CBS Radio's President Sends New Year's Letter To Employees

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: A Look Back And Thoughts On 2009 : As I sat down to write this year-end review/2009 preview I did so with mixed emotions. On the one hand I wanted to take the opportunity to enthusiastically boast of all the wonderful things that happened in 2008 -- and be assured there were many. But I also realized that no communication from me would be complete without addressing the myriad difficult decisions we've made this past year that have had an impact on the way we run our business. : I'v always felt it's better to be as candid as possible, and that's how I intend to approach my words as I share with you my vision for our company as I see it today. No one has a crystal ball as to when the current economic climate will turn. The best we can do is adapt to the situation, rely on our strengths, and continue educating ourselves so we strategically and operationally are in a position to capitalize when the economy picks up. : Leading off with what we should feel most proud about -- CBS RADIO will outperform the market in 2008, an accomplishment we haven't realized since 2005. Ratings and revenue improvements at a number of stations we reformatted helped us realize this achievement. : And did you know we are now the largest streaming radio platform? Not bad for a company that was late entering the game. Our online sales in 2008 grew at a double digit pace, and political advertising jumped almost 40% from 2004. We were right to heighten our efforts in this area and the foundation we laid with the campaign strategists will be invaluable during the next electoral process. : Part of the reason we've been so successful in these areas is due to the realignment of our management structure and the shift to a more cluster-based approach in each of our markets. Greater flexibility and increased decision making power by our market managers, directors of sales, and program directors was by far the best way to go. We also took a hard look at every position in our organization and found ways to make our operation run smoother and more efficiently. Working as a cluster is proving far more effective than I imagined as I hear from many of you everyday that things are getting done quicker and management is more responsive to problem solving efforts/solutions. : Unfortunately, not all the news is good. The country's economic situation has magnified our need to re-evaluate how we approach the business and find new ways to increase our market share and grow the bottom line, both of which are totally in our control. While I'm extremely mindful that the process has not been easy for anyone, I want you all to know each decision we make we do with much thought and consideration while being mindful of the long term. And most importantly we must be able to do all of this without compromising the integrity of the product or the company which I believe we have been able to do. : As we enter a new year the most important thing for us is to look forward, not backward. While we honor and respect our past heritage as an industry, we can't be blinded by it or refuse to adapt to current market conditions and the task at hand. We need to continue to "Rethink" at CBS RADIO -- everything we do and how we do it. As you know "Rethink" was the title of the presentation we took on the road last spring and summer to advertisers and the press, and you can bet it will be at the core of everything we do in 2009. : Our company will look to further expose the best talent and programming available within CBS RADIO to even bigger audiences through the use of the latest technology. The way we approach advertisers and potential clients will be greatly coordinated by cluster and region, and making sure our content is available on a wide variety of devices and applications will be even more of a priority than it was in 2008. I suspect the CBS RADIO we know today will continue to evolve over the next 12 months through serious innovation and creativity, constant focus, streamlining, hard work, and increased accountability. That can sound like a scary proposition but the alternative to not evolving is even scarier. : We can do this if we all work together in support of a shared vision for CBS RADIO getting the most out of the talented teams we have built to the fantastic content we produce. Treat this as not only the beginning of a new year but an opportunity to really make an impact on all our constituents in 2009. As part of this I will focus on ways to communicate more with you and task your market managers and direct supervisors to do the same. You need to hear more from us about what we're doing and why we're doing it, but we also need to hear from you about how we can improve what we're doing and how we're doing it. We're all part of the solution and the best ideas, thoughts and commentary can come from anywhere in the organization. : Thank you for working incredibly hard in 2008 and bearing through a difficult time for our company. Your efforts are so very highly appreciated. : Dan Mason : CBS Radio President

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