[BC] FCC greenlights Clear Channel deal

[Mike McCarthy]

It's especially bad with these so called trusts as there is no end game 
other than the sale. Job security is next to non-existent as it's all about 
the short term revenues.  Often, contact guys are used to simply keep them 
running in the one/two station trusts.  It's rare to see more than that in 
a separation trust.  OTOH, the contract guys generally get paid in a timely 
manner as the trust wants nothing to disrupt/hinder a possible sale. I've 
done work for a few trusts and my experience with them other than accepting 
the fact there will be no planned projects is they pay in line with my best 
clients.

I happen to disagree with the generalized throwing good money after bad 
conclusion.  In homes, the fastest and most economical manner to sell a 
house as high as possible is to sell with a fresh paint job and new 
carpet.  Sure, you'll never use the carpet to it's value.  But if it gets 
you asking price versus a 10% discount due to all the smells, engrained 
traffic patterns, furniture dents, etc.  I'll take that to the bank in a 
heartbeat.

  In a couple sales I knew about, we (seller) installed new TX's and 
accessories to replace dilapidated equipment.  The seller realized their 
asking price after we did that where several previous offers came with 
contingency/escrow provisions to replace equipment at a more substantial 
discount off the total sales price. The end result was a LOT more money for 
the seller and fewer closing hassles for everyone.  Which also translates 
to the bottom line as less lawyer and intermediary time/costs and faster 
closings.

Sellers which simply look to sell a plant in really tough shape in AS-IS 
condition short change themselves unless the plants are already in very 
good shape or they're desperate.

MM

At 08:26 AM 1/28/2008 -0500, Rich Wood wrote
>------ At 02:34 AM 1/26/2008, Mike McCarthy wrote: -------
>
>>It's a separator trust which keeps the station(s) running until a buyer 
>>is found.  Another well known trust is the "Last Bastion Trust".  Some 
>>stations are held in these trusts for years while they're 
>>marketed.  Working for them can be a real challenge as virtually no 
>>capital is invested unless it involves the immediate continuance of 
>>operations.  And even then, it's done as cheaply as possible.
>
>That's standard operating procedure when a station is being sold or simply 
>on the market. Owners see it as throwing good money after bad unless 
>something threatens the value of the property and jeopardizes the sale or 
>the price.
>
>Rich