Company: Wingate Media Group

Headquarters: P.O. Box 1803, Spring Hill, TN

Market: Greater Nashville, Southern Tennessee

Phone: 615-595-8194

Wingate Media Group, LLC is a small family company headquartered just south of Nashville, Tennessee.  The Company’s sign inventory includes digital and static bulletins, 30-sheets, tri-face and indoor digital.  Ike Wingate founded the company in 2009 after a stint in talk radio.   Insider talked with Wingate.

In February 2021 you sold some Tennessee billboards to Trailhead Media.   What assets did you keep?

We retained select outdoor assets in Metro Nashville and an Indoor Digital Place Based Network in the surrounding area.

What lessons did you learn about selling out of home assets?

The first advice I would give is always build your plant to sell it. Even if you don’t sell, if everything is uniform and consistent it will make things so much easier and smoother. If you haven’t built your plant to sell but you are thinking about it, then ask someone experienced and UNBIASED to review your plant and tell you what needs to be changed, then create a plan to make it happen over a period of time. We had a potential buyer tell us all the reasons he would not buy our plant, then we went out and did everything he said. It was disappointing to hear his opinion at the time, but it was the best free advice I have ever been given on the subject of selling. Secondly, it is a roller coaster ride that you and your spouse or business partners must be mentally prepared to go on. There will be twists and turns that you don’t expect, so remain flexible and open minded. Remember, the deal isn’t done until the wire hits your account. Problem solving and thinking outside the box on how to structure a deal so everyone is happy is a fine art. Make absolutely sure you have a broker who can negotiate and is on top of things before you even think of them. For us, Max Drachman at Kalil was exactly that. Lastly, enjoy the process. If you are in the process of a deal then you are in a small minority, so enjoy it and breathe it in. Even more so if you are fortunate enough to have a great buyer like we did with Trailhead Media.

You’ve organized a digital billboard campaign to solve a Tennessee murder case.  Any updates?

The independent billboard community has been absolutely amazing and generous during this campaign! After the story ran on Billboard Insider as well as the IBOUSA reaching out to its members, I was inundated with emails from operators ready and willing to answer the call for help. Currently, we have ads running in 8 different states. Unfortunately, there has yet to be a break in the case, but the family and local law enforcement is incredibly grateful and hopeful that there is someone out there who knows something and believes it may just be a billboard that is the catalyst for the tip that leads to justice.

What are some of your priorities for 2021?