Chicago Radio: Pohlman Expects CBS Radio Spin-Off in Early 2017

Tim Pohlman

Tim Pohlman is really happy about one accomplishment since he became market manager in January of the seven-station CBS Radio Chicago cluster. "I made my first quarter numbers," said Pohlman, exhaling a big sigh of relief and satisfaction in an interview in his office today.

Like many other radio stations nationwide, several of CBS Radio's Chicago stations experienced ad revenue slumps in recent years. But in Pohlman's years with CBS Radio, including his most recent stint running CBS Radio's three-station cluster in Phoenix, the radio veteran revealed a knack for making his ad sales numbers, according to the Chicago Business Journal.

Pohlman's radio cluster in Chicago includes all-news simulcast WBBM 780 AM WCFS 105.9 FM, sports WSCR 670 AM, Top40 WBBM 96.3 FM, country-formatted WUSN 99.5 FM, classic hits-formatted WJMK 104.3 FM and adult alternative rock WXRT 93.1 FM.

Pohlman's job in Chicago was rather quickly made more complicated when CBS CEO Les Moonves revealed in March that he is considering a sale or spinoff of the vaunted media company's entire national network of more than 115 radio stations, including the seven in Chicago.

Pohlman said the most probable scenario at this juncture appears to be a spinoff of CBS's radio assets, most likely sometime early in 2017.

In the meantime, Pohlman has had to manage a staff of some 400 full and part-time employees here in Chicago and their expectations of what may be ahead. He is very much a hands-on type of manager who pays close attention to fostering a collegial culture in the office, where he likes to throw parties to get everybody together in the hope they will feel better about coming to work.

Pohlman said he is still in the midst of taking a close look at all of CBS Radio operations in Chicago before he makes any major moves regarding on-air talent. But he has given one longtime local staffer a major promotion. Tim Cavanah was upped last month to vice president of programming at CBS Radio Chicago.

Meanwhile, CBS CEO Les Moonves told the Needham Emerging Technology Conference in New York CBS is entertaining any and all offers.

“There are a lot of people looking at it (CBS Radio),” Moonves said, including some “strategic” suitors and private equity investors. The company has swung open its doors to any proposition, Moonves said, including a merger.

He talked up CBS’ digital initiatives including the CBSN news service. In a recent visit to its headquarters he saw that “at any given minute they can basically tell me everybody who’s watching.

As an aside, he observed that the “biggest mistake” CBS made — before he moved to the company — was the 1988 decision to sell its recorded music business to Sony.

Then-CEO Larry Tisch “couldn’t stand the guys in the record business. He thought there was a little too much drugs and rock ‘n roll.” But it “wasn’t a great deal. Sony Music has done very very well since then.”