Kraig Kitchin, President/COO Premiere Radio Networks is resigning. Kraig and Katz Media CEO Stu Olds were gathered at CCU HQ in San Antonio yesterday for a meeting to hammer out the details. Charlie Rahilly will take over the top job at Premiere. He is currently Executive VP/Operations at CC Radio and its non-traditional revenue chief.
Said Kitchin: "I have enjoyed one of the all-time professional career rides with incredible people at Premiere Radio, both on and off the air. I've been blessed with 20 years of continual successes, incredible trust from very talented people, an ability to formidably improve our industry with both ratings and advertiser successes and the opportunity to make a mark on an industry I love. I thank everyone currently and formerly associated with Premiere, and know that we'll continue to be America's number one radio network with that group of people. My next experience will be much more narrowly focused and I look forward to announcing that once a transition in my position starts to take shape and place. Right now, my focus is on our Premiere team and this year."
Said Natalie Swed Stone, US Director, National Radio Investment, OMD: "I think he has done an incredible job for the industry, and this is a disappointment on a personal level and on a professional level to not have him to work with. Sometimes it takes years to develop a working relationship with somebody, and now he's gone."
SmartMedia observation: Perhaps he just got a better job offer. There are some big openings possibly right now in the network radio business – Westwood and potentially ABC Radio Networks, depending on what Citadel decides to do with its new division – but neither seems to fit with his comment on his next job being more "narrowly focused." We wait to see what's up.
