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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT: SHERRY ROTHENBERG
(212) 641-2048
WESTWOOD
ONE PRESIDENT AND CEO SHANE COPPOLA RESIGNS;
BOARD OF DIRECTORS NAMES JOEL HOLLANDER INTERIM CEO
New York,
NY -- December 8, 2005 - Westwood One, Inc. (NYSE: WON) today
announced that Shane Coppola is stepping down from his position as President
and Chief Executive Officer of Westwood One effective today. Mr. Coppola,
who is also resigning as a Director, will continue to serve as a consultant
to the Company and its Board of Directors through June 2007. The Board
of Directors of Westwood One has named the Chairman and Chief Executive
Officer of Infinity Broadcasting Corporation, Joel Hollander, as interim
President and CEO. A search for a permanent successor will begin immediately.
Currently a director and formerly President and CEO of Westwood One (1998-2003),
Mr. Hollander has served in his current executive role with Infinity since
January 2005. He will continue to serve in this position with overall
responsibility for Infinity's 179 radio stations as well as oversight
of the day-to-day operations of Infinity, a wholly- owned subsidiary of
Viacom Inc. Previously, he was President and Chief Operating Officer of
Infinity (2003-2005).
“We thank Shane for his leadership and contributions to Westwood
One over the past three years,” said Mr. Hollander. “He leaves
a strong foundation upon which to build as we move forward with the Company’s
vision and strategy for enhancing shareholder value.”
Mr. Coppola, stated: “Although I am saddened to leave my colleagues
at Westwood One, I feel the time is right for me to pursue other professional
opportunities. I look forward to assisting Joel and the Board, with whom
I continue to have an excellent working relationship, in helping Westwood
One expand and build on its solid reputation as a preeminent content provider.”
ABOUT WESTWOOD
ONE
.
Westwood One provides over 150 news, sports, music, talk, entertainment
programs, features, live events and 24/7 Formats. Through its subsidiaries,
Metro Networks/Shadow Broadcast Services, Westwood One provides local
content to the radio and TV industries including news, sports, weather,
traffic, video news services and other information. SmartRoute Systems
manages traffic information centers for state and local departments of
transportation, and markets traffic and travel content to wireless, Internet,
in-vehicle navigation systems and voice portal customers. Westwood One
serves more than 5,000 radio stations. Westwood One is managed by Infinity
Broadcasting Corporation, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Viacom Inc.
Certain statements in this release constitute “forward-looking statements”
within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of
1995. Such forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks,
uncertainties and other factors which may cause the actual results, performance
or achievements of the Company to be materially different from any future
results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by such forward-looking
statements. In addition, any statements that refer to expectations or
other characterizations of future events or circumstances are forward-looking
statements.
Various risks that could cause future results to differ from
those expressed by the forward-looking statements included in this release
include, but are not limited to: changes in economic conditions in the
U.S. and in other countries in which Westwood One currently does business
(both general and relative to the advertising and entertainment industries);
fluctuations in interest rates; changes in industry conditions; changes
in operating performance; shifts in population and other demographics;
changes in the level of competition for advertising dollars; fluctuations
in operating costs; technological changes and innovations; changes in
labor conditions; changes in governmental regulations and policies and
actions of regulatory bodies; changes in tax rates; changes in capital
expenditure requirements and access to capital markets. Other key risks
are described in the Company’s reports filed with the United States
Securities and Exchange Commission.
Except as otherwise stated in this
news announcement, Westwood One does not undertake any obligation to publicly
update or revise any forward-looking statements because of new information,
future events or otherwise.
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