Why did Citadel buy Disney Radio?

[GeneKlien]

From RBRe Paper:

The official word came as soon as the stock market closed today. Disney CEO Bob Iger (left) has made Citadel Broadcasting CEO Farid Suleman a happy man. Citadel will acquire ABC Radio from Disney in a merger valued at 2.7 billion bucks. After the transaction, adding ABC's 14 FM and eight AM major market radio stations, Citadel Communications will be comprised of 177 FM stations and 66 AM stations, plus the ABC Radio Networks.

 

[DowntownHazleton]

> From RBRe Paper:
>
> The official word came as soon as the stock market closed
> today. Disney CEO Bob Iger (left) has made Citadel
> Broadcasting CEO Farid Suleman a happy man. Citadel will
> acquire ABC Radio from Disney in a merger valued at 2.7
> billion bucks. After the transaction, adding ABC's 14 FM and
> eight AM major market radio stations, Citadel Communications
> will be comprised of 177 FM stations and 66 AM stations,
> plus the ABC Radio Networks.
>
The thought of a company like Citadel having it's hands on some of the greatest radio stations in America is sickening. WABC, WLS, WJR, KABC, KGO & WBAP, all in the hands of Citadel. Pretty soon some of the biggest heritage names in radio will be sounding like WARM. Dear God!

 

[NigelWick]

> > From RBRe Paper:
> >
> > The official word came as soon as the stock market closed
> > today. Disney CEO Bob Iger (left) has made Citadel
> > Broadcasting CEO Farid Suleman a happy man. Citadel will
> > acquire ABC Radio from Disney in a merger valued at 2.7
> > billion bucks. After the transaction, adding ABC's 14 FM
> and
> > eight AM major market radio stations, Citadel
> Communications
> > will be comprised of 177 FM stations and 66 AM stations,
> > plus the ABC Radio Networks.
> >
> The thought of a company like Citadel having it's hands on
> some of the greatest radio stations in America is sickening.
> WABC, WLS, WJR, KABC, KGO & WBAP, all in the hands of
> Citadel. Pretty soon some of the biggest heritage names in
> radio will be sounding like WARM. Dear God!
>

DH, I feel the same way. The party is over at ABC. Citadel is not known for being the best and the brightest in the industry, and its track record here in NEPA is shameful.

 

[RoyD]

I read Disney Radio and ESPN were NOT part of the deal.
Citidel was quoted "..no we don't want to ruin everything we touch all at once."

PA_RoyDio

 

[yonkstur]

> I read Disney Radio and ESPN were NOT part of the deal.
> Citidel was quoted "..no we don't want to ruin everything we
> touch all at once."
>
> PA_RoyDio

"..no we don't want to ruin everything we
> touch all at once."

How very considerate of them!!!
Yonkstur
>

 

[LATarone]

I agree. Most especially where it concerns WABC, which has been extremely successful. Its numbers are very strong, it bills extremely well and has a pretty good line-up, including being the flagship for four syndicated shows – Limbaugh, Hannity, Mark Levin and Laura Ingrham. By the way, Hannity apparently said the other day he’d consider looking for another station as his flagship because he didn’t want to work for Citadel. I didn’t hear the comment, but someone I know did.
It's also somewhat odd that this comes just as it appears Bob Grant has been talking to WABC about a possbile return. Disney obviously didn't want any part of him -- they fired him. Citadel may, but it doesn't like to spend.
Also, anybody know if this will have any effect on local affiliations. For example, in this market, WILK, an Entercom Station, is an ABC affiliate. But because Citadel owns so many stations in this market, any chance of Citadel pulling ABC affiliation from WILK and assigning it to one of its own stations, say WARM? Wouldn’t that be a kick in the head?










> > From RBRe Paper:
> >
> > The official word came as soon as the stock market closed
> > today. Disney CEO Bob Iger (left) has made Citadel
> > Broadcasting CEO Farid Suleman a happy man. Citadel will
> > acquire ABC Radio from Disney in a merger valued at 2.7
> > billion bucks. After the transaction, adding ABC's 14 FM
> and
> > eight AM major market radio stations, Citadel
> Communications
> > will be comprised of 177 FM stations and 66 AM stations,
> > plus the ABC Radio Networks.
> >
> The thought of a company like Citadel having it's hands on
> some of the greatest radio stations in America is sickening.
> WABC, WLS, WJR, KABC, KGO & WBAP, all in the hands of
> Citadel. Pretty soon some of the biggest heritage names in
> radio will be sounding like WARM. Dear God!
>

 

[DowntownHazleton]

> I agree. Most especially where it concerns WABC, which has
> been extremely successful. Its numbers are very strong, it
> bills extremely well and has a pretty good line-up,
> including being the flagship for four syndicated shows –
> Limbaugh, Hannity, Mark Levin and Laura Ingrham. By the way,
> Hannity apparently said the other day he’d consider looking
> for another station as his flagship because he didn’t want
> to work for Citadel. I didn’t hear the comment, but someone
> I know did.
> It's also somewhat odd that this comes just as it appears
> Bob Grant has been talking to WABC about a possbile return.
> Disney obviously didn't want any part of him -- they fired
> him. Citadel may, but it doesn't like to spend.
> Also, anybody know if this will have any effect on local
> affiliations. For example, in this market, WILK, an Entercom
> Station, is an ABC affiliate. But because Citadel owns so
> many stations in this market, any chance of Citadel pulling
> ABC affiliation from WILK and assigning it to one of its own
> stations, say WARM? Wouldn’t that be a kick in the head?

Hannity is actually syndicated by the ABC Radio Networks, so I don't know if he could actually go to another lead station. That would be interesting to see what develops there. I don't know if Citadel/ABC would pull the network away from WILK. Clear Channel owns Rush Limbaugh, and they tend to put their product on whatever station pulls the best ratings, not just on Clear Channel stations.
This will probably be a long unfolding story. There were comments published today in R&R about the financial viability of the merger, with Citadel's expereince in small & medium markets as opposed to ABC's major markets. Citadel is not used to dealing with the AFTRA & NABET unions, and all the ABC operations are unionized. The article went on to talk about Citadel's desire to run "on the cheap" which doesn't square with the ABC/Disney way of operating.
Stay Tuned.

 

[yonkstur]

>
L.A. do me a favor, shoot me your e mail
address to [email protected]. I've responded
to your e mails but they keep coming back as
MAILERDEMONS even when I reply to something
you sent me that I sent you. Thanks.

Yonkstur
>
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> > > From RBRe Paper:
> > >
> > > The official word came as soon as the stock market
> closed
> > > today. Disney CEO Bob Iger (left) has made Citadel
> > > Broadcasting CEO Farid Suleman a happy man. Citadel will
>
> > > acquire ABC Radio from Disney in a merger valued at 2.7
> > > billion bucks. After the transaction, adding ABC's 14 FM
>
> > and
> > > eight AM major market radio stations, Citadel
> > Communications
> > > will be comprised of 177 FM stations and 66 AM stations,
>
> > > plus the ABC Radio Networks.
> > >
> > The thought of a company like Citadel having it's hands on
>
> > some of the greatest radio stations in America is
> sickening.
> > WABC, WLS, WJR, KABC, KGO & WBAP, all in the hands of
> > Citadel. Pretty soon some of the biggest heritage names in
>
> > radio will be sounding like WARM. Dear God!
> >
>