Traditional Radio Faces a Grim Future, New Study Says

[ZLoth]

I think Cumulus Media got delisted by NASDAQ because it failed to meet the $1.00 minimum pricing requirement and other financial performance issues. Current price of CMLS stock on the Other OTC... $0.1601 per share.

[bing101]

NBC got out of the business back in the 80s

https://youtu.be/ZiLs2kEZ8CA

Wow that GM who told Howard Stern over WNBC stuff was running the Cumulus San Francisco studios at the time of his death.

[ZLoth]

From Atlanta Business Chronicle, confirmed through Reuters:

Radio giant Cumulus Media files Chapter 11

Troubled radio giant Cumulus Media Inc. said late Wednesday that it filed to reorganize in Chapter 11 bankruptcy.

The Atlanta-based company (Nasdaq: CMLS), which is burdened with $2.4 billion in debt, owns and operates 446 radio stations broadcasting in 90 U.S. media markets.

Cumulus said it has entered a restructuring agreement with lenders to reduce the company's debt by more than $1 billion. The company filed for Chapter 11 in the United States Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York.

FULL ARTICLE HERE

[Henry]

From Atlanta Business Chronicle, confirmed through Reuters:

Radio giant Cumulus Media files Chapter 11

Troubled radio giant Cumulus Media Inc. said late Wednesday that it filed to reorganize in Chapter 11 bankruptcy.

The Atlanta-based company (Nasdaq: CMLS), which is burdened with $2.4 billion in debt, owns and operates 446 radio stations broadcasting in 90 U.S. media markets.

Cumulus said it has entered a restructuring agreement with lenders to reduce the company’s debt by more than $1 billion. The company filed for Chapter 11 in the United States Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York.

FULL ARTICLE HERE

Which is why there really is no such thing as too big to fail. Look what happened to GM a few years back.

[bing101]

https://www.allaccess.com/net-news/archive/story/171970/iheartmedia-tries-again-for-deal-with-creditors-bu

Update Iheartradio will face a similar situation like Cumulus over their debt restructuring efforts for Chapter 11.

[bing101]

http://mobile.radio-online.com/cgi-bin/rolmobi.exe/dnheadline_id=b15274

Here is an update.

[Desert Man]

iHeart radio, formerly ClearChannel, is infamous and controversial. They're blamed for killing the radio star more than the internet ever did. ClearChannel is known for "the 3 or 4 C's": country (most common music genre), conservative (talk or news) and "Christian" (public radio is a separate entity), but they well served the "red states" the most. The 4th C is "Caucasian", which isn't a market genre like "ethnic" (esp. Spanish-speaking Latinos).

[Desert Man]

Locally, the former 3 radio networks: ABC had KPSI 920 and KESQ 1400 (both off air), CBS had KCMJ 1010 and KWXY 1340 (also off air), and NBC had KCLB 970 (remains on air with new name and format). CNN and FOX news each used to be on KNWZ 1140 and KDES 1450 (dial off air), as well KGUY 1270 (indeed, off air). The stations are subject to constant change, call letter switches, genre swaps (sometimes to ethnic in Spanish) and ownership acquisitions. And their slow, but sure movement to clearer-sounding FM quality.

[bing101]

The Big Three TV networks are no longer involved in radio, which is indeed a sad time but has been expected since NBC got out of the business back in the 80s, and ABC sold off its stations to Citadel a decade ago (who, in turn, would be acquired by Cumulus).

Times changed NBC, CBS,  and ABC don't see radio as important as in the past. Sure its all about the app age. These media companies have to adapt to the current trends like podcasts', Video on demand, and figuring out how to fight against Amazon and Nexflix.

[inkyatari]

As people here may or may not be aware, I co host a podcast about arcade video gaming called Pie Factory Podcast.  Well, as a special bonus Christmas episode, we sat down for two hours and talked about our radio industry memories.  I hope you all enjoy!

Episode 68. Radio Memories.

[Hurricane Rex]

This grim future is despite certain radio hosts exploding in popularity but their parent companies don't survive as well as the show hosts do, unfortunately.

[bing101]

http://www.expressnews.com/business/local/article/iHeartMedia-announces-possible-sale-of-billboard-12422593.php

Update Iheart considers selling the billboard division.

[bing101]

http://triblive.com/local/allegheny/13078377-74/kqv-pittsburghs-oldest-all-news-station-to-go-off-air-jan-1

KQV Radio to go off the air Jan 1st.

[KeithE4Phx]

http://triblive.com/local/allegheny/13078377-74/kqv-pittsburghs-oldest-all-news-station-to-go-off-air-jan-1

KQV Radio to go off the air Jan 1st.

Sad to hear.  KQV is one of the oldest stations in the country.  IIRC, only KCBS San Francisco (1909, originally KQW), WHA Madison (1917), and WWJ Detroit (1919) are older.  I believe they were on the air in Pittsburgh before KDKA by a few months.

[SidS1045]

The Big Three TV networks are no longer involved in radio, which is indeed a sad time but has been expected since NBC got out of the business back in the 80s, and ABC sold off its stations to Citadel a decade ago (who, in turn, would be acquired by Cumulus).

Not quite.  CBS still owns its radio network, now called CBS News Radio.  And much of the content of the other two is still provided by the news divisions of ABC and NBC.

[rickmastfan67]

http://triblive.com/local/allegheny/13078377-74/kqv-pittsburghs-oldest-all-news-station-to-go-off-air-jan-1

KQV Radio to go off the air Jan 1st.

Sad to hear.  KQV is one of the oldest stations in the country.  IIRC, only KCBS San Francisco (1909, originally KQW), WHA Madison (1917), and WWJ Detroit (1919) are older.  I believe they were on the air in Pittsburgh before KDKA by a few months.

Listened to the final broadcast from them.   They kinda signed off like how several TV stations signed off their analog feeds.  And then right @ Midnight, went to static.

[bing101]

https://www.mercurynews.com/2018/01/04/berkeley-based-pacifica-radio-faces-financial-crisis/

An update Pacifica Radio the owners of KPFA and WBAI are facing a crisis.

[ZLoth]

Some more details at http://www.santacruzsentinel.com/article/NE/20180104/NEWS/180109857 . Quoting from the article (possible out of context quotes):

Pacifica's $8 million in debt approaches the equivalent of its $10.17 million in annual receipts. And its debt is more than double its entire assets of $3.97 million, according to the Guidestar database.

(text deleted)

But it has lost about half of its listeners since 2000. (KPFA has lost fewer, an estimated 20 percent.) And it struggles to compete for attention with the internet's vast menu of progressive blogs, podcasts, Facebook and Twitter posts.

"Younger people don't listen to radio as much,"  Crosier said. "We need to provide more web streams and other formats so they listen to what they want and when they want it."

Pacifica hasn't funded its employee retirement plan since 2015, and now owes the plan $750,000. It is delinquent in its audits, both for financial statements and retirement plans. Because book-keeping and reporting is deficient, it hasn't produced a balance sheet in two years, he wrote.

A few stations do not have working capital to sustain their operations or make critical payments in a timely manner. Some do not have qualified accounting staff, he wrote.

Meanwhile, its sprawling, disorganized, opinionated and ideological governing structure – "something akin to the late Ottoman Empire of public broadcasting"  – led to uncontrolled spending costs, Masar said.

(text deleted)

After the terrorist attack on the World Trade Center in 2001, rents on the Empire State Building transmission antennas soared because so many of New York City's antennas were atop the Twin Towers. WBAI pays $60,000 a month – about $700,000 a year – for a signal. That's more than half the station's total annual budget.

As I read it, WBAI was behind on it's payments for it's transmitters on the World Trade Center Empire State Building, but hasn't fund-raised aggressively. ("Although KPFA is financially healthy ... WBAI is raising very little money." ) Because all of the stations are owned by the same group, you can guess what happens next... possible Chapter 11 Debt Restructuring.

[SidS1045]

WBAI is on Empire, not WTC, and is so far behind on its rent (almost $2 million) that the Empire State Realty Trust is threatening to pull the plug on their 40-year-old transmitter (way beyond an FM transmitter's normal useful life).


Meanwhile, Pacifica is suing the ESRT, claiming that, as a non-commercial station, they should be entitled to free rent on Empire's master antenna.  They've supposedly talked to Durst about relocating the transmitter site to the master antenna at 4 Times Square.  Talk about being divorced from reality.  Pacifica clearly has no idea how to run a business, and the fact that they've been on the air this long can only be attributed to luck.

[RobbieL2415]

Broadcast radio is only good for two things:

NPR and the Dave Ramsey Show.

Other than that, you don't really need it.  Don't even really need it for civil defense since those alerts get pushed to smartphones.

[ZLoth]

WBAI is on Empire, not WTC, and is so far behind on its rent (almost $2 million) that the Empire State Realty Trust is threatening to pull the plug on their 40-year-old transmitter (way beyond an FM transmitter's normal useful life).

Whoops... my error. The original post has been corrected.

Meanwhile, Pacifica is suing the ESRT, claiming that, as a non-commercial station, they should be entitled to free rent on Empire's master antenna.  They've supposedly talked to Durst about relocating the transmitter site to the master antenna at 4 Times Square.  Talk about being divorced from reality.  Pacifica clearly has no idea how to run a business, and the fact that they've been on the air this long can only be attributed to luck.

Why am I not surprised by this statement. 

Broadcast radio is only good for two things:

NPR and the Dave Ramsey Show.

Other than that, you don't really need it.  Don't even really need it for civil defense since those alerts get pushed to smartphones.

I disagree on the civil defense part, and it's in the design on the network. Cell phone networks are extremely low power, and only have an effective range of a few miles (this is by design). Network load can delay messages.

Broadcast radio and television, in comparison, has an effective range range of dozens, if not a hundred or two hundred miles, depending on terrain and transmitter power. For quick dissemination of information, broadcast media can't be beat.

[hbelkins]

Broadcast radio is only good for two things:

NPR and the Dave Ramsey Show.

Other than that, you don't really need it.  Don't even really need it for civil defense since those alerts get pushed to smartphones.

Not a fan of NPR for multiple reasons.

Does Ramsey have an app or offer podcasts?

I don't listen to actual over-the-air broadcast radio unless I am in an area with a strong signal for the stations carrying the shows I want to listen to when I am traveling. I use the iHeartRadio app to listen to the stream from my preferred broadcast stations (especially since I can't pick them up where I work).

And often, even if I'm traveling, I'll use the iHeart app and listen to the stream (if I have a cell signal) instead of trying to find a station that I can pick up on the car radio.

[bing101]

https://radioinsight.com/headlines/122420/kgo-sets-new-lineup-ronn-owens-moves-commentator-role/

KGO-AM Cumulus will make changes as Ronn Owens becomes a "Contributor" to the station and he is leaving the main host seat.

[Rothman]

Broadcast radio is only good for two things:

NPR and the Dave Ramsey Show.

Other than that, you don't really need it.  Don't even really need it for civil defense since those alerts get pushed to smartphones.

Not a fan of NPR for multiple reasons.

Truth can be scary.

[Beltway]

Broadcast radio is only good for two things:
NPR and the Dave Ramsey Show.
Other than that, you don't really need it.  Don't even really need it for civil defense since those alerts get pushed to smartphones.

Not a fan of NPR for multiple reasons.

Truth can be scary.

Fake News is to be avoided.