Report: iHeart Lender Uses The “B” Word
One day after iHeart went public, stating negotiations with lenders contained a "significant gap," one of iHeartMedia's lenders is also speaking out, to The New York Post. The Post's Josh Kosman is reporting that a senior iHeart lender told him Wednesday that he would prefer iHeartMedia goes bankrupt than take the company's latest restructuring offer. Here are the details...
How Radio Covered The Big Snowstorm
Many states on the east coast are digging out of one of the biggest snowstorms in recorded history. It's clean-up time in New York, Washington DC and many other cities after the weekend in which snow was coming down at 2-3 inches per hour. Through it all, radio stations up and down the dial were doing what they do in times of extreme weather...serving their community.
Is Liggins Done With The Classic Hip Hop Format Already?
If you listened to Radio One CEO Alfred Liggins on his earnings call, you might come to the conclusion that he believes the Classic Hip Hop format -- or BOOM, as Radio One calls it -- has run its course. Radio One created the Classic Hip Hop format, and yesterday Liggins said, "We invented the format and we're the first to exit the format. It is not a sustainable long-term ratings getter."
They Did It. KPLU Is Saved.
It only took the Friends of KPLU five months but they did it. They raised $7 Million enabling the 501(c)(3) to purchase the license of the Seattle station from Pacific Lutheran University and prevent the station from being sold to the University of Washington. The last $1 million was raised through a $500K community challenge from listeners and business supporters. The money was raised five months ahead of the June 30 deadline.
Now We Know When CBS Radio Goes Public
The mothership at the CBS Corporation is planning to take its radio division public by the end of the month. The announcement was made by the company in a preliminary prospectus filed with the SEC on Wednesday. Back in March, CEO Les Moonves announced the company was exploring all alternatives, including a sale, a spinoff, or even a swap of the radio division. The company has been in a quiet period lately and it appears that spinoff will happen sooner rather than later.
Beasley Q4 Revenue Declines 2.1%
The company is still working through the station swap with CBS which is closing in on one year ago. Beasley picked up stations in Tampa and Charlotte (and one in Philly) from CBS for stations in Miami and Philadelphia. Beasley is required to report the five stations it handed over to CBS under discontinued operations despite having operated them through November 2014. After Q1 of this year, the reporting becomes normal again for the company. On a pro-forma basis Beasley revenue for Q4 2015 declined 2.1% or $600,000. That decline was based on overall softness in Charlotte, Las Vegas, and Wilmington. The good news is that when you exclude the $1.7 million in Q4 2014 political revenue, which did not return in 2015, pro-forma revenue was up 4%.
Forbes Strikes Back at Washington Post For Radio
Last week we told you about an opinion piece writer Sonny Bunch crafted for the Washington Post demanding the radio industry start paying artists for the music it played over the airwaves. Apparently Forbes contributor Christopher Versace didn't take kindly to that demand and took up some valuable space on the Forbes website to defend radio's honor.
Beasley Sells Four In Charlotte To Entercom For $24 Million
There was always speculation buzzing around the industry that Entercom CEO David Field wanted at least the opportunity to make a pitch for Greater Media before the company was sold to Beasley. This week Field wound up with a small piece of Greater Media when Entercom announced it was purchasing three Greater Media stations in Charlotte as part of Beasley's planned divestiture of the four GM Charlotte stations in order to comply with FCC ownership regulations.
Bubba Says He Doesn’t Have to Follow Nielsen’s Rules
More from the recent court filing by Bubba The Love Sponge (Todd Clem) who's asked a judge to throw out the million dollar lawsuit he's been slapped with from Nielsen for ratings tampering. Part of Clem's reasoning for asking the judge to dismiss the suit have to do with whether or not Clem, as a contractor of Beasley, even has to follow the rules other hosts have to follow when they are paid employees of a station.
Study: All Audio Influences Consumer Purchases
Data that shows radio helps consumers decide what to purchase shortly before thy make the cash register ring will come as no surprise to seasoned managers and AEs. However, it's always helpful to have more -- and current -- data to back up that claim.
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