Free Republic

Citadel Broadcasting Corp., the nation's third-largest radio broadcasting company, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection on Sunday in an effort to restructure its hefty debt load as it continues to face declining advertising revenue. Citadel owns and operates 224 radio stations, including KABC-AM in Los Angeles, WLS-AM in Chicago, WABC-AM and WPLJ-FM in New York and KGO-AM in San Francisco. Citadel's WABC is home to several syndicated hosts, including Don Imus, Rush Limbaugh, Joe Scarborough and Mark Levin.

IFI Media Watch A little more than a year ago, most Americans would have thought the name "Huckabee" was a punch line to a joke. That's not the case any longer. Today, the former Arkansas Governor, Mike Huckabee, is one of the most popular personalities on television and radio. Huckabee, who will be the featured speaker at IFI's "Family, Faith and Freedom Banquet" www.illinoisfamily.org/huckabee, nearly pulled off the biggest political upset in our nation's history when he seemed to come out of nowhere with his second place finish in the Republican Party's presidential primary in 2008. In a time when...

No official announcement yet, but as a radio insider, I can tell you that Mike Huckabee will replace Paul Harvey's News & Comment starting Monday, March 23rd. ABC's Gill Gross and Doug Limerick have been doing the show for the last two weeks.

Fighting Ingraham's Battle, Activists Waste Valuable Time At a time when conservatives face important political battles heading into November's election, one radio host would have the right waste valuable resources fighting for her lucrative syndication contract. After playing her hand much too aggressively while courting a rival broadcast outfit, Laura Ingraham has found herself locked out at the Talk Radio Network, which has handled her show since an abrupt exit from Westwood One nearly five years ago. While your Radio Equalizer certainly doesn't expect Ingraham to back down from her contention that she's done nothing wrong, attempting to drag the...

Brian Lamb, one of the C-SPAN founders and its CEO, will conduct an hour-long interview with John Batchelor on C-SPAN's Q&A this Sunday, September 23 at 8:00 PM eastern time. Batchelor will discuss his canceled nightly radio show for ABC Radio and his work as a novelist. For more on the upcoming interview see http://pundita.blogspot.com/2007/09/john-batchelor-on-c-span-this-sunday.html

Possible presidential candidate Fred D. Thompson is lending his voice to radio commercials for a company that says it fights identity thieves and that was co-founded by a man accused of taking money from consumer bank accounts without permission. The one-minute commercials are airing across the country on behalf of Tempe, Ariz.-based LifeLock Inc., which said nearly 200,000 customers pay about $10 a month for services that include placing fraud alerts on their credit files.

With One High Profile Name Leading The Way, A Significant Post-Merger Exodus Looks Increasingly Likely At ABC Radio. As you may know, the rumor mill has been in overdrive for months. And now, it appears there is substance behind the chatter. Radio's story of the year, what will happen when Citadel finally merges its operations with that of ABC Radio, seems at last to be taking shape. And right out of the gate, we have an earthquake: news that Sean Hannity is extremely likely to leave ABC Radio Networks, as soon as it is contractually possible. That means Hannity, one...

t's pretty clear that ABC Radio is preparing former Senator Fred Thompson to replace radio legend Paul Harvey. The 87-year-old Harvey has made no announcement about retiring, but financial analysts have complained that ABC has not made adequate plans for his departure. On Friday, ABC News Radio, America's largest commercial radio news organization, officially named former Senator Fred Thompson to the position of Special Program Host and Senior Analyst beginning in the Spring of 2006. Thompson, a Republican from Tennessee, well-known for his acting roles on television's Law & Order, will be based from ABC News Radio's Washington, D.C. bureau....

Legendary commentator Paul Harvey’s days may be numbered at ABC Radio – and former U.S. Senator Fred Thompson is the leading contender to replace him. ~snip~ http://www.newsmax.com/archives/ic/2006/2/10/93225.shtml

Why exactly should Bill O'Reilly travel to Darfur? The "answer" speaks volumes on just how petty and childish his left-wing critics have become. Going so far as to take up a cyber collection, they insist he could easily host his shows from Sudan to bring attention to the region's plight. Do these people really care about Sudan, the virtually obliterated peoples of Darfur, or human rights as a whole? Of course not. And don't take the Radio Equalizer's word for it, here's the real story (excerpted) from Editor & Publisher: ..................snip............................

LOS ANGELES (AP) -- The Walt Disney Co. said it will sell its 22 ABC Radio stations and network to Citadel Broadcasting Corp. in a cash and stock deal valued at $2.7 billion. The transaction gives Disney shareholders about a 52 percent stake in a new company, called Citadel Communications, which combines Citadel's stations with Disney's ABC assets. The deal does not include Disney's ESPN and Radio Disney network. The transaction gives Citadel 177 FM stations and 66 AM stations in the country's top markets, making it the nation's third largest radio group. The complex deal is structured to be...

Friday afternoon I received one of those forwarded emails from a buddy of mine. The subject: asking people to sign on to John Kerry’s petition to filibuster Sam Alito. The email was started by a KaufNYC@aol.com, with the message “forward away, my liberal friends”. One of those who received the message was a guy named David Kaufman, a Vice President of Affiliate Relations for ABC Radio. He forwarded on the email with his own message: “Help stop the craziness!” Oh yeah, one more thing. He forwarded the message from his abc.com email account. I contacted Mr. Kaufman by email and...

The Walt Disney Company is near a deal to sell its ABC Radio unit to Citadel Broadcasting, the nation's fifth-largest radio broadcaster, for nearly $3 billion, according to people involved in the deal. After receiving bids last week from several suitors, including Kohlberg Kravis Roberts and Entercom Communications, Disney selected Citadel as the preferred bidder and entered into exclusive negotiations, these people said. A deal would be reached within the next two weeks, these people added, though they cautioned that it was possible the talks could break down and another bidder could be chosen. The sale of ABC, which owns...

ABC Radio Networks announced a multi-year agreement with talk show personality Mark Levin to nationally syndicate The Mark Levin Show to radio stations around the country. The program will air on 4 stations in the Top 10 markets beginning January 30th: WABC in New York, WMAL Washington, D.C., WBAP Dallas and WJR Detroit. Levin’s program is currently among the most popular talk shows in the New York area, heard daily from 6-8pm (ET). In the first 18 months on the air, the program jumped to #1 in the time slot. “I am elated to be able to contribute to the...

XXXXX DRUDGE REPORT XXXXX THU NOV 10, 2005 10:33:08 ET XXXXX ABC NEARS SALE OF RADIO NETWORK, STATIONS; FINAL BIDS DUE THIS WEEK **Exclusive** DISNEYABC CEO Robert Iger is prepared to sign off on the sale of the network's ABC radio network and ABC radio stations, top sources tell the DRUDGE REPORT. Negotiations between DISNEY and three major suitors have intensified in recent weeks; contenders were asked by bankers representing ABC to meet via phone to discuss their final questions. Final bids are due this week, a top source says, with DISNEY then having a 15 day window to accept...

Washington, D.C. talk radio station WMAL, 630 AM, has caved to pressure from the Council on American-Islamic Relations, a group that has savaged journalists, critics of radical Islam, even the Fox TV show ?24??but which just as steadfastly has refused to specifically condemn various Islamic terrorist organizations. After a three-week suspension, mid-morning host Michael Graham was fired over the weekend for his comment on July 21 that ?Islam has, sadly, become a terrorist organization.? According to a formal statement issued by the host last night, Disney-owned WMAL terminated him for the original remarks and his refusal to apologize for them....

How to get firedMichael Graham August 23, 2005If I had called the Catholic Church a haven for pedophiles because I believed their doctrine of priestly celibacy caused pedophilia, I would still have my talk-radio job today.If I had called the Christian faith a terror-sponsoring organization because of abortion-clinic and Olympic bomber Eric Rudolph, I would still be an employee of the ABC Radio Company.  I know, because I hear these arguments made in the media nearly every day.But instead, I made the one move certain to endanger my career: I told the truth about a minority group.  And in the...

When Michael Graham was suspended by ABC Radio for his perfectly sensible and well-articulated comments linking Islam with terrorism, I decided to read his exact words on my radio talk show. I also said I agreed with every word he said. I knew it was risky. I knew there was a possibility I might lose some affiliates. I knew it was unlikely that ABC Radio would order its owned-and-operated stations to pick up my program. Nevertheless, truth is truth. Right is right. Let the chips fall where they may, I thought.

It didn't take long for talk-show host Michael Graham to find another job after he was fired last week by ABC Radio for his comments linking Islam to terror. He's been hired by the Internet-based conservative radio network Rightalk.com, and will start on Monday in a show called "Michael Graham, Unleashed!"

WASHINGTON — Conservative radio host Michael Graham was fired Monday by a Washington station after he refused to apologize for calling Islam "a terrorist organization." WMAL-AM had suspended Graham after his July 25 broadcast drew protests from the Council on American-Islam Relations. Graham, who had a daily three-hour talk on WMAL, had said, "We are at war with a terrorist organization named Islam," according to CAIR. On his Web site Monday, Graham said WMAL had asked him to retract his comments about Islam and deliver an on-air apology. "I refused," he said. "And for that refusal, I was fired." WMAL...