Recent from talks
Citadel Broadcasting
Knowledge base stats:
Talk channels stats:
Members stats:
Citadel Broadcasting
Citadel Broadcasting Corporation was a Las Vegas, Nevada-based broadcast holding company founded and developed by Larry Wilson. Citadel owned 243 radio stations across the United States and was the third-largest radio station owner in the country. Just prior to Citadel's merger with Cumulus, only Clear Channel Communications (now iHeartMedia) and Cumulus Media owned more stations.
On March 10, 2011, Cumulus Media announced that it would purchase Citadel Broadcasting. After receiving conditional regulatory approval from the Department of Justice and the Federal Communications Commission, the deal was approved by Citadel shareholders on September 15, 2011. The merger of the two companies closed on September 16, 2011, and Citadel was immediately absorbed into Cumulus Media.
The company was founded in 1984 in Phoenix, Arizona by Larry Wilson as Citadel Associates Limited Partnership. In 1990 it was renamed Citadel Associates Montana Limited Partnership for the purpose of owning and operating stations in Montana that were formerly owned by CALP. A year later, Citadel Broadcasting was officially incorporated and in 1984 it acquired all of the radio stations owned by its predecessors. Within a decade, Citadel expanded to 26 states. Within that time period, it absorbed all Bloomington Broadcasting radio holdings and 11 stations from Dick Broadcasting Company and also acquired three radio stations from Slone Broadcasting, Inc. and Slone Radio, LLC. In 2000, Liggett Broadcasting sold its radio stations in Michigan, New York, Minnesota, South Carolina, Ohio, and California to Citadel, with Bob Liggett becoming a member of Citadel's Board of Directors. In 2001, Larry Wilson sold Citadel to private equity firm Forstmann Little & Company for $2.1 billion. By that time, the company had grown to 205 stations in 42 markets.
In January 2005, Citadel yanked Howard Stern's syndicated radio show from four of its stations, with Stern saying it was because he was talking too much about his impending switch to Sirius Satellite Radio. Stern then began to make fun of Citadel's chairman and CEO, Farid Suleman. Citadel Broadcasting launched an online subsidiary called Citadel Interactive in 2005, and a year later launched Right Now Radio under Citadel Interactive's operation. By June 2007, scores of Citadel stations could be streamed online.
On February 6, 2006, Forstmann Little and The Walt Disney Company agreed to merge Citadel with Disney's ABC Radio. Shares representing 57% of Citadel were distributed to shareholders of The Walt Disney Company following the company's acquisition of 22 stations from ABC Radio.
After the merger—which was consummated June 12, 2007, Citadel's ownership structure was:
ABC owned and operated affiliates of Radio Disney and ESPN Radio were not included in the merger agreement.
In order to comply with FCC ownership limitations, Citadel sold off 12 of its radio stations. Ten of the stations' licenses were transferred to a newly formed trust company, The Last Bastion Station Trust, LLC. The two-station Cortland, New York, cluster was sold off prior to the merger in a separate transaction; WIII was sold to Saga Communications, and WKRT (now WYBY) was given to the Bible Broadcasting Network for free as a tax-deductible donation.
Hub AI
Citadel Broadcasting AI simulator
(@Citadel Broadcasting_simulator)
Citadel Broadcasting
Citadel Broadcasting Corporation was a Las Vegas, Nevada-based broadcast holding company founded and developed by Larry Wilson. Citadel owned 243 radio stations across the United States and was the third-largest radio station owner in the country. Just prior to Citadel's merger with Cumulus, only Clear Channel Communications (now iHeartMedia) and Cumulus Media owned more stations.
On March 10, 2011, Cumulus Media announced that it would purchase Citadel Broadcasting. After receiving conditional regulatory approval from the Department of Justice and the Federal Communications Commission, the deal was approved by Citadel shareholders on September 15, 2011. The merger of the two companies closed on September 16, 2011, and Citadel was immediately absorbed into Cumulus Media.
The company was founded in 1984 in Phoenix, Arizona by Larry Wilson as Citadel Associates Limited Partnership. In 1990 it was renamed Citadel Associates Montana Limited Partnership for the purpose of owning and operating stations in Montana that were formerly owned by CALP. A year later, Citadel Broadcasting was officially incorporated and in 1984 it acquired all of the radio stations owned by its predecessors. Within a decade, Citadel expanded to 26 states. Within that time period, it absorbed all Bloomington Broadcasting radio holdings and 11 stations from Dick Broadcasting Company and also acquired three radio stations from Slone Broadcasting, Inc. and Slone Radio, LLC. In 2000, Liggett Broadcasting sold its radio stations in Michigan, New York, Minnesota, South Carolina, Ohio, and California to Citadel, with Bob Liggett becoming a member of Citadel's Board of Directors. In 2001, Larry Wilson sold Citadel to private equity firm Forstmann Little & Company for $2.1 billion. By that time, the company had grown to 205 stations in 42 markets.
In January 2005, Citadel yanked Howard Stern's syndicated radio show from four of its stations, with Stern saying it was because he was talking too much about his impending switch to Sirius Satellite Radio. Stern then began to make fun of Citadel's chairman and CEO, Farid Suleman. Citadel Broadcasting launched an online subsidiary called Citadel Interactive in 2005, and a year later launched Right Now Radio under Citadel Interactive's operation. By June 2007, scores of Citadel stations could be streamed online.
On February 6, 2006, Forstmann Little and The Walt Disney Company agreed to merge Citadel with Disney's ABC Radio. Shares representing 57% of Citadel were distributed to shareholders of The Walt Disney Company following the company's acquisition of 22 stations from ABC Radio.
After the merger—which was consummated June 12, 2007, Citadel's ownership structure was:
ABC owned and operated affiliates of Radio Disney and ESPN Radio were not included in the merger agreement.
In order to comply with FCC ownership limitations, Citadel sold off 12 of its radio stations. Ten of the stations' licenses were transferred to a newly formed trust company, The Last Bastion Station Trust, LLC. The two-station Cortland, New York, cluster was sold off prior to the merger in a separate transaction; WIII was sold to Saga Communications, and WKRT (now WYBY) was given to the Bible Broadcasting Network for free as a tax-deductible donation.