UPDATED AT 5:30PM EASTERN
The nation’s two biggest owners and operators of radio stations are not alone in their desire to reorganize under Chapter 11 of the U.S. bankruptcy code.
MGTF Radio Company — the entity created by the sons of veteran Pittsburgh radio station owner Saul Frischling — on Tuesday (3/20) morning filed a bankruptcy petition in U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Eastern District of Missouri.
RBR+TVBR reviewed the filings, assigned to Judge Charles E. Rendlen III, and a list of creditors had already been furnished. By day’s end, it became known that WPNT Inc., the licensee for the Frischling family’s two FMs in Pittsburgh, had been added to the Missouri petition.
With case no. 4:2018bk41671, the company doing business in Missouri under the name Steel City Media on Wednesday paid the requisite $1,717 voluntary petition for Chapter 11 reorganization — the same fee paid by iHeart and Cumulus, which is set on a federal level.
Steel City Media of Kansas City operates CHR/Pop KMXV-FM 93.3, AC KCKC-FM 102.1, Country mainstay KFKF-FM 94.1, and “New Hit Country” KBEQ-FM 104.3.
Proposed counsel in its Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection pleading is Thomas Riske of Carmody MacDonald P.C. of St. Louis. Co-counsel is Robert Eggman.
MGTF’s filing states that there are between 1 and 49 creditors, and that funds will be available for distribution to unsecured creditors.
MGTF’s estimated liabilities equal its estimated assets of between $50 million and $100 million.
With a Government Proof of Claim due Sept. 17, and a Disclosure Statement due July 18, the first set of deadlines is Tuesday, April 3. That is when the Kansas City arm of Steel City must present a summary of assets and liabilities, a Declaration Concerning Debtors Schedules, a Statement of Financial Affairs and various schedules.
A list of creditors holding the 20 largest unsecured claims was immediately submitted to the court.
The largest creditor listed is Fifth Third Bank, with an unsecured claim of $38,477,998.
That’s followed by Business Development Corp. of America, in care of Alan Pope. That unsecured claim is valued at $24.5 million.
From here, there’s new insight into who’s owed what from Steel City. We start in Kansas City, where digital services firm iFocus Marketing is a claimant of $130,561.27.
The fourth-largest claimant is Nielsen Audio, with $108,828.78 owed to the ratings and audience research firm.
Katz is a claimant, with $63,905.09 owed.
The other claimants are owed much less. Many of these claimants are music rights and licensing organizations. ASCAP has an unsecured claim of $27,351; BMI has one for $23,169.94. Also shown with an unsecured claim is $6,410.17, for SESAC; and $7,148.22, for Sound Exchange.
There’s also a $6,393.72 to Marketron for logs and billing software services.
Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection also touches public utilities and other local services, in addition to consultants. KCPL, the local power company, is owed $11,869.31; the city of Independence, Mo., utility company is owed $6,276.09.
A claim $22,431.39 is assigned to AmTower, while KCPT Television, the owner of a tower used by MGTF, is owed $6,628. Time Warner (now Charter Spectrum) is owed $1,760.11 for “telephone” services. All Copy Products of Denver is a claimant, and is owed $8,777.46.
Veteran programming consultant Joel Folger is listed as a claimant and is owed $2,521.49.
There’s also a $13,328 “Contingent/Unliquidated/Disputed” claim tied to litigation involving Anthony Giordano and, specifically, MGTF’s Mix 93.3 in Kansas City.
This case, filed in October 2017 in an Albany, N.Y. federal bankruptcy court, lists Steel City Media as a defendant, along with several Entercom and former CBS Radio stations. The plaintiff is Turkey Lake, which owns various laser spas. In October 2015, Turkey Lake and its various affiliates filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. Insolvency has put into question whether MGTF or Entercom can collect for unpaid advertising on its radio stations. Court documents show the $13,328 payment made July 23, 2015 to MGTF.
A second document, reflecting unsecured claims for WPNT Inc.’s two FMs — WRRK-FM in Braddock, Pa., and WLTJ-FM in Pittsburgh — shows Nielsen owed an additional $62,819.22; $3,084 owed to Sound Exchange; and $4,328.60 owed to Folger.
Christal Radio, the national ad rep for WLTJ and WRRK, is shown as unsecured creditor owed $37,572.11 by Steel City’s Pittsburgh stations.
Giordano is owed $8,500 by the Pittsburgh operation, while ASCAP is owed $10,986; BMI is owed $9,998.35; tower owner Calvary Communications is owed $6,732; and Research Director is owed $1,100.
Furthermore, KPP Management is an unsecured creditor who seeks $24,701 in rent payments.
An email request for comment was sent early Wednesday to Gregg Frischling, VP/GM of Steel City Media, and again Wednesday afternoon. Frischling did not respond to RBR+TVBR by the close of business Wednesday.
It was originally reported that Steel City Media’s Pittsburgh stations were not involved in the Chapter 11 filing, as they are controlled by Saul Frischling and his sons as a separate entity. This changed with the inclusion of WPNT Inc. to the original filing.
FROM THE RBR+TVBR ARCHIVES:
