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after Murdoch as a radio tycoon
McKenzie's Wireless tap into rising market
By Simon Bond
Kelvin
MacKenzie, the former editor of the UK's No. 1 tabloid The Sun, looks set
to make a fortune with the flotation of his radio group, which is
attracting valuations of between $250-320 million.
The Wireless Group has announced that it is
offering 25 percent of the company on the London Stock Exchange this
summer.
The flotation will tap into the growing European
enthusiasm for radio businesses and is expected to give MacKenzie's
Wireless Group the financial resources for further media acquisitions.
The company has expanded rapidly over the last 18
months, paying $75 million last summer for the Radio Partnership, a group
that has shareholdings in 11 regional radio stations and a further $33
million for another seven local radio stations with the acquisition in
December of the Independent Radio Group.
At the heart of MacKenzie's radio empire is Talk Radio,
the national station that was rebranded as talkSport at the beginning of
this year, and is now dedicated to sports coverage.
While the group's local stations are profitable, talkSport,
which is the company's strongest brand, is losing money. The Wireless
Group is now one of the UK's largest radio companies and expects to show
revenues in excess of $48 million in 2000.
As editor of The Sun, MacKenzie was a giant of the UK
media landscape, redefining tabloid journalism with a mixture of scoops,
celebrity sensationalism and legendary headlines, which included the media
studies classic "Gotcha."
The headline marked the sinking of the Argentinian warship
The Belgrano during the Falklands war.
His career at The Sun was followed by a stint at L!VE
TV, the network of local cable TV stations where he publicly sparred with
joint MD Janet Street-Porter, the recently appointed editor of the
high-brow broadsheet, The Independent on Sunday.
With the financial backing of his former boss
Rupert Murdoch, MacKenzie relaunched his career in 1998 leading a
consortium in the $40 million acquisition of Talk Radio.
MacKenzie has a personal stake of 7 percent in
the company, along with a blue chip lineup of shareholders that includes
News International, the UK arm of Murdoch's News Corp. and LMC Radio, a
subsidiary of Liberty Media of the US.
The Wireless Group is seen as a vehicle for
making radio content available for new media opportunities.
TalkSport.net is being developed into a portal
for sports fans and will offer a radio feed, information, chat rooms
e-commerce and online betting.
The Group is also expected to launch Bloomberg
talkMoney, a financial station on a digital radio platform, which will be
a joint venture between The Wireless Group and GWR, the radio group.
-Simon Bond covers European media for Media Life, writing from outside of London.
