Bidding war for bankrupt Black G98.7 radio station in Toronto heats up!

Bidding Deadline Extended 

 

By Stephen Weir

Deadline for interested parties to submit written letters of intent with respect to the purchase of the station was Friday, August 7. But A.Farber & Partners Inc., the court-appointed receiver of the company that is currently operating Radio Station G98.7-FM, said earlier this week that the deadline for purchase proposals has been extended to Sept 25, as requested by the bidders in good standing

Little information has been released about the proposed sale beyond a list of what the successful buyer will receive.  It consists of the broadcast studio and equipment at 34 Kerns Road in North York, the station’s advertising list, all accounts receivable, the lease for the downtown broadcast antenna and the station’s Canadian Radio and Television Commission licence to broadcast.

The estimated price for the station that tags itself as “The Way We Groove,” will be in the range of $2 -5-million dollars.

Business and Community interest in the sale of the station continues to grow. According to A. Farber & Partners, 60 firms should interest in buying the station, 10 of whom submitted bidding documents.  Meanwhile, in the community, an online petition to keep the station under Black control, has generated  12,435 names – 435  just last week.

The petition says “it is absolutely imperative that any company that is entrusted with the license to broadcast on 98.7 be majority Black-owned and operated,” and “it is the very definition of Institutional and Systemic Racism to have anyone outside of the Black Community own the Black voice.”

In addition to the on-line push, the CRTC has already received letters from the NDP Provincial Black Caucus and the Mayor of Toronto, calling for the station to stay in the hands of the Black community.

 And according to informed sources in the Black community, some of the people currently running the station are busy trying to raise the money needed to buy it.. One source told The Caribbean Camera that a consortium of Black investors, with some financing from Africa, is close to sealing the deal.

The station is reported to be losing its share of the radio market. Earlier this month, listenership numbers for Toronto radio stations were released. Of the 24 stations included in the survey, in the category of listeners between the ages of 25 and 54 G-98.7 had the second least number of listeners – some .4 per cent of the GTA market.  Only the First Nations’ station 106.5 placed lower.(.001%).  In contrast Q107 FM has 11.4 per cent of the market and CBC Radio One is in second place with a 10.4 per cent share.