Regent files bankruptcy

[Bengalsfan]

http://restructuring.regentcomm.com/

What I don't understand is Oaktree Capital will gain control of Regent, yet they are leaving the current management structure in place. Isn't the reason they are in this trouble is because of the current management structure?

I don't understand these lenders getting control of the companies through bankruptcy yet leaving the people who are responsible for the problems in place. What gives?

 

[Uncas]

The prearranged deal was to restructure debt and does not appear to be a loss of trust in management. At least not yet.

Not usual in business.

 

[Silkie]

Sometimes it happens that the dogs stay in place after they tear a company or station to pieces. Oftentimes by the time a station gets around to getting rid of the real problem, i.e. a disc jockey who is wreaking havoc with people's lives, it is too late for the station anyway.

Just an example of a back woods kind of a place that is eventually going down, something is wrong when a young girl is trying to chase down and destroy a 60 year old man and his wife. Sooner or later she will get fried for it, but in the meantime the station has cheap help and puts forth the impression that homewrecking to cover up her own dishonesty is getting them ratings --or else she herself is used as a distraction. All in due course it comes to light.

My comments have nothing to do with your station, just an observation to shed some light on your own query.

 

[Bengalsfan]

These guys "managed" it into bankruptcy. What bank owner in their right mind would think they could "manage" it out? I think this is crazy no matter what industry it happens in.

 

[TheBigA]

Isn't the reason they are in this trouble is because of the current management structure?

In a word, no.

They're in this trouble because the economy is in the toilet. The current management is doing pretty well, given the circumstances.

Back when the economy was better, they bought some stations and got into debt trouble. But as owners go, they've been pretty good with staff and audience. There are far worse owners.

 

[Uncas]

These guys "managed" it into bankruptcy. What bank owner in their right mind would think they could "manage" it out? I think this is crazy no matter what industry it happens in.

It happens all the time despite the fact that less experienced people always find it convenient to blame "management" even when that is not the source of the problem.

 

[Silkie]

These guys "managed" it into bankruptcy. What bank owner in their right mind would think they could "manage" it out? I think this is crazy no matter what industry it happens in.

It happens all the time despite the fact that less experienced people always find it convenient to blame "management" even when that is not the source of the problem.

"It's the Program Director's fault".

 

[radiorob2.0]

Isn't the reason they are in this trouble is because of the current management structure?

In a word, no.

They're in this trouble because the economy is in the toilet. The current management is doing pretty well, given the circumstances.

Back when the economy was better, they bought some stations and got into debt trouble. But as owners go, they've been pretty good with staff and audience. There are far worse owners.

As a former employee, I beg to differ. What I experienced was a company run by overpaid old men with a power trip.

That's okay, don't cry for Billy and Tony. They feathered their nest just prior to this financial discrepancy....
http://news.****************/cgi-bin/rol.exe/headline_id=n20190

 

[TheBigA]

What I experienced was a company run by overpaid old men with a power trip.

Funny...that describes every owner I've ever worked for. The smaller the market, the bigger the ego.

 

[radiorob2.0]

What I experienced was a company run by overpaid old men with a power trip.

Funny...that describes every owner I've ever worked for. The smaller the market, the bigger the ego.

Funny, I've worked for better.

You're right, there is ego in small markets. The issue is the Regent boys go into a small market with their egos fully cocked and claim their excrement smells of roses because they have "big time radio experience". In many cases, it backfires as I witnessed front row and center.

The economy sucks right now, but Regent's demise is beyond depressed billing. The buck stops with Billy and Tony. If they had put as much effort in running a radio company as they did preserving their phony baloney jobs, then Regent might have had a chance. On second thought, the ego would still have deflated the company.

As long as the Regent hierarchy didn't invest their retirement in their own stock then they will live on easy street for many years.

 

[Bengalsfan]

I figured we'd get to the root of the problem eventually. Part of your job as the manager is to not put a company in a position like this. Granted, nobody knew the economy would tank like it did, however we also knew that the days of shine and roses would not last forever. When you over extend yourself, like these guys did, you leave yourself vulnerable in times like these. With that said, I ask again, why would the new owners keep the old managment team in place? If you don't learn from the past you are destined to repeat the same mistakes.

 

[Uncas]

This is not just an issue for "radio".

I think if you had some experience outside radio or even follow reorganizations in various industries, you will see that often financial buyers make this decision about current management. In fact, often it was the management that found the financial buyer.

You usually get a different result with strategic buyers, buyers who have industry experience and their own management team. They often look for the "synergies" which usually means consolidating management and other jobs.

 

[TheBigA]

With that said, I ask again, why would the new owners keep the old managment team in place? If you don't learn from the past you are destined to repeat the same mistakes.

They're not going to make the same mistakes because they don't have the money or the power. That part has been taken out of their hands. Everything now has to go through the investors. However, no one knows the company better than these people. The investment folks who now own a big chunk don't know radio or the business. They just know they want their money. If you wipe out top management and bring in new folks, there's a whole re-education process that has to happen, and it takes a long time. I've seen it happen a lot. That re-education can be costly as a company tries to find its way out of bankruptcy.

 

[Silkie]

With that said, I ask again, why would the new owners keep the old managment team in place? If you don't learn from the past you are destined to repeat the same mistakes.

They're not going to make the same mistakes because they don't have the money or the power. That part has been taken out of their hands. Everything now has to go through the investors. However, no one knows the company better than these people. The investment folks who now own a big chunk don't know radio or the business. They just know they want their money. If you wipe out top management and bring in new folks, there's a whole re-education process that has to happen, and it takes a long time. I've seen it happen a lot. That re-education can be costly as a company tries to find its way out of bankruptcy.

Training people is also expensive, and if you have someone who is a bad apple anyway, it's probably better to just force them to do it all exactly as they have been, so that the knots can be untangled - and there is always someone or somebody paying attention, even if it does not seem that they understand how it all went down to take them down.