Bloodbath at Shitadel Dallas Today!

[BossJock1947]

Many were fired today. Many who worked their for 20+ years got only 2 weeks severance!!!! Farrid needs 150 million by Jan 15 and has only $46 million on hand. Firing all the full-timers in dallas surely won't help. What a SCHMUCK!

He'll do anything to secure a job, any job when the "Bankers" take over. 77 WABC probably will be run by BANKERS. YIKES!

Yours truly predicted this event...next up: Bankruptcy. Liquidation Time...get ready for the REAL BLOOD BATHS coming to a O&O station near you. It's only a matter of time my radio friends...CUME-LESS and Crap-Channel are next.

developing...

 

[musicfan101]

Many were fired today. Many who worked their for 20+ years got only 2 weeks severance!!!! Farrid needs 150 million by Jan 15 and has only $46 million on hand. Firing all the full-timers in dallas surely won't help. What a SCHMUCK!

He'll do anything to secure a job, any job when the "Bankers" take over. 77 WABC probably will be run by BANKERS. YIKES!

Yours truly predicted this event...next up: Bankruptcy. Liquidation Time...get ready for the REAL BLOOD BATHS coming to a O&O station near you. It's only a matter of time my radio friends...CUME-LESS and Crap-Channel are next.

developing...

What do you think will happen - in terms of the radio stations themselves?

 

[davideduardo]

Yours truly predicted this event...next up: Bankruptcy. Liquidation Time...get ready for the REAL BLOOD BATHS coming to a O&O station near you. It's only a matter of time my radio friends...CUME-LESS and Crap-Channel are next.

99% of what you "predict" (just as Oaktree has stated here) is fabrication. The other 1% is stuff that already has happened, making it a prediction of the past...

That aside, any reorganization at Citadel will likely be in the form of a prepackaged bankruptcy to secure protection from creditors while the company is reorganized. Reorganization may include the sale of some assets, but will also include restructuring of debt in all liklihood.

Liquidation, the breaking into "swap meet size" pieces, takes value away from the viable clusters that compose most of Citadel.

Using crude names for the company dishonors the thousands of employees who work there... and is nothing the "head honchos" have not heard before. To tell the truth, it is unoriginal and crude and unworthy of this discussion.

 

[radiogroupie]

Boss Jock absolutely hits it on the head. David - worry about your own butt....and your own company. Better be looking over your shoulder tomorrow! Happy Friday the 13th everybody!

 

[davideduardo]

Boss Jock absolutely hits it on the head.

No, I think this is more correctly said as "Boss Jock has been hit on the head."

And the blow causes him to "predict" things that are not going to happen, or things that have already happened.

David - worry about your own butt....

Anyone in radio who has not made some provision for the future should worry. On the other hand, needless worry without taking any action is just not healthy.

and your own company.

Any manager who does not have concern for the assets, the people and the community they serve and protect is not worthy of their position; concern is a guiding principle of management.

Better be looking over your shoulder tomorrow!

That's just paranoia.

 

[BossJock1947]

Boss Jock absolutely hits it on the head.

No, I think this is more correctly said as "Boss Jock has been hit on the head."

And the blow causes him to "predict" things that are not going to happen, or things that have already happened.

David - worry about your own butt....

Anyone in radio who has not made some provision for the future should worry. On the other hand, needless worry without taking any action is just not healthy.

and your own company.

Any manager who does not have concern for the assets, the people and the community they serve and protect is not worthy of their position; concern is a guiding principle of management.

Better be looking over your shoulder tomorrow!

That's just paranoia.

Come on Dave, lighten up or i'll be forced to let out a thousand fleas from a camel to invade your armpits.

 

[ericdxx]

Are their big market stations a paying concern?

 

[davideduardo]

Are their big market stations a paying concern?

In general, almost without exception the groups mentioned as "being in trouble" are cash flowing on operations. What is hurting them is the debt that qute a few have, producto of buying the group itself or added stations when the economy was better, when radio was better and when station prices were 3 to 5 times what they might be now. The operationnal cash flow does not cover the debt service, but the stations themselves are fundamentally sound.

This, of course, is not just a radio problem. GE is in troubled times due to the issues at its finance division. Retailers are mostly losing money due to the economy and weak consumer confidence and spending.

Radio, at the right price, is still a good investment.

 

[musicfan101]

I think in order to save radio EVERY station needs to flip to Top 40. It isn't smart having it on just 8 stations, I think every station needs to flip to that kind of music. I can't live without hearing "Bust It Baby" every five minutes...

 

[candykidjade]

I think in order to save radio EVERY station needs to flip to Top 40. It isn't smart having it on just 8 stations, I think every station needs to flip to that kind of music. I can't live without hearing "Bust It Baby" every five minutes...

Even better than top 40.....how about a.......


DANZ STAYSHUN!!!

 

[musicfan101]

^^Great idea, love the enthusiasm! But, no. I just want everyone, even people who don't like Top 40, to listen to the same songs over and over again. I just wish there was some law where everyone could sit down and be forced to listen to Top 40 all day...

 

[cspotrun]

Are their big market stations a paying concern?

In general, almost without exception the groups mentioned as "being in trouble" are cash flowing on operations. What is hurting them is the debt that qute a few have, producto of buying the group itself or added stations when the economy was better, when radio was better and when station prices were 3 to 5 times what they might be now. The operationnal cash flow does not cover the debt service, but the stations themselves are fundamentally sound.

This, of course, is not just a radio problem. GE is in troubled times due to the issues at its finance division. Retailers are mostly losing money due to the economy and weak consumer confidence and spending.

Radio, at the right price, is still a good investment.

there are better ways of making money.

 

[RADIO TRUTH]

Understand why things are the way they are at this point in history. 1-The communications act signed by Clinton in 1996 but, was mostly pushed through by republicans. This opened up the floodgates for companies to own tons of radio stations and try to become mini monopolies. 2-Lending institutions were more than willing to lend money to companies such as Citadel, Cumulus and Clear Channel for station purchases even at unsustainable, unreachable multiples. The lending institutions figured that radio would always be a growth industry. 3-The growth of internet and digital technology over the last five years.....internet radio, ipods, youtube, illegal downloading and file sharing and many other things that have fragmented radio's audience. Radio is not a growth industry anymore and never will be a growth industry again. This is also true about television and the newspaper industry. Expect Citadel, Cumulus and Clear Channel to all file for some kind of bankruptcy protection. If you invested in any of these companies, even if you didn't know it, you took on all the risk. The lending institutions will end up being the owner of Citadel, Cumulus and Clear Channel and make their money through fees that they will charge and the piece meal selling off of the various broadcast properties. The firings at the ABC Radio Network 24 networks in Dallas is rather insignificant in relation to the above. Here is what is significant and none of it has to do with a recession. This would be equally applicable in a prosperous economy. The days of the business of radio as we used to know it, is over forever. Radio will never be a growth industry again. Radio succeeded when it had no competition. Today, radio has plenty of competition and as time goes by, will only have more competition. All the people who got canned by ABC Radio Network 24 hour networks in Dallas will have a hard time finding any decent employment in radio in the future. Many, many more people will get canned by the three companies as they head toward bankruptcy. Most local radio stations will be run like tv affiliates and just run network programming. There will be nothing local. Radio is dieing a slow and ugly death.

 

[leethalweapon]

Many, many more people will get canned by the three companies as they head toward bankruptcy. Most local radio stations will be run like tv affiliates and just run network programming. There will be nothing local. Radio is dieing a slow and ugly death.

While it looks like radio will die. It won't happen anytime soon. When bankruptcy or liquidation happens, smaller operators have a chance to steer radio back to a local direction, should they choose to do so. With smaller staffs, and creative thinking, smaller operators could still sound like the big guys, if they choose too.

The flaw in the theory behind everyone adopting the network TV model, will be the operators inability to respond to local situations. At this point, dare I dream, the government legislate to ensure local content is maintained. By local content, I mean news and information. I have heard on some stations, the emergency broadcast system addresses. While they give very clinical information, I believe the station still has a responsability to its listeners to be staffed so they can provide the sort of information that is needed but isn't always provided in official broadcasts, as it comes to hand. Something that the radio owners of today seem to overlook.

 

[oldmanradio]

Radio is dieing a slow and ugly death.

When you spell dying as "dieing", you lose credibility.

 

[TomT]

ABC Satellite/Citadel Media served a purpose: it provided live programing with "personalities" to smaller market stations who would otherwise lack a significant advertiser base to support this live programming.

The current drought in agency spot placements really hurts the major markets. Small market stations will survive the recession better, because most did not become addicted to agency business but instead kept mining for local direct buys. Programming becomes more of a challenge, though, with the imminent death of Citadel Media.

It's not the 70's; there is no longer a pool of enthusiastic high school kids looking to break into radio. The "pod people" of this century are motivated only by $$$. And even the local direct advertising dollars are no longer there--the corner drugstore is now a Rite-Aid or Walgreens, the hardware store closed when Lowes came to town, and Walmart sucked up the rest.

The long-form music networks may not survive this recession as well, since they are entirely dependent on national spot buys. And then there is Citadel, who, along with Clear Channel and Cumulus, took on just too much debt. This is not to excuse the actions this last Thursday by Citadel. They would have been better served to have announced the phasing out (or voice tracking) of all the networks except for the big three: country, AC and oldies. Instead they choose suicide, by firing the talent on their major networks.

At least there is Dial Global, which is ultimately owned by Oaktree Capital Management. They just got a boatload of Chinese dollars.