Monday afternoon CBS and Entercom filed the needed applications with the FCC to move forward with the merger that was announced back in February. CBS CEO Les Moonves and COO Joe Ianniello are proposed to be directors of Entercom for six months once the merger is complete.
Entercom is asking the FCC for a six-month temporary waiver for Moonves and Ianniello because of the FCC’s rules restricting radio-television cross-ownership which will affect four markets where Entercom will own radio stations and CBS owns Television stations. Moonves and Ianniello will agree to resign from the board of directors of Entercom six months after closing, the day prior to the first annual meeting of Entercom.
The Merger is expected to result in Entercom’s owning radio stations in seven markets in excess of the limits set forth in the FCC’s local radio ownership rule. In order to comply with the FCC’s local radio ownership rule, Entercom has proposed to divest 14 stations in Boston, Los Angeles, Sacramento, San Diego, San Francisco, Seattle and Wilkes Barre-Scranton. No stations owned by CBS’s radio business will be divested prior to the closing of the Merger. If any stations are not divested by closing CBS and Entercom will transfer the stations to a divestiture trustee, who will be charged with operating and divesting the stations following the closing of the Merger.
Entercom is adding CBS Radio’s 100-plus stations in nearly 30 markets. Together the CBS stations generate about $1.25 Billion in revenue (according to BIA/Kelsey). Combine that with an Entercom’s $500 million in revenue and Field will soon sit on top of the second-largest radio company by revenue ($1.7 Billion) behind only iHeartMedia, and operate over 240 stations that includes a strong footprint in 23 of the top 25 markets in America.
Which stations?