Did you notice that Entercom stock had been on an uptick almost daily since Cramer's death notice? (Actually, Cramer's only direct statement about Entercom was that it had been upgraded, but you didn't let that get in the way of your commentary.) Did you note that Entercom beat Wall Street's projections for Q4? We all agree that the sector has been getting pounded and that as a pure radio play, ETM has been hit hard. Today's decline is a direct result of downgraded expectations for Q1 for both Entercom and radio in general. The market financials I saw last week seem to indicate that March and Q2 should be better (all the radio folks hope so anyway), so with a fair likelihood of a dividend and optimistic prospects for Q2, this might actually be a decent time to buy (more for a quick buck than a long term hold). Fact: Entercom stock got slammed in 2007 and 2008 has started slow too. This is no surprise given the state of the industry. Look at all the trouble that Clear Channel is having closing a deal that was agreed to when the stock was at 39 and it is now at 31.

My unsolicited advice is to stick to the Programming Department and stay out of the Business Department. Did you happen to notice this item in Tom Taylor's newsletter today?

"Fisher’s in the 9th inning of a losing Seattle Mariners deal.
CEO Colleen Brown didn’t exactly say she’s deliriously thrilled about this being the last year – but she broke out Fisher Radio’s fourth-quarter cash flow margins two ways on yesterday’s quarterly call. The margins were 22% with the Mariners – and 29% without. Brown doesn’t need to defend the huge contract that was signed by a predecessor, and which wowed the market when Fisher took the team away from Entercom’s KIRO. She’d just like to get out from under it."

I believe this is the deal that you claim David Field walked away from out of arrogance. Just goes to show that some of the best deals are the ones you don't make. Yes, sometimes sports makes sense as a loss leader, but it seems like ETM was wise not to resign the Mariners on such unfavorable terms.

From Fair and Balanced:

"ETM has been hit hard. Today's decline is a direct result of downgraded expectations for Q1 for both Entercom and radio in general."

Not true, Clear Channel is UP $1.26 as we speak, Citadel UP .03, Emmis UP .22, Fisher UP .68.

It's all about Entercom today, not "radio in general".

Hey, off topic, but related: did you hear Michael Grahms anti-asian comments today?

Rather surprised at them myself. Maybe he'll go the way of Imus for a while.

Please report on this is you can.

Thank you.

I didn't hear it. What did Graham say?

Even in the darkest hours there is f'ng good news.

And Howie keeps waving his uninspired white handkerchief of surrender back and forth back and forth, mockingly in the face of the beautiful swan diving stocks into the empty concrete swimming pool.
As khan twittles her glass straw against her empty glass whilst staring off into beckoning space.

so completely f'ng sweeeeeeeeeeeeeeet.

Grahm was talking to a caller about Hillary and Obama. The caller was saying something about her not being able to "find the chink in his armor"

Grahm blasts back with an, completely out of left field, comment saying "for all our Asian American listeners, I'd like to apologize for that "CHINK in the armor comment".

Then he says to the caller "hey, watch out now, because there’s a NIP in the air".

He then closes with "this show is nothing, if not politically correct", and goes to a break.

I couldn't believe it.

Maybe I heard him wrong. I wish I had it on tape.

Are you kidding me McGregor.
You stand for everything that is wrong in this country.
That is f'ng hilarious what he said.
You go Graham!

Lighten the f'k up McGregor.

A caller also told him today that he was on the Bad attitude list at Oral Roberts. LOL! LOL! That would be like being shushed in a church pew.

Oh ya McGregor, Americas BAD boy Michael Graham.

Hay Graham and Severan and McPhee and Greater Media got balls. More than I can say for the rest of this sorry radio bunch in this area.

Let it go diaper boy. Your the enemy.

WRKO is DEAD. There's no reviving that corpse...WTTK is no great shakes,but WRKO is dead.

Sure: Red-Sox, Celtics, Rush, Savage, Howie...wrko is dead? Certainly they're confused and mismanaged. Not dead yet though. They should just go all in and pick up O'Reilly and maybe another national show. Counter the all-local tkk. What do they have to lose? Step one would be to ditch the felon though. If this wasn't a national election year I think he'd be through already. His political coverage doesn't suck.

I've been listening to WRKO since the days of Jerry Williams, Gene Burns and the Governors. This station was the 50,000 watt blowtorch of GREAT talk radio.

Now, the talent is all but gone. For local talent worth the listen, we're down to Mo and Howie. And the syndicated Rush.

That's 3 decent programs in a weeks worth of air time. And that is really sad.

B: Are your numbers from yesterday? Are you trying to be intellectually dishonest? I don't think you are stupid, so I will assume you are engaging in your brand of spin.

CC is trading around 31-32 when the strike price on their deal is around 39. The radio sector, like Entercom, is trending down year over year. That was my point.

I find this blog damn entertaining. Sure, there's stuff I don't like or agree with, but I keep coming back to see what you are going to do next. Bravo. Nevertheless, sometimes your blind hatred for all things Entercom causes you to overstep. This is one of those times.

Hi Charlie,

I regret to inform you that this morning (2/23) when Moe Lauzier signed off at the very end of his program he said it was his last. I had listened most of the morning and never saw this coming. In my opinion, this is even a worse farewell than when Scotto left. Moe had been there for 25 years. He gave no details.

My immediate response was to post off-topic to the most recent open discussion thread on SAVE WRKO and then send Moe a note via ISSUES OF THE DAY.com. I mentioned to him:

“My immediate response was to post a note to the SAVE WRKO website, which though I’m sure the station does not acknowledge, you know about it. I look forward to what other correspondents write.”

”…The website mentioned above has let me correspond with others of such a mindset. We are not happy with the way things are going at WRKO, and I take your departure personally. You may be aware that your show has been discussed occasionally on the site, both favorably and critically, but always by people who do care about you and your fellow hosts.” (Earlier this week the real Barbara and I had discussed his show on this blog.)

Sorenson, you're killing me....I'm LOL, excellent post! Suhweeeeeeeeeeeet!

They don't carry the Celtics anymore. Howie is a shell of his former self-who wanted out. Savage has announced-FOUR TIMES-that 2008 may be his last year on air...

A mortally wounded station...how long before reconquista music appears on 680. Think Entercom is above it? I don't

FRom Radio Today/ Radio-Info.com

Entercom beats the street on fourth quarter revenue
Seattle, Austin, Greensboro, Norfolk and Indianapolis helped - and so did a doubling of "digital revenue" and the World Series run of the Red Sox. Revenues grew 2% - though the same-station number was less than 1%. Entercom's also proud of its "bottom line", the EBITDA (cash flow) that was more than $3 million above expectations. The negatives in the financial report come from this year, not the end of 2007: Entercom says a sluggish economy forces it to downgrade its forecast for January-March from minus 1% to mid-single digits. That got the attention of Wachovia Securities analyst Marci Ryvicker, who does say the Entercom quarterly dividend "appears safe" - and that David Field's not looking for any acquisitions that would increase the debt leverage. Entercom stock ("ETM") was up in early morning trading.