CBS & Entercom merger

[Bob Nelson]

If iHeart wanted the AMs they could maybe do conservative talk on RKO with
Kuhner (in a different slot), Carr, and Rush (live),Sean (delayed) etc on a
stronger signal..but they didn't do all that well with 1200.They could then
do foreign or something on the 1430.They could clear Fox Sports on 850 or
be paid to carry ESPN as is. With a bargain price, maybe. iHeart is running
similar talkers (WTAG, WXTK) elsewhere.

RKO may not be doing spectacularly but they have kept their format so far.
Since WBZ is only talk at night, RKO is really the most successful _all
talk_ station in town.

On Feb 4, 2017 3:34 AM, "Garrett Wollman" <wollman@bimajority.org> wrote:

> <<On Thu, 2 Feb 2017 17:33:05 -0500, Scott Fybush <scott@fybush.com> said:
>
> > If CBS is looking to make a tax-free swap, they have to have something
> > to give up that the other company will actually want. That might be more
> > than just 680 and 850.
>
> This is likely to be really challenging.  You could see a Salem
> perhaps wanting to operate up one or both of those AMs, but they don't
> have much useful to swap back.  iHeart wouldn't want either one, it
> would make no sense for their current strategy in Boston, although
> they do own in most if not all of the other CBS/Entercom markets.  (On
> the other hand, it seems like iHeart would be the obvious buyer for
> 107.3, assuming it gets spun, and they probably can't pay cash and do
> have something that could be traded in a market where NewCo will have
> cap room.)
>
> I would not be surprised to see EMF involved in this deal when all's
> said and done.
>
> > If there are still any teeth to the Antitrust Division at the new
> > Justice Department, there could be revenue issues with keeping only the
> > biggest of the FMs.
>
> I'm going to assume not, and maybe be pleasantly surprised if
> something else happens.  I'm sure CBS's lawyers have already planned
> for that contingency, and management has decided which stations
> they're willing to shop around.  Probably they'd prefer to do a deal
> with someone who can help them with their west-coast cap issues as
> well.
>
> The way the deal was described, CBS shareholders will get to choose to
> hold on to their stock in old-CBS or take the spinoff.  In order for
> this to work, National Amusements is presumably not going to take
> Radio stock -- the ownership cap issues would get worse if the
> Redstones end up with an attributable interest in radio, since most of
> the problem markets, like Boston, have CBS-owned TV duopolies.
>
> -GAWollman
>
>