Citadel Celebrates

[Element9]

Citadel marks ABC anniversary.
It's been two years since Citadel Broadcasting struck a $2.7 billion deal to buy ABC Radio and ABC Radio Networks. CEO Farid Suleman says the company is "a lot better off" with the big market stations as part of their portfolio. He also says their revenue and ratings have turned around in recent months.

What Farid really means when he says the company is "a lot better off with big market stations" is Citadel will be glad to spin off those major market stations hoping to get some real money for them to pay down the company's creditors after it declares bankruptcy.

Suleman: We've got company. Saddled with $2.1 billion in debt, Citadel last month enlisted financial advisory firm Lazard Freres & Co. to help sort through financial options. That may sound dire, but CEO Farid Suleman says he's in the same situation as everyone else. Read our exclusive Q&A with Farid Suleman online.

What Farid means when he says he (Citadel) is "in the same situation as everyone else" is, Citadel is just as f'ed-up as Clear Channel-Bain and Cumulus! So, whatever's good for Clear Channel-Bain and Cumulus is good for Citadel, whose stock Friday closed at 6 cents a share. For the price of a Happy Meal®, you could buy 30+ shares of Citadel stock.

Why does Monty Python's "we're all bozo's on the back of this bus" routine come to mind.

 

[Savage]

Actually, Nine, that's "Firesign Theatre," not Monty Python.

And "don't use your hands, son (don't wolf your food)...use your entrenching tool."

 

[therealjm12]

And "don't use your hands, son (don't wolf your food)...use your entrenching tool."

Ah, The Hour of the Wolf Movie. Stories about everyday working people as told by rich Hollywood stars...................

"Don't eat with you hands son. Use your entrenching tools".

 

[Element9]

Actually, Nine, that's "Firesign Theatre," not Monty Python.

And "don't use your hands, son (don't wolf your food)...use your entrenching tool."

You cannot know how delighted I am, gentlemen, that my inadvertant gaffe was detected. Good call! It has been a while since I listened to those witty bits, not always of sound mind, I might add. The point of my initial post still stands, nonetheless.

Bozos!

 

[John C]

I imagine when 9 made his post he wasn't expecting a kind of Spanish Inquisition! ;D

 

[SirRoxalot]

The Spanish Inquisition may be mild compared to what Citadel is likely to bring down on former ABC employees and management now that they don't have to pay Disneyesque compensation to "furloughed" employees.

This could be a bloody week at Citadel.

 

[Coldfinger]

Word is a significant part of the office space at Citadel Buffalo will be closed and personnel will be relocated within the building to reduce electric, heating and air conditioning expenses. Gives new meaning to the phrase "going green."

 

[SirRoxalot]

Word is a significant part of the office space at Citadel Buffalo will be closed and personnel will be relocated within the building to reduce electric, heating and air conditioning expenses. Gives new meaning to the phrase "going green."

There shouldn't be a problem with overcrowding. A friend told me that the Citadel Buffalo roster is down about 30% across the board from a year ago. Anybody want to sublet some space?

 

[Element9]

Word is a significant part of the office space at Citadel Buffalo will be closed and personnel will be relocated within the building to reduce electric, heating and air conditioning expenses. Gives new meaning to the phrase "going green."

There shouldn't be a problem with overcrowding. A friend told me that the Citadel Buffalo roster is down about 30% across the board from a year ago. Anybody want to sublet some space?

You just might be able to get a deal on that office space. Hell, throw in some extra cash and you might even get the cluster:

From Radio-Info News: The latest report by Moody’s Investors Service contains an even gloomier forecast for Citadel, cutting the overall outlook from “stable” to “negative,” and downgrading Citadel’s corporate rating and credit rating deeper into junk status, and their probability-for-default rating. Moody’s reports the downgrades, and in particular the default downgrade, “incorporate the elevated risk of default following the company’s recent announcement that it engaged Lazard Freres & Co. LLC to provide financial and advisory services in evaluating financial options.” Moody’s reminds investors that Citadel is supposed to have $150 million of available cash on January 15, 2010. Citadel opened for trading on Wall Street at just 3.6 cents Monday.

If CTDB is required to have $150 million available in cash and falls short, two things are possible: More layoffs and fire sale spinoffs of some of its clusters (perhaps not Buffalo, but possibly Binghamton, Erie and Syracuse.) Neither bode well for present employees. It's a buyer's market, presuming a buyer can get financing, and the buyer-financier will dictate the terms and the multiples. Three point six cents a share. Farid, Judy, Teddy, "You're doin' a helluva job!" Used Michael Brown's Katrina-FEMA game plan, did you?