What’s in all this for Bob Pittman.
  • When to expect the serious bidders to make their move.

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Voice Activated Radio Listening on Smart Speakers

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  • The real number of radio listeners who now access their favorite station through smart speakers.
  • Which smart speaker is becoming the most popular – new data shows forget what you think, everything just changed.
  • The unseen dangers of embracing “Alexa” too soon.
  • Radio’s future on smart speakers – not what everyone is betting on now.
  • How radio stations can prepare for smart speaker access other than just put their station stream on in-home devices.

A new subscription also unlocks these full articles …

            The Fear of 8 FM Stations Per Market

            Entercom’s CBS Synergies

            Cox – Seller or Buyer?

            iHeart’s New Buyer

            Beasley’s $250 Million Acquisition Fund

            iHeart’s Threat To Buy More Stations

            CBS Sales Rebellion At Entercom

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The Fear of 8 FM Stations Per Market

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  • Which groups have the most to gain if ownership rules are eased.
  • The unintended consequences in key markets if ownership limits are expanded.
  • The growing list of radio groups lining up in opposition to owning more stations than currently allowed.  And why!
  • The scary new meaning of monopoly if this legislation gets passed.
  • How easing ownership limits could kill some radio groups – say, Entercom to name a big one.

A new subscription also unlocks these full articles …

            Entercom’s CBS Synergies

            Cox – Seller or Buyer?

            iHeart’s New Buyer

            Beasley’s $250 Million Acquisition Fund

            iHeart’s Threat To Buy More Stations

            CBS Sales Rebellion At Entercom

            First Cumulus Report Card After Bankruptcy

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Entercom’s CBS Synergies

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  • How CBS news shakeup is about to get bigger.
  • How much of a pay cut is coming for surviving CBS employees.
  • CBS sports franchises.
  • The CBS format likely to get hurt the most from coming cutbacks.
  • What CBS key exec left the building last Friday.

A new subscription also unlocks these full articles …

            Cox – Seller or Buyer?

            iHeart’s New Buyer

            Beasley’s $250 Million Acquisition Fund

            iHeart’s Threat To Buy More Stations

            CBS Sales Rebellion At Entercom

            First Cumulus Report Card After Bankruptcy

            The Scripps Spinoffs

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Cox Radio – Seller or Buyer?

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  • The Cox radio markets that could be available – 4, possibly 5.
  • Which group will pay big multiples to get Cox stations.
  • The markets where Cox could also be a buyer. 
  • Cox’s new strategy of “convergence” explained.

A new subscription also unlocks these full articles …

            iHeart’s New Buyer

            Beasley’s $250 Million Acquisition Fund

            iHeart’s Threat To Buy More Stations

            CBS Sales Rebellion At Entercom

            First Cumulus Report Card After Bankruptcy

            The Scripps Spinoffs

            The Entercom Exodus

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iHeart’s New Buyer, Layoffs, the Rise of SiriusXM

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  1. Information leaked over the Fourth that there is a second bidder interested in taking over iHeartMedia – which one would be the better owner?
  2. iHeart would emerge from bankruptcy with $10 billion less debt – is it enough or will there be more layoffs to come?
  3. The parts that will likely be sold off to pay down debt even further no matter who comes away with iHeart.
  4. And one bidder would keep selling until iHeart’s debt was de-levered – which one is that?
  5. The rise of SiriusXM – how it fits into Liberty’s plans to remake iHeart programming.

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Beasley’s $250 Million Acquisition Fund

  • Why Beasley filed with the SEC to raise $250 million at this late date.
  • Public speculation about iHeart spinning off stations to Beasley.
  • Alpha, Townsquare and Scripps/Milwaukee – which are now potential Beasley acquisition targets.
  • How Beasley will be impacted by iHeart’s threat to buy more stations not sell if ownership limits are eased.

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iHeart’s Threat to Buy More Stations

  • Why iHeart, the biggest consolidator, is now strongly against easing ownership rules.
  • How owning more stations will sit with Liberty, their buyer in waiting.
  • The real reason iHeart is threatening competitors if the NAB-backed deregulation legislation is passed.
  • How iHeart’s threat to get even bigger might affect Entercom, Beasley, Cumulus and other groups looking to grow.
  • Will more stations be good for iHeart employees?

Read the full article now