John Catsimatidis acquires 77 WABC radio for $12.5 million no greeks allowed
Claude Solnik
Long Island Business News
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Home > LI Confidential > Stop scratching on holidays
Stop scratching on holidays
Published: June 1, 2012
Off Track Betting in New York State has been racing into a crisis called shrinking revenue. Some people have spitballed a solution: Don’t close on holidays.
New York State Racing Law bars racing on Christmas, Easter and Palm Sunday, and the state has ruled OTBs can’t handle action on those days, even though they could easily broadcast races from out of state.
“You should be able to bet whenever you want,” said Jackson Leeds, a Nassau OTB employee who makes an occasional bet. He added some irrefutable logic: “How is the business going to make money if you’re not open to take people’s bets?”
Elias Tsekerides, president of the Federation of Hellenic Societies of Greater New York, said OTB is open on Greek Orthodox Easter and Palm Sunday.
“I don’t want discrimination,” Tsekerides said. “They close for the Catholics, but open for the Greek Orthodox? It’s either open for all or not open.”
OTB officials have said they lose millions by closing on Palm Sunday alone, with tracks such as Gulfstream, Santa Anita, Turf Paradise and Hawthorne running.
One option: OTBs could just stay open and face the consequences. New York City OTB did just that back in 2003. The handle was about $1.5 million – and OTB was fined $5,000.
Easy money.
Billionaire supermarket mogul John Catsimatidis’ media group has bought 77 WABC radio in a $12.5 million cash deal, according to an announcement on Thursday.
Red Apple Media, a subsidiary of Castimatidis’ Red Apple Group, bought the talk radio station from Cumulus Media Inc.
And Catsimatidis, who owns supermarket chain Gristedes —and recently bailed out rival D’Agostino’s with a line of credit — is worth $3.1 billion, according to Forbes. He is also the host of AM-970 radio show “The Cats Roundtable.”
“I grew up with WABC,” Catsimatidis told the Post. “It’s an iconic channel. We want to bring it back to being a great station.”
He has no immediate plans to change WABC, however. “We plan to retain the excellent staff and talent working at the station now and look forward to working with them.”
The Greek native also said he in on the prowl for more radio buys. “Have checkbook, will travel,” he quipped, adding that he is in discussions to buy other AM and FM stations, but would not disclose which ones.
“I started a radio show five years ago which is now available in 14 states and on the internet; it has gained a large and loyal audience,” the businessman boasted.
The deal is expected to be finalized in the third quarter of 2019.
Cumulus has been trying to pare debt since emerging from its 2017 Chapter 11 bankrukptcy that was the result of a $5 billion buying spree from 1998 to 2013. Radio stations nationally have under pressure due to podcasts, streaming audio and other newer rivals in recent years.
“Consistent with our financial goals, we intend to use the sale’s net cash proceeds to pay down and invest in the company,” said Cumulus CEO Mary Berner.
Cumulus recently sold New York’s WPLJ 95.5 FM to Christian broadcaster Educational Media Foundation as part of a six-station $103.5 million deal. WPLJ signed off for the last time on May 30.
WABC first went on the air in 1921 and broadcasts shows like “Bernie and Sid in the Morning” to New York, New Jersey and Connecticut. It’s the No. 1 streamed radio station in the country, according to its website.
Catsimatidis is closely identified with the Gristedes supermarket chain and rival D’Agonstino’s which he bailed out with a line of credit. But the supermarkets account for less then 10 percent of his estimated net worth. The bulk of his portfolio’s value comes from real estate, which includes a soon to open ocean front, twin tower, luxury complex in Coney Island and United Refinery, an oil refinery operation.
He toyed with the idea of buying the struggling New York Daily News from real estate mogul Mort Zuckerman in 2015, but it was pulled off the market due to lack of interest. Tribune Publishing ultimately paid $1 to buy the slumping tabloid in 2017.
The Greek-born mogul ran unsuccessfully for NYC mayor in the Republican primary in 2013, but has contributed to candidates across the political spectrum, including HIillary and Bill Clinton, Andrew Cuomo and more recently Donald Trump.
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