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Thread: Reds new ownership to leave 700 WLW?

  1. #61
    You're soaking in it! MartyFan's Avatar
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    Re: Reds new ownership to leave 700 WLW?

    First as a radio guy, I hate what Clear Channel and all the other companies who want to be like CC have done to the industry...not really their fault, but they are the monster that walked through the door that the FCC created.

    If the Reds moved away from WLW I bet they would pick up more local affiliates...focused on Ohio, Indiana, Kentucky, Tenn and WV...there would be pockets in that area that will be missed that are currently covered by WLW but overall the revenues would more than likely go up.

    ISn't KMOX in St. Louis also owned by CC? If that is the case I imagine both the new ownership and the current leadership of CC have danced this dance before...I could see the Reds utilizing the network that the Buckeyes run on which would indeed feed the game too northern Ohio including places like Findlay, Lima and Toledo...think, if there is a station you can hear the Buckeyes on you could also hear the Reds on that same station.

    Also, gotta wonder if this would help at the grassroots level to increase team/fan interaction...you know it would increase local awareness only because a station is not going to ignore the results and upcoming schedule when they are getting sponsorships to mention that stuff.
    "Sometimes, it's not the sexiest moves that put you over the top," Krivsky said. "It's a series of transactions that help you get there."


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  3. #62
    RZ Chamber of Commerce Unassisted's Avatar
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    Re: Reds new ownership to leave 700 WLW?

    Guess this is more than a rumor.
    http://msnbc.msn.com/id/10235535/

    Reds could hear new media pitch
    Radio, other deals could be on table

    By Dan Monk
    Cincinnati Business Courier
    Updated: 7:00 p.m. ET Nov. 27, 2005

    A player to be named later in the Cincinnati Reds' new ownership group could help baseball's oldest franchise lock in future profits with a savvy new media strategy.

    Robert Lawrence is a former Taft Broadcasting executive who helped the St. Louis Cardinals team this year buy its own radio station. Now, the Indian Hill resident is said to be pursuing a similar deal for the Reds on behalf of his friend and soon-to-be controlling owner, Robert Castellini.

    Lawrence won't discuss his plans, except to say, "It's every kid's dream to be part of a Major League baseball team."

    Castellini, through a spokesman, also declined comment on whether Lawrence will join the Reds investment group.

    On Nov. 2, Castellini announced plans to buy a controlling interest in the Reds from Cincinnati financier Carl Lindner Jr. Terms of the deal weren't announced but are based on a franchise value for the Reds of $270 million. Castellini is joined in the deal by Thomas and W. Joseph Williams, the son and nephew of former Reds owner William J. Williams. Other investors are expected to join the Castellini group but so far have not been identified.

    Local media observers speculate that Lawrence will join the ownership group with the goal of revamping the team's approach to media and marketing,

    "He's a creative genius," said Rob Riggsbee, owner of Inside Media, a Newtown-based media-buying consultant. "He knows sports marketing better than anybody. I believe big changes will come."

    Lawrence is a local media investor who built a fortune while merging local radio stations over a two-decade span that ended with Clear Channel Communications Inc. as the dominant player in the Cincinnati market.

    A few months ago, Lawrence put together a deal in which the Cardinals bought a 50 percent stake in a St. Louis radio station, KTRS-AM 550. As part of the deal, the Cardinals signed an eight-year contract to broadcast Cardinals games. The move was controversial in St. Louis, where Cardinals games had been broadcast on KMOX-AM 1120 for more than 50 years. The relationship had become part of the cultural fabric of St. Louis and produced some of baseball's best play callers: Jack Buck, Harry Caray and Bob Costas among them.

    The Reds' ties to WLW date back to 1969 and also have featured some of the game's great broadcasters, including Waite Hoyt, Marty Brennaman and Al Michaels. The team's contract with WLW expires in 2007. The relationship has been strained in recent years, first when Major League Baseball signed a national distribution deal last fall with XM Satellite Radio. More recently, the Reds this year angered WLW's parent, Clear Channel Cincinnati, when it hired away one of WLW's top sales executives, Dave Collins.

    Reds Chief Operating Officer John Allen declined to comment for this story.

    While Lawrence declined to discuss the particulars of the Reds' rights arrangement with WLW, he was willing to talk about the Cardinals' arrangement with KTRS. He said the KTRS deal makes sense because it allows the Cardinals to maximize local media revenue by cross-selling its in-stadium advertising, promotions and sponsorship packages with air time on KTRS.

    "I've been trying to pitch this concept for years," said Lawrence. "There's a natural conflict between the team and the media outlet. The team has a lot of in-stadium opportunities that they're trying to sell to the marketplace. So does the radio station. Intentionally or not, one sells against the other."

    Reds radio broadcasts generated about $5.4 million in ad revenue in 2005, according to Riggsbee, who estimates WLW pays $4 million a year in rights fees to the Reds. In addition, the contract has incentive clauses in which the Reds can make up to $750,000 more by winning the World Series.

    The Cardinals received $6.7 million in rights fees from KMOX last year, but the Infinity Broadcasting Corp.-owned station wanted to cut that fee to $4.7 million this year, according to published reports. KTRS General Manager Tim Dorsey wouldn't discuss terms of the rights arrangement but said the team and the station regularly make joint sales calls and are "ahead of our pacing" to meet sales projections and profit projections.

    "It should mean more money for both of us," Dorsey said.

    Using media ownership to maximize revenue opportunities isn't a new concept in baseball. The Chicago Cubs, Atlanta Braves, New York Yankees and Baltimore Orioles all have squeezed hefty profits from their ownership of cable companies. Local radio deals don't generate the numbers that cable networks do, but they can offer baseball owners other advantages, said Dennis Coates, an economics professor at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County.

    "You have the ability to move profits from one business to another," said Coates. "The combination of the two might be more profitable, but they don't look as profitable. That helps you with revenue sharing and taxes. Accountants are smart. They'll figure out how to get the income generated in the entity that is taxed the least."

    Coates said Major League teams that do not own their own cable operation are looking at ways of developing or buying them. He said ownership of a radio outlet could be a cheaper path to the same goal. While the strategy would depend on finding a willing seller, Coates has no doubt the new ownership group will explore it.

    "If I was the current holder of the rights, I would believe there's a good chance I was going to lose them," he said.

  4. #63
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    Re: Reds new ownership to leave 700 WLW?

    Quote Originally Posted by Unassisted
    Guess this is more than a rumor.
    http://msnbc.msn.com/id/10235535/
    You beat me to the punch!! I was just getting ready to copy a link to the Cincinnati Business Courier.

  5. #64
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    Re: Reds new ownership to leave 700 WLW?

    Local media observers speculate that Lawrence will join the ownership group with the goal of revamping the team's approach to media and marketing,

    "He's a creative genius," said Rob Riggsbee, owner of Inside Media, a Newtown-based media-buying consultant. "He knows sports marketing better than anybody. I believe big changes will come."
    Please let this be so.
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  6. #65
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    Re: Reds new ownership to leave 700 WLW?

    Quote Originally Posted by Chip R
    Please let this be so.

    I figured I wasnt the only one whose heart skipped a beat and grinned from ear to ear when reading this.

  7. #66
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    Re: Reds new ownership to leave 700 WLW?

    Fantastic news if someone like Lawrence comes aboard.
    I'm not a system player. I am a system.

  8. #67
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    Re: Reds new ownership to leave 700 WLW?

    Quote Originally Posted by M2
    Fantastic news if someone like Lawrence comes aboard.

    Made me think... if all these hypotheticals and hopes work out. Will Carl get the same praise for stepping aside for what's good for the franchise as Mike Brown did for letting Marvin Lewis take over?

  9. #68
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    Re: Reds new ownership to leave 700 WLW?

    Quote Originally Posted by DoogMinAmo
    Made me think... if all these hypotheticals and hopes work out. Will Carl get the same praise for stepping aside for what's good for the franchise as Mike Brown did for letting Marvin Lewis take over?
    Absolutely. If Carl truly steps aside (and that's by no means a sure bet at this moment) and the Castellini group performs a quality restoration then Lindner should get his share of plaudits.

    When I ran the 4x100 relay back in my younger days, I ran first leg (I loved blocks and I ran turns faster than straights). Not to brag overly much, but in my senior year I never failed to turn over a large lead to the guy who ran the second leg. Then almost without fail he and the third leg would blow the lead I gave them before getting the baton to our anchor, who, most times, would run down the opposition for a win. Yet we all got to stand on the victory podium together because sometimes giving a good handoff to the right person is all it takes.
    I'm not a system player. I am a system.

  10. #69
    Rally Onion! Chip R's Avatar
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    Re: Reds new ownership to leave 700 WLW?

    Quote Originally Posted by M2
    Fantastic news if someone like Lawrence comes aboard.
    Hopefully his idea of sports marketing is vastly different than the current regime's.
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  11. #70
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    Re: Reds new ownership to leave 700 WLW?

    Quote Originally Posted by Chip R
    Hopefully his idea of sports marketing is vastly different than the current regime's.
    Why, if he has any idea that can be identified as "sports marketing" I'd think it automatically counts as being different.
    I'm not a system player. I am a system.

  12. #71
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    Re: Reds new ownership to leave 700 WLW?

    sometimes giving a good handoff to the right person is all it takes
    Agreed, though it remains to be seen how the Castellini group will do...

    My take, and I defer somewhat to WOY for historical perspective, is that the Lindner/Allen era has mainly been about stabilizing the finances post-Marge, recommitting to scouting/development, and, most notably, getting GAB and the Hall of Fame built. Combined with the fact that the young core of talent is still intact -- i.e., the team has not been destroyed -- makes this group look pretty responsible, if not inspired.

  13. #72
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    Re: Reds new ownership to leave 700 WLW?

    I'm scanning the dial around Cincy...and wondering what radio station could be WRED

    550?
    1160?
    1360?

    Is there an ESPN radio affiliate in Cincy (that's not 1450 in Hamilton)

    I'm ok (and ok isn't what I call decisive) with leaving WLW if it helps the Reds.
    Some people play baseball. Baseball plays Jay Bruce.

  14. #73
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    Re: Reds new ownership to leave 700 WLW?

    If the Reds make a move away from WLW, they damn well better still be able to reach the same places they do now, without having to have fans pay to hear their team on the radio.
    "Strickland Propane... Taste the meat, not the heat." - Hank Hill

  15. #74
    Rally Onion! Chip R's Avatar
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    Re: Reds new ownership to leave 700 WLW?

    Quote Originally Posted by redsfan30
    If the Reds make a move away from WLW, they damn well better still be able to reach the same places they do now, without having to have fans pay to hear their team on the radio.
    There are only so many 50K watt stations around.
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  16. #75
    "Let's Roll" TeamBoone's Avatar
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    Re: Reds new ownership to leave 700 WLW?

    The new ownership group has to be approved by MLB. Once approval is received, can the new ownership group add/subtract individuals as they please or does each move have to be approved by MLB?

    Obviously, I'm asking because Lawrence is not currently a member of that group.
    "Enjoy this Reds fans, you are watching a legend grow up before your very eyes" ... DoogMinAmo on Adam Dunn


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