IheartMedia rischia di fallire per debiti: incerto il destino di 850 stazioni radio USA

Pessime notizie per IHeartMedia, la conglomerata un tempo conosciuta con il suo marchio storico ClearChannel, tuttora proprietaria di oltre 850 stazioni radio Usa (cifra che la colloca in cima alla classifica dei maggiori operatori) e di un significativo business di pubblicità esterna (cartellonistica). Tutto risale alla situazione debitoria del gruppo, che nel 2008 era stato acquisito da una cordata composta da Bain Capital e Thomas H. Lee Partners. Come succede in questi casi, gli acquirenti generano debito per perfezionare l'acquisto. Ma trattandosi di una preda da 25 miliardi di dollari circa, il debito accumulato fu di 20 miliardi. I giornali americani specializzati, come Variety, dicono che iHeartMedia non ce la potrà fare, con qualcosa come 8 miliardi dovuti entro nel 2019. La società, guidata dal genietto del marketing (e enfant prodige del microfono) Bob Pittman, l'autore del miracolo MTV, sta cercando di ristrutturare il debito ma il vero problema è radicale: la radiofonia non è più un mercato pubblicitario fiorente, sta faticosamente cercando di risalire a quota 18 miliardi annui di revenues e i modelli pay legati a forme di abbonamento a servizi streaming non sono necessariamente efficaci.

Lo scorso anno IHeartMedia aveva affiancato al suo servizio di radio online "personalizzata", un concorrente in piccolo di Pandora, un vero e proprio servizio di streaming musicale, basato su Napster.  Sostenuto dalle campagne diffuse dalle sue stazioni, il servizio ha incontrato un discreto successo di pubblico, ma i fatturati non bastano a coprire i debiti e le spese, aumentate per l'inspegabile decisione da parte di Pittman, di commissionare una completa ristrutturazione del quartier generale newyorkese, coinvolgendo architetti e arredatori di grido. Al momento dell'acquisizione, la ex ClearChannel aveva dovuto liberarsi di circa 400 stazioni locali, mentre un paio di anni fa IHeartMedia ha cominciato a cedere la proprietà dei tralicci radio. Se dovesse fallire, che ne serà di quegli 8 centinaia di stazioni?

La crisi economica colpisce l'emittenza etnica USA

Un business che sembrava molto promettente fino a pochi anni fa sta cedendo sotto i colpi della crisi pubblicitaria figlia di una ancora più profonda crisi economica strutturale. Anche la radio etnica americana piange, persino nella sua articolazione più importante, quella ispanica. E i 30 mila latini di Eugene-Springfield lamentano l'improvvisa scomparsa della loro stazione di notizie e sport KLZS, un solo kilowatt su un canale, i 1450 kHz, di stazioncine piccole piccole. KLZS ha chiuso i battenti senza preavviso, insieme alle consorelle KXOR di Junction City e KXPD di Tigard, tutti centri minori dell'area di Portland e Salem, nel lontano Oregon. La proprietà, Churchill Media, controllata da una impresa di costruzioni, ha deciso di staccare la spina il 30 dicembre a causa delle crescente difficoltà finanziarie. Anche il mattone è in grosse difficoltà e Churchill era diventata solo una fonte di guai. Chiusi anche due canali televisvi controllati dal microscopico impero mediatico. Nell'articolo del quotidiano locale Register-Guard (altra categoria a rischio) viene intervistato il proprietario di un supermarket, Plaza Latina, uno degli inserzionisti di KLZS, che sta seriamente pensando di rilevare la stazione.
Intanto, tre frequenze locali in onde medie restano in silenzio.

Local Spanish radio, TV stations go off the air

Churchill Media abruptly pulls the plug Wednesday, citing a steep decline in advertising revenue

BY DIANE DIETZ
Thursday, Dec 31, 2009

Spanish–language radio abruptly left the Lane County airwaves Wednesday as Churchill Media pulled the plug on its three radio and two television stations and announced it was out of business.
Employees learned minutes before the stations were silenced. Listeners and advertisers learned as the news traveled without the help of amplification throughout the afternoon.
“This is the only way that we can communicate to our Spanish language population here in Eugene. I thought they were joking,” said Samuel Recinos, owner of Plaza Latina and an advertiser on the stations. “It’s really bad news, honestly, for the Hispanic community. What’s shocking is there weren’t any warnings. All of the sudden, I turned the radio on and it’s off the air. People don’t even know what’s going on yet.”
About 30,000 Spanish speakers live in Eugene-Springfield and rely on the station, Recinos estimates. For three years, the station sponsored two annual festivals in Springfield that drew as many as 20,000 participants each. “Those will no longer be happening, unfortunately,” company spokeswoman Sadie Dressekie said.
Churchill Media blamed a sharp drop in advertising revenue for the demise of the company, although Dressekie declined to say how much the station has lost. The company was formed in 2004 by Suzanne Arlie, who is also president of the Eugene-based Arlie & Company real estate development firm. Arlie’s projects include Crescent Village in north Eugene.
At its peak in early 2008, Churchill media employed 45 people, maintained offices in Eugene and Wilsonville and had a radio operation in Yakima, Wash., and an additional television station in Salem. Besides local news and commentary, the station offered syndicated programming and Spanish-language sports through ESPN’s Deportes Radio.
“Revenues were good and the network grew fairly quickly. But the world changed for everybody in 2007,” Dressekie said. “The whole of the last year was a challenging year for us. … We’re a victim of just what’s happening all over in the broadcasting industry.”
Seventeen people in Eugene and Wilsonville lost jobs Wednesday when Churchill Media pulled the plug.
Arlie needed to get out of the broadcasting business, Dressekie said. Arlie & Company’s core business is real estate and development, where it must now focus its efforts, she said. “We’re also being challenged in that area, too. We couldn’t continue to split our time and resources between these two businesses.”
The radio broadcasting industry, meanwhile, expects about a 20 percent drop in advertising revenues this year, according to national news reports. “Radio is struggling. Everyone is struggling,” said Tim Gleason, dean of the University of Oregon School of Journalism and Communication.
The country’s third largest radio broadcasting company, Citadel Broadcasting Corp., filed bankruptcy earlier this week. “It’s a combination of the recession and the changing economic models. Advertisers have so many different ways to reach audiences now. It is increasingly fragmented, and every one of the legacy media channels is struggling,” Gleason said.
Two Oregon radio stations — in Albany and Waldport — threw in the towel in 2009, said Bill Johnstone, president and CEO of the Oregon Association of Broadcasters. But within a few months, buyers materialized and both stations will soon be back on the air, he said.
“In some cases, the station may go off the air but there’s already been a deal or arrangement for somebody to pick up the station. They may go off the air on Tuesday but they may go back on the air the following Tuesday with a different owner,” he said.
In past years, Dressekie said, broadcasters have approached Churchill media with offers to buy one station or another. “We haven’t wanted to break up the network. But now we will sell those off piecemeal,” she said.
Already, Arlie is entertaining offers from buyers who want to convert the Eugene radio station to religious broadcasting or a business news station. A Portland broadcaster is interested in Churchill’s north valley television station, she said.
Recinos said he’s tempted to try to raise money to buy the Eugene radio station because of its important link to his customers and for general communications within the local Spanish-speaking community. “It’s crossing my mind. I’m going to talk to a few people. We’ll see,” he said.