My ex and I were often lax in keeping our home free of clutter. OK, we probably would have been considered prime candidates for the series HOARDERS. But even we would eventually reach a point where we’d be overwhelmed enough to hold a garage sale to get a little bit of extra cache out of our largesse.
Mind you, we never actually called it a GARAGE sale because that tends to convey images of completely worthless junk that would inevitably attract some undesirable types in search of getting something for nothing or darn close to it. We called it an ESTATE sale and trumpeted our most valuable and what we’d hope would be most enticing items (Antiques! Classic books and CDs! Rare collectible merch from your favorite TV shows and movies!).
But no matter how we’d couch it or what we specifically offered, each sale would ultimately unfold the same way. Broken-down minivans filled with large non-English speaking families circling our house at least a half-hour before our stated start time, inevitably forcing me to rush out the inventory we’d have hoped to hold back for a later hour. An early rush of eager abuelos and abuelas pawing our wares and completely ignoring our prices. An eventual influx of serial garage sales hoppers clearly dressed in clothes they had found at previous events looking to supplement their wardrobe. Again, offering pennies on the dollar. Occasionally we’d try and hold firm but when we would we’d quickly approach the hour when our city permit would expire with our lawn still cluttered with crap. And if for no other reason as to not have to spend the entire evening shoving what we didn’t have room for in the first place back inside, we’d drop whatever expectations we had to the smart ones who knew enough to come back and wind up giving them their ask and then some. Our “estate” sale was hardly a Sotheby’s event.
Welcome to my old world, David Ellison and team.
In two consecutive days, now that Edgar Bronfman has thrown in the proverbial towel and assured Ellison’s Skydance team they now have control of the assets of Paramount Global, it sure looks like they’re readying their own lawn for a couple of estate sales. Here’s what SEEKING ALPHA dropped on Tuesday:
Paramount Global (NASDAQ:PARA) is looking to sell 12 non-core TV stations and has hired a bank to help the company explore options, Bloomberg reported on Monday, citing sources.
The potential sale would include independent stations in markets like New York, Philadelphia, Dallas, and Tampa, some of which used to be CW affiliates, one person familiar with the matter told Bloomberg.
And THE WRAP’s Lucas Manfredi added this to the mix yesterday:
Is Pluto TV for sale?
The current leaders of Paramount Global reaffirmed their plan to sell assets as recently as this month’s second quarter earnings call. But the presumptive new owner of the company — Skydance Media — may have something else in mind.
Paramount’s Office of the CEO –who are in charge, for now — has made clear that assets with ties to the declining linear TV ecosystem would be put on the chopping block as the company looks to reduce $14.6 billion in long-term debt and boost its flagging stock price.
“The set of assets that make up Paramount Global today were built up through the rise of linear,” Chris McCarthy, one of the company’s three co-CEOs, said on Aug. 8. “And while we have strong brands and businesses, we must reshape our portfolio to best compete in the future. The assets under consideration are undeniably strong with exciting futures ahead but will be better served on their own or as a centerpiece of another business.”
These respective stories weren’t a surprise, as even the Skydance team has maintained that they were intent on “right-sizing”. For a business they see dependent upon content first and foremost, distribution doesn’t necessarily float to the top of consideration lists. The question is–without the synergy of a content pipeline, what are these assets really worth, and who’s a buyer?
Bloomberg tried to paint a rosy picture on the stations, which reflect about half of the total number they own; many of them duopoly outlets. Here’s their assessment:
The stations could bring in anywhere from $500 million to $1 billion if sold and are expected to draw interest from private equity firms and other broadcasters, people with the knowledge of the confidential matter told Bloomberg.
The report said that deliberations are at a preliminary stage, and any deal could still be several months away, according to the people, and potential buyers would be better positioned after the U.S. presidential election in November.
At one time, many of these were competitive, viable independent stations that rose to prominence in the glory days of the 80s and 90s as strong off-network comedies and a slew of theatrical movie packages were made available. A number of them also used local sports rights to augment their value to their respective communities; stations like Boston’s WSBK even became regional superstations thanks to their carriage of the Red Sox and Bruins and made cult heroes out of the host of its MOVIE LOFT franchise and its Sunday night public affairs show, ASK THE MANAGER.
Now? Most of their local sports rights are gone and even in markets where they recently became available, such as Miami and Dallas, teams went with other broadcasters and/or platforms, such as the recently launched DTC company Victory+. Victory + is also playing a role in New York where every local team aside from the Mets, Jets and Giants will join forces and supplement their respective non-Bally Sports owned RSNs, thus shutting off a path for any possibilities in that market for the moment. And you tell me the last time a significant off-network sitcom or current movie package was offered to TV stations (no disrespect to BOB HEARTS ABISHOLA or THE NEIGHBORHOOD, but neither is rivaling BIG BANG THEORY anytime soon).
As for Pluto, as Manfredi notes, they’ve had success. But that’s largely because of the deployment of mostly Paramount assets into the steadily growing FAST channel ecosystem:
Pluto TV, which was purchased by predecessor Viacom for $340 million in cash in 2019, could draw interest from potential suitors such as Roku, analysts told TheWrap. But the platform is already a profitable, $1 billion in revenue per year business — an underutilized Paramount asset that could fit with the “tech hybrid” strategy of Skydance Media and RedBird Capital Partners. And Pluto’s ties to Paramount, from its programming to its role in the company’s ad sales business, could also make a potential sale of the asset challenging, analysts note.
“The sum of [Paramount’s] parts is actually better than the individual pieces set aside,” Evan Shapiro, a former IFC and Sundance Channel executive and professor at NYU’s Stern School of Business, told TheWrap. “The value is there in Pluto, the libraries of CBS and Paramount together, which are really intertwined and inextricable from each other.”
Again, with all due respect to the fans of the Bob Barker-era PRICE IS RIGHTs, not to mention the frustrated fans of classic JEOPARDY! and WHEEL OF FORTUNE who recently saw Sony choose not to renew, there’s just not a whole lot else to excite even Roku besides taking one of its theoretical competitors out of the mix.
So who might be the buyers? Well, there’s always Nexstar, which owns competing stations in most of the CBS duopoly markets, and having two cracks at business and being able to aggregate local news and syndicated program ratings isn’t a negative. But that’s exactly the model that Paramount has been utilizing, particularly in recent years where it effectively de-branded these stations as extensions of their respective markets (e.g. CBS New York, CBS Philadelphia). If it didn’t work that well for them, even in an election year, if you were Perry Sook, would you offer anything close to the asking price?
Byron Allen, who couldn’t quite afford the whole kit and kaboodle? Sure. But you ask his creditors as to how quickly he’s paying his bills for the stations he does own lately. You won’t exactly get a slew of positive feedback.
And finally there’s always the blueprint of radio, where great legacy stations were sold to niche interests such as foreign language broadcasters or right-leaning “free speech” advocates. Dr. Phil could always use upgrades for his failing Merit Street Media. Take a listen to what the storied call letters of WABC Radio in New York have become under Trump and onetime Rudy Giuliani buddy John Catsimatidis. Bet he’d love a crack at WLNY, whose transmitter is real close to his Hamptons mansion and once was the de facto local station for summer renters.
In other words, the equivalent of abuelos, abeulas and bargain hunters, none of whom are poised to do anything other than use them for their own needs and perhaps resell them on their own for even less.
So good luck, David Ellison. May you have more success with your “garage”–er, estate–sales than did I.
Until next time…