CFO-board member quitting on Paxson
TV group selling more stations
Tek called his six years at Paxson "exciting" but said he was leaving the West Palm Beach, Fla.-based group of 72 television stations to pursue a financial position at an undisclosed broadcasting company more like the "entrepreneurial environment such as I enjoyed at Paxson over the early years."
The resignation came two days after Paxson reported a $76.4 million loss in the fourth quarter, compared with profits of $174.1 million in the year-ago quarter.
Most of the loss, as well as $137 million in red ink for all of 1998, was attributed to start-up costs associated with the family-oriented Pax network launched by the company last August.
While reporting its financials, Paxson also revealed plans to raise between $50 million and $75 million by selling additional stations and admitted to being in discussions with potential suitors.
Since then, unconfirmed reports have identified both Time Warner and General Electric as interested in partnering with Paxson and helping to shore up its struggling weblet. This drove Paxson stock up nearly 15% Friday to close at $9.38 a share.
Last fall, after the recently launched Pax TV failed to deliver the 1 rating sought by its parent company, the stock fell from double digits to a low of $5.19 a share.
On the bright side, the company, which reaches 70% of the country's TV households, said ratings among viewers 18 to 49 had jumped more than 50% since it launched Pax TV.
Paxson said Friday that current controller and chief accounting officer Ken Gamache would serve as interim CFO as the company searches for Tek's permanent successor.
