Near-Bankruptcy, Broadcaster Faults Loss Of Hannity Revenue
SELF-DESTRUCTION
Political Bias Could Lead To Citadel-ABC Radio's Bankruptcy
In a textbook example of the dangers of placing personal politics ahead of good business sense, past mistreatment of a top conservative talker is partly to blame for a major radio operator's impending bankruptcy.
But don't take our word for it: stunningly, Citadel Broadcasting (which absorbed ABC Radio into its operation several years ago) admits the loss of Sean Hannity's syndicated radio show has cost it millions in desperately-needed cash flow at a time when corporate debt and slow ad sales are crippling its operations.
In the same filing with regulators, the company has disclosed that it may file for protection from creditors in January.
Until now, though, Citadel (OTC:CTDB) had avoided mentioning Chapter 11 as a likely scenario.
The company owns major talk stations including WABC/ New York, WLS/Chicago, KGO-KSFO / San Francisco, WBAP Fort Worth-Dallas, WJR/Detroit and WMAL/Washington.
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.
In addition, Citadel took a hit from the passing of Paul Harvey. While that may have been unavoidable, chasing away Hannity was inexcusable.
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. Segment operating income dropped 92.3% to $500K from $6.5 million a year earlier. The drop in revenue was slightly offset by an 18% reduction in costs.
Citadel has been warning of covenant compliance problems ahead since it reworked its credit agreement with its lenders back in late March. Facing a requirement that it have $150 million of available cash as of January 15, 2010, Citadel has admitted in several SEC filings that it does not expect to be able to meet that requirement and will likely face a financial restructuring which would dilute or wipe out the equity of current shareholders.
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In an unusually candid moment from a host who until recently was a compliant, unquestioning Democrat, libtalker Ed Schultz has made the kind of observation one normally expects to hear from his conservative counterparts.
The unthinkable question: is Obama a wimp?
Just a few months ago, raising this delicate matter in a public setting would be grounds for excommunication from the "progressive" movement, but times certainly have changed.
With PelosiCare having passed the house over the weekend, however, does the MSNBC / syndicated talker feel differently now? We'll find out soon enough.
Here's what he told radio listeners a bit earlier in the week:
SCHULTZ (22:24): I've noticed on a few stump speeches that he (Obama) tells us that he might be small but he's tough. And I have thought about all of the past presidents. I haven't heard a president tell us how tough he is.
Am I wrong? Tell me if I'm wrong. ... And I think that's rather strange, or unusual. You shouldn't have to tell us that. You should illustrate this by taking a trip up to Capitol Hill. And getting some of these people that you helped get into office and calling some markers on health care reform.
Beyond the pitch for Pelosi's health care takeover, it's hard to make a distinction between this and similar rhetoric that results in conservative hosts under fire for daring to criticize the Dear Leader.
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If you thought Dr Laura Schlessinger had finally fallen off of the left's radar screen, today's Los Angeles Times puts that idea to rest. Their longstanding inability to completely destroy her career means "progressives" must still deal with this unfinished business.
In August, Schlessinger was abruptly removed from her longtime home at KFI under strange circumstances (its internal office politics are legendarily dysfunctional, almost without equal in the radio business), but quickly found a new flagship as rival KFWB-AM switched from all-news to talk.
During her long run at KFI, she helped the station deliver big ratings, as documented in previous EQ coverage from 2008 and 2006.
With ratings now available for the first month of KFWB's new talk format, the Times saw an opportunity to pounce on conservative radio programming and took it:
Even with its drop, KFI far outpaced its talk rivals. KABC-AM (790) ranked 22nd, KRLA-AM (1110) was 36th, KTLK-AM (1150) was tied for 41st and newcomer KFWB-AM (980) was tied for 38th.
October was the first full month of ratings for KFWB under the new format that the former all-news station unveiled with great fanfare in September, boasting that it had lured advice guru Laura Schlessinger away from KFI to anchor its midday schedule.
Despite the presence of Schlessinger and such other experienced hosts as Laura Ingraham and Michael Smerconish, KFWB not only has not gained traction, it actually has lost listeners. The CBS-owned station has ebbed from a 1% share in August to 0.8% in September and 0.7% in October.
And Schlessinger, a ratings powerhouse at KFI, is an also-ran at KFWB so far. In October, during the weekday period of 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. that covers the time she's on the air, the station tied for 32nd place with a 1% share of audience.
KNX-AM (1070), the sister CBS station that now has the all-news field to itself, tied for 15th in October with a 2.8% share, much the same as it has scored for at least the last six months.
In the 6-10 a.m. "morning drive" period that is radio's prime time, KFI maintained its lock on No. 1, with Bill Handel and Rush Limbaugh combining to attract 6.2% of the audience. KIIS' Ryan Seacrest was second with a 5.1% share, followed by Gary Bryan on KRTH, Mark Thompson & Brian Phelps on KLOS-FM (95.5) and Eddie "Piolin" Sotelo on Spanish-language KSCA-FM (101.9).
But the Times used generalized data to reach its "also-ran" conclusion. More specific breakdowns reveal the exact opposite conclusion, as Dr Laura has in just one month sent a portion of KFI's audience packing and headed straight for KFWB.
From noon to 3pm, in key demographic groups, here are the real numbers:
Persons 25-54:
KFWB up 66.7% (1.5 audience share) KFI down 44.8% (1.6)
Women 25-54:
KFWB up 92.3% (2.5) KFI down 66.7% (1.3)
Adults 18+ :
KFWB up 36.4% (1.5) KFI down 21.4% (1.6)
In other words, in just one month, Dr Laura is already beating her old station in some demos and threatens to do so soon in others.
Will the paper issue a retraction? Don't hold your breath.
In addition, did you notice how it glossed over the 41st place showing of libtalk outlet KTLK?
Given the Times and its left-wing agenda, this is all about politics: her replacement at KFI, Bill Handel, is not conservative and Dr Laura's defiant stands on cultural issues make her an easy target for Californian leftists, who openly seek to eradicate all dissenting viewpoints.
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MSNBC Outlines Plan To Gerrymander NY-23 Out Of Existence
FIXING THEIR WAGONS
MSNBC: Dems Plan To Eliminate NY Swing District
Now THAT will teach those conservative teabaggers not to run viable candidates in Upstate New York!
In a remarkable moment of candor, MSNBC's Larry O'Donnell has revealed to Rachel Maddow the Democratic Party's plan to gerrymander NY-23 out of existence, all to benefit neighboring incumbents. Aren't these schemes usually cooked up in secret?
Swing districts? Those are a thing of the past.
And that new guy, Democrat Bill Owens? Before even taking office, he's already been thrown under the bus.
Here's the clip and transcript:
O'DONNELL (04:11 in segment on Maddow MSNBC site titled "Drawing lessons from NY-23"): It is surrounded by Democratic districts, it's going to get chopped up, and it's going to be represented by a few other people and the 23rd will no longer exist.
MADDOW: When it does get chopped up, when there is a new 23rd, is it expected to be a Republican or Democratic district?
O'DONNELL: It will be Democrat because what they're going to do is simply slice into it from the surrounding Democratic seats and preserve all those Democratic seats and, you know, give each one of those districts just enough of the difficult Republican part for them to survive.
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Expecting big losses in today's off-year elections, liberal talk radio is engaged in self-serving finger-pointing this week, making sure listeners aren't inclined to believe they are part of the problem.
A secondary aim: protecting Obama, of course.
And bringing an especially twisted version of events into the picture is MSNBC's Sylvester The Cat- channeling Ed Schultz, who is telling radio listeners that Dem defeats are the result of proceeding too slowly with ObamaCare and the public (government-run) option!
Let's give Ed extra points for creativity here, he's earned them.
SCHULTZ (05:41): Now you want to know why Corzine's in trouble in new Jersey? You want to know why this Creigh Deeds is in trouble in Virginia? And why all of a sudden there's a big uproar over this District 23A, or District 23 in New York? Because the Democrats are still messing around with health care! This election tomorrow is going to hit the Democrats like a freight train. Obama, in case you've been scoring it at home, has done five appearances for Jon Corzine. A former United States senator. A Goldman Sachs former CEO. An establishment guy. You want to talk about political capital being used on a gubernatorial seat.
Obama's trying to stop a reversal of what has been a pretty solid wave since 2006. And I offer you this commentary today, folks, that had we had done health care 30 days ago instead of worrying about Joe Lieberman, instead of worrying about going on vacation in August, how many, let me ask you this. How many more Republicans do we have than what we had back in late July before they went on vacation in August? You got a head count for me?! The number is zero. I've told you all along it was going to be zero.
I talked about the September stall. October, same old stuff! Here we are in November! THIS IS WHY I GET PISSED OFF!
And you know what?! The Democrats are going to get exactly what they deserve tomorrow! Because they ran around the country talking about change and when they went to Washington, they lost their teeth! They lost, they just didn't quite know how to take a bite out of their rear end and stick it to 'em!
With the spin machine barely warming up, watch for more gems to come over the next 24 hours or so. In the meantime, thanks to Big Eddie for getting the ball rolling.
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Libtalker Bill Press Praises Obama's Economic Policies
IT'S FIXED!
Press Praises Obama For Economic Mission Accomplished
For uberpartisan libtalker Bill Press, these have got to be difficult times. How does one retain credibility while defending Barack Obama's crazy tax-and-spending schemes?
His apparent answer: forget how silly it might appear and back the president no matter what.
Independent thought? Never heard of it.
That's about the only way to explain the former CNN Crossfire host's ridiculous assertion that "Obamanomics has worked", saving the economy through massive government growth.
From his syndicated radio program, here's the caught-on-tape clip:
Yet, even Press realizes that the "recovery" party will be over as soon as the feds take away the punch bowl. That's why he backs additional spending schemes that will continue the all-is-well illusion.
And unfortunately for Bill, a number of leading economists and market analysts are pouring cold water on the very same figure he cited as evidence of a turnaround: last week's quarterly GDP report.
U.S. third-quarter GDP data was "horrible" and investors will soon realize that it wasn't as good as they initially thought, Marc Faber, publisher of the Gloom, Doom and Boom Report, told CNBC.com.
"I wouldn’t rely on the GDP figures and I think the market will actually realize that they were quite poor," Faber said.
The figures, which pleased investors by beating analysts' consensus expectations Thursday, didn't give positive signs for personal income and unemployment, Faber pointed out.
U.S. gross domestic product grew at 3.5 percent on an annualized basis, showing that the economy was, at least unofficially, out of its longest recession since the great depression. But Faber told CNBC.com that the figures were not always reliable. "I wouldn't rely on GDP figures, you can manipulate them," he said.
Beyond how economists interpret the stats, what about the general public? Do they believe the downturn is over? Consumer confidence numbers strongly suggest the opposite.
While some libtalkers have wisely begun to distance themselves from Obama's missteps, Bill's partisan hat has permanently been attached to his head.
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“It is a surreal day when you are getting lectures on humility by Rush Limbaugh,” Axelrod said on CBS’s Face The Nation. “He is an entertainer. The president has to run the country.”
Limbaugh called Obama “immature, inexperienced,” “narcissistic,” and “a child,” on Fox News Sunday.
He also accused President Barack Obama of “destroying” the economy, pursuing an “unconstitutional” health care reform plan, and “not caring” about the war in Afghanistan, in an interview on Fox News Sunday.
“It’s no surprise that Rush Limbaugh espouses the views that he espouses,” said Axelrod. “He’s marketing the outrageous and he does very well with it.
Here, the AP accepts the White House's characterization of Limbaugh as "far-right":
"The president of the United States went to Dover to represent the American people and pay his respects to the families who had made so much of a sacrifice, to those brave service people who made the ultimate sacrifice," Axelrod said on CBS’ "Face the Nation."
The White House has suggested that Limbaugh and some other far-right political personalities have grabbed control of the Republican Party. Limbaugh has openly vowed to do what he can to ensure that Obama’s presidency is a failure.
His remarks on "Fox News Sunday" follow administration criticism that Fox News is the voice of the far-right wing of the Republican Party. Obama recently excluded the news network in a weekend blitz of television interviews.
Limbaugh said he is deeply worried about the administration’s initiatives.
"We’ve never seen this kind of radical leadership at such a high level of power in the country," he said. "I believe that the economy is under siege, is being destroyed. Anybody with any economic literacy would not do one thing this administration’s done to try to revitalize the private sector. They’re destroying it."
Looking to the future, the radio host predicted a revolt against the Democratic Party and Obama in the 2010 midterm elections. He also said former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, the GOP vice presidential nominee in 2008, was prepared to be president, but he stopped short of endorsing her as a candidate.
Limbaugh criticized Vice President Joe Biden as "pompous, a bit of a wind bag and wrong," and said a second Obama term would be painful for the nation.
"Every day you get up and there’s a new potential threat to liberty and freedom being launched by this man and his administration," he said.
In particular, CBS News seems most alarmed by the prospect of a resurgent Rush fighting Obama's intimidation campaign. Earlier today, the network's Bob Schieffer found a way to attach malicious intent to Limbaugh's interview, according to Brent Baker of NewsBusters:
Rush Limbaugh's tough criticisms of President Barack Obama on Fox News Sunday “broke” the White House's truce with Fox News, Bob Schieffer suggested during an interview with Obama's Senior Adviser, David Axelrod, on Face the Nation.
After playing a clip of Limbaugh dismissing as “a photo-op” Obama's trip to Dover Air Force Base to witness returning casualties from Afghanistan and quoting Limbaugh's characterizations of Obama as “narcissistic,” “immature, inexperienced” and “in over his head,” Schieffer, seemingly referring to Limbaugh's remarks -- or, at least the decision by Fox News to feature Limbaugh on its Sunday interview show -- forwarded:
Last week your man Robert Gibbs met with the folks at Fox News, declared a truce in this war you've been having with them. Was the truce broken this morning?
Let's face it: what's most threatening to the Obamists isn't merely what Rush says, it's his lack of fear in doing so.
The left is counting on cowering conservatives and a docile GOP to provide an ineffective, token opposition in the years to come. If others are empowered to tackle Barack's partisans head-on, it could bring the Democratic Party's house of cards quickly crashing down.
Goodell Called To Account For Anti-Rush Smear Effort
*** UPDATED BELOW ***
BREAKING: Rep Steve King has held NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell's feet to the fire over the dishonest smear effort that cost Rush Limbaugh the opportunity to own the St Louis Rams.
Watch as Goodell weasels out of the grilling, deflecting questions and playing dumb.
Goodell also distorted Limbaugh's comments about Donovan McNabb, when it should be clear by now that Rush merely said he was an overrated (by the media) quarterback, not a bad person.
Here's the clip:
UPDATE:Rush has released a statement on Goodell's remarks:
Of course, Goodell's a total weasel. He had no answer about the Dolphins' owners so wouldn't even address the question, and he got on his high horse about how McNabb is a fine player and a fine person and it has nothing to do with the color of his skin, when I (a) never said he was not a fine person; (b) never said he was a bad QB -- just that he was overrated (which no one should deny); and (c) said the MEDIA was obsessed with the color of his skin (which is also undeniable), not that I was. -- Rush Limbaugh
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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 don't take our word for it: stunningly, Citadel Broadcasting (which absorbed ABC Radio into its operation several years ago) admits the loss of Sean Hannity's syndicated radio show has cost it millions in desperately-needed cash flow at a time when corporate debt and slow ad sales are crippling its operations.
But don't take our word for it: stunningly, Citadel Broadcasting (which absorbed ABC Radio into its operation several years ago) admits the loss of Sean Hannity's syndicated radio show has cost it millions in desperately-needed cash flow at a time when corporate debt and slow ad sales are crippling its operations.
