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IHeart News Staffing Cuts
- Thread starter byron
- Start date
Alan McBride been with FRN since forever.
I've been noticing these state radio networks have been closing down around the country.
Nebraska shut down a couple months ago.
https://www.radiodiscussions.com/sh...raska-News-Network-closing&highlight=nebraska
Nope.
That's only an opinion of your's, not really based on fact.
Crap Ch. let many people go nationwide, not only at news-talk stations, but also at top-rated ACs.
The morning show duo in Wichita, KS, for example, which was the market's No. 1 morning show, got the boot.
The host believes his show will be replaced by syndicated OFF THE BIRD programming.
https://www.kansas.com/news/business/biz-columns-blogs/carrie-rengers/article229102444.html?fbclid=IwAR13tOYN2hpdp689LJs6OxCFw2R0UY8ClCaQlYQReWqzKHVxuhhAGJMNATg
More on the latest round of I HATE RADIO's layoffs.
https://5mag.net/news/iheartmedia-iheartradio-lay-offs-ipo/?fbclid=IwAR3StBCrdLaYOHW49hl9zGLU_RvFzULapqsnGxHcwBPXFJB0KyNPZ7VV2us
Among the reporters that ALL ACCESS hears have left their buildings were News-Talk WFLA-A/TAMPA anchor STEVE HALL and reporter SHARON PARKER, FLORIDA NEWS NETWORK anchor ALAN MCBRIDE and TALLAHASSEE Bureau Chief RICK FLAGG, News-Talk WRNO/NEW ORLEANS anchor LISAMARIE LUMINAIS, and News-Talk WTAM-A/CLEVELAND Assistant News Dir. TOM MOORE, JOHN COOPER, KATHY DAVIS and part-time news anchor JUDY THOMPSON. Also on the beach is ROBERT BUAN at WLAC and the TENNESSEE RADIO NETWORK.
https://5mag.net/news/iheartmedia-iheartradio-lay-offs-ipo/?fbclid=IwAR3StBCrdLaYOHW49hl9zGLU_RvFzULapqsnGxHcwBPXFJB0KyNPZ7VV2us
Among the reporters that ALL ACCESS hears have left their buildings were News-Talk WFLA-A/TAMPA anchor STEVE HALL and reporter SHARON PARKER, FLORIDA NEWS NETWORK anchor ALAN MCBRIDE and TALLAHASSEE Bureau Chief RICK FLAGG, News-Talk WRNO/NEW ORLEANS anchor LISAMARIE LUMINAIS, and News-Talk WTAM-A/CLEVELAND Assistant News Dir. TOM MOORE, JOHN COOPER, KATHY DAVIS and part-time news anchor JUDY THOMPSON. Also on the beach is ROBERT BUAN at WLAC and the TENNESSEE RADIO NETWORK.
Wow...whatever happened to straight news reporting? Is everyone in the opinion business now?
If the company was so bad, why did all those people stay there? They knew the company was in trouble. It wasn't a big secret.
They should all be happy to be out of a company that has made radio an "unlistenable mess." Let's see if they get hired by Spotify.
Your posting, too, was opinion.
Nothing to do with fact. All speculation.
AC stations are hardly "aging demos," yet they're getting cut, too, by the I Hate Media braintrust.
Right, go fire the No. 1 radio team in the market on the market's top-rated station. Makes a lot of sense.
Notice the online report of the AC station layoffs.
The station's coward general manager -- who lives nowhere near the market -- was too chicken to comment to the newspaper.
Something to hide?
How can a "station manager" not even live in the station's market?
You I-Heart yes-men please defend that.
Oh, that's right. Everything is centrally planned, like COMMUNISM, which the Mays thugs hate (such "conservatives" they are).
Radio stations are nothing but "profit centers." Talent is a draw on the owners' profits.
We can program everything from somewhere else...
WFLA is this market's leading news-talk.
If the demos are such a "problem," then why stick with the same talk programming?
Nothing to do with fact. All speculation.
AC stations are hardly "aging demos," yet they're getting cut, too, by the I Hate Media braintrust.
Right, go fire the No. 1 radio team in the market on the market's top-rated station. Makes a lot of sense.
Notice the online report of the AC station layoffs.
The station's coward general manager -- who lives nowhere near the market -- was too chicken to comment to the newspaper.
Something to hide?
How can a "station manager" not even live in the station's market?
You I-Heart yes-men please defend that.
Oh, that's right. Everything is centrally planned, like COMMUNISM, which the Mays thugs hate (such "conservatives" they are).
Radio stations are nothing but "profit centers." Talent is a draw on the owners' profits.
We can program everything from somewhere else...
WFLA is this market's leading news-talk.
If the demos are such a "problem," then why stick with the same talk programming?
This is a discussion board. Not intended to be news reporting.
My comment was about the story you linked, not your post.
Don't blame the managers. They're just doing what they're being told to do.
No one is forced to work for iHeart. Lots of jobs at Pandora.
If the morning show was too expensive, it had to be cut back. Syndication is a very viable alternative.
Sometimes it is better to have a good regional manager than a mediocre single market manager.
Going back to the late 60's I used to manage a half dozen markets and it worked pretty well. There is no reason to think that such a system won't work today with enhanced communications resources.
In any case, what sort of positive remark could the manager make? It's better to shut up and move on.
It's been done for decades in many cases. If you have a really good manager, why not?
Communism is not principally about central planning. Communism is about the distribution of wealth according to needs rather than according to abilities.
And most have been "profit centers" since ads were first sold in the 20's.
So is the light bill, insurance, rent and tons of other things. It is managements job to spend money efficiently.
In many cases, that is very true. The only reason we did not see that being done more in the past was the limitation of technology.
Ah, and Bill Drake did not program Detroit, Memphis, Boston, New York, San Francisco and the rest from LA? Gordon McLendon and crew did not decide on programming for Buffalo and Louisville and Chicago and LA and San Francisco and Houston and San Antonio and Shreeveport and El Paso from Dallas? And Todd Storz did not call the shots for Miami, NOLA, Kansas City, St Louis, the Twin Cities , Oklahoma City from his HQ?
And it is not even top 20 in 25-54!
... because there is no other option other than shutting it off.
The thing some don't see is this isn't an iHeart problem or even a radio problem. This is an ad-based media problem. ESPN is letting people go. BuzzFeed let a lot of people go. I'm hearing there are a lot of changes about to hit some big streaming companies. Even healthy companies like Entercom are letting people go. No one is immune here.
Add to that point the trouble Nielsen is in and which has driven it to be looking for a merger or acquisition partner. There are huge changes in the whole marketing dynamic, from how purchases are made to distribution to the value of traditional brands.
Local radio depends on retail business. And the shrinkage of retail ad dollars, first due to big box stores and then due to online purchases, has made it very necessary to reduce costs at the local radio level.
It's usual here on these boards to blame radio companies themselves for billing declines and to use childish names to refer to them. But the real issue is that local retail dollars have been reduced and radio has to adapt to a more frugal future.
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But....but..if it wasn't for iHeart, radio would be programmed exactly like it was in 1968! Everybody on this board would be a 60 year old rock jock!
David, thank you for keeping this board in check. As someone working off-and-on in the radio business for over a decade now, I can honestly say that you have earned your radio wings. I might not always been the champion of consolidated radio clusters, or the free market on principle alone, but I feel like I do more listening than typing when you chime in. It's a pleasure to read about your experiences in this industry.
I didn't realize that this thread existed. Sad to hear about Rick Flagg. I liked him.
I too was one of the April cuts myself. -John Rogger, News Reporter WIOD
Everyone wants to point to bad guys, but the reality is the business model is changing.
....and there is a problem with that? I guarantee radio would sound better than it does today.
As I have mentioned several times in the last few days...
Radio today, adjusted for inflation, bills about one-third of what it billed in 2000. Yet there are more stations, and listening levels in some markets are off by as much as 60%.
Radio can't do what it did in 1960. And the Gen X and Millennials don't want that kind of radio. A fast-talking jock trying to have their last syllable end at the post on each song is not considered attractive today... and that is just one example of how 60's radio is obsolete, even among most Boomers!
G
Groove1670
Guest
I'm in the trenches everyday. It never seems to amaze to me the ill informed posts that I read everyday. Radio from 40-50 years ago is not coming back.
I wonder how long it took you to do that complete post with three quarters of a dozen quotes;
you really put a lot into it; it would have taken me an hour if not several hours.
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