Showing posts with label Cumulus Broadcasting. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Cumulus Broadcasting. Show all posts

Monday, May 23, 2011

Article from "The Deal Magazine"


This is a well written story from "The Deal Magazine" about the "C" radio companies and what the future might hold for them. Click: HERE

George
Media Services Group

Monday, January 24, 2011

New York Times article: Static on the Citadel Radio Dial

The New York Times published a piece over the weekend on the Citadel/Cumulus deal:

"EXECUTIVES who run public companies, and the directors who oversee them, are supposed to operate with the shareholders’ best interests at heart. If a capitalist society like ours is to function, that has to be a bedrock principle."

Check it out HERE.

George
Media Services Group

Friday, December 17, 2010

Lew Dickey removed from Farid's Christmas card list


The news today that Citadel has rejected two offers from Lew's Cumulus Media certainly breaths some new life into what has been a very slow station trading year. It also represents the opening act to what will be a fascinating show.

Lew Dickey has plenty of fans as well as detractors. And I’m squarely in the camp of the former. Yes, he’s been a great customer over the years (he bought over a hundred stations through Media Services Group), but there is more to it than that.

Lew is a broadcaster. He was literally raised in the business. He has seen it from all sides (and is probably one of the best researchers ever to serve the industry -- pre-Cumulus). He knows how to run a radio station and is as comfortable doing so in Atlanta sized markets as he is in Savannah sized markets.

And he’s smart. Not just well educated (B.A. from Stanford and MBA from Harvard), but radio street-smart. If he succeeds in his effort to acquire Citadel, he will know what to do with it and how best to integrate the two very different cultures.

I believe that Lew has had his eye on Citadel for a long time. And now that it has emerged from bankruptcy court with a squeaky clean balance sheet, and station prices are at a decade’s low level, what better time?

Plus, Lew never took my stock in his company to zero.

The drama will be fun to watch. If Lew is successful, look for some new station acquisition opportunities in the new year. For one thing, the deal will likely require some spin-offs (in markets where both companies compete). For another, transactions like this have a way of fostering new, unrelated deals. They establish a pricing comparable. Potential buyers and sellers will pay close attention to the multiple on the deal.

Last but not least, Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to all! Let’s have a prosperous 2011.

George
Media Services Group

Wednesday, April 7, 2010

The bottom is in

The Crestview Partners $500 million investment in Lew Dickey announced today marks the turnaround for the radio industry. With leverage, it represents new liquidity for the radio business in excess of $1 Billion. I believe that we saw the real pricing bottom mid-year 2009 with the purchase and sale of WQXR in New York.

This deal brings renewed life to station trading. We have weathered the storm. Congratulations Lew!

George
Media Services Group