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Roger Christian

R

Radio-Bored-Op

roger Christian,
thank you...
43 unreal years and every time the mic was ON, so was your passion and energy, never sounding nervous or looking to stir up trouble. thank you for a lifetime of radio memories.

this isn't appropriate but
I hope this is your choice.
now, you can enjoy fuddRuckers and the Emerald city in the sky any time you want. Eric venator
 
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The man who survived more format and ownership changes than anyone else at 102.5, now a victim of the new Evil Empire in radio. A consummate radio talent and professional and a good friend, he'll be a survivor.
 
The report is that he was let go. It's all part of the Entercom Slash & Burn strategy. Older workers cost more (especially the Health Care). His position was eliminated, but the time slot wasn't. They'll probably voice track it. Wonder if that woman who quit Entercom Rochester over a pay dispute is paying attention to reality...
 
Entercom continues to try to cut their way to prosperity. Former CBS shareholders have 72% of the stock in the new company. It makes you wonder if they're following the iHeart/Citadel/Cumulus plan toward bankruptcy, with the Field family playing the part of the Mays and/or Dickey families. The big institutional shareholders end up with the company with the former owners and the rest of the regular shareholders taking it in the shorts as the "new" company "reduces debt."
 
SirRoxalot said:
The big institutional shareholders end up with the company with the former owners and the rest of the regular shareholders taking it in the shorts as the "new" company "reduces debt."
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So you think Entercom is cutting operating expenses against the will of its stockholders, who instead believe they should hire more staff?

Because the company is telling those stockholders they are seeking to create $300 million in synergies. Up from the original number of $200 million.

This is not "cutting their way to prosperity." Not one dollar is going to "reduce debt." It's to fulfill a promise made to stockholders.

There is no comparison to what the Mays family did unless David Field convinces some investment firm to take Entercom private.
 
SirRoxalot said:
Entercom continues to try to cut their way to prosperity. Former CBS shareholders have 72% of the stock in the new company. It makes you wonder if they're following the iHeart/Citadel/Cumulus plan toward bankruptcy, with the Field family playing the part of the Mays and/or Dickey families. The big institutional shareholders end up with the company with the former owners and the rest of the regular shareholders taking it in the shorts as the "new" company "reduces debt."
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Shareholders are close to being the least secured in the case of a Chapter 11 filing. In such a case, whether you hold 100 shares or 1,000,000 shares, you can potentially end up with nothing.
 
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And yet the very same cluster just renewed Sandy Beach's contract and gave him a four-day workweek.
IIRC Roger runs a pretty lucrative DJ service so hopefully that will hold him over until someone is smart enough to hire him (TSM, Cumulus, are you listening?(
 
Rob Piotrowski said:
And yet the very same cluster just renewed Sandy Beach's contract and gave him a four-day workweek.

Most likely with a substantial pay cut. The guy must be in his 80s and probably does it as a hobby. Right Wing AM talk formats are dinosaurs and time is running out.

Entercom has been slashing payroll nationally for many months. That indicates a company in distress...
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In the Citadel, Cumulus, and iHeart bankruptcies the major shareholders - in this case institutional shareholders led by JP Morgan Chase, Vanguard, Blackrock, and LSV Asset Management own 78% of the company. In a bankruptcy the big boys won't lose a dime, and will end up with the company. The little guys - and the former Entercom shareholders - will take it in the shorts.

BTW, David Field promised $100-million in "synergies" - up from the original $25-million - and said that they were pretty much at that level last year.

Bankruptcy would be bad for the Field family for sure. Joe Field has been buying stock, either to support the stock price and protect his investment or to give his family more leverage in the long run. He's now the second largest shareholder with about 9% of the stock. The stock has lost more than half its value in the last year.
 
SirRoxalot said:
The stock has lost more than half its value in the last year.
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That happened before the current economization moves. So if keeping staffing levels where they were hurt the stock, why should a handful of selective cuts drive the company into bankruptcy? Staff cuts did not drive iHeart or Cumulus into bankruptcy.

Here's what Field said about synergies in his latest stockholder conference call: "And we clearly turned the corner several months ago with the legacy CBS radio stations, which have returned to growth after many years of decline prior to the merger. At the same time, we continue to stay on track with our synergies plan, which is scheduled to reach $110 million in net cost savings as planned, including $45 million or more in 2019."
 
SirRoxalot said:
In the Citadel, Cumulus, and iHeart bankruptcies the major shareholders - in this case institutional shareholders led by JP Morgan Chase, Vanguard, Blackrock, and LSV Asset Management own 78% of the company. In a bankruptcy the big boys won't lose a dime, and will end up with the company. The little guys - and the former Entercom shareholders - will take it in the shorts.
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But JP Morgan Chase, Blackrock and the like were lenders. They exchanged the monies owed them for new shares in the companies that could not pay them back.

(Vanguard is not a lender [except that it has bond funds, which are a form of loan for which they may have received new shares], it is a mutual fund operator. They had shares, and the shares lost all their value.)

The original shareholders (owners) gave up their ownership because the companies they had invested in went bankrupt. The lenders, in effect, foreclosed on the operations and became the new owners .

It does not matter who owns the shares. In bankruptcy, shareholders generally lose all their investment when the lenders and creditors take over ownership. In rare cases where there is greater asset value than the debt, the shareholders get a much smaller part of the reorganized company.
 
DavidEduardo said:
It does not matter who owns the shares. In bankruptcy, shareholders generally lose all their investment when the lenders and creditors take over ownership. In rare cases where there is greater asset value than the debt, the shareholders get a much smaller part of the reorganized company.
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Which is likely why the Mays family chose to take Clear Channel private ten years ago. There was volatility in the stock price at the time, share value was dropping, so the family opted to take the company private and cash out their shares. That was good for them, but bad for the company, which was saddled with $20 billion in debt. After ten years of servicing that debt and meeting debt payments the company opted to go bankrupt and re-organize that debt. None of that had anything to do with local station staffing. It had everything to do with a decision by the largest shareholders. David Field could do the same thing, and it could have the same results. But it has nothing to do with staffing.
 
What is radio built on if not people? Does it exist without talented people? Perhaps you're in favor of automating everything. Considering the cutbacks in programming, back-office operations, and sales it appears that Entercom is headed that way. One guy in Buffalo ain't gonna make or break the company, but it's a part of that death by a thousand cuts that finally put iHeart and Cumulus into bankruptcy after they bit off more than they could chew.

David Field now serves at the whim of shareholders. He'd better hope that he doesn't end up like the Dickey boys.
 
SirRoxalot said:
What is radio built on if not people? Does it exist without talented people?
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They have LOTS of talented people. They have had lots of talented people for many years. They aren't replacing them with syndication or automation. You're doing the chicken little routine about the sky is falling, and they aren't doing any of the things you're talking about. Please stick to the facts. Staff cuts had nothing to do with bankruptcy of either company.
 
A boozy version of "Mama don't let your babies grow up to be DJs..."

You'd think the Big Swingin' Dicks at Entercom Buffalo would bring ol' Roger in, sit him down and say, "Roger, you've given this company the best years of your life ... and they were some good years. Number one across the board some books. We made some good money with you ... but David did this crazy-ass deal with CBS, the share price is in the sh*tter and and we gotta make cuts. A few weeks ago it was Matt in production and the ladies in HR ... today, your number came up. Sorry. You know we love you like a brother. But check this out, Rog ... you're a pro and we wanna do right by you ... so we'll put the word out that you're 'retiring' ... just be cool and we'll let you say your goodbyes an' fare-thee-wells. You've always been a company guy and we trust you not to f-bomb David, his wife and the old man. Check it, Rog ... Women will swoon. Guys will slap you on the back and shake your hand. Everybody will be telling you how great you are and how much you'll be missed. Sure, you'll be puking inside ... but man, you know how the game is played. Everybody is disposable. We'll make all nicey-nice, invite the TV stations, give you a grand send off with a cake, a few Bills cheerlead... uh, wait... scratch the cheerleaders... uh, we'll get Beach and Bauerle to stop by instead. You know you'll always be welcome here ... just play the role, don't rock the boat ... we'll all smile and sing koo-bye-yah-bay-bee ... whatayasay?"

But no... they give him two short ones to the base of the skull. Then again, maybe Rog opted for the bullets rather than the royal scam. The guy's a pro. Forty three years? Take a good, long vacation and tell the world to kiss your ass.
 
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TheBigA said:
Hmmm, that's not how it works. If he retires, there is no severance. If he gets let go for no good cause, there is severance.
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They don't have to give any severance, unless it's in a contract. The Buffalo News story said he was informed of his termination DURING his last shift. It sounds like they asked him about possibly voice tracking (probably at part time 15 hours a week). He said no thanks and was escorted out of the building.

Corporate Radio has always operated this way. When the Bean Counters draw a line through your name, you're toast.
43 years of dodging land mines is an impressive run...
 
SirRoxalot said:
...it's a part of that death by a thousand cuts that finally put iHeart and Cumulus into bankruptcy after they bit off more than they could chew.
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What drove iHeart into Chapter 11 was an ill-conceived and miserably timed LBO put together by investment bankers.

What drove Cumulus into bankruptcy was a poorly designed move into consolidated radio, with incomplete clusters and dying AM stations... with management that did not see that there was no light at the end of that particular tunnel.

In the midst of this, we had a recession, the creation of the smartphone and the introduction of the PPM in the big revenue markets. The survivors had to reorganize or reduce costs proportionally.

If management did not make those cost cuts, not just some but all of us would be out of our jobs.
 
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