it already doesn’t much exist. The thing we knew as ABC Radio growing up in the 1960s first went to Cap Cities in Chicago, then Disney, then Citadel Communications.
Following the bankruptcy of Citadel, the Cumulus Broadcasting company of Atlanta Georgia launched a hostile takeover of post bankruptcy Citadel. The Department of Justice has signed off on the deal, and next Thursday all the money and paperwork changes hands. A few stations in a few markets will be sold, but the combined Cumulus + Citadel + Susquehanna will become the #2 largest radio owner (counting by # of stations).
Disney still owns ABC TV and the ABC trademarks, so expect some brand related changes, maybe even call sign changes fir WABC and KABC to break the relationship that used to exist between Radio and TV
The reputation of Cumulus is they operate in medium and small markers and have no experience running heritage AM stations in major markets. They view management’s role is to cut expenses everywhere they can – perhaps not understanding in major markets you have to spend big money to make even bigger profits.
During the Citadel bankruptcy, they leaned hard to force the on air talent to take large cuts in their contracts. I expect a lot of the people working for the former ABC Radio stations to be planning their exit strategies. I expect nothing good to come from this and a lot of programming chaos over the next year.
I agree. Cumulus is going in way over their heads. Its just all the PSA ads they run and those horrible ‘cumulus jobs.com’ ads. They will drive you nuts cause they play them every half hour. I can only take a cumulus station in short bits. I am surprised at the ones that carry Glenn Beck. The local Cumulus use to carry Beck, but they went big lib and dropped Bill Bennett, Beck and John Gibson. Now its just Michael Smerconish and Dave Ramsey(even though he is not lib) all day. Cumulus stations always sound a little amateurish on the radio. Some are better like the York PA and the Wilmington NC stations, but they still play those annoying PSA’s.
There was a local station in the 70’s that was ABC station and carried ABC news. They were good. Gone now. Literally. Tower and all
Nobody in the “Radio Biz” will explain to me why no former ABC station carries Beck…. some of the non-ABC Citadel stations do. My suspicion is at some point Beck really pissed off someone at Disney (who still own a piece of Citadel).
One of the big things to pay attention to is the WABC morning lineup and if it changes. It is very logical for Beck to be on WABC and drop the local guy (gummy bear, or whatever his name is)… Beck doesn’t have a New York affiliate since WOR dropped him because he was “all over the place”. Don Imus is someone else who Citadel Media probably would like to unload (or alternatively put on a lot of their stations and dump their local morning hosts)…
WIIC-AM is the local Cumulus station here – they are an activist pro-union pro Democratic party station in the middle of a state that is the same. I wonder if Cumulus is on good terms with AFTRA – I assume so, but I don’t really know.
Yes, but I’ve been dying to hear that lemongrass tea recipe….