The San-Antonio New Express says Mays received a phone call from Texas billionaire investor B.J. “Red” McCombs several months ago and McCombs asked him if he would be interested in his old company if it became available. Mays said, “Count me in.” The two have known in each other for a long time. McCombs helped Mays build Clear Channel back in the 70’s.
The 89 year old McCombs tells the Newspaper that “If iHeartMedia ends up in a refinancing mode, he told Lowry Mays he would have some interest in it. “I am not actively looking to buy back into it, but obviously (iHeartMedia has) got some problems. It depends on what the price goes to. If the price is right, I might make a play for it … In a heartbeat, I would go back into a venture with the Mays family in radio.” Lowry Mays is now 82.
Mays also said any future involvement in the company “depends” on where values go “if the company goes into a restructuring.”
iHeart has about $20.4 billion in debt and the company has been working on ways to deal with that debt.
The very first thing that Mays and McCombs would need to do is fire Bob Pittman and his VP lackeys. Get rid of them. Pittman is a self-promoting huckster who has absolutely led the destruction of the Clear Channel radio stations. Pittman led the charge to fire any local talent making a decent salary, and to fill many of the dayparts with voice-tracking from hundreds of miles away. He has led the charge to fire thousands of dedicated radio professionals across the country at the Clear Channel stations. His “Regional Vice-Presidents” are pathetic corporate eunuchs… yes-men with no spine or leadership. Arguably, Pittman could be called the Dr. Death of major market radio. He even runs never-ending promos on the radio stations… encouraging listeners to TUNE OUT of the radio station and go listen to streaming (iheart) instead!!!!! How retarded is that????!!!!! No question, Mays and McCombs would need to do a total housecleaning of top management.
I’ve worked for Lowry & Red long ago, back when it was San Antonio Broadcasting…then Clear Channel …They are the two best operator ever, and I know that if Mays called me and said, “Hey Half, want to get back into the game again,” I’d close my business and be on the next plane to San Antonio. That’s how much respect I have for them, and their ability to turn the broadcast business around.