UPDATE 8:40 AM 5/3/07: Inside Radio reports this morning that it appears GoodRadio gets “just shy” of 180 of the Clear Channel small market spinoffs, in what looks to be half of the 72 markets mentioned below.
There’s no word on what markets are involved, or if any of them are in Ohio – though those numbers would make it appear favorable that the company would pick up at least some Ohio stations.
More as we find out more…
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We’ve read some reports, heard some rumblings, and are ready to put some speculation on the line: It looks like the company “GoodRadio” may be the winner in the sweepstakes to buy at least some of the Clear Channel small market stations the company has put on the block in Ohio.
We’re just doing the math here, starting with a rumor passed along Wednesday by the radio trade press, with word that Clear Channel has announced the sale of 362 of the 448 small market stations it put up for bid with the move to go private.
The company hasn’t disclosed the buyers of those stations in 72 small markets, with 17 markets left to go.
Inside Radio reports that it “believes Dean Goodman’s new GoodRadio will claim many of them.”
AllAccess also chimed in that “rumors are circulating that DEAN GOODMAN, who recently has been active in buying small-market Midwestern stations, is among the buyers.”
Dean Goodman is former president of the Ion TV network (formerly PAX TV), which owns Cleveland market affiliate WVPX/23 Akron. He left the company last October, after a long stint which started with Lowell “Bud” Paxson’s group of radio stations in Florida.
And GoodRadio is his current company.
Or perhaps, it’s named “GoodRadio.tv” for his web domain, which currently redirects to a simple contact page at “DeanRadio.tv”. (Gotta love his creative naming style, no?)
And we did a search, which led us to a job posting on the Iowa Broadcasters Association job webpage:
General Managers – GoodRadio.TV is in a nationwide acquisition mode and is looking for General Managers and Regional Managers to join our growing company. If you have a strong sales orientation and believe in growing your people by motivating and working directly with team members and clients, we woudl like to talk to you. GoodRadio.TV is acquiring small market stations where our radio stations are integrated with communities we serve. Direct Sales experience a must. Send your resume to: [email protected]. GoodRadio.TV is a Equal Opportunity Employer.
OK, now YOU do the math.
It adds up for us, that GoodRadio says it is looking to expand nationwide, and Ohio not only has a few small market CC clusters up for sale, but it isn’t that terribly far from Iowa. Well, as opposed to, say, Oregon.
It gets better.
OMW hears that GoodRadio apparently lists former NextMedia executive Carl Hirsch – a name very familiar to Cleveland radio – as a “minority investor”.
And though it really means nothing, while searching under Dean Goodman’s name, we found this press release on the initial launch of then-WVPX’s “Akron-Canton News”, which was originally aired by the local PAX TV affiliate, and still airs today on Time Warner Cable – as always, produced by Cleveland NBC affiliate WKYC/3.
Nothing special there, just a quote from Goodman about how happy PAX TV was to be a part of the Akron-based newscast’s launch back in 2001.
We are hearing rumors that GoodRadio may buy more than one of the Ohio CC small market clusters, perhaps somewhat more than one.
But we’d be kind of surprised if Goodman’s operation didn’t end up with at least a couple of them…if only because he’s branching out from the Midwest, and there are a lot of small market CC clusters up for sale in Ohio.
Again, this is only rumor and speculation based upon that, which we try to clearly identify. We’re just patting ourselves on the virtual back(s) a little, since it seems to line up in our eyes…
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