Posts Tagged ‘WXTA’

Classy’s parent files bankruptcy

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.

Deep Background for November 15-21, 2009

Whispers became a shout this week as executives at Citadel Broadcasting are indicating that they may have to go Chapter 11 ahead of a scheduled January debt payment that the owners of WXKC, WXTA, WQHZ, and WRIE don’t have. To hear Jerry Del Colliano of Inside Music Media talk, there could be consequences for the last remaining local morning show in the group: The Breakfast Club.

For me, I think it would be crazy for Citadel to gore their only real cash cow, Classy 100. But a note of appreciation for Chuck and Brenda to the station would be timely.

I just sounded off, how about you? What’s your take on this challenging media environment? Did you spend any funny money on last week’s ETN millionaire auction? What’s the latest scoop at your media outlet? For all this and more, this open forum is our sounding board.

You can leave a comment, e-mail me at joel@nataliemedia.com or tweet@pressandtower.

Embrace the chaos!

P&T: the first year

We got our HDTV, and our visit from Ty…along with pain and heartache.

PressandTower Screen Shot

First Press and Tower Post-Sept. 2008

Today marks the one-year anniversary of the launch of this web community devoted to Erie media. Over these last twelve months, through 271 posts, 1,803 approved comments in 12 categories ranging from traditional to new media, we covered the few highs and many lows of a devastating year for local and national media.

First the high notes. This community is a bountifully generous one, and the story that generated the most reaction of a positive nature was our coverage of the Extreme Makeover: Home Edition build of a home for East Erie resident Clara Ward. Our daily posts, live blog, video, and audio podcasts gave P&T readers an inside view of what it takes to not only build a 3500 square foot home in less than seven days, but to also shoot a one or two hour network reality television show in the process.

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The Feed for the Weekend of Feb. 28th & March 1st

  • Classy 100 parent to be delisted: Citadel Broadcasting Corp., the group owner of WXKC, WXTA, WQHZ, and WRIE will be delisted from the New York Stock Exchange this week, according to AllAccess.com. Citadel will be become an “over-the-counter” stock with a new symbol to be determined. The stock has been trading over 30 days at under $1 and the market cap is under $75 million, both conditions for trading on The Big Board. CDL closed down a nickel Friday, to 0.09, dropping its market cap to $24.30M.
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Star 104, Connie Media dominate Fall 2008 book

In one of most lopsided ratings outcomes since corporations took over most of Erie radio, WRTS/Star 104 and Connoisseur Media emerged with a much greater share of audience than rival WXKC/Classy 100 and Citadel Communications.

As part of a near Connoisseur sweep of the top 5 slots in the Erie radio ratings, WRTS increased their average share by 40 percent, beating WXKC by almost six share points. The rest of the top five were WRKT/Rocket 101 at #3, WTWF/93.9 The Wolf at #4, and WXBB/Bob-FM 94.7 fifth.
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Big D and Bubba spread the love of country

I’ve got to admit that I’m no big fan of country music. Even with all my years living and traveling to Music City USA, all those brushes with the Clint Black’s, Randy Travis’s, and the Gatlin Brothers of the world, I never really gained a strong attachment to the music.

But I have a strong respect for the values of family and patriotism that makeup most of the country genre. In listening to Big D and Bubba over the last week on Country 98, I sense that the transference of those values onto their show is behind its significant success.

It’s a pretty established fact that syndicated shows on country radio generally don’t fly. Big D and Bubba’s success in now 50 markets bucks that trend.
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Poll: syndicated or local radio personalities?

Our poll last week asked you how effective online advertising was to get you to purchase. While nearly half said that they don’t even notice online ads, 17% admitted to actually purchasing a product prompted by a display or sponsored link ad. Doesn’t sound like much, but when you factor in the conversion rate of other media, online sounds like it’s coming along with our readership just fine.

This week our poll keys off of the recent layoffs seen in Erie radio, with the Country 98 morning show being replaced by the syndicated Big D & Bubba. Now three of the four Citadel properties have national morning shows, with Classy 100’s Breakfast Club the sole survivor.

For a moment remove the emotional context of people we admire losing their jobs and the impact of the local media industry as a whole, and consider the average listener’s experience. Is local always necessarily better than national? Had you known that some of the voices you were hearing on WXTA were actually Citadel voicetrackers from outside the market? Does that make a difference in the quality of the station either way? What say you?

When listening to Erie radio, which you do prefer: local or national personalities?

  • I would always rather listen to a local personality on the radio who knows and lives in my town no matter what. (65%, 31 Votes)
  • Erie radio already lost me to my iPod/Sirius XM; I don’t care (17%, 8 Votes)
  • It doesn’t matter to me whether the personalities are local or national, just play the songs I like (13%, 6 Votes)
  • I prefer hearing local announcers but it wouldn’t bother me to hear a national show with lots of local elements like local news, weather, and traffic (5%, 3 Votes)

Total Voters: 48

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