Report: Murky Path Ahead For Emmis

Jeff Smulyan

Shareholders who recently foiled Emmis CEO Jeff Smulyan’s latest effort to take the company private are raving about the potential of the company’s in-house products—Next Radio and Digonex Technologies. But, accoridng to the Indy Business Journal,  many industry analysts aren’t sure either will turn a profit in the next few years.

Still, there’s almost unanimous agreement on this: Emmis will continue to chug forward as long as Smulyan drives the locomotive. That sort of reliance on one person is a bit daunting, shareholders admit.

“The future of this company is whatever Jeff wants it to be,” said Robert Unmacht, a partner at RTK Media Inc., a Tennessee-based investment banking consultancy focused on broadcasting and technology.

“If he wants to sell off his assets and retire, this company, no doubt, goes away,” Unmacht said. “If he wants to continue, there’s little doubt that, in some form, Emmis will continue. There’s no questioning Jeff is a bright guy. He’s found some kind of path forward in this industry for a long time.”

There’s a nagging thought, though, that could rain on the sunny outlook.

“I have never heard one thing about how this company will operate beyond Jeff,” Unmacht said. “That’s a real concern for investors. Is there an exit strategy?”

The 69-year-old Smulyan has no plans to retire. During an hour-long interview with IBJ, he said he never gives retirement a fleeting thought. Nor, he said, does he entertain any thoughts of selling out.

But most startling is that the company has no clear succession plan.

“I don’t have an exit plan. I want to keep doing this,” Smulyan said.

That’s fine, Unmacht said, “until he can’t. We all have our stopping point.” And it appears the Emmis board has at least considered the possibility.

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