Influential Analyst Positive On Entercom's Plans

Marci Ryvicker

Small changes already taking place at the former CBS Radio have Wells Fargo media analyst Marci Ryvicker saying the radio group just purchased by Entercom Communications is “100% fixable.”

Meeting with Entercom CEO David Field and CFO Rich Schmaeling face-to-face for the first time since the closing of the historic merger, Ryvicker says she also learned that cost synergies laid out by the company are likely conservative and there is more upside than downside risk for investment.

InsideRadio reports Ryvicker says there isn’t one “major overhaul” that will fix CBS Radio. Instead, little changes like bringing in new market managers, investing in research and analytics to find programming holes in a market and improved cultural changes will right the ship.

Entercom has said post-merger cost synergies will save over $100 million. Ryvicker believes that is a conservative number. While Field and Schmaeling wouldn’t provide specific numbers, Ryvicker said their “body language suggested the synergies could be larger and recognized sooner” than the company’s current guide.

Ryvicker said the “newest and most impressive” information is the company’s investment in data and analytics – specifically Entercom Analytics, a tool that quantifies the impact of a radio campaign for advertisers. “We absolutely think that a bigger platform allows for this type of investment,” Ryvicker wrote. Additionally, Entercom’s scale in sports has “opened the door to CMOs of companies” that Entercom would otherwise not talk to.