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Citadel

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WTUX

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Well, the whining has started. Citadel is now complaining about cash flow not being what they expected from the ABC stations and the radio network. WPLJ is one of the major market stations they are upset with.

No kidding. You pay far more than the stations are worth just as a recession is about to start. Stations, even in NYC, are not going to be the cash cows they were even 10 years ago.

Expect to see more stations on the block as investor-owners come to their sorry senses that they paid more than the stations are going to give back.
 
Well, it's one thing to want to sell stations It's quite another to find someone who will buy them.

I don't expect them to find people lining up to take these expensive money pits off Citadel's hands.

I do know one thing today, the people at Disney are having a huuuuuge laugh!!
 
When I worked for Citadel Farid Suleman complained that the "old" Citadel overpaird for Dick broadcasting when they bought WIVK Knoxville which stand alone billed 15 million dollars in market 75. Thier purchase of ABC/Disney was pure evil/ego, he wanted to show his old cronies at CBS that he could run major market stations. Good job.
 
The really sad thing is that lots of good radio folks lost their jobs today not because they were not doing a good job but because jokers are running broadcasting today. Yea, a lot of ego was in this deal and those egos are still on the payroll! How come the guy in the corner office making $300,000 a year is never let go??? 3 folks at WABC and at least 5 folks at WPLJ are no longer working and who's fault is that??? This whole deal sounds a lot like the Sub Prime Mortgage deal...folks who could get financing for things they never should have bought! If you are in your 20s DO NOT GO INTO RADIO! Ask John Gambling or George Weber, bet they'd give you the same advice!

Thanks to John Gambling for some great shows at WABC. He's a true gentleman and that is rare today in radio. Most of the rest of the "stars" are blow hards who yell and scream. John had discussion with folks and gave everyone an opportunity to speak. Anyone who heard the last 20-30 minutes of todays show...did you think he was talking about himself as he spoke about his fellow blow hard broadcasters?? John R Gambling should be in the air..he gets ratings, he brings in money, and he does a show that both you and your mother can listen to! We'll miss you and George...good luck guys!!!
 
I have worked for 2 companies that over expanded (one in radio and one in a retail sector), and both tanked. You would think Corporations would have a handle on cash flow and finances! All they see is how much more bonuses and much higher they can get their stick. They think short term, not long term. This is why radio is a mess.
If they had paid attention to long term economic forecasts they would have seen a year ago that the economy was going to take a big dive!
Adjustments could have been made and jobs could have been saved.
Greed is an ugly thing, and that's what drives Corporate America.

Sad that listeners have to pay the price.
 
I'm sadden by the loss of John Gambling and George Weber. Because of Imus coming to the station, I started listening to Curtis and Weber during the 5am hour. Good show. I statyed past Imus for Gambling. Good, class act.

Curtis will, by nature, change the tone of the 10 o'clock hour. That will certainly change the tone of the station and will adversly affect the Friday interview with the Mayor.

WABC had a great morning line-up with Curtis, Imus, Gambling, Rush and Hannity. Removing Gambling and his top notch newsguy downgrades the station.
 
I would be very surprised if the Friday shows with the Mayor continue. Curtis needs to be the "star" and I don't think Blomberg will enjoy spending an hour with him. He and John had a good relationship and John would not sand bag him. I can not see Curtis going that way. Curtis will be more interested in making news than giving the mayor a platform. I would be surprised if Mayor Mike is on with Curtis this Fri.
 
Well this cements my belief that Phil Boyce is an absolutely vicious and horrible human being. I could understand Boyce firing Curtis and Kuby, but for Boyce to wake up and fire Gambling is a sign of shortsighted corporate greed. It is now abundantly clear that Phil Boyce has absolutely zero passion for broadcasting but only cares about penny-pinching. Firing a man of Gamblings extensive credentials and broadcasting experience is probably one of the dumbest moves you could possibly make. What a ridiculous fool. The way things are going the next move Cheapo Boyce will make is to remove Limbaugh for " The Best of Imus."
 
Bobby Cann said:
I would be very surprised if the Friday shows with the Mayor continue.
Click to expand...

Especially if Curtis' new 10 A-12 N show is slated to be syndicated, which is a plan that I heard for the show yesterday...

By the way, is WABC still carrying Paul Harvey? Did he get the ax, too? Is that "the rest of the story"?
 
By the way, is WABC still carrying Paul Harvey? Did he get the ax, too? Is that "the rest of the story"?
[/quote]

If he hasn't yet give penny-pincher Boyce time. He'll cut him in due course. The Boyce philosophy is money trumps talent.
 
DToTheJ said:
By the way, is WABC still carrying Paul Harvey? Did he get the ax, too? Is that "the rest of the story"?
Click to expand...

That show is barter, and likely in Marke #1 WABC gets some comp for it.
 
LIradiofan226 said:
Well this cements my belief that Phil Boyce is an absolutely vicious and horrible human being.
Click to expand...

This cements my belief that many posters, like yourself, do not read before posting. The cutbacks were ordered by Citadel corporate. They are cost cutting moves due to the $848 million loss in Q4 of last year. They have impacted many markets already, and likely will continue.

Blaming this on Boyce is like blaming global warming on birthday cake candles.
 
Phil Boyce is a stupid moron. He built ABC into the top talker in New York and now Boyce is destroying it. I don't care if corporate is telling the cheap ------ Boyce to cut costs. Boyce could have cut 40 or 50 behind-the-scenes workers to save costs. Unrealistic? I don't think so. Boyce could easily have figured out whom to cut and work with less support people in order to continue airing a highly regarded preeminent broadcaster. Heck, Governor Corzine just laid off a bunch of government workers. Cheapo ------ Boyce firing a legend like Gambling is if CBS News had been instructed years ago to cut costs somewhere and the network responded by terminating Walter Cronkite. Boyce is no longer the best radio programmer in the industry. By firing Gambling Mr. Boyce is now a totally incompetent hack who no longer deserves respect. I don't usually wish unemployment on people, but I sincerely hope that the next person to be fired is Phil Boyce himself.
 
You have a very exaggerated view of how many folks work at WABC. If you cut 40 or 50 people from the radio part pf the station (not sales and business office) WABC would be off the air!! There are probably not a lot more folks who work in total for the station.

This ain't the 1980s my friend!
 
Fine, but the bottom line is an experienced guy like Boyce should know how to cut down on costs without firing one of the best hosts in the radio business. Boyce's actions in firing Gambling will go down in radio history as one of the most repulsive and unforgivable acts. I said it before and I'll repeat myself. Because of what he did to Gambling, I hope Phil Boyce is fired. I hope corporate looks at Boyce's salary and decides that they can find someone to do his job cheaper. You do not solve a budget crisis by terminating top-tier talent like Gambling. You think CBS would have fired Cronkite? You think ABC would ever have fired Diane Sawyer or Barbara Walters?
Of course not.
 
LIradiofan226 said:
Fine, but the bottom line is an experienced guy like Boyce should know how to cut down on costs without firing one of the best hosts in the radio business. Boyce's actions in firing Gambling will go down in radio history as one of the most repulsive and unforgivable acts. I said it before and I'll repeat myself. Because of what he did to Gambling, I hope Phil Boyce is fired. I hope corporate looks at Boyce's salary and decides that they can find someone to do his job cheaper. You do not solve a budget crisis by terminating top-tier talent like Gambling. You think CBS would have fired Cronkite? You think ABC would ever have fired Diane Sawyer or Barbara Walters?
Of course not.
Click to expand...

You have gotten that off your chest, I trust. In the process, hopefully, you learned that it is most likely corporate told Mr. Boyce to axe Gambling, based, likely, on ROI. You also learned there are not 50 or 60 people at WABC to fire... I can think of major market clusters of 4 stations to 5 stations with less than 100 total employees. Finally, before making comparisons with TV, check Gambling's numbers.

I'm not happy with the reduction of the appeal, entertainment and fun in radio of late, but you have it all wrong in this particular case.
 
LIradiofan226 said:
Well this cements my belief that Phil Boyce is an absolutely vicious and horrible human being. I could understand Boyce firing Curtis and Kuby, but for Boyce to wake up and fire Gambling is a sign of shortsighted corporate greed. It is now abundantly clear that Phil Boyce has absolutely zero passion for broadcasting but only cares about penny-pinching. Firing a man of Gamblings extensive credentials and broadcasting experience is probably one of the dumbest moves you could possibly make. What a ridiculous fool. The way things are going the next move Cheapo Boyce will make is to remove Limbaugh for " The Best of Imus."
Click to expand...

Let's get something straight. This wasn't Phil Boyce's decision to fire Gambling. It was the Citadel management. Phil Boyce is a great programmer, and it is unfortunate that he has to deal with the people in higher management making decisions for him. If the stock market was doing well right now and Phil Boyce could program WABC w/out the management at Citadel telling him what to do, WABC would be making a boat load of money and have great ratings.
 
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