.jpg)
Cumulus Media, former owner of Chattanooga’s largest radio station, will soon be back in town thanks to its $2.5 billion acquisition of rival 4,000-employee Citadel Broadcasting, which controls four local stations.The merger should be completed by the end of 2011, Cumulus indicated.
Chuck Wilkins, market manager for Citadel’s local WSKZ, WOGT and WGOW stations, said listeners wouldn’t notice any changes in the near term. The proposed merger first has to go through an FCC review and must be approved by shareholders, he said. “There are no other Cumulus stations in this market, so we won’t really have to worry about cases where there are too many stations and there has to be some sorting out,” he said.
Cumulus announced in a press release that the acquisition would give the company 572 radio stations across roughly 120 U.S. markets, including eight of the top 10. The deal would also save the combined companies about $50 million through “combined synergies.”
The Brewer Media Group, Bahakel Communications and Clear Channel Communications will compete in the Chattanooga market with the merged company, which will be the second-largest radio broadcaster in the country after Clear Channel.
Read the full story at: www.timesfreepress.com.
Read the full story at: www.timesfreepress.com.
Very sad news. Some good broadcasters will be replaced by a puppet programmer 2 part timers and a computer.
ReplyDeleteSo...what will this mean to Talk Radio, KZ, and the rest? Is anyone nervous on Pineville Road?
ReplyDeleteThere will be a bloodbath on Pineville Road. Ask any of the former members of the Cumulus family who work in Chattanooga. It's not going to be pretty.
ReplyDeletewhy should anyone be nervous. The station are profitable and perform well and have for some time.
ReplyDeleteIt will not be a bloodbath, Cumulus will not make many changes because of how well they do on Pineville road.
ReplyDeleteWell lets hope for the sake of listeners that some major changes come from above...they don't value what everyone tells them when something is not good and needs to be removed i.e. afterlunch "local talk" host:(
ReplyDeletei agree strongly with the comment above and maybe they even flip 1079 back to country
ReplyDelete"Cumulus not going to be making changes"
ReplyDeleteHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAA. Funniest post ever. Someone has no idea what Cumulus is about.
good bye talk monster ????
ReplyDeleteI don't know about The Talk Monster, but Bill Lockhart will no longer be Program Director...This will transpire sooner rather than later...You heard it here first!
ReplyDeleteThe annoucement that Bill is stepping down as PD as already been announced within Citadel Chattanooga for personal reasons. Kevin West is taking over as PD. Get your facts straight before you start making predictions Nostradamus.
ReplyDeleteDamn! What time for myy work to ban talk radio!
ReplyDeleteWord is that Big FM is the first to go... wgow to go to that stick and all the staff will be toast.
ReplyDeleteDamn I love a good rumor monger...Sleep well you pitiful liar!
ReplyDeleteKZ 106's format goes to 107.9 and look for 106.5's frequency to become 106.5 The Wolf the new 100,000 watt Country stick. This is what Cumulus does in a lot of markets.
ReplyDeletekz 106 has always been in the top 5's ever ratings sweep and wgow has always been in the top 10, they're crazy if they mess with kz and wgow
ReplyDeleteAre you serious? KZ is and has been the big biller in that building. Cumulus will not come in and start blowing and going with mass changes. They actually do consider the impact on the advertisers and the market. Citadel Chattanooga may not be perfect but will be far from a big concern for Cumulus. They will most definitly start in the major markets before ever considering making or dealing with market 107.
ReplyDeleteActually, WOGT has looked much better in recent trends.
ReplyDeleteCumulus has several format directors and they will make changes as soon as the fully take over. Unfortunately they will make changes and lots of personality cuts. Some markets Cumulus is in don't even have a Market Manager or what we use to call a GM. Cumulus will make changes in Chattanooga, mark my words, they will. I know that 107.9 Big FM will change formats. They are not big on Classic Hits or Oldies. Cumulus is big on Country, Top 40, and Urban. There are 2 Top 40's in the market and the Brewers have the Urban format locked down. I look for KZ's format to move to 107.9 and 106.5 to become the Wolf, Chattanooga's New Country Format to go head to toe with US 101.
ReplyDeleteWord is JoJoJo from KXJ is leaving the market to go to Greensboro. Another one gone from CC
ReplyDelete