David Field is out as president and CEO of Audacy just months after the audio content provider emerged from bankruptcy as a private company.
Philadelphia-based Audacy said Field, who spent 27 years at the helm, will also relinquish his seat on the company’s board of directors. He will serve in a new position as special advisor to the CEO and the board.
The Philadelphia Business Journal reports Kelli Turner, the former chief financial officer of private investment firm Sun Capital Partners, has been installed as interim president and CEO, effective immediately. Turner was named a member of Audacy’s board when the company emerged from Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection last fall.
Audacy said the board has launched a search for a permanent CEO.
In a statement, Audacy Chairman Michael Del Nin praised Field for leaving “an indelible mark” on the radio industry and growing Audacy into a “multi-platform audio content and entertainment powerhouse.”
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David Field |
Field touted his record, saying in a statement that the company has grown from $10 million in revenues with 10 radio stations when he joined as president in 1998 into a $1.2 billion, multi-platform audio company that including 220 radio stations. He also said the company had a “very successful” 2024 while navigating the bankruptcy process.
“With the company in a strong competitive and financial position, now is the optimal time to pass the baton to new leadership,” he said.
In a note to Audacy employees, Field acknowledged that “the past few years have been difficult,” attributing it to “the secular headwinds impacting virtually all media companies.” Some critics, though, say Field’s leadership team failed to act boldly enough with cost-cutting when confronted by sagging advertising revenue and rising debt.
Field became president of the company, then called Entercom Communications Corp., in 1998, three decades after his father, Joseph Field, founded it in 1968. The company went public in 1999 and Field added the CEO title in 2002, growing the company into the nation's fifth largest radio station operator.
Audacy filed for bankruptcy protection last January after its financial fortunes plummeted when it took on significant debt and saw its advertising revenue decline after buying CBS Radio in 2018 and trying to digitally transform the company. It is now the second-largest U.S. radio station operator behind iHeartMedia.
U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Christopher Lopez in Houston signed off on Audacy’s reorganization plan last February, which turned ownership over to a group of creditors led by Soros Fund Management — a company led by billionaire George Soros — and took the company private after years of being publicly traded. It emerged from bankruptcy on Sept. 30 after earning approval from the Federal Communications Commission.
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