Cox Media Group has defended a petition to extend by one year the looming deadline it has to sell alternative “97X” WSUN Tampa and CHR “Power 95.3” WPYO Orlando.
According to InsideRadio, CMG told the FCC efforts by Spanish Broadcasting System to hold Cox to the Dec. 17 deadline, which was set two years ago, are part of a strategy to force Cox to accept its low-ball offer to buy WPYO.
“SBS believes it can obtain an artificially below-market price if it can force a sale now under an impending regulatory deadline,” said Cox in a filing with the FCC on Tuesday.
Earlier this week SBS revealed it made three separate offers to Cox since August to buy WPYO. But each was rejected, and Cox’s counteroffer was several million dollars above the highest appraised value of $6 million that SBS said it received for WPYO. That led SBS to tell the FCC that it believed Cox “had no serious intention” of selling the stations before the FCC-mandated Dec. 17, 2021 deadline.
But Cox said the economic impacts of the pandemic have been far reaching, with a significant disruption that led to a “basically non-existent” radio deal market with several potential bidders remaining on the sidelines. It notes that even SBS did not approach with a bid for WYPO until three months before the divestiture deadline was already in sight. Cox said if it’s forced to quickly find a buyer, it would amount to the FCC requiring it to accept an artificially low price.
In support of its position that next month’s deadline should not be pushed back, SBS filed with the Commission more than 200 letters of support. But Cox accuses SBS of trying to sway the FCC with “the blunt instrument of political pressure” rather than facts and legal precedent. It also said many of the comments come from individuals and groups with direct ties to SBS while others are from groups and people from outside the Orlando area.
Meanwhile, NIA Broadcasting President Neal Ardman says his company has been trying to negotiate with Cox for the Tampa station. “We are happy to pay a legitimate market value but Cox won’t return calls,” Ardman told Inside Radio. “We are planning to file an objection with the FCC also.”
WSUN and WPYO have been in the Elliot Evers-run trust since 2019 after Cox Media Group was swallowed by private equity funds managed by affiliates of Apollo Global Management as part of a pair of deals totaling $3.6 million, giving the firm 56 radio stations across 11 markets. As part of its approval of the deals, the FCC gave Evers/CMG two years to sell the FMS.
“SBS believes it can obtain an artificially below-market price if it can force a sale now under an impending regulatory deadline,” said Cox in a filing with the FCC on Tuesday.
But Cox said the economic impacts of the pandemic have been far reaching, with a significant disruption that led to a “basically non-existent” radio deal market with several potential bidders remaining on the sidelines. It notes that even SBS did not approach with a bid for WYPO until three months before the divestiture deadline was already in sight. Cox said if it’s forced to quickly find a buyer, it would amount to the FCC requiring it to accept an artificially low price.
Meanwhile, NIA Broadcasting President Neal Ardman says his company has been trying to negotiate with Cox for the Tampa station. “We are happy to pay a legitimate market value but Cox won’t return calls,” Ardman told Inside Radio. “We are planning to file an objection with the FCC also.”
WSUN and WPYO have been in the Elliot Evers-run trust since 2019 after Cox Media Group was swallowed by private equity funds managed by affiliates of Apollo Global Management as part of a pair of deals totaling $3.6 million, giving the firm 56 radio stations across 11 markets. As part of its approval of the deals, the FCC gave Evers/CMG two years to sell the FMS.
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