After a Jerry Del Colliano blog post titled “David Field Confirms Audacy Bankruptcy” that did not confirm an Audacy bankruptcy, Audacy has been firing back. The blog post title was tweeted out (and later deleted) by a WGBH Boston newscaster as fact and then picked up by many Boston media personalities including Barstool Sports founder Dave Portnoy.
At that point the company’s Twitter account put out a statement,
“A blog post published today falsely claimed that Audacy’s CEO confirmed Audacy’s bankruptcy. That statement is categorically untrue. Audacy intends to vigorously pursue all available remedies for false statements meant to cause damage to Audacy and its stakeholders.”
In addition, Audacy Chairman/CEO David Field sent out a company-wide email, writing:
I am reaching out to address some fake news from an industry troll about Audacy that is currently circulating.
An industry blog post published today falsely claimed that “David Field confirms Audacy’s bankruptcy”. That statement is categorically and unequivocally untrue. Audacy intends to pursue all applicable remedies for false and defamatory statements meant to cause damage to Audacy, its employees and its stakeholders to the fullest extent of the law.
As you have heard from me and others on our leadership team, we are excited and confident in our future and focused on capitalizing effectively on the acquisitions, investments and enhancements we have made to position the company for a bright future in the dynamic, growing world of audio. With the additions of a strong leadership position in podcasting, a
meaningfully enhanced national sales organization, the rollout of a new, reimagined digital platform, emerging ad tech and data capabilities, plus the industry’s best local radio group with an unrivaled #1 position in news and sports, Audacy is better positioned than ever to serve customers and audiences with greater revenue and earnings potential under normalized market conditions.
Both statements indicate that the company intends to go after Del Colliano for the “false statements” made. They would not be the first company to go after him. Clear Channel and Del Colliano had lawsuits against one another that were settled in 2002 with Clear Channel purchasing Inside Radio from Del Colliano. iHeartMedia continues to operate the publication as a wholly-owned subsidiary.
Audacy stock closed on Tuesday at 52 cents per share. The company was notified by the New York Stock Exchange earlier this month that it has six months to get back to having a minimum average closing price of $1.00 per share over 30 consecutive trading days or it will be delisted from the exchange. That was then followed by the company laying off up to five percent of its workforce as part of other cost reductions ongoing to improve its bottom line.
