inventory in Scranton, no managers, and ineffective local sales
executives.”
Given the forward movement everywhere else in the Park empire,
problems with outdoor were the last things my father wanted to be
concerned about. But it wasn’t going to be too long before the problem
was to be dumped back into my lap.
PREPARING TO GO PUBLIC
Forgive me for jumping ahead just a bit to 1982, because 1981, the year
I returned to outdoor, was a sad year for me. It was the year I lost my
friend and mentor, John B. Babcock. That said, in late 1982, with his
broadcasting acquisitions slowing and his newspaper group growing, Pops
began thinking about a new name to encompass all of his holdings, since
both Park Broadcasting and Park Newspapers were too limiting to
encompass his growing media empire. As you might guess (and explained
in Chapter 25), I was back running the outdoor division by this time, and
Pops asked me as the former vice president of advertising and promotion
for Park Broadcasting, Inc., to come up with a new name for his media
companies.
It took less than thirty seconds. I suggested the name I had given to our
tabloid newspaper, Park Communications, and he immediately bought it.
The name was changed in early 1983, and he became chairman, director
and chief executive officer of the newly named Park Communications,
Inc., which went public in October of that year.
At the time the name was changed, the 1,400 outstanding common
shares split 6,000 to 1. The split increased outstanding shares to 8.4
million. After the offering, 9.2 million shares were outstanding, with a
total stock authorization of 18 million shares.
But we went public without Johnnie Babcock. After nineteen years of
managing the enterprise, and being promised the presidency of the
company, he had finally confronted my father and demanded that Pops
make good on his promise. Giving up that title was too much for my
father, even though he would always remain chairman of the board. The
meeting did not go well. Johnnie recounts the way it went down with four
final words next.
CHAPTER 24: FOUR FINAL WORDS
In Johnnie Babcock’s own words: “My personal relationship with Roy
H. Park had a few ripples but seldom a storm. I functioned as operations
coordinator of his companies through 1981 for nineteen years.
