CEO David Field said his company’s merger with CBS Radio is a game changer for Entercom, and the entire radio industry, and he expects the deal to close in the second half of the year, maybe even as early as the third quarter. Giving an update on the merger during his first-quarter earnings call, Monday, Field also said the company has had a significant number of strong offers for the stations that need to be divested in order to complete the merger.
And, Field said he expected a second request by the Department of Justice, which is taking a look at the proposed merger, however he’s not expecting that to delay the closing. Field believes with the stable of CBS brands under the Entercom umbrella, radio will now have two companies with a large enough footprint to compete with other national media and talk up the positives of radio, which he says is not getting the revenue it deserves. Field has often praised iHeartMedia as the other company touting the strengths of radio with big advertisers.
When asked about CBS Radio’s poor revenue performance in Q1, Field said he’s hopeful for some improvement through the rest of the year. He said while there will be speed bumps along the way in the short run, it’s the long term that really matters. “The more we study, the more excited we are about this. We are very optimistic as we go forward.”
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