Citadel Taps Judy Ellis as COO

New York radio exec Judy Ellis accepted a new post Monday as the chief operating officer of Citadel Broadcasting Corp., the sixth largest radio group with 205 stations in 42 mid-size markets. Ellis will report to Farid Suleman, chairman and CEO of Citadel.

In November, Ellis, senior vp and market manager for Emmis Communications' three stations in New York, said she would not renew her contract after 16 years with the Indianapolis-based company. Her contract expires in Feb. 2003. During her tenure at Emmis, she has consistently managed to keep WQHT-FM, WRKS-FM, and WQCD-FM among the top 10 stations.

"Judy's strong operating experience and proven ability to develop and grow some of the most prominent radio stations will be invaluable to Citadel in its future growth," said Suleman, who joined Citadel in February after 16 years as Viacom COO Mel Karmazin's CFO and right-hand man.

Citadel was acquired for $2 billion in June 2001 by private investment group Forstmann Little & Co., which took the company private. Since then, Forstmann Little, looking for a return on its investment, hired Suleman, who has been looking to take the company public. In June, Citadel filed an initial public offering for $575 million and amended it last month.