Three very large markets were responsible for most of the revenue drop at the station division: San Francisco, Atlanta and New York. Markets such as Chicago, Nashville, Providence, Tuscaloosa and Lafayette gained ground in the just-ended second quarter. Generally, CEO Farid Suleman says the smaller and medium markets performed better for Citadel than the big markets.

Station topline revenue dropped from $164.5 million to $157.7 million. Also causing a drop in revenue was the ending of an LMA of a talk station in Knoxville. At the Citadel Media syndication operation, revenues fell from $31.2 million to $28.5 million. Suleman says the recent reconfiguration of sales networks "is having a positive effect." Pacing at the radio station division is "comparable to where we were seeing in the second quarter."

As for the planned merger with Cumulus, Suleman says the deal is awaiting approvals from the DOJ and the FCC, but "we don't see any problems." There are shareholder meetings for both companies on September 15, and Suleman says "we are still on target to close by the end of the year."