Citadel may file for bankruptcy in January, cites loss of Hannity

RBR: "For the first time, Citadel Broadcasting has stated in an SEC filing that it may have to file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection from creditors as soon as January 2010. ... The big drop came in the radio network business, now called Citadel Media. Net revenues plunged 31.5% to $29.4 million.

• The loss of Paul Harvey, who died, and Sean Hannity, who took his show elsewhere, accounted for $8 million of the $13.5 million decline....

RBR-TVBR observation:

• Our fear is that a bankruptcy filing may further entrench Farid Suleman as CEO.

• The creditors may be just as clueless about radio as Ted Forstmann was when he hired Suleman

• and leave him in place as captain until he runs this ship aground a second time."...Radio Business Report, 11/7/09

From Radio Equalizer, 11/10:

• "As we'd reported in 2008, a fed-up Hannity dumped the firm's syndication arm, then called ABC Radio Networks, for Clear Channel's Premiere Radio

after disturbing incidents behind the scenes, including

• the refusal of one Citadel exec to board a plane with the longtime conservative talker."...

story via Radio Equalizer Blog

• (Word had long been around that Citadel found conservative politics revolting and despised right wing talk hosts. But I hadn't heard the item about the plane before). framus

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