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.