As new boss Sam Zell hires a passel of executives from Clear Channel to run the newspaper. Via the WSJ:
Tribune has hired half a dozen radio executives since
Mr. Zell took effective control of the company in a leveraged buyout in
December, most prominently Mr. Michaels, a former radio chief for Clear
Channel Communications known for helping consolidate the radio industry
as well as for wacky stunts. He once arrived at a radio broadcasters’
conference carried on a litter and dressed in the garb of an Egyptian
pharaoh to underscore in a speech how powerful consolidation would
prove for radio.
Mr. Abrams started last Tuesday and in the past few
days Mr. Michaels has hired four other radio executives from Clear
Channel, all former colleagues. They include Jerry Kersting, finance
chief of Clear Channel’s radio division and engineer of many of the
acquisitions that helped turn the radio division into the powerhouse it
is today; senior vice president of programming Marc Chase; vice
president of technology Steve Gable; and vice president of programming
Sean Compton.
My sympathies to those who must try to put out a newspaper for wacky corporate radio honchos.
Kit Stolz 