NEW: Major Radio Takeover Could Affect Local Talk Radio

Friday, February 18, 2011

Jeff Derderian, GoLocalProv Media Critic

WPRO-AM legendary morning man Salty Brine would likely be devastated by the announcement today.

A takeover deal announced today that has Cumulus Media taking over Citadel Broadcasting Corporation is sending shock waves through out local radio here in Providence. Citadel, owns 92 Pro-FM, WPRO-AM, Lite Rock 105, Hot 106, and AM-790. There is a very good chance that the way these stations are operating today will not be operating the same way going forward. The changes would be not be immediate but sources within the radio industry here in Providence and Boston say Cumulus is known for slashing local personalities and going with syndicated hosts like Sean Hannity, Michael Savage, Rush Limbaugh etc.

Cumulus is paying $37.00 to Citadel shareholders in exchange for taking over the Citadel Broadcasting group.

Move could affect WPRO-AM morning show changes

As GoLocal first reported this week, a whole new effort on changing the WPRO-AM morning show is underway. Currrent 6am - 10am host John DePetro moves to 9am to noon slot and then Dan Yorke goes to Noon to 3pm and Buddy Cianci goes 3pm to 6pm. With management wanting to put new resources meaning money into the new morning show, there is a chance the whole plan gets put on hold or gets launched and then when Cumulus takes over people suddenly disappear. Cumulus could decide that the current morning line up is a proven revenue driver and they are not wanting to risk resources into something new. Cumulus has not made any specific comments about the WPRO morning change and there has been no indication from WPRO management that the new morning show is on hold.

"It's like taking a hatchet out to boost the bottom-line"

One radio insider tells me the problem with this deal is that any work that Citadel has done in staying committed to local resources and talent now becomes extremely questionable. For example, to WPRO-AM's credit they have invested heavily in talk talent, producers etc. Under a possible Cumulus set-up, a significant portion of that live local talent gets shown the door to save money. Cumulus, if you look at the stations they currently own, has a strong track record of going with national shows that are cheap to run. That is what is at risk here. The voices you know suddenly gone and some guy you have never heard of is on. It would be something similar to what has happened to WHJJ-AM. Once a powerful force in local talk - the station is a mere shell of itself with the only live talk host being Helen Glover. That same scenario could play out for the Citadel stations here which would be a huge, huge mistake.

All quiet on the Wampanoag Trail

GoLocal has talked with people over at Citadel studios in East Providence today. The mood about the sale news is said to be low-key. "it's quiet around here" is how one person described it to me. GoLocal has reached out to management at Citadel here in RI but so far no response yet.

GoLocal spoke with Cumulus

GoLocal talked with J.P. Hannan who is the Chief Financial Officer at the company's headquarters in Georgia. "Providence is a great market and we are thrilled at a chance to acquire it". Asked directly what the plan is for shifting to syndicated programming versus live local talent he said it was much too early to speculate about that. Hannan says the next step will be for the FCC to sign off on the deal and typically that could take 4 to 6 months.

Jeff Derderian is a former television news reporter and anchor both in Providence and Boston. He is one of the founders of the Station Education Fund. He can be reached at [email protected]