Since purchasing 77 WABC, John Catsimatidis has returned the New York news/talk station to prominence.
During an interview with RAB President and CEO Erica Farber for the Radio on Main Street podcast, Catsimatidis discussed a wide variety of topics. When asked why he purchased the station, he said the reasoning was simple.
“I believe in getting the truth out,” Catsimatidis said. “WABC is one of the most powerful stations now on the East Coast. We have a lot of listeners and getting the truth out and letting people understand what’s going on in our city, our state, our country… is very important.”
The Red Apple Media owner went as far as to claim he has fired people for not telling the truth, saying his edict to each host on the station is “You better tell the truth”.
“He twisted around the truth, and I don’t go for that crap,” Catsimatidis said of his ex-employee.
Joining Catsimatidis in the interview was Red Apple Media President Chad Lopez, who said he questioned Catsimatidis when he wanted to remove all the brokered weekend shows from the schedule — which brought in $2.7 million in revenue — and staff it with live and local personalities.
“You could imagine my VP of Sales and myself saying, ‘John, are you sure we’re going to do this?’” joked Lopez.
“We got rid of all the lawyers, accountants, financial advisors… all the con artists,” said Catsimatidis. “And now we have real people. We’re live almost 24/7.”
