This Soros Purchase of 200-Plus Radio Stations

 I sat last night to review this hyped-up story of Soros buying 200-plus radio stations and the rapid approval to allow this to occur.  So some things:

1.  It is near 235 stations total....owned presenty by Audacy (the company).

2.  Over the past decade...Audacy had some profitable years, then some lean years (meaning marginal income).  Last year, they pieced together a recovery year....oddly getting Soro's team interested.  Whether the profit can continue....unknown.

3.  These stations are NOT in all 50 states....they are mostly bunched up in 45 media markets (urbanized zones) across the US.

4.  In the whole state of Arizona.....ONLY three stations belong to Audacy....all in the Phoenix area.  The three?  Adult contemporary music, C&W, and classic hits.

5.  Any in Alabama or Mississippi?  No.

6.  Talk radio or news format in the 45 markets?  I counted a total of around 30 stations....however, some of these were multi situations....where you had a talk-radio station in one town, with a news-format station in the same town.

7.  Spanish stations?  Fewer than ten in the deal.  One is a conservative-talk radio station in Miami.

8.  Problem in the future?  Spotify has taken over a lot of younger listeners, along with podcasts....meaning the internet is delivering their product....NOT the radio network.

9.  If Soros were to delete conservative talk-radio?  Some competitor would wise-up....see a chance to take market-share, and bring some downfall to the Soros strategy.

10.  On being a wise-investment choice?  I don't see the Soros team having a understanding of what they bought, and how it's connected to the general public.

11. General business wisdom?  You generally buy something that provides an income.  Competing against Spotify and podcasts?  You have to be aggressive....I don't see these guys in a 'win-win' scenario.  I'm predicting in two years....a 'chunk' of the 200-plus stations will be sold off (probably the music and news stations). 

12.  The speed of approval over the deal?  I have doubts that the profit for 2024 looks that great, and Audacy didn't want Soro's team figuring out it was a short-lived profit period.  

So I end this analysis with this thought.....Soros had money to waste, and some bright sales people convinced them the deal was worth the effort.  In six months....I suspect the profit situation will be listed as marginal and the heavy-handed way of dragging talk-radio to some center-point or left-point....will have failed....triggering even lesser profit.  As they piece together deals to sell off stations....what will remain?  Strictly talk-radio and Spanish-language stations.  

Added note....it's just odd, no one seems to have analyzed the make-up of the stations.....all public information, and the profit discussion has been going on for two years.  

Things I Now Identify As

 1.  Even though I'm about to be 66 years old....I now identify as a permanent 34-year old guy.

2.  I've decided to identify as Cherokee, Danish, Roman, and Celtic.

3.  I'm going to identify as a New York Yankees 3rd baseman. 

4.  I'm going to identify as a Baywatch TV show life-guard....even though I can't swim.

5.  On Thursdays, I'm going to identify as being 'invisible'....you won't be able to see me.

6.  At  least two days a year, I will identify as maximum paranoid shizophrenic....at the 5-star crazy-crazy level.  

7.  On Sundays, I will be identifying as Moses....complete with sandals.

8.  On the third Monday of each month, I will identify as Joe-Biden-fog-brained....mostly to see if anyone notices.

9.  I will identify as an 'CNN-expert' in hopes of getting hired-up and make some 'real' money.

10.  I will reassess myself weekly, and identify as needed.   So I might have 600 identities per year.

Six Humble Thoughts

 1. I sat and watched the 24-minute interview of  Kamala Harris and MSNBC.  Two observations:  Harris really needs to avoid all taxation/economic questions.....zero sense or understanding.  Second, she was less goofy than normal (I'm not saying zero goofy.....just less goofy).

I think even 12-year old kids now realize her goofy-factor.   

2.  What this ports-strike chatter is all about?  Well....the port-workers have come to realize that modernization is finally coming....with robotics involved, and some of their work is going to disappear.  So the strike is mostly about preventing modernization (yeah, pretty odd strategy).

3.  This Mayor arrest in NY City to occur?  It'll happen next week where he turns himself  in.  Evidence?  He took bribes and the feds can prove this angle (the hint in the media is $10-million....whether true or not, unknown). 

The odd thing?  The mayor had been complaining for months about the lack of fed-money to cover hotels for migrants.  So Biden/Harris had a meeting scheduled with the Mayor....but just an hour or two prior to this DC meeting....the Feds raided the Mayor's house....so he departed DC without the meeting.

Other odd side-story?  Well....the Turks who were bribing....wanted jobs within the Mayor's 'team'.  No one says what they were planning to accomplish there.

4.  Some kind of 'tip-line' set up in Michigan....for kids to call in and report their parents for not having their guns secured.

Just thinking.....some parents are about dump their kids into the Michigan social system, and the kids might be shocked how crappy things turn out to be.

5.  There's speculation that Bill Gates is about to toss big BUCKS into a climate agenda....aimed at using news organizations as the propaganda unit.

Likely outcome?  Quicker demise of news sources for 2025/2026.  If you were stupid to be in college and working on a journalism degree....you might want to rethink your life strategy.  

6.  Science report....200 different cancer-causing chemicals found in food packaging.  All aimed at trigger higher rates of breast cancer.

Just motivates people to buy food NOT in a plastic package.

Sometimes, I Think About Perceptions

 

For 30 years, I've been a faithful 'addict' of Windex.  Working at various offices....I always had a bottle and paper towels around.

I looked at this comparison today.

Yeah, it's just odd....whoever design blue Mountain Dew....it is the same exact 'tint' as Windex.

Just odd.

Kids and Politics Chatter

 I sat and watched a CNN segment (admitting I still 'force' myself to get doses of slanted news), but this ended up being an odd story.

So CNN went and asked what I perceived to be 11-year old kids....how they felt about Kamala Harris and Donald Trump.

Odd question, and there is virtually NO value in the 'product'.

However, the kids gave blunt prospectives of both.....which made for an interesting segment.

As a kid in 1969 (when I was eleven)....if you'd asked the class who was president....I doubt if 50-percent could have answered the question.  If you'd asked me over my prospective of Nixon?  I would have answered he's the President, and gave no insight or plus/minus of the guy.

So you gaze at society and the news media.....what has changed over 55 years?  Well....there's just a lot of propaganda today, and even 11-year old kids recognize this factor.

If I had a household and three kids today?  I'd have to filter out news or constantly remind the kids that being skeptical is a worthily talent.

Here's the final observation.....in seven years, as these kids start to reach voting age.  They will have ZERO trust in the news media, and refuse to accept any propaganda.  How things will work then?  It just makes me wonder if CNN will be around. 

Five Humble Thoughts On The Path Of Kamala Harris To The Presidency

 1.  You could write ten questions for an interview....hand them to Kamala, with the suggested answers, and a week later....she'd stumble her way through the Q-and-A, giving almost no clear answer.  It just begs the question....how she ever got through college.

2.  I think Joe Biden knew she was this 'lost' and this pick of her.....was revenge upon the Pelosi/Obama crowd for forcing him out of the race.

3.  She's medicated on 'something'.

4.  No, she does not own a pistol or ever fired a pistol (my humble belief).

5.  I just don't think she has any real lawyer skills....whatsoever. 

College Chatter

 

Back in 2011, I worked with a guy who had a 18-year old daughter...about to finish high school, and had been accepted to James Mason (a prestigious university in Virginia).

There was one issue....it was contingent that she come in on a Saturday and take two tests....English grammar and math assessment.

Dad drove her over.  She tested, and the scores were figured shortly after that....with a face-to-face meeting with a school official set for two hours later.

So here's the end of the story.

The girl....who had remarkable grades for the final four years of school....failed both tests.  Her dad sat there in disbelief and asked how.

College official pointed out....the last math course she took in high school....was in the 10th grade.  In both the 11th and 12th grade....she took mostly science-related courses. 

Looking at her accomplishments in English grammar.....the last plain grammar class she took....was in the 9th grade.  She had taken French literature, romance novels, and a poetry-related class....for the 10th, 11th and 12th grade.

What all of this meant?  The college official said she'd have to take a regular high-school-level math and English class in the first year at the college....with zero college credit.  Cost factor?  Around $350 for each class.  Ability to finish school in four years?  Pretty much crapped out, unless she took a summer period as a add-on.

This guy and I talked over the outcome.....total waste of time, of which we both agreed.

So I asked.....if you'd known of this problem....would you have taken her to some tutor for a weekend to  prep for the two stupid tests?  OH YEAH was the response.....guessing it would have cost $500 for a max-knowledge-dump.   

All of this makes me wonder....just how many kids are showing up and can't function at 12th-grade high school level?   A quarter of the folks?  More?