The Billboard Insider Podcast
00:23:39 · Dave Westburg, Paul Wright
[00:23:39] S0: And I would say bigger leases, Paul. It seems like they don't wanna see a lease... Buy a lease if it's got less than $300 a month in rent, for instance. [00:23:47] S1: Exactly. And even leases that have less than a year or five years, they want long term leases. And so the idea that they might come in and buy short term leases and then call the billboard company and say, hey, we're gonna raise your lease rates and now it's gonna be, you know, this huge amount of money that you can't afford. That really hasn't materialized. And so I think some of the initial early fears about Landmark have not been worn out. That said, when you start to accumulate 600 leases, there becomes this critical mass where you have more leverage and control. And so if those leases become staggered or set to expire in large groupings, then they can go to one particular sign owner and say, hey, we've got 75 leases expiring and if you don't raise your rates to x number of dollars, then, you know, you're gonna lose these locations. And so their leverage or their their bargaining power is growing. And so that's more of a concern to me than their initial modus operandi. I would say that their long term outlook and the way they're packaging those leases and pooling them for investors is a comfort to us, and it leads me to believe that they're not going to try to harness that into some kind of bargaining power. [00:25:21] S0: Mhmm. Paul, let's end with just a very short synopsis. I'll see an out of home company and you give me two or three sentence opinion of it. Lamar.
00:25:21 · Dave Westburg, Paul Wright
[00:25:21] S0: Mhmm. Paul, let's end with just a very short synopsis. I'll see an out of home company and you give me two or three sentence opinion of it. Lamar. [00:25:32] S1: I think Lamar is a well managed company that is conservative in the way they approach acquisitions and leasing and CapEx. And they've done an excellent job growing during this last few years. [00:25:52] S0: OUTFRONT. [00:25:53] S1: I'm a little bit surprised that OUTFRONT hasn't been able to cut their operating expenses as much as I thought they would when they spun off into a REIT. I think that there's more fat to cut there, but I also think that they're a little bit heavier. I think it's a little more difficult than I originally realized. I think the large markets that they're in with more sophisticated landowners and more transit agreements and that kind of thing is gonna make it a little harder for them to get as lean and have this efficient a company as Lamar. [00:26:31] S0: Clear Channel Outdoor. [00:26:32] S1: Clear Channel is in a real transition right now. It's going to be interesting to see how they emerge and the shape they take. I had hoped for a little bit more dramatic announcements and changes. I think that we're probably going to see that in the next year or two, But it's gonna be really interesting to see if they can make that transition.
00:26:32 · Paul Wright, Dave Westburg
[00:26:32] S1: Clear Channel is in a real transition right now. It's going to be interesting to see how they emerge and the shape they take. I had hoped for a little bit more dramatic announcements and changes. I think that we're probably going to see that in the next year or two, But it's gonna be really interesting to see if they can make that transition. [00:26:59] S0: To me, their leverage is about seven to one. I think that's not sustainable. They need to be at about four or five. And I wonder if the way that's gonna happen is they're gonna spin off Internet... Clear Channel Outdoor International will separate from Clear Channel Outdoor Americas. And hopefully in that separation, the leverage will be down to a sustainable level. [00:27:21] S1: I think you're right. I think they tried to spin off as many markets as they could to try to create some cash and and pay that down. But, obviously, that's not going to work at domestic markets that they sold. I don't think that's gonna be enough, and I think you're right. I think it's probably a split between international and domestic at some point. [00:27:42] S0: Link Media Outdoor, the subsidiary of Boston Omaha. [00:27:47] S1: Yeah. We're watching Link really closely. In fact, we just mapped all of their recent acquisitions and we're looking at the pattern that they're building nationwide. And it's really interesting. There's a swath through a few states where they haven't made acquisitions yet, but they're closing in, I suspect. And I like what they're doing.
00:27:47 · Paul Wright, Dave Westburg
[00:27:47] S1: Yeah. We're watching Link really closely. In fact, we just mapped all of their recent acquisitions and we're looking at the pattern that they're building nationwide. And it's really interesting. There's a swath through a few states where they haven't made acquisitions yet, but they're closing in, I suspect. And I like what they're doing. [00:28:12] S0: Perfect. Paul, thank you so much. That's all for this week, and thanks for appearing on the show. [00:28:17] S1: Absolutely. Thanks, Dave. Appreciate you having me. [00:28:19] S0: This podcast was sponsored by Adomni. Adomni, the easy way to sell billboards online out of home in your hands. You can listen to episodes of the Billboard Insider Podcast by visiting billboardinsider.com or by subscribing to the Billboard Insider Podcast on iTunes or any of the usual podcast outlets. Our email is billboardinsider@gmail.com. We'd love to hear from you. Thanks for listening, and I'll be back in a couple weeks.