Wednesday, March 16, 2016

Who's Likely to Buy CBS Radio Properties

CBS Radio is likely to be sold in pieces, through a series of creatively structured deals that minimize tax liabilities, brokers say, rather than one large cash deal. Already the handicapping of potential buyers has begun, according to InsideRadio.

Cumulus Media, once thought as a likely suitor, is seen as an improbable buyer due to its current financial hardships. And debt issues aside, iHeartMedia has too many markets that overlap with those of CBS (New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Dallas, Houston, Boston, Philadelphia, Miami, Detroit, etc.) to make an acquisition work.

Entercom Communications and Hubbard Radio are both expected to be interested in certain CBS Radio clusters that would expand their footprints. Both have strong balance sheets and existing relationships with lenders to do deals that make strategic sense. And both have been in acquisition mode. Executives at both companies didn’t respond to a request for comment.

Alpha Media and Bonneville/KSL may also be interested in certain clusters. “There will be a moderate scramble for these assets,” Patrick Communications managing partner Larry Patrick tells InsideRadio. “They’re not going to come cheap and they’re going to have to be tied to a tax-free exchange.”

Here’s how a potential three way, “like-kind” deal could prevent CBS from writing a big check to the IRS. CBS identifies a handful of TV stations it would like to purchase. It sells some radio clusters to company A and uses the funds to buy the TV stations from company B. That’s the model CBS used when it sold a group of West Palm Beach radio stations to Dean Goodman’s Digity, using the proceeds to buy WLBY-TV, Long Island, NY without incurring tax consequences. “CBS is really smart and has very good ideas about how to do that,” Patrick says. Where it may get trickier is using proceeds from a radio deal to finance a movie studio or digital media purchase without a hefty tax bill.



The CBS radio stations are:

MARKET #1 – NEW YORK
WBMP-FM Top 40
WCBS-AM News
WCBS-FM Classic Hits
WFAN-AM Sports
WFAN-FM Sports
WINS-AM News
WWFS-FM Hot AC

MARKET #2 – LOS ANGELES
KAMP-FM Top 40
KCBS-FM Adult Hits
KNX-AM News
KROQ-FM Alternative
KRTH-FM Classic Hits
KTWV-FM Smooth AC

MARKET #3 – CHICAGO
WBBM-AM News
WBBM-FM Top 40
WCFS-FM News
WJMK-FM Classic Hits
WSCR-AM Sports
WUSN-FM Country
WXRT-FM Adult Alternative

MARKET #4 – SAN FRANCISCO
KCBS-AM News
KFRC-FM News
KITS-FM Alternative
KLLC-FM Hot AC
KMVQ-FM Top 40
* CBS RADIO also owns and operates KZDG-AM in San Francisco. The station is programmed by Cinemaya Media through a Time Brokerage Agreement and features a Hindi-language format.

MARKET #5 – DALLAS
KJKK-FM Adult Hits
KLUV-FM Classic Hits
KMVK-FM Spanish
KRLD-AM News
KRLD-FM Sports
KVIL-FM Hot AC

MARKET #6 – HOUSTON
KHMX-FM Hot AC
KIKK-AM Sports
KILT-AM Sports
KILT-FM Country
KKHH-FM Top 40
KLOL-FM Spanish

MARKET #7 – WASHINGTON, DC
WIAD-FM Hot AC
WJFK-AM Sports
WJFK-FM Sports
WLZL-FM Spanish
WPGC-FM Rhythmic Top 40
** CBS RADIO also owns and operates WDCH-FM in Washington, D.C. The station is programmed by Bloomberg Radio through a Time Brokerage Agreement and features business news/talk.

MARKET #8 – PHILADELPHIA
KYW-AM News
WIP-FM Sports
WOGL-FM Classic Hits
WPHT-AM News/Talk
WXTU-FM Country
WZMP-FM Top 40

MARKET #9 – ATLANTA
WAOK-AM News/Talk
WVEE-FM Urban
WZGC-FM Sports

MARKET #10 – BOSTON
WBMX-FM Hot AC
WBZ-AM News
WBZ-FM Sports
WODS-FM Top 40
WZLX-FM Classic Rock

MARKET #11 – MIAMI
WKIS-FM Country
WPOW-FM Top 40
WQAM-AM Sports

MARKET #12 – DETROIT
WDZH-FMTop 40
WOMC-FM Classic Hits
WWJ-AM News
WXYT-AM Sports
WXYT-FM Sports
WYCD-FM Country

MARKET #13 – SEATTLE
KFNQ-AM Sports
KJAQ-FM Adult Hits
KMPS-FM Country
KZOK-FM Classic Rock1

MARKET #14 – PHOENIX
KMLE-FM Country
KOOL-FM Classic Hits
KZON-FM Top 40

MARKET #16 – MINNEAPOLIS
KMNB-FM Country
KZJK-FM Adult Hits
WCCO-AM News/Talk

MARKET #17 – SAN DIEGO
KEGY-FM Top 40
KYXY-FM Adult Contemporary

MARKET #21 – BALTIMORE
WJZ-AM Sports
WJZ-FM Sports
WLIF-FM Adult Contemporary
WWMX-FM Top 40

MARKET #22 – ST LOUIS
KEZK-FM Adult Contemporary
KMOX-AM News/Talk
KYKY-FM Hot AC

MARKET #25 – PITTSBURGH
KDKA-AM News/Talk
KDKA-FM Sports
WBZZ-FM Hot AC
WDSY-FM Country

MARKET #26 – RIVERSIDE
KFRG-FM Country
KRAK-AM Sports
KVFG-FM Classic Hits
KXFG-FM Country

MARKET #27 – SACRAMENTO
KHTK-AM Sports
KNCI-FM Country
KSFM-FM Rhythmic Top 40
KYMX-FM Adult Contemporary
KZZO-FM Hot AC

MARKET #31 – CLEVELAND
WDOK-FM Adult Contemporary
WKRK-FM Sports
WNCX-FM Classic Rock
WQAL-FM Hot AC

MARKET #32 – LAS VEGAS
KLUC-FM Top 40
KMXB-FM Hot AC
KXNT-AM News/Talk
KXQQ-FM Rhythmic AC
KXST-AM Sports
KXTE-FM Alternative

MARKET #33 – ORLANDO
WOCL-FM Classic Hits
WOMX-FM Hot AC
WQMP-FM Top 40

MARKET #52 – HARTFORD
WRCH-FM Adult Contemporary1
WTIC-AM News/Talk
WTIC-FM Hot AC
WZMX-FM Rhythmic Top 40

MARKET #138 – PALM SPRING
KEZN-FM Adult Contemporary

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