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WABC, WPLJ and the Citadel Bankruptcy

I don't suppose there's any way we could get ABC/Disney to take 'em back? ???
 
The answer is "NO" and "NO." Disney does not want the stations "back." That's why they sold them -- and their shareholders lost (the the reverse Morris Trust) $11-million in the process.

The pre-packaged bankruptcy, as we have discussed for several months, now, is not about selling off stations -- at least until the major lenders who now own the company (Citadel) decide to and at the right time to the right buyer -- if any.

They weren't handed a "hot potato" on this deal.

They, the bankers, got exactly what they wanted -- and Citadel got exactly what it wanted -- lower debt (now $750-million instead of over $2-billion) while the banks got higher interest, a new loan note, 95% control of Citadel and 224 radio stations and a nationally respected radio network and syndication business with over 4,000 affiliates, plus guaranteed principle payments and the ability to make changes when and if it sees fit. Such a deal!

The banks are NOT radio people. They are owners now because their client "Citadel" was about to default on $150-million in a payment on January 15th. They didn't want to do that, because the banks would have lost everything of the deal -- just like every shareholder did. The creditors have lined up in "reorganization" -- hoping that they will be paid something from the new deal expected to last 300 days.

Everyone as employees has been approved to be paid -- contracts or not -- and regular bills on the station level will be paid from the $36-million dollars already in the bank and the "operational cash flow" that already exists.

Yes, it's a big deal - because current management that has already run the company into the ground with highly leveraged debt -- will remain in charge, at least for now.

It's pretty simple and the protection granted by the bankruptcy laws of this nation.

It does not mean that ABC/Citadel will be off the air tomorrow, the next day, the next month or later -- until someone with a LOT of cash makes the banks a better deal than they have.

The "heritage" stations would be the last to go in such a scenario, unless there is huge money to buy them and a motivated seller. Right now, the banks don't need that motivation. After all, much of what they've "written off" is interest.
 
DToTheJ said:
New station positioner:
"Chapter 11 WABC!"
Click to expand...

Who'd ever think that, WABC/770 and WPLJ/95.5, THE Crown Jewels of The American Broadcasting Company would ever be a part of a Chapter 11 Bankruptcy Proceeding with Citadel. According to published reports, that's exactly what has happened. In my opinion, it was much better when broadcasting companies were limited to a "7-7-7" station cap. Such is not the case anymore and .... well, here we are.
 
well, turn 77 WABC into the "True Oldies" format,they've got Shannon there already;get rid of the right wing windbags,that's probably what bankrupted them in the first place,all those feedings for Rush...
bring back Music(True Oldies) Radio 77WABC...
and your problems are solved
 
Taylor On Radio reveals the corporate dirt as word leaks from behind courtroom doors and filings. Former WABC New York manager Mitch Dolan is listed as one of the creditors owed nearly a million dollars:

Taylor On Radio said:
After Citadel took over the 23 ABC stations, Suleman kept Dolan in place as its “Major Market Group” head, reporting to him. But Mitch alleges a number of actions by Suleman that undercut him, such as replacing Los Angeles market manager John Davison in January 2009 with Farid’s friend Bob Moore. Dolan says that was done without consulting him. And further, that Suleman agreed to pay Moore the same salary Dolan was getting, even though Moore reported to Dolan. (Former ABC exec John Hare testified at the August arbitration hearing that Moore’s pay package was, in the arbitrator’s words, excessive and unprecedented.) Dolan complained that in the Summer of 2008, Suleman replaced the director of sales in L.A. without consulting either him or Davison. Also that Farid offered the GM job at WPLJ (right around the corner at WABC) to somebody without checking. And Dolan says Suleman hired a friend to run a station in Dallas – and had him reporting directly to Suleman. Former WPLJ programmer Tom Cuddy circulated the arbitrator’s decisions to some of the radio trades, because he wants to set the record straight about his former boss, Dolan. Cuddy says one trade (not T-R-I) wrote that Dolan had been dismissed in February for budget reasons. After Mitch left he filed to get his severance of $850,000 plus 9% interest – which is presumably the bulk of the $917,000 he now claims as a creditor in Citadel’s bankruptcy. Ex-employees are at real risk of becoming creditors, in the Chapter 11 stories that are yet to be written.
Click to expand...

Citadel's obligation to honor contracts of present and former air talent and managers is of particular concern. In many cases a company that goes through bankruptcy is not obligated to honor pre-existing contracts. Much if this is decided by the courts charged with overseeing the bankruptcy filing. As an example, published reports indicate that immediately after filing for Chapter 11 protection, Citadel Media entered into a new contractual agreement representing a number of its program providers such as ABC News.

Some Citadel employees have already adopted corporate think, "nothing will change and it's business as usual." Certainly, a positive attitude in matters such as these is commendable, yet it's more likely that once bankruptcy is approved the banks will exert their control of Citadel with more pressure than has ever been applied.

The status quo may in fact be maintained if the economy doesn't founder in 2010, but the first quarter is especially harsh in radio and media in general.
 
Wow, Farid sounds like a stand up guy. Become his friend, and you instantly get promoted. He sounds like one of those executives who fell into money and got there by blind luck. If you believe the way that story below describes him. Don't know enough about it to comment either way....

This may be a stupid question, but what prompted the sale of WABC/PLJ to Disney in the first place, if Disney didn't want the stations at all in the end? And who owned them then?
 
Shredder said:
Wow, Farid sounds like a stand up guy. Become his friend, and you instantly get promoted. He sounds like one of those executives who fell into money and got there by blind luck. If you believe the way that story below describes him. Don't know enough about it to comment either way....

This may be a stupid question, but what prompted the sale of WABC/PLJ to Disney in the first place, if Disney didn't want the stations at all in the end? And who owned them then?
Click to expand...

ABC owned a variety of properties (TV/Radio/Etc)...they were all gobbled up by Capital Cities, and then Disney gobbled up Capital Cities and, eventually, sold the radio holdings to Citadel (using a complicated scheme I've yet to understand. If anyone can give me some clarity on *that*, I'd be interested in hearing it.)
 
The bankruptcy court already has made a ruling that Citadel may continue to pay on it's employment contracts and properties, considering the cashflow of many of those properties and the $36-million in cash on hand, which is expected to blossom into $65-million in February.

Not enough, certainly, to stave off the pre-packaged bankruptcy filing, as Citadel owed a covenant of $150-million by January 15th which it knew it couldn't meet. So, two-thirds of the lenders were pushed to the wall to re-do a new lending agreement, discount principle and interest payments down to $750-million instead of $2.1-billion -- or, they'd have to take a hike, like Forstmann Little did with its 29%.

In debt/equity swaps, Farid runs the company, but answers to the banks. They want to make money. When they don't, they will unload at that time. They have to answer to their stockholders, as well.

It's about looking at the big picture -- not on individual stations or properties. There is asset value in them, especially the heritage stations. The company, as a whole, has no value. That's why it's in bankruptcy with "terms" on how too get out of it reorganized in 300 days. The rest is second guessing.
 
lalumia said:
well, turn 77 WABC into the "True Oldies" format,they've got Shannon there already;get rid of the right wing windbags,that's probably what bankrupted them in the first place,all those feedings for Rush...
bring back Music(True Oldies) Radio 77WABC...
and your problems are solved
Click to expand...
The Talk Radio Format there is doing well. Its funny how those who are all for "Free Speech" are all for it only if you're saying what they want to hear. Free speech includes opposing, heavilly sponsor supported views too.

There's room for all viewpoints. Switch channels if you don't like what you're hearing. ...and really... you'd want the True Oldies Channel on FM, not AM. Choosing AM for music like that just aint gonna work. Its not gonna work on NY FM either, but I wouldn't mind it being there.
 
lalumia said:
well, turn 77 WABC into the "True Oldies" format,they've got Shannon there already;get rid of the right wing windbags,that's probably what bankrupted them in the first place,all those feedings for Rush...
bring back Music(True Oldies) Radio 77WABC...
and your problems are solved
Click to expand...

Step 1 - buy HD Radio
Step 2 - tune to 95.5 WPLJ HD-2
Step 3 - enjoy True Oldies Channel
Step 4 - Get down!

Problem solved (of course only if you are where PLJ comes in clear). Worked for me!
 
Barry45RPM said:
lalumia said:
well, turn 77 WABC into the "True Oldies" format,they've got Shannon there already;get rid of the right wing windbags,that's probably what bankrupted them in the first place,all those feedings for Rush...
bring back Music(True Oldies) Radio 77WABC...
and your problems are solved
Click to expand...

There's room for all viewpoints. Switch channels if you don't like what you're hearing. ...
Click to expand...

He didn't say he actually listened to any of those right wing windbags, just that the station (WABC) has a well-deserved reputation for airing them. :)
 
exactly, Marc....
and classic Top 40 would work very well on AM radio;
especially with the tie in of having been a NY hit radio giant;
that signal reaches much further than any FM signal I know of;
but then there are folks who thought that the return of CBS FM was a dubious decision as well,as I recall...
 
lalumia said:
exactly, Marc....
and classic Top 40 would work very well on AM radio;
especially with the tie in of having been a NY hit radio giant;
that signal reaches much further than any FM signal I know of;
but then there are folks who thought that the return of CBS FM was a dubious decision as well,as I recall...
Click to expand...

Say what? Why do you think music from "Classic" Top 40 to Adult Standards / MOR though smash hits "back in the day" were taken off the air in the first place? Because of declining shares on AM, an older demo that nobody was buying and the rapid migration to the FM band. Once that was done, nobody looked back and 25 years ago, you heard less and less music on AM.

If there was going to be a "revitalization" or change among "heritage" stations back to music on AM, we'd have heard looooong before now. It has been proven to not work so well on AM and dreaming isn't going to bring it back. It economically doesn't work or it would have been done in major markets a long time ago.

Those days are over.
 
Just sayin' ...
 
lalumia said:
exactly, Marc....
and classic Top 40 would work very well on AM radio;
especially with the tie in of having been a NY hit radio giant;
that signal reaches much further than any FM signal I know of;
but then there are folks who thought that the return of CBS FM was a dubious decision as well,as I recall...
Click to expand...
.

WABC was a great Top 40 radio station in its day, but baby boomers don't want to listen to the hits on AM, even a 50 kw blowtorch. Radio geeks have visions and dreams, that's why we post here. But it's damn near 2010 and even FM is having a tough go of it competing with iPods, the Internet and cell phones... to say nothing of other FMs. Music on AM is like listening to She Loves You on 45 rpm. Yeah, it has a certain je ne sais quoi, but the average listener prefers to hear the hits on FM, a CD or iPod. In ten years (yeah, 2020), AM will be the answer to a message board trivia question.
 
Listening on AM is akin to listening over a telephone, comparativly, hence, why talk sounds "decent" on AM, but music ... not so much. And those older baby boomers do know what "FM" is -- but advertisers don't want to chase them with what would be more expensive trend-changing ad buys. A market like New York couldn't take with much success two "classic hits" stations, let alne an FM "oldies" station. That simple.
 
In ten years (yeah, 2020), AM will be the answer to a message board trivia question.

funny, I recall someone saying something similar 20 years ago!
and yet, the NY top ten is peppered with AM stations, and recently,(thanks to baseball) CBS-AM was #1 in Nassau/Suffolk.....
so blah blah, etc
 
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