Beasley is typical of the group of publicly traded, family controlled radio station owners – so much so that this profile contains a faux “boilerplate” paragraph that could apply to any of the similar companies. The profile is available [here]
George Beasley is the handyman fixer-upper of radio stations. He buys up radio stations that need work, and then resells them later at a profit (like the Las Vegas station sale today). His core holdings are the smaller market stations in North Carolina, Georgia and Florida. In 2007, Beasley bet $42 million to buy up one FM radio station station in Wilmington, Delaware. The operators of their Credit Facility have seriously clipped the wings of the Beasley family since then.
The company made about $8,000 for the 1st quarter of 2009, after paying $2 million in interest on their debt. The biggest question for this company is will George’s son be able to match his father’s success as a fixer upper? and can they survive a hurricane if it hits the wrong city?