Why all the animosity towards iHeart? Let me ask you, what makes Entercom or Beasley any different from iHeart? They are all corporate radio giants and to be honest the most known out of the three is iHeart! What gives?
Beasley has very strong financials, and although they have a reputation for being frugal, they have not cheapened their product in order to stave off bankruptcy.
Entercom... they were a sinking ship for a while, they got a de-listing letter, a single share if their stock was worth less than a copy of the Herald on any given day. Was there cost cutting and job losses? You bet! But they managed to bail out the boat and they seem to be in pretty good shape now.
I get it radio is a business, and although we as listeners might not like the programming decisions made in order to be profitable, it is part of life.
Now we get to Clear Channel and their subsequent radio entities....
At the absolute top of the frenzy where radio stations licenses were considered a license to print money, Bain Partners and Lee Capital ( IIRC) decided to get into the radio game and signed a P&S to buy what was then C.C.
After the P&S was signed, and before the deal closed, radio stations started tanking in value, and the deal almost didn't go through, it was actually delayed, because the new owners realized they would be upside down from the start, and all of it was financed by notes with huge interest rates.
Then the Economy crashed... they had enough money to run the boat, but not enough to pay the bond holders.
This issue goes back almost a decade, and they got people to double down by offering even higher payments in they would extend the life of the debt in hopes things would turn around.
In the midst of all this were the frequent and predictable cuts to front line staff, talent, producers, etc.... every September the axe would swing and more people would be shown the door, oh by the way we will empty your desk for you and send you your personal property.
Sometimes the cuts were done at random times as revenue did not meet expectations and things needed to be balanced out.
Things did not get any better, cut after cut, more and more local talent and support staff were sent to the beach, more cookie cutter programming ( Seacrest, et al) sent to the stations to run instead of local talent.
So that is my gripe with CC, CCM&e, IHrt, etc. They went into a deal that was never going to work, they kept swinging the axe and ruining the product, they cooked the books in order to stay above water, and after 12 years the inevitable has happened, they have no more tricks up their sleeve, and the wolf is at the door.
No other radio entity, even CBS and Cumulus... I'll even toss in Nassau and Greater Media, inflicted the damage to the "little guy" who slaved away at the Mic, or close to it the way IHrt did. I will admit Nassau and Greater Media did swing the axes fast and furiously at the end of their existences.
I don't think there is anyone who is going to read this, that does not know at least one person who was sent to the beach by IHrt in a cost cutting move.
That is my gripe with IHrt, the bean counters ran the place into the ground and inflicted a lot of pain on good people in the process.
