MEDIA / KEVIN BRASS : Sale of Eagle 105 Was News to President of Company

Perhaps the person most surprised by Eric/Chandler Communications’ recent sale of KCBQ AM and FM was the president of the company, Simon T.

It was left to a reporter to inform Simon that his partners had sold the station.

In March, he relinquished the general manager position at KCBQ (Eagle 105) to take a similar post with KQLZ-FM in Los Angeles, now known as Pirate Radio. Simon kept his title of president, though, as well as his 15% ownership in KCBQ.

However, since moving to the Los Angeles station, his relationship with partners Bob Geddes and Tom Miserendino has been strained. (The fourth partner in the company, Terry Bassett, reportedly has not been active in its operation recently.)

As recently as a week before the June 30 announcement of the $23.5-million sale to Adams Communications, Simon said he asked his partners if the station was for sale.

“I was told it was impossible,” Simon T. said. “I was told repeatedly that the station was not for sale.”

Partner Miserendino said Simon was not lied to, that the company rebuffed several offers. But Adams was persistent, its philosophy was suited to the station and the price was right.

“Simon had moved on to another station,” Miserendino said. “It would have been really inappropriate to discuss it with him.”

According to a report in Inside Radio, key management employees were told “Don’t tell Simon” about the sale. The report suggested Geddes and Miserendino may have sold the station as a “pay-back” for his defection to Pirate Radio.

“That’s totally untrue,” Miserendino said. “We’re professional business people. When Simon went to Pirate Radio, we maintained an ongoing dialogue.”

But there was a “conflict” in Simon’s dual status, Miserendino said, adding that Simon was “president of Eric/Chandler in name only.”

Simon, a private pilot with homes in Los Angeles and San Diego, was “not involved in the day-to-day operation at the station, but he was involved in some of the overall planning,” according to a source at the station.

The only broadcaster among the partners, Simon considered KCBQ “my baby.” The sale price was an “excellent business deal,” he said, but he questioned, given the still-skyrocketing prices for stations throughout the country, whether it would not be worth more in two years.

Though he feels he has ample cause, Simon said he has no plans to challenge the sale, which is still pending FCC approval, citing the strain it would cause station employees. Perhaps another reason might be his future relationship with his now ex-partners, who have already purchased an AM-FM combo in the Lancaster area. Geddes and Miserendino are partners in the powerful Avalon Attractions promotions firm, which controls many of the big-name music acts that appear in Los Angeles.

Meanwhile, station employees find themselves in an awkward position, as the station’s old owners squabble while they prepare for the arrival of new owners.

“People here at Eagle really want to remain out of the situation,” one staffer said. “We just want to keep on running the station day to day. We don’t want to be involved with upper management.”

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