Citadel - ABC Radio Ready To Hand Control To Lenders
*** DEVELOPING STORY ***
With word this evening that the nation's largest owner of talk radio stations is filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, the industry is in a state of shock.
But it's not the restructuring itself that has stunned insiders, that's been seen as likely for several months (though the timing is about a month earlier than expected).
As Suleman (shown left) has overseen the complete destruction of this once-promising company, any continuing role in Citadel would seem inappropriate, but the Wall Street Journal is reporting that he will likely survive.
As part of the deal to eliminate billions in debt, Citadel's shareholders will see a complete wipeout, though it has been a penny stock for over a year, especially after being delisted from the New York Stock Exchange and moved to the dodgy pink sheets (OTC:CTDB).
Some of the firm's medium and small market stations are viewed as being in relatively good shape, largely because they were built up by Citadel's previous ownership regime and run locally. Many are high-powered news-talk stations.
Whether the restructuring will force the firm to shed some of its stations is unknown at this time.
Suleman's survival removes the last bit of hope many in radio still held regarding a corporate turnaround. Without a change in leadership, prospects for key Citadel - ABC stations will remain highly questionable.
As it is difficult to find Suleman defenders within radio, it's hard to imagine what Citadel's creditors might be thinking. Nonetheless, the details of this restructuring are not yet set in stone and Farid could well find himself out on the street where he belongs.
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Could ObamaCare eliminate abortion as we know it? That's the strange reasoning used by one Democratic congresswoman in an increasingly heated debate over public funds for the procedure.
But why would her own party, a traditional supporter, move to end the practice? Representative Jan Schakowsky (D-IL) claims ObamaCare without public funding for abortions would lead to "back-alleys and hangers".
Further, she claims women will be prohibited from obtaining coverage to terminate a pregnancy, even with private (non-government-option) insurance.
From an interview during syndicated libtalker Ed Schultz's radio program, here's the audio and transcript:
SCHAKOWSKY (03:39): We are willing, we don't love it, but we are willing to stay with the parameters of what was called the Hyde amendment that says no public dollars go to provide abortions, but this amendment is worse. It says that women with their own money, buying insurance from a private health insurance company in this new exchange we're creating could not have abortion coverage.
SCHAKOWSKY (04:13): We're not going back to back alleys and hangars, we're just not. So, if we had to and I don't think we will, we would defeat the bill. We have the votes.
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Left Uncharacteristically Silent On Shatner's Limbaugh Interview
NOTHING TO SAY?
Lefties Oddly Mum On Limbaugh's Chat With Shatner
As it's not like the left to ignore an opportunity to pounce on Rush Limbaugh, their uncharacteristic silence regarding his interview with William Shatner says a lot about what the former is beginning to accomplish in the court of public opinion.
After years of dehumanizing El Rushbo via every imaginable "progressive" trick, his recent efforts to turn the tables through a series of visits to atypical venues have foes searching for new methods of attack.
Shatner's interview with Limbaugh was brilliant, revealing an especially personal side unfamiliar even to his most dedicated fans. Though Rush sometimes talks about his childhood and past struggles on the program, the Star Trek legend managed to dig deeper, with an impressive outcome. What could an angry leftist do other than ignore the results?
In this excerpt, Limbaugh discusses his painful (but ultimately successful) attempts at kicking a prescription drug addiction, in addition to his earliest attempts at "radio broadcasting" from home.
For comparison, just below it is a clip from parochial Seattle hothead Ron Reagan's Air America show in September.
Which one comes across as likable? How effective are the "pill-popper" references and fat jokes up against El Rushbo's own admissions regarding past struggles?
By no means has the left given up on its clear aim of defeating Limbaugh, but his most recent efforts have forced them to regroup, at least for the time being.
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Providing a truly surreal moment in radio broadcasting, MSNBC's Ed Schultz has told listeners he believes Tiger Woods is "a victim".
But why stop there? The syndicated libtalker then offered Woods some especially strange advice on how to deal with the golf champ's professional fallout.
Here's the transcript and clip (edited for brevity, includes three passages from one broadcast segment during Thursday's program), listen as Schultz spells out what Woods should do next:
SCHULTZ (28:23): Tiger Woods is really at the point now of being a victim in my opinion. What does he have to do, OK?
What's he gotta, I know a lot of you are going to be mad at me for saying that I think he's a victim, but wait a minute now. When does it stop? No laws broken, police report complete and now it's all juice from this point out, what's interesting.
SCHULTZ (33:28): If I'm Tiger Woods' agent or if I'm his business associate, we cancel all contracts today.
Yeah! We cancel all, we call up Nike, it's over, we want out. We want, we want every sponsor, it's over, all the stuff about well we've been with him for a long time, no, no, go on the offensive, Tiger. Go on the offensive and say it's over, I'm starting completely over.
GUEST NORMAN GOLDMAN (34:11):Ed, that's really counterintuitive. I mean, most people wouldn't do that. They wouldn't walk away from all that money.
SCHULTZ (38:50): Tiger Woods hasn't been charged with anything. This is a personal, this is a personal indiscretion. There is an admission, there is a recovery, so when does it stop? It's not the question of when does it stop. When does it start?
When does the new Tiger start over? I'm Tiger Woods' business agent, I control his interests, all contracts are off today! We'll see you next year if you're interested. By the way, there will probably be a 25 percent increase.
Had he stopped with the "victim" rant, this monologue might qualify as merely bizarre, but with the addition of the contract shredding tip, Schultz has ventured into a very strange place. What is the agenda behind this one?
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It's no secret that MSNBC and CNN have been in decline for some time, particularly since Obama took office. Positioning themselves as the president's defenders while his popularity sinks hasn't exactly been a winning strategy.
What is news, however, is the increasingly extreme nature of the divergence, with yesterday's primetime Obama speech providing a case study.
While MSNBC and CNN struggled to hold on to their far-smaller audiences, millions tuned in to the FOX News Channel and remained there afterward into the late hours to hear Bill O'Reilly, Sean Hannity, Greta Van Susteren and their respective guests provide instant reaction to Obama's war plan.
In ratings released late Wednesday, O'Reilly and Hannity's blockbuster 25-54 numbers stand out in particular, with the former averaging 1,293,000 (versus MSNBC's 410,000) and the latter pulling in 840,000 (against Rachel Maddow's 263,000).
Overall, O'Reilly averaged 4,478,000 compared to 1,376,000 for sad-sack competitor Keith Olbermann, while Hannity drew 2,631,000 to Maddow's 924,000.
For its part, CNN generally beat MSNBC, but lagged far behind FOX. It wasn't too long ago that CNN could be expected to own a night like that, but the network is deeply troubled today.
Fox is no longer merely ahead of the pack, it is wiping the competition right off the map.
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Poll Shows Conservatives Clear On Movement Leadership
THE POSITION IS FILLED
Media Manipulation Fails To Confuse Conservatives
To movement conservatives, this should come as no surprise: Rush Limbaugh leads the right. So why do state-run media operatives need to poll the public on this otherwise-settled question?
NEW YORK (AP) - By a wide margin, Americans consider Rush Limbaugh the nation's most influential conservative voice.
Those are the results of a poll conducted by "60 Minutes" and Vanity Fair magazine and issued Sunday. The radio host was picked by 26 percent of those who responded, followed by Fox News Channel's Glenn Beck at 11 percent. Actual politicians - former Vice President Dick Cheney and former vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin - were the choice of 10 percent each.
RUSH: "By a wide margin, Americans consider Rush Limbaugh the nation's most influential conservative voice." This is a product of a poll done by CBS News and reported by State-Controlled AP. My reaction when I saw this, "Yeah, this is news? What, they gamed the poll, it's only 26%? I don't believe this, only 26%?"
And, of course, that doubles anybody else that's close to me by a wide margin, it says. "The radio host was picked by 26 percent of those who responded," followed by Glenn Beck at 11 percent and Dick Cheney and Sarah Palin were next with a choice of 10%.
Sure enough, Limbaugh is on to something: ulterior motives are apparent here. While the state-run media strive to maintain "credibility" by having Rush come out on top, the relatively low percentage naming him is designed to manufacture division within the right's rank-and-file.
Regardless of the skewed results, the message remains clear: atop the movement, there's no sign of instability. The position has been filled from within, so let's end these silly attempts at convincing conservatives otherwise.
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Lefties Worry Obama Has Ignored Rising Unemployment
'OBAMA'S KATRINA'
Don't Blame Us, This Is Coming From The Left
Occasionally, lefty pundits make unusually candid admissions during liberal talk radio interviews that would never occur elsewhere.
The latest example comes from MSNBC's David Shuster, a committed Obamist, but in this case sounding the alarm over what he sees as Barack's odd indifference to rising unemployment. Could it become "Obama's Katrina"?
SHUSTER (32:47): The longer the health care drags on there’s this perception that jobs is not a main priority for the Obama Administration and I do think I mean I think you’re right. At a certain point somebody described it as a tsunami that is building.
One of the columns this morning (The column Shuster cited was written by Arianna Huffington in the Huffington Post) saying this is like another Katrina that building off our coast and the perception of the Obama Administration is either been asleep at the switch, or hasn’t done enough or hasn’t recognized the gravity of the problem. I think it gonna be a huge problem in 2010.
Are Obama's key supporters taking to these settings to warn of trouble ahead? The use of public forums to spread this kind of message indicates a president who isn't listening, even to his own side of the aisle.
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Illegal Alien Scandal Hammers Final Nail In KVI's Coffin
Is this end of a once-mighty regional talk radio powerhouse? After a controversy over the alleged hiring of illegal aliens by a Seattle talk show host, it certainly appears that way.
The flap, first reported by the Seattle Times, could prove the final nail in the coffin of KVI-AM, a onetime political force that frightened entrenched Olympia politicians, pushed tax-fighting ballot propositions over the top and most importantly, generated tremendous ratings and revenue.
Note: your Radio Equalizer was part of the station's weekday lineup in 1998 and 1999.
Now, a Times investigation reveals an alleged pattern of illegal alien hires by afternoon host Peter Weissbach, a Canadian libertarian who crossed the border himself over a decade ago and became an American citizen. From their coverage:
A janitorial company owned by a local conservative talk-radio host is among the early targets of a new strategy by the Obama administration to thin the ranks of illegal immigrants by going after the companies that hire them.
Seattle Building Maintenance, owned by KVI talk-radio host Peter Weissbach and his wife, provides janitorial services in buildings throughout the Puget Sound region, including such Seattle landmarks as the Seattle Art Institute, Pacific Place, Metropolitan Park and the Dexter Horton and Westin buildings.
The subject of an ongoing immigration audit by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, ICE, the company has been clearing its books by firing some of its janitorial staff — about 100 people so far — believed to be working illegally.
The probe of Seattle Building Maintenance offers an early glimpse into ICE's approach to worksite enforcement — stealthily targeting employers rather than workers.
It's a departure from the big splashy raids that used to play out on the evening news, with large numbers of immigrants being rounded up and carted off to detention, where many faced removal.
Now, workers are quietly let go by their employers, without the direct contact with immigration agents that might lead to deportation.
Of course, theTimes certainly didn't overlook the opportunity to re-brand the libertarian Weissbach as a "conservative" for its damaging political effects. But there's no denying the incredible hypocrisy destroys what is left of KVI's credibility.
As for Weissbach, what was he thinking? Did he believe the hiring of illegals would be tolerated by his radio audience?
At the moment, he remains on the station's schedule, but it's unclear whether that will continue for long.
During its heyday, KVI was built around local activism-based talk radio in a remote region of the country that favors area issues over national news. At the center of that lineup, however, was Rush Limbaugh, who brought a tremendous audience base to the station. Earlier this decade, Limbaugh moved to a new conservative station, KTTH-AM, which has since become the region's largest commercial talk outlet.
With ratings once routinely in the top five for the Seattle-Tacoma radio market, KVI has fallen to twenty-fifth place in the most recent Arbitron ratings.
While KVI still features top-tier syndicated programming such as Sean Hannity, Mark Levin and others, the absence of strong local personalities and loss of listener goodwill via these recent flaps creates a particularly uncertain future for the onetime talk leader.
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Where talk radio and politics collide: influencing the debate since 2004. From longtime host / analyst / rabble-rouser Brian Maloney, seen on FOX (including a number of O'Reilly Factor appearances), CNN, Court TV and elsewhere.
But it's not the restructuring itself that has stunned insiders, that's been seen as likely for several months (though the timing is about a month earlier than expected).
Just last month, Citadel admitted that the loss of Hannity caused it to lose millions in desperately-needed revenue. More recently, the company booted longtime WABC / syndicated host Curtis Sliwa for reasons that remain a mystery.
But it's not the restructuring itself that has stunned insiders, that's been seen as likely for several months (though the timing is about a month earlier than expected).
Just last month, Citadel admitted that the loss of Hannity caused it to lose millions in desperately-needed revenue. More recently, the company booted longtime WABC / syndicated host Curtis Sliwa for reasons that remain a mystery.
