Entercom Acquires Lincoln Financial Media. UPDATE: Entercom To Trade Four Stations To Bonneville

[Colorado Media Newsroom]

From The Denver Post:

Entercom, owner of KOSI, announced today that it has entered into an exchange agreement with Bonneville under which Entercom will exchange four stations in Denver for Classic Rock station The Sound in Los Angeles plus $5 million. The stations Entercom will exchange with Bonneville are: KOSI (101.1 FM), KYGO (98.5 FM), KKFN (The Fan 104.3 FM) and KEPN (The Zone 1600 AM). Entercom owns KOSI-FM, while the remaining stations are being acquired through the acquisition of Lincoln.

Entercom said the Justice Dept. has agreed to approve the Lincoln acquisition and expects the Lincoln closing and the commencement of the Bonneville-Entercom time brokerage agreements to take place “within a few business days.”

According to the Entercom release, “as a result of the exchange agreement with Bonneville, the DOJ has agreed to approve the Company’s acquisition of Lincoln Financial Media. The Company has received FCC approval for the LFM acquisition and will close the transaction after DOJ terminates the Hart-Scott-Rodino waiting period.”

Earlier Tuesday, the Justice Dept. announced that, in order to proceed with its purchase of Lincoln Financial Media Company, Entercom Communications Corp. must sell off three Denver radio stations.

“Entercom and Lincoln own some of the most highly rated radio stations in Denver, and advertisers targeting radio listeners in Denver have benefited from competition between them,” said Assistant Attorney General Bill Baer of the Justice Department’s Antitrust Division. “These divestitures will preserve that competitive dynamic.”

The Justice Dept.’s Antitrust Division filed a civil antitrust lawsuit Tuesday in the U.S. District Court of the District of Columbia to block the proposed acquisition. At the same time, the department filed a proposed settlement that, if approved by the court, would resolve the competitive harm alleged in the lawsuit.

Entercom owns KALC (Alice 105.9 FM), KOSI (101.1 FM), KEZW (Studio 1430 AM) and KQMT (The Mountain, 99.5 FM) in Denver.

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[radiodude]

So Entercom has to sell off their only 3 radio stations? I wonder who would by them? As I understand this? They must sell off Alice, KOSI, KEZW and KQMT in order to get control of KYGO, KKFN, KEPN?

[Chase]

So Entercom has to sell off their only 3 radio stations? I wonder who would by them? As I understand this? They must sell off Alice, KOSI, KEZW and KQMT in order to get control of KYGO, KKFN, KEPN?

No Entercom is selling off KYGO 98.5, KKFN 104.3, KOSI 101.1 amd KEPN 1600. Bonneville will be getting those four stations and from what I currently understand Entercom will be getting KS 107.5 and Comedy 103.1 as well as KRWZ 950.

[Rob]

A very interesting deal. It's good to see more station owners in town. However, I do miss where we had more "mom & pop" owners before the whole telcom '96 stuff...

[Dr Jam]

Rob, I agree with you. I miss the local ownership that existed 20 years ago. However, I'm wondering why the justice department would make Entercom sell off three Denver stations since iheartmedia already has it's full complement here. It seems like another large radio group would provide more competition for the ad dollars since iheartmedia can brag about how many stations businesses can advertise on with just one buy.

[Rob]

I was reading the DOJ press release about why Entercom was forced to divest the stations they did. It was all about their share of English speaking listeners. It's strange since this ruling still keeps iHeart far and away the top dog in English listeners in the market.

Here's a part of the DOJ release from http://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/enterc...ln-acquisition :

"Entercom Communications Corp. (Entercom) will be required to divest three radio stations in Denver, in order to proceed with its acquisition of Lincoln Financial Media Company (Lincoln). Without these divestitures, the transaction would have resulted in higher prices and a reduced quality of service to purchasers of English-language radio advertising in Denver.

“Entercom and Lincoln own some of the most highly rated radio stations in Denver, and advertisers targeting radio listeners in Denver have benefitted from competition between them,” said Assistant Attorney General Bill Baer of the Justice Department’s Antitrust Division. “These divestures will preserve that competitive dynamic.”"

[Colorado Media Newsroom]

From All Access:

ENTERCOM COMMUNICATIONS CORP. has closed its acquisition of LINCOLN FINANCIAL MEDIA CORP. It will officially begin operating the LFM stations tomorrow, FRIDAY, JULY 17th.
That includes operation of Classic Rock KSWD (THE SOUND)/LOS ANGELES under a time brokerage agreement (TBA) with BONNEVILLE INTERNATIONAL CORP. Simultaneously, the TBA enables BONNEVILLE to take over operations of ENTERCOM’s DENVER cluster that includes AC KOSI, Country KYGO, Sports KKFN and Sports KEPN-A.
Closing of the BONNEVILLE-ENTERCOM station exchange is subject to FCC approval and other customary closing conditions, which is expected to happen in the fourth quarter.

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[Joshua]

I have already heard KYGO at the top of the hour say "proud to be a Bonneville station". I wonder will KOSI move over to Orchard Road and KS1075 move over to Entercoms current location? Isn't that something, Jonathan Wilde will be working under the same roof as KYGO again.

[Chase]

I have already heard KYGO at the top of the hour say "proud to be a Bonneville station". I wonder will KOSI move over to Orchard Road and KS1075 move over to Entercoms current location? Isn't that something, Jonathan Wilde will be working under the same roof as KYGO again.

Yes KOSI wil be moving to KYGO's building and KS 107.5 will move to Entercom's location. I'm not sure when that will happen yet.

[radiodude]

Since KOSI is going to be moving into KYGO's building, does that include ALICE 105.9??
Just for kicks here is the list that Entercom now owns:

DENVER, CO
Denver, CO Alice 105.9 KALC 105.9 FM Hot AC Live www.alice1059.com
Denver, CO Studio 1430 KEZW 1430 AM Adult Standards Live www.studio1430.com
Denver, CO The Mountain KQMT 99.5 FM Adult Rock Live www.995themountain.com
Denver, CO KS107.5 KQKS 107.5 FM Rhythmic CHR Live www.ks1075.com/
Denver, CO Cruisin' Oldies 950 KRWZ 950 AM Oldies Live www.cruisinoldies950.com/
Denver, CO Comedy 103.1 KYGO-HD2 103.1 FM Comedy Live www.comedy1031.com/

I wonder also, well the rest of the sell off keep their formats or not?