CITADEL SELLS FOR 2 BILLION DOLLARS

January 16, 2000: Citadel Communications has been sold to a venture capital leveraged buyout firm Forstmann Little & Co. for $2,000,000,000. CEO Larry Wilson's predictable move was criticized as not happening soon enough. Wilson had stated early in Citadel's begining that it was being built to sell, and missing a chance to really cash in before the market turned sour, he sought to get out before things got much worse. According to the new owners of Citadel, management structure will remain intact, however we smell some layoffs and selloffs coming soon.

Citadel has been rumoured to have been in negotiations with Clear Channel, but opted not to sell directly to them. It's interesting to note that Forstmann Little & Co. had dealings with Hicks, Muse, Tate and Furst who owns Clear Channel. Forstmann Little & Co. sold the ailing soda pop company Dr. Pepper to Hicks, Muse, Tate & Furst in the 1980's.
With this previous relationship between Hicks and Forstmann, one could infer that the 214 stations Citadel just sold could fall into the hands of the dominating corporate force in radio, Clear Channel.

There was a time where radio stations were owned by small businesses, competition was healthy for the market and people cared about the quality of radio put forth in the community. Now we have investment bankers, venture capitalists, and leveraged buyout firms owning major portions of radio markets throughout the country. They have made it clear there is no room for the old days of "Mom & Pop" owned radio stations, and there is no room for competition on the dial.

One voice, one company, one studio, thats the future of radio. Those who have dreamed about a future in radio better get some business suits and ties, and learn how to sell advertising because those will be the only jobs left in this corporate controled world of monopolized radio markets.

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Do you have a story to share about working for other corporate cluster fucks? You can share that here too. Corporate Radio is the death of local radio, it's much bigger than just one small company like Citadel.

You can now post your stories on our message board. Let others know what to expect from their experience with "The Company", anonymously or otherwise. Your voice can be heard here without cause for worry about your current job status.