December 20th, 2009 
joel As reported by AllAccess.com this afternoon:
CITADEL BROADCASTING, the nation’s third biggest radio broadcaster has indeed filed for bankruptcy in NEW YORK on SUNDAY (12/20), by filing a voluntary petition with the bankruptcy court.
The bankruptcy filing, as ALL ACCESS first reported earlier this month (NET NEWS 12/10), is a pre-arranged deal with lenders to swap debt for equity and will reduce CITADEL’s debt load to about $762.5 million.
The filing lists assets of $1.4 billion weighed down under $2.5 billion in debt. A huge, unserviceable debt and interest payment was due on JANUARY 15, 2010, which forced the Chapter 11 filing.
Citadel owns WXKC (Classy 100), WXTA (Country 98), WQHZ (Z-102), and WRIE (ESPN Radio) in Erie.
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And of course, Farid Suleman, the one who got Citadel into their billion dollar hole, gets to keep his job. Nice!
Perhaps I am mistaken but it seems that all you hear these days is layoffs, bankruptcy and mismanagement among broadcast companies, both large and mid-sized.
I don’t believe we heard this nearly as often before deregulation came about. Dear FCC…start doing your job and make station owners once again obligated both financially and ethically to the viewing public.
AllAccess.com is now also reporting that NextMedia is filing for Chapter 11. Before selling their Erie properties to Connoisseur, NextMedia owned Rocket 101, Star 104, WJET (1400), WFNN (1330), and what was then Froggy 94.7 and US93-9.
What does this mean for the local on-air personalities?
David,
That’s my worry too. It would be terrible if the Breakfast Club was sacked because of what happens a thousand miles away.
Once the FCC deregulated the local owners’ responsibility to the local market, this all became an inevitability. All that matters now is the owners’ bottom line. Local content/responsibility is a thing of the past. A market the size of Erie, not huge, but not a mom and pop market, is going to suffer the brunt of this. Just look at this past year in Erie media – we now have a few operations that are going to survive this shake-out – and none of them will be a real local shop. Outside owners (or at least owners who don’t care about the market, only the bottom-line) will always opt for the bottom-line, not for what is best for the local market. The Public Interest, Convenience, and Neccessity, (that a lot of us learned in AJ Miceli’s CommArts 101) is no longer valid. It is now the owner’s Bottom-line, bottom-line, and bottom-line.
The FCC has basically said FU to the public, and, hell yes, to the owners. Thank you FCC for deregulating the media! You’ve done a helluva job, Brownie!
You got that right Bob. We need more Joe Vilkies out there & MORE Diversity on the dial.
Bob Bohen, I totally agree 110%! AMEN! Look at your former channel. WSEE is a great station if you like everything taped. If I worked there I’m sure I’d be shaking my head in disgust. Thanks FCC!
When the time comes for the FCC to renew WSEE-TV’s Broadcast license I will be filing a vigorous objection to renewal. Having TAPED newscasts IS NOT in the public interest.
My goal for 2010 is to put fire to the feet of the FCC for these stupid dual-ownership rules.
Repeat after me: I’m mad as hell and I’m not going to take it anymore!
Well for all my 47 years of living in Erie and being witness to all the ups and downs in the local television market,the thought of 2 independant becoming one is just plain silly.
After a long absence, I made a long overdue impromptu visit to the Boston Store around 2:30 this afternoon. As I looked beyond the studio doors, I noticed the framed newspaper articles that were on the walls in the hallway are now gone. When walls go blank, that scares me. From experience as a former insider, when walls go blank, it says to me “We’re packing and getting ready to leave.” As a continued radio listener extremely interested in the future of Erie radio, I am concerned. Perhaps, someone in the know can provide insight… don’t like blank walls anymore than i do dark (non-functioning) radio studios.
The walls were painted 2 weeks ago. No conspiracy this time
Wonderful! Now maybe we could get those walls dressed up a bit. How about some kid art!