Shell-shocked Radio Insiders Wonder What's Next SAVE TALK RADIO!

Radio Equalizer blog ^ | 01 March 2008 | Brian Maloney

[jwalburg]

As waves of talk hosts, producers, disc jockeys and news personnel are sent packing in the wake of Citadel- ABC Radio's financial collapse, shell-shocked radio insiders are wondering if anything can be done to save their highly- successful talk format.

Yesterday, now known as "Black Friday", has career professionals in a state of outright panic, with even more job cuts expected on Monday. When it is over, even the highest- rated major- market outlets will be expected to somehow function with few remaining staffers.

And even deep cuts aren't likely to provide more than a drop in the bucket for Citadel's precarious situation, especially heading into a macroeconomic slowdown.

For years, broadcasters have been held hostage by incompetent executive management, forced to watch as they gutted the industry. While their scorched- earth policy was meant to maximize station valuations, in the end they have succeed only in losing billions of dollars, with angry investors left holding the bag.

And when CNBC's Jim Cramer correctly called radio "dead" recently, a few of these clods still had the nerve to dispute it.

Somehow, even while some of the nation's most successful talk and music stations and imploding due to gross mismanagement, these corporate suits still have their jobs. And some are as arrogant as ever, a key point in Cramer's rant.

Topping the list is Citadel CEO Farid Suleman (above left), radio's poster child for managerial incompetence. How this man could survive beyond Monday in his current position is beyond comprehension. As he speaks of coming "belt- tightening", cost- cutting that apparently excludes him, why is he unwilling to accept blame for his company's outright destruction?

While Citadel- ABC Radio was encountering a nationwide ad sales meltdown, Suleman was busy sucking up to Don Imus, wasting months crafting an ego- boosting mega- deal for the elderly fossil- talker. Instead of bringing the best programming minds into the fold to confront the challenges of the future, Suleman micro- managed schedule changes in markets as small as Providence.

Now, Citadel's stock has fallen so low that the New York Stock Exchange was forced to suspend trading and outright delisting now seems a certainty. Shares (NYSE:CDL) are down 87% in just the last year.

At a mere dollar a share, the firm's entire market capitalization is now below $300m. Instead of the quarterly profit Wall Street was expecting, it reported a $848m loss, mostly because station valuations have been written down to rock-bottom levels.

Given this dire scenario, Citadel's survival prospects are virtually zero and it's now just a matter of waiting for the complete implosion. With stations now worth so little, massive debt to pay and rapidly- deteriorating ad revenues, who would want this sick puppy at any price?

Normally, the best strategy would be to break up the company and sell off stations individually, but there are already a glut of unwanted outlets clogging the market. And in a tight credit market, who in their right mind would loan a person money to buy radio stations?

For talk radio, the problem is that our format is as successful as ever in terms of ratings, with record audience growth likely during this wildly entertaining election year. With the prolonged Democrat primary contest and wide- open November races, it doesn't get any better than this. It's a talk host's dream.

So what can one do? We've all sat back and watched helplessly as our industry was gutted for no good reason. Those few who still have jobs may not for much longer.

Yet the audience is still there and actually growing. And top- quality shows such as Rush Limbaugh's certainly aren't hurting for advertisers.

Over the past year, we've seen large numbers of displaced broadcasters wonder what to do with their lives. Now, the situation has deteriorated to the point where even the most successful hosts are threatened by managerial stupidity.

Playing it safe now longer works- it's time for an vocal campaign to remove the rot that plagues the executive ranks of this industry before the rest of it collapses. If you think keeping quiet will help you get back to work, guess again. The party's over.

In addition, there may be opportunities for broadcasters to purchase stations at fire- sale prices in the coming months and years. YOU know what you're doing, THEY didn't. Mom- and- pop operators relying on local clients and community service have the best chance of surviving this train- wreck and even thriving.

Let's get to work and figure out how to save talk radio, the one medium that can survive iPods, streaming and every other technological development currently killing the music formats.

[jaydubya2]

I was saddened that WLS/Citidel canned Bill Cameron, he was a great city hall reporter.

[Cold Heat]

Just a personal note.....

I am pretty much a creature of long tern habits, and one of them was listening to the radio while doing my morning routine in the bathroom.

I now have a set wireless headphones and a transmitter hooked up to my laptop where I have gigs and gigs of podcasts and things to listen to.

I still listen to the local radio if I am in the car in the mornings, just to get some local news, but I then plug my pocket sized mp3 player into my sound system and listen to podcasts, music, old time radio programs, tech talk shows, Limbaugh and whatever else I decide to load into the little memory box.

I can't think of anything better, unless they figure out a way to jack the stuff directly into my cortex....LOL...