Meet the Media Services Group partners: Providence office

Our Providence office is staffed by veterans Bob Maccini, Stephan Sloan, and Ted Clark (with Diana Todd really running things). In addition to an active station brokerage practice, our Providence office anchors our broadcast valuation practice, which in my humble opinion, is the best in the industry.

Bob Maccini commenced his broadcasting involvement at Old Stone Bank, Providence, RI where he managed the bank's Communications Lending Group for five years. Subsequently, he founded and managed Chapman Financial Services, a subsidiary of Chapman Associates which provided investment banking services to the broadcasting industry.

Bob was one of our co-founders when Media Services Group was launched twenty years ago. Since, he has worked with numerous financial institutions in broadcasting related workout transactions and has been appointed as a receiver and examiner by various courts to oversee and sell radio and cable television companies.

Bob serves on the Boards of Saga Communications and GAP Broadcasting, and is President/CEO of Ando Media. He holds a B.A. degree in Economics from Holy Cross College and an M.B.A. degree in Finance from Babson College.

Stephan Sloan assists clients in a variety of investment banking, brokerage, appraisal, portfolio management, and expert testimony tasks. Stephan has helped clients obtain more than $40 million in senior debt and helped broker radio stations with an aggregate value of more than $200 million. He has appraised or assisted in the appraisal of radio, television, and cable television systems valued in excess of $500 million for clients that include the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) and the Resolution Trust Corporation (RTC).

Working closely with Bob in Media Services' Broadcast Portfolio Group, Stephan has helped financial institutions with problems in their broadcast and cable loan portfolios and in court-appointed receivership assignments. He has also been accepted in state court as an expert witness on radio station valuation, finance, and receivership matters. Steph attended Salve Regina University.

Ted Clark is an analyst in Providence. He joined the firm in 1997 and since that time has performed valuations of radio, television and cable television systems totaling in excess of $560 million. Prior to joining Media Services Group, Ted (or as we call him, "Dr. Clark") worked as a research scientist and software developer in the biotechnology industry. He received his B.S. degree from the University of Rhode Island and performed his graduate studies at Dartmouth College.

George
Media Services Group

Radio Disney Group sells WMNE (AM) serving West Palm Beach

Radio Disney Group, LLC has agreed to sell WMNE (AM) (Riviera Beach, FL) serving West Palm Beach to Travis Media L.L.C. (pending FCC approval).

Eddie Esserman and Bill Whitley of Media Services Group were the exclusive brokers.

Congratulations Eddie and Bill (again!).

George
Media Services Group

KAKS-FM sale closes

Carroll County Broadcasting has completed the acquisition of the assets of radio station KAKS-FM, serving Fayetteville, Arkansas from Davidson Media Arkansas Stations LLC. Felix Perez is the CEO of the Seller, and Jay Bunyard is the President of the Buyer. Both Buyer and Seller have multiple other broadcast properties. The purchase price is $1,110,000.

Bill Whitley of Media Services Group’s Dallas office served as the exclusive broker for this transaction and represented the seller.

Congratulations Bill!

George
Media Services Group

Meet the Media Services Group partners: Tom McKinley

Tom McKinley joined Media Services Group in 1996, opening our West Coast office. He has been involved in the sale of over 100 radio stations across the country. In addition he has done numerous appraisals and has also acted as a consultant to broadcast groups and stations.

Prior to joining MSG, Tom had 25 years of broadcast experience, first in sales management and then as VP/GM of stations in New Haven, Kansas City, Seattle, and San Diego/Los Angeles where he ran a regional Southern California station. He was also Executive VP/GM of All News WTOP-AM and WASH-FM, two of the Washington, DC market’s leading stations. In addition he was Senior VP Corporate for Noble Broadcast Group, which at the time was one of the largest broadcast groups in the country.

Tom's additional experience includes National Sales Management at Major Market Radio, Manager West Coast, and Executive VP Stations, New York, as well as President, Group W Radio Sales. Tom opened the Media Services Group office in Metro New York in 2006, and maintains a West Coast office in Northern California.

Tom's been known to frequent an Irish bar or two. He is also MSG's designated story-teller. If you know him, you know what I'm talking about!

George

Media Services Group

Call Report

The news last week was not particularly good. Regent missed a payment. GE and Black Crow squared off in court.

But there are glimmers. Most broadcasters I have spoken with are reporting good first quarter pacings. Yes, the comps are easier, but it is a start. I met with a fund last week who has recently taken a position in the industry. I believe them to be "smart money." And I met with a broadcaster who believes that radio stations are attractive at the current pricing level. I continue to believe that things are looking up for 2010.

George
Media Services Group

Meet the Media Services Group partners: Jerry Johnson

Jerry manages Media Services Group’s Minneapolis office. His fourteen-year association with WCCO, coupled with twenty-five years as a station broker, has provided him with a keen knowledge of the media industry and the "deal process" of buying and selling properties.

Jerry has been involved with transactions for more than 160 media properties covering nine states. Additionally, he has appraised more than 60 broadcast properties in the Midwest and surrounding areas. Jerry is a member of the National Association of Media Brokers and a member of five broadcasting organizations. He has authored articles for the Minnesota Broadcasting Association newsletter and contributes to many national trade publications.

George

Media Services Group

2009 Non Commercial FM Sales ($1 million or higher)

After taking a look at significant 2009 sales of commercial FM stations, I thought it might be interesting to look at the non commercial FM deals. I queried our BIA database for all 2009 transactions of non commercial FM stations with a sale price equal to or greater than $1 million. Here's what turned up:

1. Market: Dallas-Ft. Worth, TX
Market Rank: 5
Sale Announced: 06/09
Calls: KKXT
Buyer: North Texas Public Broadcasting Inc.
Seller: Covenant Educational Media Inc.
Price: $18,000,000
Pop Count (60 dBu): 4,974,764
Cost per Pop: $3.62

2. Market: Pittsburgh, PA
Market Rank: 25
Sale Announced: 05/09
Calls: WAOB-FM
Buyer: Saint Joseph Missions
Seller: Sheridan Broadcasting Corp.
Price: $8,900,000
Pop Count: 2,132,539
Cost per Pop: $4.17 (this assumes no value for the AM properties)
Comments: Sale includes two AM properties, WAMO and WPGR

3. Market: Cape Charles (Norfolk), VA
Market Rank: 43 (Norfolk)
Sale Announced: 09/09
Calls: WAZP
Buyer: Educational Media Foundation
Seller: Delmarva Educational Association
Price: $4,000,000
Pop Count: 440,842
Cost per Pop: $9.07

4. Market: Toledo, OH
Market Rank: 92
Sale Announced: 01/09
Calls: WNKL
Buyer: Educational Media Foundation
Seller: Cornerstone Church Inc.
Price: $2,825,000
Pop Count: 354,869
Cost per Pop: $7.96 (This assumes no value for the AM property)
Comments: Sale includes WNWT-AM

5. Market: Rockford, IL
Market Rank: 149
Sale Announced: 05/09
Calls: WGSL/WQFL
Buyer: Educational Media Foundation
Seller: First Assembly of God Church
Price: $2,000,000
Pop Count (WGSL): 408,712
Pop Count (WQFL): 368,686
Cost per Pop: $2.57

6. Market: Oxnard-Ventura, CA
Market Rank: 118
Sale Announced: 01/09
Calls: KLFH
Buyer: Logos Broadcasting Corp.
Seller: Shepherd Communications Inc.
Price: $1,350,000
Pop Count: 346,992
Cost per Pop: $3.89

7. Market: Raleigh-Durham, NC
Market Rank: 42
Sale Announced: 10/09
Calls: WAJC-FM/WGPS-FM/WJIJ-FM/WPGT-FM and W214BJ (translator)
Buyer: Liberty University Inc.
Seller: Calvary Chapel of Cost Mesa
Price: $1,250,000
Pop Count (WAJC): 45,043
Pop Count (WGPS): 103,995
Pop Count (WJIJ): 16,566
Pop Count (WPGT): 37,330
Cost per Pop: $6.16
Comments: I ignored the translator for purposes of determining the Cost per Pop.

8. Market: San Luis Obispo, CA
Market Rank: 170
Sale Announced: 02/09
Calls: KESC
Buyer: University of Southern California
Seller: Lazer Broadcasting Corp.
Price: $1,200,000
Pop Count: 181,645
Cost per Pop: $6.61

9. Market: Ft. Wayne, IN
Market Rank: 108
Sale Announced: 07/09
Calls: WLAB
Buyer: Star Educational Media Network Inc.
Seller: Indiana District - Lutheran Church MS
Price: $1,000,000
Pop Count: 349,388
Cost per Pop: $2.86 (ignores coverage of translators)
Comments: Includes two translators.

10. Market: Wilkes Barre-Scranton, PA
Market Rank: 70
Sale Announced: 06/09
Calls: WCIG
Buyer: Family Life Ministries
Seller: GEOS Communications
Price: $1,000,000 (plus Buyer assigns two translators to Seller)
Pop Count: 431,812
Cost per Pop: $2.42

George

Media Services Group

Top 50 TV Markets ranked by 2009 revenue (BIA)

Here is the estimated 2009 television market revenue from BIA for the top fifty markets ($000):

1. Los Angeles, CA (1,193,900)
2. New York, NY (1,059,900)
3. Chicago, IL (635,600)
4. Dallas-Ft. Worth, TX (484,000)
5. Philadelphia, PA (435,300)
6. San Francisco-Oakland-San Jose, CA (412,300)
7. Washington, DC (401,700)
8. Houston, TX (387,500)
9. Atlanta, GA (367,000)
10. Miami - Ft. Lauderdale, FL (365,700)
11. Boston, MA (340,100)
12. Phoenix, AZ (292,500)
13. Denver, CO (260,700)
14. Tampa-St Petersburg-Sarasota, FL (253,400)
15. Orlando-Daytona Beach-Melbourne (243,100)
16. Detroit, MI (242,300)
17. Seattle-Tacoma, WA (231,000)
18. Minneapolis - St. Paul, MN (211,900)
19. San Diego, CA (178,300)
20. Cleveland-Akron, OH (173,600)
21. Sacramento-Stockton-Modesto, CA (172,400)
22. Pittsburgh, PA (158,400)
23. San Antonio, TX (154,300)
24. Charlotte, NC (152,400)
25. St. Louis, MO (151,000)
26. San Juan, PR (150,900)
27. Baltimore, MD (149,900)
28. Indianapolis, IN (147,300)
29. Hartford-New Haven, CT (136,400)
30. Las Vegas, NV (135,500)
31. Columbus, OH (131,100)
32. Raleigh-Durham, NC (128,000)
33. Portland, OR (122,700)
34. Salt Lake City, UT (121,600)
35. Kansas City, KS-MO (120,800)
36. Nashville, TN (113,800)
37. Cincinnati, OH (113,600)
38. Milwaukee, WI (110,600)
39. Oklahoma City, OK (96,600)
40. Norfolk-Portsmouth-Newport News, VA (92,700)
41. West Palm Beach-Ft. Pierce, FL (92,700)
42. Greenville-Spartanburg, SC-Asheville, NC (86,900)
43. Jacksonville, FL (86,400)
44. Louisville, KY (84,900)
45. New Orleans, LA (82,600)
46. Austin, TX (80,700)
47. Birmingham, AL (78,800)
48. Albuquerque-Santa Fe, NM (78,600)
49. Memphis, TN (78,000)
50. Richmond-Petersburg, VA (75,500)

George
Media Services Group

Top 50 Radio Markets ranked by 2009 revenue (BIA)

With 2009 behind us (which many of us are thankful for), I thought it might be interesting to look at the top 50 radio markets ranked by estimated radio revenue. I used the BIA numbers for the estimates. Here is how they shake out ($000):

1. Los Angeles, CA (698,000)
2. New York, NY (560,200)
3. Chicago, IL (441,100)
4. Dallas-Ft. Worth, TX (303,500)
5. San Francisco, CA (274,000)
6. Houston-Galveston, TX (267,800)
7. Atlanta, GA (267,500)
8. Washington, DC (245,000)
9. Boston, MA (225,200)
10. Miami-Ft. Lauderdale-Hollywood, FL (223,400)
11. Philadelphia, PA (217,400)
12. Phoenix, AZ (190,900)
13. Seattle-Tacoma, WA (174,800)
14. Detroit, MI (159,500)
15. Minneapolis-St. Paul, MN (140,300)
16. Denver-Boulder, CO (137,800)
17. San Diego, CA (136,900)
18. Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater, FL (110,000)
19. Baltimore, MD (103,600)
20. St. Louis, MO (99,200)
21. Orlando, FL (98,800)
22. San Antonio, TX (98,600)
23. Sacramento, CA (98,400)
24. Portland, OR (95,400)
25. Cincinnati, OH (83,700)
26. Pittsburgh, PA (81,600)
27. Puerto Rico (80,900)
28. Charlotte-Gastonia-Rock Hill, NC-SC (80,700)
29. Salt Lake City-Ogden-Provo, UT (80,400)
30. Cleveland, OH (77,600)
31. Kansas City, MO-KS (76,600)
32. Austin, TX (74,600)
33. Las Vegas, NV (73,100)
34. Milwaukee-Racine, WI (73,100)
35. Columbus, OH (67,800)
36. Indianapolis, IN (65,900)
37. Raleigh-Durham, NC (64,600)
38. Hartford-New Britain-Middletown, CT (58,800)
39. Nashville, TN (58,000)
40. Norfolk-Virginia Beach-Newport News, VA (53,600)
41. Buffalo-Niagara Falls, NY (52,700)
42. New Orleans, LA (50,400)
43. Jacksonville, FL (50,100)
44. West Palm Beach-Boca Raton, FL (48,300)
45. Oklahoma City, OK (44,500)
46. Richmond, VA (43,300)
47. Birmingham, AL (41,900)
48. Louisville, KY (41,800)
49. Nassau-Suffolk, NY (41,000)
50. Providence-Warwick-Pawtucket, RI (41,000)

Click here for a list of all Arbitron rated markets: http://216.134.214.83/articles/Copy%20of%202009%20MARKETS%20RANKED%20BY%20REVENUE.XLS

George
Media Services Group

If you're looking to acquire radio or TV stations, make sure we know about you!

I believe that 2010 will bring a number of new and returning broadcast station owners into the marketplace. Clearly some of the "roll-ups" of the past will be all or partially unrolled. As a station broker, it is critical for me to identify these new, potential buyers. If you fit that description, please get in touch. Let's talk about what you might want to buy and how you intend to pay for it.

A good way to begin is by completing a simple Buyer Profile form and faxing or emailing a copy to me. Click here for the form:

http://www.mediaservicesgroup.com/adminjax/ktmlpro/images/uploads/Small%20Market%20Radio%20Buyer%20Profile%20v2.pdf

You can email a pdf of the completed form to me at: George@MediaServicesGroup.com. My partners and I can then do a better job of identifying potential acquisition targets for you. Obviously, we keep all of the information confidential.

My fax is: (904) 285-5618

Let's do some business in 2010!

George
Media Services Group

Meet the Media Services Group partners: Bill and Mike Lytle

Continuing in the New Year to introduce you to my partners at Media Services Group, please meet Bill and Mike Lytle in Kansas City. Bill was with us at Chapman Associates and was one of the co-founders of MSG twenty years ago.

Bill is our "senior statesman." In his 50 plus years in both radio and television, Bill has been involved in announcing, sales and management. He served as the General Manager at KXTR-FM and the Sales Manager at both KMBZ-AM and KNBC-AM, all in Kansas City.

Bill received his B.A. degree from Northwestern University and performed his graduate studies at the University of Kansas, where he spent 15 years as a guest lecturer in Strategic Sales (and where he remains a die-hard sports fan). Bill is an experienced specialist in station management consulting and sales consulting.

Like father, like son. Bill's son Mike also works in our Kansas City office. Mike received his degree in Psychology from the University of Kansas in 1978. After spending a large portion of his professional career in the computer consulting industry, he moved into the broadcasting arena. Prior to station brokerage, he was involved in radio sales, broadcasting and production work in the Kansas City market.

George

Media Services Group

Broadcast engineering formulas and information

I tend to leave broadcast engineering to the engineers (and recommend that practice highly). But if your expertise runs a little deeper, you might be interested in the "Engineering Formulas & Information" section on Graham Brock's website:

http://www.grahambrock.com/eng_info.htm

Here is the list they provide:

• Ohms Law
• Simple Conversions
• T & H Pad Calculator
• Property Requirements for Standard Guyed Towers
• Property Requirements for an AM Ground System
• Ballast Formula for Non-Penetrating Roof Mounts
• Audio Terms used to descripe Audio Sound

Good luck with that!

George
Media Services Group

Will our listeners go GaGa for LaLa?

Apple's recently announced acquisition of LaLa didn't seem to prompt much radio industry discussion (though Mark Ramsey and Jerry Del Colliano both wrote about it). And frankly, I didn't think much about it until our Media Services Group online/new media guru Stephan Sloan explained to me the potential fallout on the radio operators. Turns out, it is a REALLY big deal to broadcasters. As Mark Ramsey put it, "And what do you call your favorite songs that you don't own but you have permanent access to? You call it 'radio,' folks. Except in radio's case it's the advertiser paying the 10 cents."

LaLa is a "pay" service where customers pay a dime to be able to permanently stream a song wherever and whenever they want. The company's growth was held back a a little known startup. Who wants their music library investment tied to a little known, probably under-funded start-up? But Apple is a different story. I'd trust them with my music and you probably would too.

Apple's iTunes arguably already controls the music business. They have the content. And with their myriad of cool appliances (iPhones, Nanos, iPods, Macs, etc.), they have the distribution platform. Plus, the technology provides a cache of the tunes . . . you can still listen when you're away from the Internet.

There is an appealing "anytime/anywhere" component to Apple/LaLa (sound familiar?). And this puts Apple into the streaming business, big time. Short term, that might bode well for our streaming businesses. Long term, different story.

Apple innovates. Consumers know it. And we (the broadcasters) have been a little short on innovation lately. It will be tough to "out music" Apple. They have a coolness cachet that we can't match, especially with their appliances. By the way, have you bought a radio lately? Drop by Target or WalMart and see what you think of your choices. But, I digress.

LaLa is developing an iPhone app. A subscription service is probably just around the corner. Pandora and XM/Sirius are likely the most immediate casualties, but we might be next.

So why didn't a broadcaster buy LaLa? Maybe because none of us have any cash at the moment. But even if we did, would we, as (mostly) a bunch of 50+ (mostly) guys, have had the vision?

How do we compete? We can't beat them with just music offerings on our interactive platforms. We have to provide more. We have to "go where they ain't." And I suspect that talented local personalities are part of that solution. Think "entertainment."

Those are my thoughts. What are yours? Your comments are encouraged (click "Comments" below).

George
Media Services Group

Harvard Business Review blog: The Builders' Manifesto by Umair Haque

Interesting "take" on Leaders versus Builders.

"Dear World Leaders,"

http://blogs.hbr.org/haque/2009/12/the_builders_manifesto.html

George
Media Services Group