Rush Limbaugh's parent company forced into bankruptcy

[kpete]

Largest U.S. radio company iHeartMedia files for bankruptcy


(Reuters) - IHeartMedia Inc filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy on Thursday as the largest U.S. radio station owner reached an in-principle agreement with creditors to restructure its overwhelming debt load.

The company, which filed for bankruptcy along with some of its units, said it ‍reached the agreement with holders of more than $10 billion of its outstanding debt for a balance sheet restructuring, which would reduce its debt by more than $10 billion.

IHeartMedia, which has struggled with $20 billion of debt and falling revenue at its 858 radio stations, said cash on hand and cash generated from ongoing operations will be sufficient to fund the business during the bankruptcy process.

“The agreement ... is a significant accomplishment, as it allows us to definitively address the more than $20 billion in debt that has burdened our capital structure,” Chief Executive Bob Pittman said.


https://www.reuters.com/article/us-iheartmedia-bankruptcy/largest-u-s-radio-company-iheartmedia-files-for-bankruptcy-idUSKCN1GR0GB
https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2018/3/15/1749182/-Rush-Limbaugh-s-parent-company-forced-into-bankruptcy

[dembotoz]

1. Do wonder about which business plan thinks it's a great idea to have massive debt

Paying bills is hard enough
Somebody made a shitload of money
Someone else gets left holding the bag

[Old Crank]

18. 45's Business plan.....

[Le Gaucher]

2. A SiriusXM employee and a John Fugelsang fan.. here is my response

[hlthe2b]

3. Unfortunately, this probably won't bump off Limbaugh.. he could self-fund his broadcasts

if he so desired.

[Le Gaucher]

5. A smarter move would be to invest that money in an s&p index fund and RETIRE

He is welcome to take a long vacation as long as there are no innocent boys involved

[pwb]

4. They should stop making A M radios.

If a car company made a car without an A M radio I might consider buying it just for that reason. I haven't tuned into an a m station since the sixties. I heart has F M too I know but all the trash talk is on A M. Cut the A M cord I say.

[lunasun]

6. Why ? In Chicago I listen to a very progressive AM radio station and get my traffic reports while

driving with any weather advisories on another very popular AM station in the area when in my car. Many foreign language stations run on AM here for various immigrant groups in the area broadcasting community connections also

Many Chicago major sports teams broadcast on AM, more than one sports station because it is a sports city and for many this is the only way to follow the games . I would not want any of them gone or inaccessible in an auto.

AM frequencies are not the problem as much as programming

I would not want to get rid of this AM station or access to it in a car see below. Maybe listen sometime online.
http://www.wcpt820.com/
On weekends its a lot of local politics, but national broadcasts carried weekdays should appeal to many out of the area who can listen online, but to have it here on the AM airwaves, accessible everywhere- to everyone- makes it equal access. (They do have a sister signal FM out near a western university but it can not be accessed in the city)

One issue here in Chicago and across the country is state university sports
It broadcasts too often on stations that broadcast RW radio during the weekday.
So turn on an Illini game at night if you leave that station tuned in, then the next day you would hear Limbo

I have written UofIL and below is a letter template with a listing of all the public universities connected if you have one near.
This has been going on for years
https://sites.google.com/site/universitiesforrushlimbaugh/

[pwb]

7. Our local college I heart is F M

with sports. i could still live without A M. its still mostly talk and hate. but to each his own. in the sixties i won a set of steak knives on an A M station.

[TrogL]

19. AM has greater range than FM

I listen to CBC AM when I’m on the road and out of range of FM

[Brother Buzz]

20. AM radio, by design, has lousy audio quality but.....

is carries a LONG way, and many rural settings receive nothing but the AM signal to dial into; A 50,000 watt AM blowtorch signal is a lifeline to a lot of people.

That being said, I dial into AM radio for one reason, and one reason only: Baseball games, baby!

[rsdsharp]

21. Not really.

AM doesn't have as wide a frequency response as FM, is more susceptible to interference from storms, and the vast increase in fluorescent lights and electronic devices have also degraded reception. In addition, virtually no one makes a decent AM receiver anymore. Back in the 1960s, however, AM was king, chief engineers cared about the signal, and how it sounded, records were mixed to sound good coming out of AM radios, and the radios themselves were much better. Delco car radios sounded especially good, and there were very few FM radios around -- virtually none in cars.

AM isn't inherently lousy quality; it's just that no one cares about it anymore.

[crazycatlady]

8. Can it go under completely like Toys R Us?

[Fritz Walter]

9. Maybe they should rebrand themselves

I’m thinking I-Shart-Media.
An apt description, no?

[Major Nikon]

13. It isn't going to help when radio is going the way of newspapers and magazines

[Orange Free State]

22. IHate Radio is more accurate n/t

[bucolic_frolic]

10. Too bad it's not liquidation

They all use bankruptcy to escape debt. Then they borrow again. It's an endless cycle.

[kentuck]

11. Rush is too important to Republicans to let his stations die.

They will save him if everyone else drowns.

[eggplant]

12. Alex Jones will be happy to step in, I think.

[bigbrother05]

14. They bought up stations coast-to-coast to broadcast RW hate

When HRC didn't win, their investments lost value because no one wants to hear Rush kiss Trump's ass.

Hope they bleed red until they are blue in the face

[Canoe52]

17. +1

[KPN]

15. Hmmm .... so which of the other large media company

will ultimately buy them out? (Leading to further corporate monopolization).

[Angry Dragon]

16. $20billion is a lot of money

[Orange Free State]

23. I would like to know if after Trump, advertisers left RW hatriot radio

enough to cause them to be in this predicament. I have occasionally listened, and mostly hear ads for gold and male enhancement pills.

I guess that tells you all you need to know about the audience.