Thanks to Confessor Gopher for calling our attention to the FCC's rejection of what it is basically calling sham sale to Whitley Media, a broker. I'm excerpting without permission from an update to the previous news item from RadioInsight.
Stating that the license transfer is not a true sale in that all economic risk would remain with Cumulus as Whitley would get the same brokerage fee regardless of the price he sells the station for, Cumulus would remain the defacto owner of the station.
The APA, by providing for Whitley to be reimbursed out of the sale proceeds for any losses and expenses he incurs in operating the Station, makes it clear that all of the economic risk of operating the Station would remain with Cumulus. Likewise, because Whitley is required to remit to Cumulus all of the proceeds from the sale of the Station, less his expenses and his brokerage fee, Cumulus would retain all of the risk of loss and potential for profit from the sale of the Station to a third party. Whitley will receive his brokerage fee and no more, whether the Station is sold for $1 million or $10 million. Given these “economic realities,” we conclude that the agreement between Cumulus and Whitley cannot be reasonably characterized as a proposed $100 sale of the Station to Whitley and that Cumulus would remain the owner of the Station.
Cumulus spun-off KTDK to Whitley in order to LMA 103.3 KESN from ESPN. That LMA was set to begin as soon as the KTDK spinoff to Whitley closed. Now both are on-hold indefinitely.
This also answers the question I had earlier, which is whether the "sale" of 104.1 was necessary to allow Cumulus to enter into the management agreement for 103.3 KESN, that answer being "yes."
So sounds like we'll have 104.1 for awhile longer, and ESPN will have to find some other way to figure out what to do with those time slots.
no one talking about this yet?
ReplyDeletehttp://www.twitlonger.com/show/n_1rovvmm
Here's a sudden thought.
ReplyDeleteIf Greggo had kept his nose clean (so to speak) and he and Mike were still chugging along as the Hardline, would Corby have been content in his role as yuk monkey or would he have moved on to other opportunities?
Good question, Anon Ron. Hard to say. One one hand, I'd say that by now Corby would've been snatched up by either ESPN or The FAN. On the other hand, he doesn't strike me as a go-getter, as ambitious, in any way. So I could see him playing the third wheel indefinitely; enjoying the lifestyle, the local celebrity, and all that that entails.
ReplyDelete@318
ReplyDeleteWow! Thanks for sharing this link. That's some pointed, poignant advice from one McGruber.
Well said from one of such a young age. Doubts Greggo will heed it.
ReplyDeletePerhaps RaCE on the Fan?
ReplyDeleteLooks like the old grey wolf's twitter account has been hacked.
ReplyDeleteI got a feeling when Hardline is thru...Corby is thru! Thru being the boring TMZ starter-kit, ass whip that he is!
ReplyDeleteWhen Mike's inevitable retirement occurs, seems to me Corby has two options.
ReplyDelete1. The Ticket keeps him and teams him with someone else.
2. If the Fan or ESPN is still around, I suspect he could find a gig there. But maybe not making what he is making now.
Or maybe he will move to Norman and be Barry's personal fetcher.
Anyone listening to the Golf Challenge. Sounds like a good idea that, like most remote outings, stumbled out of the gate with tech problems (mics cutting in and out, etc.).
ReplyDeleteOh dear, oh dear, oh dear. We're speculating again. Some Ticketers get ever so cross with us when we do that.
ReplyDeleteThere.
Having so acknowledged, here's my speculation:
(1) The gestalt I get is that Mike isn't going anywhere and I'm coming around to thinking that this is not his last contract and that he's planning on hanging on as long as his health permits.
(2) If Mike should hang it up, the Hardline will continue with Corby. If Danny wants to move to full-time host, they'll do that. If not, then someone else. But in any event, it will be a Corby-led Hardline.
Don't take it to the bank. But institutional inertia -- and the success of the now heavily-Corby-inflected Hardline -- suggests to me that we will be hearing Corby in PM drive for decades to come.
BTW - not sure why, other than it is connected with the Ticket Golf outing, but digging Mike on Norm's show talking Rangers. It reminds me that the Hardline still has it individually (including Corby when it has been Hardline minus Mike) - but for some reason they drift when together sometimes. But, it is still better than anything else out there.
ReplyDeleteBrad - I totally agree. I was in hog heaven hearing Mike and Norm's impromptu hour long baseball discussion. We need more of that please!
ReplyDeleteBrad - I totally agree with you. I have been listening to the Ticket since Day One, and Mike and Norm's hour long baseball discussion is as good as it gets. I miss that type of segment very much.
ReplyDeleteToday Richie Whitt posted a link to Cumulus' advertisement for an afternoon drive sports talk radio host. Richie's conjecture is that it is related to Randy Galloway's impeding departure. I thought they might use some one already in this market, but maybe not.
ReplyDeletehttps://www.tab.org/job-bank/find-job/full-time-sports-talk-show-host
Richie's column has some good information in it.
That ad was probably placed before the FCC ruling described in this post. It's my understanding that the voiding of the 104.1 sale means that the ESPN management agreement (which depended on the 104.1 divestiture) is, at best, on hold for now. I don't think Cumulus will be able to have a role in programming 103.3 with 104.1 back in the fold. Could be wrong, but that's the way I read this account.
ReplyDeleteMaybe Richie knows more than I do about this. I may be wrong about whether Cumulus can continue to observe the ESPN management contract.
its a legal thing with big companies that they must post any new job openings so just because its posted doesnt mean it might not be posted by someone already in the company.
ReplyDeleteTo All:
ReplyDeleteThe Sports Media Journal Podcast, hosted by Keith Thibault and Ken Fang (Fangs Bites) had an interview with Barry Horn as part of their podcast. The Ticket and their Marconi win are covered.
http://sportsmediajournal.com/2013/09/26/sports-media-weekly-no-165-barry-horn-dallas-morning-news-jen-royle-boston-herald-radio/
Wanted to issue a delayed thanks to 318 for posting Grubes's open letter to Greg Williams. Very touching and true piece of work. I think a lot of echo his sentiments, and I've posted some open thoughts to GW in the past hoping for better times for him. Yeah, I know he's brought his current state on himself, but . . . .
ReplyDeleteI was interested in what Michael had to say about money. "It makes me sad to see you begging for handouts from people you’ve never met in order to keep your blog going." Greg's blog is/was more elaborate than this one, but I can't imagine it is a gigantic cash flow drain. Which, in turn, suggests that Greg might be in narrow financial straits right now. I hope not.
And I hope he takes Michael's good advice.
Corby is such a football snob. Discussing going to a game in South Bend . . .
ReplyDeleteMike: There's a whole series of rituals.
Danny: It is a lot like College Station in that regard.
Corby: Yeah, except they actually have a football history.
As much as Corby gets on my nerves, he does have a point about that comment.
ReplyDelete