Over 100 cuts today... In Houston, I can confirm that Tony Luna PD for KLOL has been let go and a few other elements from the Houston Cluster.
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AUDACY CUTS IN HOUSTON
- Thread starter radioislife2020
- Start date
Just under 100 companywide...
BRING BACK ROCK 101 KLOL! J/K!
Tony is well respected Pd having worked in Nyc with sbs.. It would be interesting to see if he was to stay in Houston and let's say sbs gave him another run.
Probably nothing. As stated earlier, this is part of a company-wide layoff likely stemming from bankruptcy restructuring. Mega 101 is probably safe.
At this point, the disrespect shown towards Mega in favor of "Rock 101" seems silly. Mega is about to be 20 years old! While it is still 14 years away from matching the total lifespan of "Rock101", going past the halfway point is impressive. Sometimes, I don't think this board realizes just how long Mega has been on the air. The current iteration of Mega 101 (Spanish AC) has now gone on longer than the last two iterations of "Rock101" combined!
My report earlier this month specifically mentioned this week as when they would take place.
Gotcha, thanks for the accurate reporting as always!
He was also a very respected and successful PD in Puerto Rico before going with HBC in New York, prior to moving to SBS.
He's a good guy and great programmer.
Far-fetched suggestions for KLOL.... I believe that Tony Luna is highly respected nationwide as an outstanding program director who was an ideal match for the format. It left several individuals puzzled as to the events leading to his termination and questioning the reasons behind it. With Tony Luna no longer involved, JD Gonzales takes over the driver seat . JD and Raul Brindis share a strong bond of friendship. Could it be that JD and the team at Audacy are planning a format change for KLOL, with Raul Brindis taking the wheel? It is likely that Raul's ego desires a competitive signal, and many producers, DJs, and staff who work for Raul may not view KROI as a complete market signal due to not being 100k at Senior Rd. KROI has a history of being a favorite dumping ground and has previously attempted to attract a Mexican Regional audience without success. The prevailing uncertainty surrounding SBS cash flow and potential closure likely does not instill a sense of confidence in Raul. Raul's non-compete agreement will expire in December, which is approaching quickly. Again maybe far-fetched but think about it.
But Raul Brindis is a very smart man, I bet he knows about all these budget cuts going around on Audacy. Would he risk joining that company?
I was listening to the Eagle on this past Thursday evening and the air personality took a caller: "I'm so glad you're here, I used to love listening to you on 101 KLOL!"
Mega has proven its worth despite sitting on some storied grounds. At the same time, Rock 101 is a brand people still love and remember after being off the air for 20 years -- with a heyday some time before that. Assuming Audacy inherited the KLOL archives and brand from Clear Channel, they'd be smart to do something with them.
They may like the brand, but there isn't as much consensus music as there was then. So playing music becomes problematic. What the heritage rock stations have evolved into is a form of hot talk with music using the heritage hosts. That's what you hear at KISW, WMMS, and places like that. They tried doing something like that at KEGL in Dallas, but screwed up the music part.
That's an interesting idea. Branding and IP don't take up storage space. Tapes and CDs do. Conversion to digital takes time and personnel. So unless care was taken to preserve airchecks and archives, it was likely dumped due to lack of space.
KLOL, in my opinion, peaked in the late 80s, early 90s. After that, it wasn't as popular as some of you romanticize it.
To put that in perspective, a 30 year old in 1990 that listened to KLOL will be reaching retirement age (65) in less than a year. The brand is too old to be relevant to the demographics that matter. People entering the workforce today never experienced "KLOL" as a rock station. Mega is now an Hispanic household name and a much more powerful brand than "Rock 101".
Right! You have a near-6-figure talent coming in to replace a PD who made a fraction of that?
And a format change from what is sorta' comparable to Hot AC to Regional Mexican would cause the loss of millions in existing revenue with a slow (if any) recuperation of billing with an unproven new format. My guess is that a format switch might cost them somewhere around $5 million.
David, I do concur with your viewpoint but Raul no longer commands a six-figure salary. It is likely that his ego exceeds his desire for revenge against Univision for terminating his employment. In my opinion, if he truly wishes to re-enter the competition, he must seize every opportunity that comes his way. Do you not believe that KLOL could potentially generate higher revenue within the Mexican Regional music format? They did it in Dallas.
Huh? A “six figure talent” might only be earning $100k/year, which in 2024 is rather paltry.
A “near six figure talent” would be earning $99k/year or less.
$100k isn’t what it used to be.
It also caught some lucky breaks, as in ABC's sale of KSRR (97 Rock) to Malrite, which decided to ditch 97 Rock's AOR format, thereby leaving KLOL without direct competition. Yeah, KZFX came on shortly after that, but it was more of a classic rock station and had signal issues.
Just as most other stations have to do, KLOL evolved over time. The KLOL of 1985-86, which I was most familiar with, wasn't the KLOL of 1971, to name an example. Yes, there was continuity of a sort, but there were notable differences, too.
Much less "Mother".