Stern, sports, buy, sell, Infinity opens up

Time to put on your read betweenthelines glasses.



This says:



Infinity stations want to lower the amount of money they pay for sports broadcast rights. A quote: "For my dime, it's not as exclusive at it was 10 years ago. So I'm not going to pay that amount of money for the rights."



So how much do stations pay for these rights? It varies alot, but I heard the Raiders wanted 1 million last year and they are paid one of the lower paid teams in the league. The 49ers are now shopping as KGO decided they wanted to pay less for their rights. Sometimes the stations get paid for the rights and the station sells the spots, and sometimes the teams get paid (less) for the rights and the team sells the spots, or some mix of both. Whatever, the stations feel they are paying too much for sports teams.



Ok BWTM (but wait there's more)



Wanna buy a station? This says Infinity is looking to sell stations in are Fresno, Greensboro and Buffalo. There is some speculation around the Bay Area that Infinity might sell or trade a station here and end up adding a station to their mix.



And what about Howard leaving? From the same article we learn not to expect one talent to replace Howard at all stations at a national level. Here's an interesting quote:



"Among the post-Stern options Infinity is considering are a regional show for stations on the West Coast..."



Well...that would seem to point at KROQ's Kevin and Bean. For Live 105 it would mean they could keep their format and have a morning show that ties in well with the rest of the day.



BWTM



Here is how you talk to an investment conference and scare the SH*T out of your stations in a not too subtle threat. From the same article above:



"He also said that Infinity "could potentially change the format" at Alternative WXRK (NY) due to ratings challenges following Stern's show." It is one thing to hint at or write that in an internal company memo, but there it is in Radio and Records, the BIG DADDY of radio trades.



In other words if Stern is carrying your station and you flop after he is off the air you better figure out something fast... or la musica y la charla todo el cambio al espanol! or whatever...