In a move that was widely expected following the January 29 decision by CEO David Field to step down as President/CEO, Audacy Inc. Chief Financial Officer Rich Schmaeling has resigned “to pursue other business opportunities.”
He will remain available “as needed to ensure an orderly transition of his responsibilities,” and the privately owned broadcast media company with majority ownership held by Soros Fund Management “will not name” a new Chief Financial Officer in the near term.
Schmaeling, in his role, directed and managed all aspects of Audacy’s finances.
Prior to joining Audacy — then-known under its original name, Entercom, in 2017 — Schmaeling served as the Chief Financial Officer at Travel Leaders Group, the largest travel agency company in the United States. He succeeded Steve Fisher, just weeks ahead of the merger with CBS Radio that would transform Entercom into a renamed company that ended up in bankruptcy — and becoming a privately held entity under scrutiny from Republicans on Capitol Hill for its ownership scheme, tied to liberal and Democratic Party philanthropist George Soros.
Schmaeling also served as the Chief Financial Officer at LIN Media, the former licensee of broadcast TV stations now within the Nexstar Media Group family. At LIN, Schmaeling played a key role in that company’s merger with Media General, which Nexstar acquired in 2017.
Schmaeling has also served as the Vice President of Finance at Dow Jones, where he managed the financial planning, analysis, general accounting and transaction processing services for nine business units worldwide. During his tenure at Dow Jones, he played “an instrumental role in transforming the company to provide more diversified multimedia content and information services.” He also helped to facilitate Dow Jones’ 2007 acquisition by News Corp.
Schmaeling, who earned a Bachelor of Science degree in accounting at Rutgers University, is a Certified Public Accountant who began his career at Arthur Andersen in the audit and business advisory practice.
