Outdoor Channel Holdings on Thursday indicated that its BOD "has decided a bid from Kroenke Sports & Entertainment was superior to an existing pact with InterMedia." The decision comes after KSE "said it had delivered a definitive counterproposal to buy Outdoor for $8.75 per share in cash." InterMedia "had offered $8 per share." If Outdoor Channel accepts KSE's offer, it "would have to pay InterMedia, which also operates the Sportsman Channel, a breakup fee" of $6.5M (REUTERS, 3/8).
VOICES DON'T CARRY: In St. Louis, Dan Caesar reports Grand Slam Sports, which owns sports-talk stations KFNS-AM and KXFN-AM, "plans to switch their formats." May 1 is the target date for the change, "although it might take longer because of existing contracts." The switch will leave WXOS-FM, which has been the "market leader for most of its four years in the format, as the only all-sports station in a market that as recently as three years ago had five" (ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH, 3/8).
BRONX BOMB? In N.Y., Bob Raissman writes with the Yankees already battling injuries and far from a lock for the postseason, the '13 season "will make for must-see TV" on YES Network. The Yankees last year averaged a 3.92 local rating per game, down 8.3% from '11 and YES' "lowest Yankees household rating since 2003." If the team has to "run baseball's equivalent of an obstacle course, if the script is flipped, if legitimate concerns metastasize into a train wreck, eyeballs galore will tune into YES" (N.Y. DAILY NEWS, 3/8).
