Monday, May 12, 2008

Pappas Telecasting Files For Bankruptcy

From The Weekend Wires:

The largest privately-held commercial broadcast operator in the U.S., Pappas Telecasting Inc., filed for Chapter 11 Saturday with plans to sell its 30 TV stations under bankruptcy court protection.

Pappas cited "the extremely difficult business climate for television stations across the country" in papers filed with the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Wilmington, Del. The Fresno, Calif.-based company reported in court filings it has more than $536 million in debt and assets of $460 million.

Pappas-owned TV stations in the bankruptcy filing include KPTM-Fox 42 and KXVO-CW 11 in Omaha but not KHGI-NTV in Kearney.

Pappas blamed the "poor ratings of the CW Network" for some of the financial trouble that forced it into bankruptcy. CW Network targets people in the 18- to 34-year-old age bracket with shows like America's Next Top Model and Smallville. It is a property of Time Warner Inc. and CBS Corp. .

A spokeswoman for News Corp. (AU:NWS: news, chart, profile) , which owns Fox, declined to comment. News Corp. is the owner of Dow Jones & Co., publisher of Dow Jones Newswires. Spokesmen for Time Warner and CBS did not respond immediately to requests to comment on the bankruptcy filing.

News of Pappas' financial woes and the credit crisis made it tough for Pappas to find a buyer outside of bankruptcy, court documents say. In the weeks leading up to Saturday's filing, Pappas failed to come to terms with top lenders who are owed $303 million.

Banks led by Fortress Capital Corp. refused to finance an effort to continue to try to sell the company in bankruptcy court. Pappas decided to file for Chapter 11 protection "in an effort to accomplish an orderly sale of the stations as a going concern," court documents say.

Founder and Chief Executive Harry Pappas said he is offering $2 million in bankruptcy financing to fund operations while the company is in Chapter 11.

Analysts have said media and retail companies are among the most vulnerable businesses in the economic downturn, which was triggered by the U.S. housing market decline.

Advertising budgets in furniture, appliance, real estate and related sectors bore the immediate brunt of the housing market downturn, denting revenues at Pappas over the past year, court documents say.

Pappas also said the cost of converting from analog to digital TV broadcasting has weighed on its operating costs, which were already strained by higher energy prices. To gear up for new digital TV requirements, Pappas stations have had to operate duplicate transmission facilities, the company said.

According to a Pappas press release, KPTM, achieved revenue increases for the first quarter of 2008 of 27.9 percent over the same period in 2007, exclusive of any political advertising.

54 comments:

Anonymous said...

Who cares? Perrault will continue on.

Anonymous said...

Wow! You really CAN go broke underestimating the intelligence of the American public!

Anonymous said...

So is now a bad time to ask for that company car?

-JJ Davis

Anonymous said...

How will this affect Sheila Brummer? Do you think they'll take her web page off the WOWT site because of this?

Anonymous said...

I wonder if this was even supposed to get out yet. I figured J-Dub would try to put an embargo on it until papers were filed or crop circles were cut in all cities with the logos of affected stations. Why does no one take her seriously?

Anonymous said...

I saw Sheila working the corner of 24th and Lake this past weekend, The brothas got her all tricked out.

Anonymous said...

Now that's not nice, I'm sure her stalker won't appreciate that. We need more updates like where she went grocery shopping, has she been to any Royals games lately, how much does she have to pay for gas, etc.

That's what the 'phile is supposed to take care of, because he was so concerned a few weeks back whether or not she'd been fired and why her bio was still posted at WOWT.com. I seriously doubt she was tricked out, she's classier than that.

Anonymous said...

Better hang on to that Pinto a little while longer.

Anonymous said...

I wonder if KPTM got their bankruptcy papers from We The People legal document service, located at 90th and Maple.

Anonymous said...

A Pappas station in Yuma has a "weather dog" doing forcasting. Maybe KPTM will start replacing its on-air people with animals, too!

Anonymous said...

8:21

Animals would cost more to feed than wages at duct tape 42.

Anonymous said...

JJ looks like a monkey. e-e-e.

Anonymous said...

I'm not broke.

I'm 31. I'm metrosexual and I pay $130 for a single pair of JEANS! (Check out my blog, its true)

JJ can come work for me and fetch my coffee since I can afford to buy their stupid station and bring it into my empire.

You know why people?

Because I'm number one!

Sincerely,

The Perrault

Anonymous said...

What were the ratings for the Iowa high school basketball tournament on KXVO?

Anonymous said...

"Pappas blamed the "poor ratings of the CW Network" for some of the financial trouble that forced it into bankruptcy."

I like how Harry blames the CW for most of this and not shoddy management throughout the company.

-former KPTMer

Anonymous said...

Can "Mix Tape" be the vehicle that pulls them out of bankruptcy?

Anonymous said...

mmm...guerin

Anonymous said...

Bring back Lisa Volonec

Anonymous said...

Wait....does this mean Matt Geiler is out of a job again? Noooo, he was going to be the next John Candy, for realz!

Anonymous said...

What is this KPTM you speak of? I've never seen it.

Sincerely,
Omaha

Anonymous said...

Geez, not that I'm interested in defending KPTM, but you'd just as well say that about KMTV too.

Anonymous said...

I like the 4:00 and the 9:00 news on
KPTM. They do a nice job with the little support that they have from management.

They have the best weatherman of the
four TV stations with the worst equipment.

Lets give credit where credit is due.

JJ is awesome!

Hang in there, Channel 42!



A faithful listener.

Anonymous said...

Amanda needs to wear some more smaller sized and lower cut blouses.

Anonymous said...

Man oh man...we can see why broadcasting has taken a dump with the idots posting here of late...If the majority of the posters had/have radio/tv jobs they do not speak well of the industry.

This is from one who has spent many years in broadcasting and cringes when I read these "posts" Hey folks, get over it, you are has beens or wanne bees who will never be.

Get a life...grow up

Anonymous said...

It's pretty hard to talk crap about KPTM when the ratings for their newscast have consistently been rising, to the point they are the clear number three station in town. Also, the revenue increase of over 25% during the economic downturn that supposedly is doing Pappas in shows that KPTM is well run, and Pappas is run by complete numbskulls. It would be interesting if that station were bought by a legitimate company like Belo. I think WOWT would be replaced as the clear number two in about 5 years.

Anonymous said...

Pretty big talk by 6:41 for somebody who lacked the cajones to back his smack up with a name. Next time you have a thought, be man enough to back it up.

Anonymous said...

i like the person at 4:31. they signed their comment "a faithful listener". hmmm i thought kptm was a tv station, not a radio?

Anonymous said...

true that on Amanda

Anonymous said...

Keep plugging away, JJ. You're one of the all-time good guys. Don't let some Internet geek get you down.

Anonymous said...

According to the Marketwatch article at http://www.marketwatch.com/news/story/pappas-telecasting-files-bankruptcy-blames/story.aspx?guid=%7BBD3264A3-7A33-4F4C-A513-C5E210DC5C28%7D : "Pappas-owned TV stations are affiliated with a number of broadcasters, and include two of the nation's top-ranked Fox affiliates, KPMH of Fresno, Calif., and KPTM in Omaha, Neb."

Should we infer that because KPTM is a top-ranked FOX affiliate, Pappas mortgaged it to the hilt because it had a higher value to lenders than, say, the NTV stations (KHGI, etc.)?

If that's the case, are all of Pappas' stronger stations the ones put in bankruptcy? And where does that leave the non-bankrupt (less valuabe?) Pappas stations?

Anonymous said...

Hmmm, just a hunch, but I'm doubting JJ Davis is really calling out someone for "lacking cajones". Nice job Loser.

I agree with 6:41. Get a life and quit talking trash because you couldn't cut it.

Your 'Perrault is gay' and loving men in spandex wrestling comments are more thoughtful than half of these.

Anonymous said...

Let Tyson Pearsall do the weather totally buck naked and the ratings will take care of themselves.

That boy is all kinds of sexy.

Anonymous said...

The only way that KPTM will pull ANYTHING other than low single digits is to keep it's current schedule, which means never going head to head with any local newscast in the evening. They do at 4 PM & aren't pulling much above hashmarks, no matter how the numbers are spun.
Out of all the anchors there, JJ probably is the only one that could work at one of the other outfits here in town. The kid doing their weather looked like he was reading a script the other night when I surfed past. Uncomfortable to watch......

Anonymous said...

The local news has gotten better since Amanda became the co anchor IMO. Weather and sports are ok - not my fav in town, but passable.

If they'd keep TMZ and bring back Jerry Springer, they could improve ratings....

Just my .02

oh, and Perrault is ghey. (That's how its spelled back home in Boston.)

Anonymous said...

I'm surprised nobody's brought up "Omaha Living," the kind of local talk show that makes fodder for "Saturday Night Live" parodies.

Anonymous said...

Matt Perrault is Gay!

Anonymous said...

Thanks for nothing...

-Matt Geiler

Anonymous said...

omaha living CHARGES guests to be on their show.

Anonymous said...

You'd have to PAY ME to watch that, or any other locally produced toxic waste at 42.

Anonymous said...

What was Perrault doing posting at 11:37 p.m. on May 12?

Anonymous said...

Wait...isn't Family Guy on that channel ?

Ok, whoever said that about Pearsall, I want to say thanks...I almost beat my bulemia until I read that right after dinner....so again, thanks for getting me back on track.

Anonymous said...

Solutions to keep 15 and 42 afloat:

1. Bring back Lisa Volonec and let her do the weather. Mmmmm.

2. Prime time (7-8 or 8-9, your pick) three nights a week for Mix Tape.

3. Jess is right, more Family Guy (keep strong on the bulemia, you can whoop it). Maybe Jess should have her own show, just no chundering on air, okay? :-)

4. Ship out JJ and bring back Travis, no matter how much coin it takes. Speaking of all kinds of sexy... grrrrrrrrrrrr

5. Give Perrault his own "George Michaels Sports Machine"-type show at 10:30 p.m. on Sunday's when no other show like that is on.

6. Have Guerin host Cuddle Parties in the prime time spot Geiler doesn't get - heck, she's already wearing pajamas half the time, why not?

7. Get J-Dub to do a weekly "Crop Circles and Crochet" show. Probably the 3:30-4 a.m. time slot right after Nat X.

8. Give Travis his own Q&A show and call it Travia with Travis. What a cool name.

9. Did I mention spend the coin to bring back Travis?

Okay, who has comments for/additions to this list? There has to be some more ideas.

Anonymous said...

How do you keep them afloat?

1. Run the "Girls Gone Wild" video promotion on the hour every hour.

2. Buy the rights to Janet Reno's Dance Party from NBC.

3. See if Dick Clark is still around to read liners.

4. Lindsey Lohan v. Britney Spears in a cage match, live from the Civic.

5. JJ in a thong during sports.

6. Borrow copy of "UHF" from public library. Study it, learn from it, and execute it.

7. Broadcast pie fights.

8. Dismantle the set and use the scrap for material to burn for heat during the winter.

9. Hire The Perrault to run the station. If he can get ratings at 590, maybe he can become the miracle worker at KPTM.

Anonymous said...

Anything that doesn't involve Perrault or Justice, I'm in favor of. Those two need to be banished from all Omaha airwaves for the good of the city.

Anonymous said...

6:15 AM - What flavor is the pie? Cherry?

Sincerely,
Warrant

Anonymous said...

Phil....I had to sound that name out loud about 4 times before I got it...just an FYI der dee der...

1. Guerin is a doll so the jammie/ cuddle parties would probably do well....she needs to put her hair in a pony tail though, sorry I just needed to get that off my chest...that comment, not her hair perverts.

2. I'm still agreeing with my own show idea..

3. I'm ok with Trav as long as he has a good script, he's not that funny and witty all by himself.

4. I think that's a little too much Mix Tape, unless it gets better ? Maybe I didn't get enough out of watching it once ?

5. Pie fights would be cool, as long as they ARE cherry. Apple pie fights wouldn't have a desirable look IMO.

6. A bon fire would be great fun and bring back memories. Maybe Guerin could host it in her jammies and we could all roast marshmallows and have a Reno dance party. I totally just downloaded Mr. Roboto for such an occasion.

7. "Girls Gone Wild" ads work for every other channel. At least the 14 year old boys will tune it to get a peek at bleeped out boobies.

8. Still undecided on this Perrault thing, I guess I should actually tune in sometime so I can give an honest opinion.

Anonymous said...

Great list Jess. I can finally type that now that I've stopped laughing so hard and the tears are out of my eyes.

Hardest laughs - "...that comment, not her hair perverts", second sentence of number 4, all of number 6, and bleeped out boobies.

Thanks, that rocked. But no comment on Volonec, speaking of the last word of number 7 everyone?

Anonymous said...

The words "boob" & "Volonec" went together very well during her time at KPTM 'We're a Station'!

Anonymous said...

And the lenders fire back at Harry:

http://www.fresnobee.com/263/story/601856.html

Anonymous said...

Call me crazy, but I've got to believe the Chapter 11 filing is due to all that mad cash Harry laid out for that new 42 studio digs. Wow! Must have set him back a whole $23.49 (including the 15% senior discount at Home Depot).

Yeah, there you go, Harry - it's all the CW's fault. You obviously didn't negotiate a very good deal for showing some car dealership infommercial at 1:00 a.m. Or, mayb it's the fact that you actually had to pay Guerin 10 cents above the Federal Minimum Wage to have her VJ your Happy Hour.

Tell that Geiler guy to head down to the Open Mike night to try and score you some cash.

Anonymous said...

Just wondered, are those comments of bitterness or admiration toward the amazing sweaters she used to enhance?

Anonymous said...

I enjoyed watching those "enhancements" up close and personal last night while sharing some spit with her. She's a screamer, baby...

Anonymous said...

I guess we all know why Kearney station wasn't added to the list. Because it's unsellible and in such a dim hicktown market they wouldn't get any money for it. Kearneys NTV is considered even worse than Khas tv Hastings if you can believe it. Pappas has been in alot of trouble for along time and has now fallen on their face.

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