A report on Tuesday from Jerry Del Colliano stated that Audacy CEO David Field was moving the company towards bankruptcy. That didn’t sit well with Field or Audacy officials who have rejected the report and announced plans to explore legal remedies against the radio industry reporter and his website.
Del Colliano suggested that Field’s inability to play well with others led to the CBS Radio merger being botched, multiple rounds of layoffs taking place in recent years, and the company enduring low stock prices, which has created concern about the company being delisted in the future.
The report went on to suggest that Field has been checking off all the boxes of his biggest competitors, Cumulus and iHeartMedia, who also went bankrupt. Del Colliano added that a responsible board would have replaced management, but now the company is riding towards Chapter 11.
What really caused confusion though was the headline used in Del Colliano’s report, “David Field Confirms Audacy’s Bankruptcy.” Others on social media began sharing and promoting the news as fact including a Boston radio host named Henry Santoro of WGBH Radio. Santoro’s tweet caught the attention of both Barstool Sports founder Dave Portnoy and Barstool host and former WEEI personality Kirk Minihane, who each offered an opinion on the news. The tweet stayed up most of the day, being seen and shared often before it was removed on Tuesday night.
Audacy released a statement on Twitter strongly pushing back against these claims. The company said, “A blog post published today falsely claimed that Audacy’s CEO confirmed Audacy’s bankruptcy. That statement is categorically untrue. Audacy intends to vigorously pursue all available remedies for false statements meant to cause damage to Audacy and its stakeholders.”
Furthermore, in an internal memo to staff, Field also refuted the reporting done by Del Colliano, calling the information “unequivocally untrue.”
“I am reaching out to address some fake news from an industry troll about Audacy that is currently circulating,” Field said in a memo obtained by Barrett News Media. “An industry blog post published today falsely claimed that “David Field confirms Audacy’s bankruptcy.”
“That statement is categorically and unequivocally untrue. Audacy intends to pursue all applicable remedies for false and defamatory statements meant to cause damage to Audacy, its employees and its stakeholders to the fullest extent of the law.”
Field ended the memo by reinforcing his excitement and confidence in the conpany’s future and said he is focused on capitalizing effectively on the acquisitions, investments and enhancements that have been made to set up the company for a bright future. He concluded by telling employees that Audacy is in a strong position to serve customers and audiences with greater revenue and earnings potential under normalized market conditions.
