Paul Finebaum Files Lawsuit Against WJOX Jox 94.5 & Citadel

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• published: 30 Aug 2011
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On Twitter: @AkiemBailum Roll Fine? http://www.bizjournals.com/birmingham/news/2011/08/26/finebaum-lawsuit-claims-breach-of.html Paul Finebaum is a well known syndicated sports talk radio host based out of Birmingham, Alabama. He is based out of Citadel Broadcasting's WJOX-FM "Jox 94.5". Jox is Birmingham's affiliate for ESPN Radio and has been broadcasting the sports talk format for about 20 years on FM. Finebaum's bread and butter is college football. Right now, the main story revolving around Finebaum has nothing to do with Danny Sheridan or Cam Newton's time at Auburn or Harvey Updyke, believe it or not. Finebaum is telling Jox that they can't hold a jock strap to his lawsuit. Paul Finebaum is suing WJOX-FM and Citadel Broadcasting. He specifically named Bill Thomas, the General Manager of the Birmingham radio station according to a report out of the Birmingham Business Journal. The suit alleges that Citadel was allowed to file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection back in late 2009 without Finebaum giving approval. Finebaum knew that such an action by Citadel could have repercussions for his radio show and his affiliates. The Birmingham Business Journal also found out that Citadel did indeed respond to the lawsuit by blasting Michael Douglas in a letter. They say that such a suit was filed so late it can't be considered anything more than frivolous. They wonder why Finebaum and Douglas waited 18 months after the initial filing for bankruptcy protection and 13 months after Citadel reemerged from bankruptcy protection. Citadel has since merged with Cumulus Media as a result of the bankruptcy filing. Cumulus will assume control of all of the Citadel stations including WJOX. Citadel also admits that they were planning to pull Finebaum's show from some stations since ratings weren't as high in some places as they were in others. Citadel clearly didn't want to go nuclear and get rid of Finebaum's show altogether. Ratings clearly show that Finebaum is one of the most listened to personalities given his polarizing nature. He pulls in an overall 20 share among men 25-54 according to Arbitron. The reason why he's so polarizing is because of the Auburn/Alabama rivalry. Auburn fans would love nothing more than to see Finebaum thrown off of the air for good in Alabama but that's not happening anytime soon. Not with his ratings. Another layer to this story is that it may not have come at a more pleasant time for Cox Communications. Cox recently launched a sports station on WNCB 97.3. It is called 97.3 The Zone and an affiliate of Yahoo! Sports Radio. (their first new affiliate since Gow Communications in Houston rebranded Sporting News Radio under the internet sports portal's brand). With the Finebaum/Citadel relationship seemingly heading for a bloody divorce, Finebaum would love nothing more than to pound Jox 94.5 into the ground. Finebaum knows his value and that there will be a huge legion of Birmingham sports fans that will follow him wherever he goes. Cox has admitted to saying that they want Finebaum despite his Citadel contract not expiring until 2013. 97.3 flipped from a Country station known as "97.3 the Buck". The Buck was basically WZZK 104.7's little sister as the secondary affiliate for Rick & Bubba's syndicated morning show. ZZK is the flagship for the "Sexiest Fat Men on Radio". The Buck would air replays of Rick & Bubba's show later on during the day and it is expected (for now) that it'll continue with The Zone. Cox, though, is taking a risk when flipping their Country outlet to Sports. 97.3 and 94.5 both broadcast from Birmingham. 97.3 signal is a mere 6,200 watts. 94.5 is 100,000. Just one of the reasons why Jox has been #1 in BHam for sports for so long. This is why this little internet rumour started making waves...there is a chance Cox could simply be soft-launching 97.3 to move it in the future. There's a Classic Hits station on 106.9 called 106.9 The Eagle. Its signal is far superior to 97.3's and would give 94.5 a bigger run for its money than 97.3 would. The rumour is that Cox is waiting for the Finebaum stuff to be settled so they can take a shot at him. Then, with Finebaum on board at 97.3, they'll move the sports station onto 106.9 and put The Eagle on 97.3. Now, that may not sound like a viable option for Classic Hits fans, but that is the attitude that radio bigwigs are treating the music stations right now. News Talk Info and Sports Talk Info formats are treated like royalty now on radio row. They probably remember what happened when another station moved from 106.9 to 97.3. It flipped almost instantly. So, sorry Auburn fans. Make that two radio companies in Birmingham with "Roll Tide" painted in crimson colors on their walls. Your Opinion...?