Time will tell what the popular CEO does once the 21 stations – he’s responsible for now – carry the Beasley logo. It was five short months ago that Radio Ink featured Peter Smyth on the cover to highlight Greater Media’s 60th anniversary. At the time, we just happened to ask Smyth how much longer he planned to be running a company like Greater Media. Here’s what he had to say back then…
RI: How much longer do you want to be running a company like this?
Smyth: Everybody asks that question. I always wonder when it’s time to go because I want to make sure the next generation of leadership steps up. I’ll never get out of the radio business 100 percent. I thought what Dan Mason did was great. I love him. He’s a very dear friend of mine. He told me he was going to do that after one of the radio shows. We were walking uptown somewhere. He told me he was not going to renew his contract. And I said, “What?” He said, “Peter, it’s time.” It was like what Bordes said to me: “I need a new generation of men and women to run this company, and you’re the guy.” There’s going to come a time when I have to say, “You know what? It’s time.” I will never leave the space. Never. I will die with a transistor radio plugged into my ear. I still do it every night of my life. I did it when I was a little kid, and I still do it now. There will be a time when I think it’s time for some of the younger people to step up. It’s only right. Some of us have got to get out of the way and let some of the new blood come in.
We also asked Smyth about his vision for growth. “The important thing for us is to be strategic and opportunistic at the right prices. If the assets are at the right prices, it’s going to make sense to us. The last thing you want is to do a bad deal in a lousy market. I don’t want to do that. I want to protect the balance sheet that we have and protect the company. I want to continue to look into our digital business and build that stronger. I think if a good opportunity came to us, yes, we would do it.
A lot can happen in five months.
Read our cover story with Peter Smyth from February HERE
We should all hope that Smyth stays in the biz. GM is one of the few remaining “radio” companies. When I worked for them I didn’t agree with everything but I certainly recognized the professional, well informed, knowledgeable broadcasters running the joint. It seems their culture matches Beasleys’ so the mating should produce happy babies.