According to Cumulus, the company operating the stations formerly owned by Randy Michaels, WLUP-FM and WKQX-FM in Chicago have lost $8.4 Million since 2014. Cumulus says the two stations, net of LMA fees to Michaels, lost $1.5 million in 2014, $800,000 in 2015, $1.1 million in 2016 and $5.1 million in 2017. The LMA fee Cumulus was paying to Merlin was $600,000 per month.
In a Cumulus court filing Thursday, the company says “The Merlin agreements are economically detrimental to the Debtors’ estates and operating the Merlin Stations, net of the LMA Fee, has proved unprofitable for the Debtors since the LMA’s execution.” Cumulus has asked the court to nullify the agreements.
In 2017, Cumulus announced it would be purchasing the stations for approximately $50 million. That was obviously before the company decided to file for bankruptcy protection.
We asked Michaels if this would lead to him getting the stations back and his answer was “yes.”
