Bell Shuns ‘Interim’ Tag; Seeley’s Joyce Moves to Grubb
OC INSIDER
BY RICK REIFF
So what if Alan Bell is 70? The longtime TV exec, recently promoted to CEO of the OC Register’s holding company, Freedom Communications, says Clint Eastwood is 72 and Paul Newman is 77, and neither of them looks ready to retire. And no, he’s not an “interim” CEO, Bell insists, although he makes that sound like a matter of necessity: “You can’t have a business as fast-moving as this with a caretaker.” But Bell hints his tenure may last only a year or two, or until the fractious heirs of founder R.C. Hoiles resolve their ownership issues. “We hope the inter-generational transfer project comes to fruition, that the people who want out get their dough and those who want to stay, stay. I’ll help them through it.” Bell acknowledged he’s the third CEO in 10 years who doesn’t have a background in newspapers, which account for 75% of Freedom’s revenue. On the other hand, Bell notes TV stations face many of the same audience challenges as newspapers, and the TV operations are 25% of Freedom’s revenue and 30% of the profits: “I do want to point out I’m not an ex-college professor and I’m not a magazine guy,” he says, alluding to his immediate predecessors. “We’re out of the magazine business and we’re very much in the TV business.” Bell says he will “focus on profitability and efficiency as we have not been focused before.” As for boardroom politics, “I will play it absolutely straight. I have friends in every camp. I belong to no one. It’s a very liberating feeling” …
Prominent commercial RE broker Tim Joyce has jumped from Colliers Seeley to Grubb & Ellis. He’s a senior VP, same as before …
Unless his tickets get discounted, too, it will cost more to spend an evening here with Arnold Schwarzenegger than it did with George W. Bush last month. The Sept. 14 fundraiser at Paul and Daranne Folino’s Coto de Caza home is priced from $2,500 to $50,000 per couple …
Former Newport Beach lawyer William Yacobozzi Jr. finished last in a three-way GOP primary race for a Nevada state senate seat …
The Barclay Theatre’s recent New World Flamenco Festival got front-page coverage in the New York Times arts section …
New arrival: Jackson Baugh, to Scott and Wendy Baugh …
Bill Novelli, co-founder of pr agency Porter Novelli and now CEO of AARP, was scheduled to swing through OC this week enroute to his advocacy group’s National Event in San Diego. AARP spokeswoman and UCI alumna Suzanne Miller had the temerity to offer EE RR a lifetime membership …
The Waters & Faubel team is entering the Oct. 5 Orange County Alzheimer’s Association Memory Walk as the “Waubels.” Presumably the name does not reflect their ability to walk in a straight line. For Walk info call (714) 283-1984 …
Entertainer Lorna Luft headlines the Roosters Foundation’s Monte Carlo gala Oct. 12 at The Grove in Anaheim. Call (949) 464-2034.
