Bonneville International Corp.'s announcement earlier this month that it intends to purchase 15 stations from Simmons Media is the talk of the town among those in the Salt Lake radio industry. However, contrary to rumors, this does not mean that Simmons is leaving the radio business.
Craig Hanson, president of Simmons, told Radio & Records recently that the company could still have six radio stations in Utah once other deals are finalized. The company still has KXRK ("X-96"), KJQN ("KJQ") and KZNS-AM ("The Zone") in Salt Lake City.
Simmons also has a construction permit for a new station, KPKK (FM-101.5), licensed to Oakley, which could reach much of the Wasatch Front. In addition, it also has a local marketing agreement with two Ogden stations, KSOS-AM and KXOL-AM and has indicated it is working to purchase those two properties from First National Broadcasting.
Out of state, Simmons owns KTND in Austin, Texas, and KTTK in Albuquerque, N.M. It also intends to purchase KWNX in Austin. (The company has a separate property, Simmons Outdoor Media.)
This would make a total of nine radio stations Simmons could soon own.
Since the purchase price for the 15 stations is $175 million, and because Simmons sold its five FM stations in Albuquerque this year to Hispanic Broadcasting Company for $22.5 million, it could experience an almost $200 million cash infusion once the deals are finalized.
Meanwhile, Bonneville International has been heralding that the purchase of these 15 stations, contingent on FCC cross-ownership policy changes, will provide the company with what it has desired most — a stronger local presence.
In fact, adding KSFI, KQMB, KRSP and a proposed new AM station (AM-820) to its Salt Lake broadcast properties, would make Bonneville the state's largest Salt Lake-based radio company. Clear Channel and Citadel, the other two big radio players in the Salt Lake market, are not headquartered in Utah.
The Bonneville purchase from Simmons also includes seven Idaho Falls-area stations and another four in the St. George/Cedar City market.
There's already speculation about what Bonneville will do with its new stations, though formats will stay the same for at least the near future. Bonneville would be reckless to tinker with the format of KSFI, currently Utah's most successful FM station. Changes to KRSP would also be unwise. However, the other stations could possibly receive modified or new formats.
St. Louis, San Francisco and Washington, D.C., are some of the other out-of-state markets where Bonneville still owns radio stations.
Response from local DJs affected by the sale to Bonneville has also been positive. For example, KRSP morning personality Jon Carter, indicated he's excited about the prospects of a new owner.
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E-MAIL: lynn@desnews.com