Big Chill, Or Grand Opportunity? Dealmaking Insights From An Icon

In September 1992, a financial advisory and investment banking firm specializing in “distressed situations” became known across the broadcasting industry as it teamed with Sam Zell in investing some $127 million in Jacor Broadcasting.

The dollars from Chilmark Partners helped turbo-charged the Randy Michaels-helmed owner of radio stations that became a foundation for today’s iHeartMedia. For Chilmark Managing Principal David Schulte, how private equity and restructuring expertise has impacted the media sector is a topic he knows much about. This makes a Forecast 2025 luncheon conversation with longtime news commentator Juliet Huddy a must-attend event that’s guaranteed to get the crowd’s rapt attention.

From financial strategies to industry trends, Schulte has had a unique vantage point, seeing Jacor rise over six years through its purchase by Clear Channel Communications in 1998 for $4.4 billion.

Speaking to RBR+TVBR ahead of his Forecast 2025 appearance, Schulte was asked if today’s environment for broadcast media can be compared to that of the early 1990s, when an economic downturn following the Persian Gulf War, cost George H.W. Bush a second term as President.

“I don’t think that the two periods are comparable,” Schulte says. “What happened at the time we invested in Jacor is that radio advertising had seen its first decline almost ever, and it was an economic cycle. There was no such thing as the internet to speak of. Streaming? We had never heard of that. The challenges radio has today are greater and are very different.”

Among the concerns voiced in recent years is access to capital. Asked for his thoughts on bringing dollars to potential buyers, Schulte says, “I think there’s a prevailing gloom about the future of radio which has contributed to a broad indifference or dislike of investment in radio. The absence of investment capital for Radio is real. But the cause of it is different from the way it was in the early ’90s. Radio has a lot more competition.”

What about Broadcast Television, and strategic guidance, acquisition support, and other factors that go into making the deal-making market a healthy one? Find out what Schulte has to share only at the in-person Forecast 2025 conference at the Harvard Club in the City of New York on Wednesday, November 13.

Schulte’s appearance during the Luncheon Program of Forecast 2025 comes following the presentation of Lifetime Leadership Awards to retired Katz Television President/CEO Leo MacCourtney and retired Radio Advertising Bureau CEO Erica Farber; and just before a 2024 Fantasy Gifts & Experiences Auction Preview benefiting the Broadcasters Foundation of America and Library of American Broadcasting Foundation.

REGISTER NOW AND TAKE ADVANTAGE OF THE EARLY BIRD RATE BEFORE HALLOWEEN GHOULS SCARES IT INTO FLIGHT!

Forecast 2025 Registration: Early Bird – $1,995