Randy Michaels
Randy Michaels | |
|---|---|
| Occupation | EVP/CEO Tribune Company |
| Employer | Tribune |
| Website | [1] |
Randy Michaels (born Benjamin Homel) is an American broadcaster and entrepreneur. Michaels started his career in radio as an engineer. He was named after a jingle package when he started doing on-air work in Buffalo. At one point in his early career Michaels was working at 5 stations using 3 different names.
Tribune
On December 20, 2007 Michaels became EVP & CEO of Interactive and Broadcasting for Chicago based Tribune Company. His Tribune role includes overseeing most of the Tribune newspapers. Michaels will also oversee Local TV LLC through a management agreement. The Tribune/LocalTV management agreement creates the largest television group in the United States in terms of total reach.
Early years
Michaels was often referred to as “boy wonder” for Taft Broadcasting in the early 1970’s. Michaels was Taft’s Vice President of Programming in his 20’s, successfully turning stations WGRQ Buffalo, WKRQ and WKRC Cincinnati, and WDAF Kansas City. In 1983 Michaels left Taft with partner Robert Lawrence to form Seven Hills Broadcasting. With partners, he purchased stations in Nashville and Knoxville, along with WSKS and WLW Cincinnati. Within three years WLW had become the pioneer of modern talkradio rising to the top of the ratings. Seven Hills merged with Jacor in 1986, and Michaels became EVP/Programming and co-COO until assuming the President/COO position during re-structuring under Sam Zell in May of 1993. In 1996 Zell named Michaels CEO.
Early Television Experience
Michaels first experienced television in the mid 90’s when Jacor purchased Citicasters. The deal included two television stations: WTSP in Tampa (swapped to Gannett for six radio stations shortly after acquisition) and WKRC in Cincinnati which held ratings dominance during the late 1990’s and early 2000’s.
In early 2007 Michaels became CEO of Local TV, LLC, a company that acquired television stations formerly owned by The New York Times. On December 22, 2007, Local TV announced it was acquiring eight large market stations from News Corp.
The Tribune/LocalTV management Stations
Radio station
| AM Station |
| DMA# | Market | Station | Owned Since | Current Format |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3. | Chicago | WGN-720 | 1924 | Talk |
Tribune Papers
Jacor Consolidation
When the Telecommunications Act of 1996 passed, on February 12, 1996, allowing for the first time one company to own up to eight stations in a single market, Jacor announced the first two eight-station clusters; one in Denver, one in Cincinnati. Both announcements occurred within days of the bill passing. The Cincinnati cluster included eight radio stations, and WKRC TV. Jacor and its successor, Clear Channel, led the industry in consolidation, eventually owning a thousand more stations than the next-largest group, CBS Radio. Michaels took full advantage of the rules, and in many cases, legally acquired more stations than seemed to be allowed. For instance, a twelve-station cluster was created in San Diego, but later broken up when the FCC changed its ownership rules to account for foreign stations (four of the San Diego stations were actually licensed in Mexico). At Jacor, Michaels built a team that produced not only the most impressive acquisition record but also the industry’s best “same store” growth figures. Most of those on that team remained with him until his departure from Clear Channel in 2002.
Competitive
While painted as "outrageous" by some, Michaels is known by those who work for him[according to whom?] as one who plans rationally and meticulously and executes passionately. Those who work with him see him as a born leader who wins and respect him as an intellect unknown in most business or intellectual circles. Professional relationships with Michaels last decades, because he's known to be as loyal to his people as they are to him. Michaels is a well known strategist and moves quickly.
Clear Channel
In May of 1999 Zell and Michaels merged Jacor with Clear Channel Communications. While CEO of Clear Channel Michaels took the merged Jacor/Clear Channel from 425 stations to 1200 in a 3 year period. Michaels remained in the CEO roll until July 2002. A Wall street media analyst referred to Michaels departure from the business as “the end of radio”. In the 90's and early 2000's Michaels and former CBS President Mel Karmazin were perceived as the "last great radio industry tycoon's".
High Powered Programming
Michaels has always been known for his ability to program to the top of the ratings and has always had a loyalty to great talent. In 1992, Michaels hired a young Sean Hannity to join Jacor as a talkshow host in Atlanta. In 1997 Michaels cut one of the largest deals in radio history with Rush Limbaugh to acquire the program. In 1998 Michaels made a deal with Dr. Laura Schlessinger, at the time the #2 talkshow host in the country.
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