Birmingham Radio: PD Ryan Haney Is Back Where He Started

Ryan Haney, the former WJOX 94.5 FM program director who left that station six weeks ago to join sports-talk rival ESPN 97.3 The Zone, returned to WJOX Monday following a breach-of-contract lawsuit filed by Citadel Broadcasting, according to a story at al.com.

Haney, who had been with WJOX since 1998 and had been its program director since 2004, left the station on Jan. 21, and he started work at 97.3 The Zone a week later.

However, after Citadel Broadcasting, Haney's employer at WJOX, filed a breach-of-contract lawsuit, U.S. District Court Judge David Proctor on Feb. 7 granted a temporary restraining order barring Haney from working for 97.3 The Zone until more evidence could be heard in the case.

The breach-of-contract lawsuit filed by Citadel claimed that Haney had a no-compete clause in his contract that prohibited him from working for another radio station in the Birmingham market for a year after leaving WJOX.

Citadel is a subsidiary of Cumulus Media, which purchased Citadel and WJOX after Haney's contract expired.

Haney coincidentally left WJOX the same day sports-talk ratings leader Alabama Radio icon Paul Finebaum's contract with the station expired. Finebaum, who had worked at WJOX for six years, has been off Birmingham radio since Jan. 21.

The Cox Media Group, which owns WZNN 97.3 The Zone, has been aggressively pursuing Finebaum since that station came on the air in August 2011.

Cumulus, the new owner of WJOX, has 90 days from the time Finebaum's contract expired to match any offer from a competing station, and Finebaum is not expected to make a move until those 90 days are up.

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