Snyder's WGMS Deal Hits Snag

[Gallntfox]

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/01/03/AR2007010301847_pf.html

Dan Snyder's Deal Stalls but WGMS Ponders Format Change

By Paul Farhi

Washington Post Staff Writer

Thursday, January 4, 2007; C01

Redskins owner Dan Snyder's purchase of classical music station WGMS-FM appears to be in jeopardy because of a disagreement over the selling price.

Even if a sale doesn't occur, WGMS's future as a classical station is uncertain, people close to its parent company say. One intriguing possibility, they say, is that the station's present owners could turn WGMS into a sports-talk outlet that would compete against Snyder's fledging radio company.

Although Snyder hasn't walked away from WGMS, there have been no formal negotiations between Snyder's Red Zebra Broadcasting and WGMS's owner, Bonneville International, since news of a preliminary agreement leaked early last month.

Executives close to the negotiations say Snyder has reconsidered his initial offer -- about $48 million -- but Bonneville has declined to accept a lower price. "The ball is in their court, and they're not hitting it back," said one Bonneville source, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because his company isn't commenting publicly.

According to people with both companies, Snyder was upset by comments made by an unnamed Bonneville official who last month suggested that the team owner was overpaying for the station. The executive told The Washington Post, "If someone wanted to buy your house and was willing to pay 50 percent more than it was worth, you'd do it."

Snyder wanted to buy WGMS, which broadcasts on two FM frequencies (103.9 and 104.1), to reach a larger portion of the Washington metropolitan area. His stations, known as Triple X ESPN (730 AM, 92.7 and 94.3 FM), are weak and interference-plagued, which makes them less than ideal flagships for Redskins radio broadcasts. As a result, the stations have averaged about half of a percentage point of the local radio audience since launching this past summer.

The potential unraveling of Snyder's plans for WGMS could trigger a realignment of several radio stations in the Washington area, including a format change for WGMS.

continued at above link...

[Gallntfox]

You know ...the more I think about this story I almost find it laughable that Snyder doesn't want to overpay for something.

[Cooley4President]

You know ...the more I think about this story I almost find it laughable that Snyder doesn't want to overpay for something.

Haha you really bring about a good point. If he's got this sort of business sense with all of his other projects, why be so quick to break the bank for over-hyped players.

[RedskinzOwnU]

Haha you really bring about a good point. If he's got this sort of business sense with all of his other projects, why be so quick to break the bank for over-hyped players.

Interesting points. Further proof that he has no idea what he is doing in the world of football. So why does he meddle in most of the player contracts?

[Dan T.]

Snyder was upset by comments made by an unnamed Bonneville official who last month suggested that the team owner was overpaying for the station. The executive told The Washington Post, "If someone wanted to buy your house and was willing to pay 50 percent more than it was worth, you'd do it."

I wish:

Snyder was upset by comments made by an unnamed general manager who last month suggested that the team owner was overpaying for the player. The executive told The Washington Post, "If someone wanted to buy your free agent and was willing to pay 50 percent more than he was worth, you'd do it."

[thelarkascend1ng]

either way, i'm going to miss that station.

[BleedBNG]

http://www.dcrtv.com/

Regarding the above newsblurbs about the stalled negotiations to sell classical WGMS to Redskins owner Dan Snyder, we hear from a source connected to Snyder's Red Zebra broadcasting arm who tells us that "the deal is far from over." Which makes us suspect that Bonneville is using today's Washington Post piece - and the threat of a new FM sports talker to compete with Snyder's Triple X sports talker - to force Snyder back to the table to take the rumored $45 million deal he was close to signing in early December. "We are still dancing" with Bonneville for WGMS, a source with RZ connections tells DCRTV. "It was not as much that Snyder wanted to pay less. It had to do with how the deal was presented and then, once the contract showed up, there were issues not addressed... They are working through it".

Bonneville wants Redskins owner Dan Snyder to get "off the pot" and buy WGMS for his Triple X sports talker. Then, non commercial WETA-FM, as promised, would pick up WGMS's classical format, and ditch its current news talk format. That, in turn, would remove a major rival to Bonneville-operated news talk Washington Post Radio. All the while, Washington Post "reporter" Paul Farhi is being played like a fiddle by the corporate radio bigwigs - including those running his newspaper's radio station.

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It's seems like 50% more to Bonneville because Classical Music doesn't even show up as a blip on the Arbitron radar. And what does WETA-FM care about any profits from Classical music or not? Their funded by you and me. With STUPID comments from Bonneville officials... it looks like the ball is in THEIR court.

[andyburd]

My Mom is soooooo pissed. she loves this station and hates Snyder