As anticipated, today Randy Michaels, CEO of Tribune Company, formerly of Clear Channel, one of the grand architects behind the current state of commercial radio, resigned from his post at Tribune. This is how his former company’s flagship paper put it: Having lost the support of many employees, his board and the creditors who will […]
Archive | Consolidation
Randy Michaels to leave Tribune, crying all the way to the bank
It’s been quite the fortnight over at Tribune Tower. Almost two weeks ago NY Times media reporter David Carr dropped a bomb of a story detailing the sophomoric and sexist behavior of Tribune’s top management, led by Clear Channel’s former eternal frat-boy-in-chief, Randy Michaels. Then, almost as if on cue, Randy’s hand-picked “innovation officer” Lee […]
Ghosts of Clear Channel continue to haunt Tribune Company
New York Times media reporter David Carr dropped a bombshell on Tribune Company CEO Randy Michaels today, and paragraph number seven pretty much says it all: Based on interviews with more than 20 employees and former employees of Tribune, Mr. Michaels’s and his executives’ use of sexual innuendo, poisonous workplace banter and profane invective shocked […]
Univision antes up a million bucks for payola violations
It’s been a few years since the FCC reached consent decrees with CBS, Citadel and Clear Channel over illegal pay-for-play schemes, so you think that the major broadcasters would have learned their lesson. Apparently the warning didn’t get translated into Spanish. Yesterday the FCC released a new consent decree [PDF] with Spanish-language broadcaster Univision which […]
Broadcasters union to FCC: don't change your radio ownership rules
The union that represents what’s left of the radio broadcasting workforce has told the Federal Communications Commission to keep its current restrictions on how many radio stations an entity can own. The filing by the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (AFTRA) is a reminder of how dramatically broadcast radio ownership has consolidated over […]
Randy Michaels Solidifies the Clear Channelization of Tribune
With ace-consolidator Randy Michaels at the helm of Tribune Company it looks like he’s having a jolly good time installing his old Clear Channel pals into top positions at the bankrupt newspaper and broadcast company. On Monday Tribune announced that ex-Clear Channel CFO Jerry Kersting is now president of Tribune’s broadcasting division. This was followed […]
FCC To Host Media Cross-ownership Workshop in Tampa
In advance of its upcoming biannual review of media ownership rules, the Federal Communications Commission is holding a series of workshops on the issue. These workshops are less formal and expansive than hearings, and tend to be focused on a smaller array of topics. On April 20 the Commission’s Media Bureau will host a panel […]
Tribune CEO Randy Michaels Boosts Morale at WGN-AM
Last week I told you how former-Clear Channel Charm School president and current Tribune CEO Radio Randy Michaels identified 119 words and phrases that are no good for his company’s flagship station WGN-AM. Well, this week Radio Randy’s follow-up was to double-down and confront the station’s staff about how the list got leaked outside the […]
Randy Michaels Does George Carlin 112 Better
George Carlin only ever identified seven words you couldn’t say on the radio. Tribune CEO Randy Michaels–formerly of Clear Channel–has identified a full 119 of ’em that he recently banned from being used on the company’s flagship news/talk station in Chicago WGN-AM. None of these words or phrases would get a station in trouble with […]
The Death of Air America: It's the Ownership, Stupid!
Conservative commentators may be cackling about the failure of Air America radio, trying to make it into an indicator for both the inherent weakness of liberal-leaning radio and liberal politics. But any reasoned analysis of the radio industry demonstrates that neither is the case. Rush Limbaugh, in particular, and the rest of the nation’s most […]