WMEX is Gone

[David Tomm]

EMF may be on to something.  First off, financing is not a problem.   
There's a ton of capital floating around some of these fundie  
organizations.  They take care of each other.  EMF is also buying  
stations now while the market is distressed, and getting some great  
deals out there.  Eventually station values will come back around and  
they'll be sitting on a gold mine.  In a worst case situation, if  
they have to sell off some stations in non core markets to stay  
profitable in the short term so be it, but most likely they are  
investing in the infrastructure now for larger profit margins in the  
future.

If the FCC rules drastically change it could alter their business  
model, but again, liquidating some of their less profitable stations  
if that happens should keep the company in good financial shape.

-Dave Tomm
"Mike Thomas"

On Jun 4, 2008, at 12:54 AM, Scott Fybush wrote:

> I wonder about that, actually. I'm sure that on an operational  
> level, they're making a profit, and a handsome one at that. But  
> they're also buying stations left and right. The $1 million EMF  
> spent for WMEX/WKHL is a drop in the bucket compared to bigger buys  
> they've made just in the last year or so in markets including  
> Milwaukee, Spokane, Syracuse and Albany. (And others, too - those  
> are just the first ones that came to mind.)
>
> Most of these stations are being bought on terms - EMF puts 10% or  
> so down and pays the rest over 10 or 15 years. They're piling up a  
> lot of debt, quickly, in an economy that might not be forgiving of  
> same - and in an regulatory environment that may or may not  
> continue to support their model of staff-less stations fed by  
> satellite from Sacramento.
>
> If they had to build and staff main studios for each of these  
> stations, the financial picture might not look so rosy all of a  
> sudden.
>
> (I'm not privy to EMF's internal financials, so this is at best  
> informed speculation, mind you.)
>
> s