MICHAELS CLEARS OUT;
MAYS OFFERS SUPPORT
In an internal memo to staffers obtained by HITS late Monday, Mays explained his moves to his employees. "You might be asking, what does this mean to me?" Mays writes. "The radio division has a very deep, talented and strong management team led by John Hogan. The lineup of Senior VPs has a combined tenure of over 350 years in radio and many of them have been with Clear Channel through our incredible growth. The 300+ Market and General Managers are outstanding local operators that focus on their communities, their local programming product and their customers. Those GMs have over thousands of support, programming, promotion and sales folks that make our radio stations tick. WHAT this means to you (those of you in radio and in our other divisions that interact with radio) is that you stay the course! Keep doing what you do best, do great radio for your communities and do great marketing for your customers.
"In the meantime, while I look for the next CC Radio CEO, John and his SVP team will report to me," Mays said.
"Michaels’ new division will focus on the changing technological landscape including broadband, wireless and satellite... all the exciting ways we can grow our businesses in new arenas," Mays said in his memo.
Said Mays in a statement: "Randy has been, and continues to be, a great contributor to Clear Channel. Without his vision and foresight, we would not have been able to develop the best, most well-positioned, unduplicatable collection of radio stations in the world. Randy’s greatest strength is his ability to see how the radio industry will evolve long before it does. In his new role, Randy will be able to utilize this strength to enable us to react better to the advent of new technologies and their impact on the Company. And he can teach me how to print out my e-mail."
Added Michaels: "I am excited about the opportunity to once again look out into the future and help shape the way we will adapt to it. I enjoy the challenge and stimulation of breaking new ground and look forward to this newly created position. Now I get to surf the Internet all day long for a living."
In recent weeks, Michaels and CC Radio have been in the middle of an escalating independent promotion controversy, and those in the know say that his meetings with the heads of several record labels on the indie-promo question went badly. It’s not known whether any of this contributed to the decision to remove Michaels from his radio post.
Michaels was promoted to Chairman/CEO of Clear Channel Radio in May 2000, shortly after the radio conglomerate announced its intention to purchase AMFM Radio. The AMFM deal followed a long line of purchases that included Jacor Communications.
Previously, Michaels served as President of the giant’s radio division.
Michaels has held every position from the control booth to the CEO office. He is best known for his programming expertise, engineering prowess and competitive spirit.
Mays’ memo continues, "Our business is one of relationships and friendships. I understand that. Remember, Randy is one of Clear Channel's biggest investors and supporters. I am confident he will be enjoying the wins and successes CC Radio will be having and he'll be working in collaboration in his new division! We will be cheering him as he prepares for his next opportunity.
"Our company is stronger than ever, we've developed a plan to maximize our combined assets and we are on plan to deliver on our performance expectations for 2nd quarter. I am very proud and look forward to the Board of Directors meeting and the earnings release next week."
He concludes the letter with, "YOU have given us a great deal of good news to discuss! YOU have risen above the challenges the present economic market presented. YOU have been ‘staying the course’ working hard for our communities, customers and shareholders!"
Rah, rah, rah.
