Seven months after filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy – and as the FCC drags its feet on approving Audacy’s plan – the company has been forced to file an Emergency Motion in the US Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of Texas.
In an urgent motion filed late on August 12, Audacy seeks court approval to extend a forbearance period, a pause on meeting certain financial obligations, that is currently set to expire on August 19. This Debtor-in-Possession Forbearance Agreement would extend the forbearance period to September 30.
The court is set to review these requests in an emergency hearing scheduled for August 15. Audacy’s motion is most likely to be approved, given the attitude of the court throughout the process. If approved, these agreements will continue to provide Audacy with the breathing room necessary to continue operations and work towards financial stability.
If for some reason the Forbearance Agreement was denied, then Audacy would be required to meet its financial obligations according to the original terms of the debtor-in-possession financing agreement. This could include making payments that were temporarily halted during the forbearance period, increasing the risk of defaulting on its DIP financing.
Audacy only needs FCC approval on the restructuring to emerge from bankruptcy after the court cleared the deal in February. Yet, the FCC has been slow to approve the reorganization due to intense scrutiny of the process by DC Republicans. GOP leaders are calling for stringent oversight of Soros Fund Management’s acquisition of $400 million in Audacy debt, which makes George Soros the largest shareholder. Given Soros’ liberal affiliations, some say the deal would allow for undue foreign or political influence in US media.
In the emergency motion, Audacy states it remains optimistic about receiving necessary approvals from the FCC for its restructuring plans, which are compliant with the Communications Act.
In the past week, the broadcaster posted its Q2 2024 financials, recording a net income of $2.93 million – up from a net loss of $125.80 million in Q2 2023. Net revenues also rose slightly to $301.61 million.
Bob MacKay, you hit the nail on the head. The monopoly and lack luster programming has destroyed radio. There are a few deejays on Serius that have personality and add to the music. The FCC should never have allowed IHeart and Audacy to become the behemoths they have become. Add the involvement of George Soros and does not bode well.
You’re living in a dream world. Big tech destroyed radio. The device you’re using now has replaced radios everywhere. The real monopolies and behemoths are Google, Apple, Spotify, and Amazon. They’re trillion dollar companies, and they don’t have to do any public service or community programming. They don’t have any ownership limits. No regulations. That’s what destroyed radio, retail, and everything else. Wake up.
And some local group should challenge the license of Audacy and WCBS. If the challenging local group promised to keep live local news, they’d probably be awarded the license.
FYI the same company also owns WINS-AM/FM, that already programs 24/7 live & local news. There is no law that requires anyone to operate two competing local news stations. If there was, CBS would not have been allowed to shut down KFWB.
It’s now about laws. These are public licenses. Local companies would serve local interests better.
They are granted to private companies. It’s what is called a “public-private partnership.” The licensees are given a lot of leeway within the laws. The licensees are not part of the government. It takes a lot of money to run all-news formats. Even back in the day of 5-5-5 ownership limits, it took companies the size of Westinghouse and CBS to do this kind of format.
Your comments have absolutely nothing to do with being a good local broadcaster. Which neither iHeart or Audacy are.
The good local broadcasters today are the non-com stations owned by local colleges, universities, and state governments. They’re the only ones with the resources to do news. But you probably don’t like them either. It takes deep pockets to run a radio station.
It would be in the public interest if Audacy was dissolved. Radio stations are PUBLIC licenses. Stations are supposed to be operated in the public interest. Not used as bargaining chips. Not run by debt-saddled corporate behemoths like Audacy and iHeart, both of whom’s focus is debt servicing and executive compensation. Firing thousands of local employees like Pittman and iHeart have done, replacing live programming with voice tracking like both companies have done, is anything BUT in the public interest. Shutting down an AM station like WCBS Radio that services hundreds of thousands of listeners, is an “in your face” COMPLETELY against the best interests of the public. And yet, radio industry “leaders” are pressuring Congress to “save” AM in the cars. – Why are they not loudly objecting to Audacy’s plans to shut down WCBS??
It would be in the public’s best interest if both iHeart and Audacy were dissolved, with the station licenses auctioned off back to LOCAL broadcasters who are committed to servicing their local markets/cities.