Posted by chicagomedia.org on February 29, 2008 at 16:25:55:
CEO Farid Suleman says "we're about two years behind where we said we were going to be", following the ABC deal. So "we've undertaken a major re-structuring in our major markets", after admitting on this morning's call that "the biggest disappointment was the major market stations [the former ABC Radio stations] we acquired from Disney." Suleman says the cash flow in that group fell from $170 million in the previous year to $145 million in last year's Q4, and "the decline was across the board." He admits that "national was a complete disaster", particularly at WPLJ, New York, where "we were more affected by the writer's strike." The overall cash flow at WPLJ slid 50%. Citadel's own former station group, concentrated in medium and smaller markets, was also softer, from $189 million in cash flow to $175 million. Even so, Suleman thinks Citadel's major-market stations are mostly well-positioned to deal with the People Meter, and he says "we're still generating very substantial levels of cash flow." Citadel stock ("CDL") closed down 19% on the day, finishing at $1.10 a share.
Makes you wonder if changes are on the horizon here in Chicago...