SANTA ANA, Calif., June 17, 2010 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- ACME Communications, Inc. (Pink Sheets:ACME) today announced a restructure of its corporate and station operations resulting from its recently announced LIN Media transaction.
Doug Gealy, a co-founder who currently serves as the Company's President and Chief Operating Officer, will become President and Chief Executive Officer. Stan Gill, who currently serves as the Vice President / General Manager of the Company's KWBQ / KASY duopoly in the Albuquerque-Santa Fe marketplace, will become the Company's Chief Operating Officer while still retaining his oversight of KWBQ and KASY. John Hannon, who currently serves as the Vice President / General Manager of WBDT -- the Company's Dayton station -- will become the Company's Executive Vice President. The three executives will oversee and manage all of the Company's television stations, The Daily Buzz and manage the relationship with LIN Media. All three promotions are effective July 1, 2010.
In connection with the restructure, the Company will significantly pare back the rest of its corporate staff. Effective mid-July 2010, Tom Allen, a co-founder of the Company and its Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer, will transition into a consulting role, and will assist Mr. Gealy in finding appropriate exit paths for the Company. Mr. Allen will continue to serve on the Company's Board of Directors.
Jamie Kellner, the Company's co-founder and current Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, will continue to serve as Chairman.
Commenting on the restructure, Mr. Gealy said, "The recently completed LIN Media and Fisher Communications deals were important events for the Company and will hopefully speed an orderly exit for ACME. This reorganization allows the Company to focus on exit strategies while leveraging our best internal resources on building value for our remaining assets. Both Stan Gill and John Hannon have had exemplary careers at ACME and are well deserving of these promotions. I am confident they will excel in their new expanded roles. We expect the annualized costs savings between our corporate and station operations to exceed $600,000 per year." He added, "Between this restructure and the LIN Media transaction, we will be terminating a meaningful percentage of our corporate management and, along with the elimination of our local general managers at our stations, our station employee base. Those affected employees have served the Company well, many for over a decade, and we thank them for their loyal service and wish them the best in their future endeavors."
About ACME Communications, Inc.
ACME Communications, Inc. owns and operates six television stations serving markets covering 2.2% of the nation's television households. The Company's stations are: KWBQ-TV and KASY-TV, Albuquerque-Santa Fe, NM; WBXX-TV, Knoxville, TN; WBDT-TV, Dayton, OH; WIWB-TV, Green Bay-Appleton, WI and WBUW-TV, Madison, WI. All of the Company's stations, except KASY-TV, a MyNetworkTV affiliate, are affiliates of The CW Network. The Company also produces The Daily Buzz, a nationally syndicated morning news and lifestyle program which airs 161 television stations across the country. The Company's shares are traded over-the-counter under the symbol: ACME.PK.