The Business of Radio

by Tom Gordon & Jeff McKay

 

7/2/2018

 

Could Beasley Broadcast Group be preparing for a buying spree?  According to a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, they’ve filed a $250 million shelf offering, meaning they could be in the hunt for stations that may come up for sale if iHeart or Cumulus among others decide to sell off assets following their bankruptcy proceedings.  E.W. Scripps has announced they want out of the radio business, and their clusters in six cities including their prized Milwaukee stations are available for the right price.  Entercom was rumored to desire the Milwaukee cluster, but no deal has been finalized.   There’s a big shift on the digital domain as Entercom announced they will move their stations from TuneIn to Radio.com, becoming the exclusive digital platform.  They will leave TuneIn in two stages, and settle in on an asset Entercom received from their merge with CBS radio.  North of the border, Canada’s Corus Entertainment posted a big loss stemming from their TV stations, but despite the fact their radio stations as a group saw revenues down 2%, Toronto & Ottawa stations outperformed and their report called their radio performance “strong.”