iHeartMedia Layoffs Bleed Even More Regionalism Out of Radio
“Bloodbath” is how some radio business insiders are describing the big round of layoffs for employees and on-air personalities affecting America’s largest owner of radio stations, iHeartMedia. The percentage of employees laid off by the company formerly known as ClearChannel on Tuesday (1-14) wasn’t especially high considering the company’s estimated 12,500-strong labor force, but it was who received pink slips that has left so many radio professionals and their local listeners in shock.
Disproportionately affecting country music and sports stations, scores of DJs with double digit tenures, including ones behind the microphones of popular and profitable shows were let go by iHeartMedia with no notice, some minutes after finishing their shows in a major restructuring of the company.
WSIX Nashville’s afternoon hosts and syndicated evening personalities Tige & Daniel were let go. On air personality and assistant program director Bree Wagner of KAJA & KRPT in San Antonio and KASE & KVET in Austin was let go, Mike Preston at WPOC in Baltimore and Chad Heritage at KSSN in Little Rock were let go, and Bill Reed of KKXY and KTST in Oklahoma who had been with the company for 26 years was let go, along with many others.
The layoffs started with a strangely-worded missive from iHeartMedia about the company’s future plans, saying the the moves would create “Centers of Excellence” that will use artificial intelligence and other technology to “provide a better experience for listeners and business partners and a more efficient process for all of its employees.”
“iHeart is the rare example of a major traditional media company that has made the successful transformation into a 21st century media company — one with unparalleled scale, reaching 91% of Americans each month with our broadcast assets alone, more than any other media company,” said Chairman/CEO Bob Pittman. “We are now using our considerable investments in technology to modernize our operations and infrastructure, further setting us apart from traditional media companies; improving our services to our consumers and advertising partners; and enhancing the work environment for our employees.”
In other words, they’re replacing employees for algorhythms, eliminating local and regional talent for more national programming, and generally eliminating the last element that makes radio interesting and important, and able to compete with streaming services and podcasts in the digital age: a local personality to connect to and to serve you music, sports, and news with a local perspective.
Though these moves will most certainly offload salary for the company and streamline operations, it’s at the expense of one of the last things that makes radio relevant. Undoubtedly for a major media company to survive, they must modernize, especially when it comes to a dying medium such as radio. But the future of radio remains local, and removing the local element is what has made the medium less viable over time.
As major corporations like iHeartMedia continue to try and cost cut their way to profitability, locally-owned and privately-owned radio stations that set their own playlists, allow local and regional stars their first entry point to an audience, and can engage with communities through local appearances and events will be the ones who survive.
The loss of local-oriented radio is what has allowed the musical monogenre to emerge, making it harder for local and regional talent to break out nationally, and has lent to music sounding the same throughout the country no matter where you are, bleeding out the regional flavor and dialect of entertainment culture.
iHeartMedia filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in March of 2018 listing $12.3 billion in assets and $20.3 billion in debt. After paying debtors pennies on the dollar, they were able to emerge from bankruptcy protection in May of 2019. The iHeartMedia app has been on of the company’s few recent successes, but it’s because it allows people to access local radio personalities no matter where they are.
The cuts may keep iHeartMedia in the black for the short term. But it’s at the expense of the last reason why anyone would turn their radio on in the first place, or pull up a local station through an app: to hear someone you can personally connect with, and serve you the audio content that is most relevant to you. Instead of doubling down on what makes radio cool, they’ve assured that further cuts in on-air personalities that communities connect with will be needed in the future in the further automation of American radio.
Black Boots
January 15, 2020 @ 9:19 am
Tre Cool from Green Day played percussion with Willie Nelson last night. Pretty cool.
Trigger
January 15, 2020 @ 9:49 am
He also played with him a few nights ago in San Francisco. Saw that and thought “hmm.” The fact that he showed up to a second show means something else might be up.
Tom Smith
January 15, 2020 @ 9:43 am
Why would I listen to a radio station that is basically a local version of Spotify or Pandora? One of the reasons I like Sirius is the DJs. I have a Spotify account and listen to music on YouTube, but sometimes I want to hear an actual human who can tell me something about the music or artist. But on the other hand, it’s hard for me to see how a radio station can survive in 2020 while being locally focused and independent. Are there any examples where this is currently working — and turning a profit?
Trigger
January 15, 2020 @ 9:57 am
There’s actually quite a few examples. KOKE here in Austin is doing well playing local and regional Texas/Red Dirt, along with national stuff and Americana. 95.9 The Ranch out of Fort Worth, and 95.3 The Range out of Dallas are two more examples. KEXP out of Seattle is a juggernaut. You also have some NPR affiliates that are huge in their region, like WMOT in Nashville. In fact I think this is where the growth is. Some of these stations don’t have the ratings some of the mainstream stations do, but they have LOYALTY. These are active listeners, not passive listeners. That loyalty and engagement is the same reason a site like Saving Country Music can exist, and even beat out big national publications, because it’s not just about towing the company line. It’s about offering something unique and engaging to an audience.
Mike Seely
January 15, 2020 @ 10:28 am
KBCS (91.3), a college radio station that Bellevue College near Seattle operates, has also emerged as a solid, well-respected programmer of roots music up around these parts. When I hosted house concerts involving Chuck Hawthorne, Libby Koch, and Adam and Chris Carroll this past summer, they plugged them generously–because they were already playing songs by those artists on the air.
Romanas
January 16, 2020 @ 7:55 am
Exactly Trigger. I live in Nashville and the only music station I listen to in my car is WMOT. Great station that runs the gamut of the good stuff. Keeps you informed of local going’s on etc. Tells you who’s about to be played and who just played. What a concept. Human interaction. No hyped up loud voices.
As you said audience is hardcore and loyal.
Can I dream and hope we can somehow this can grow?
Andrew
January 15, 2020 @ 2:26 pm
I don’t know about big markets, but literally every radio station I’ve worked at in Nebraska and Iowa has done exactly that. In fact one of my previous employers more than doubled its ratings when we got off the satellite and went to all live and local.
Locally-oriented radio is not only viable, it’s the way forward if stations want to survive.
Bear
January 15, 2020 @ 11:48 pm
KFJC in Los Altos survives and they have some of the most oddball programming I’m ever seen genre-wise. I personally think radio is actually headed this way overall. People are done with the sameness of radio from one place to next. And they are done with stations the are detached from their own communities. But people still LOVE radio and want the connection radio provides members of the community.
So when people trumpet radio is dead. The way I see the mean the dinosaur of corporate radio is dying out. You can’t be that big without being watered down so much you have no flavor. I personally am involved in the music scene i n the SF area and from what I hear from folks on the street they want radio station like the one’s that used to exist around. Stuff with local color and local personalities who like the same sports teams and eat and the dive joints. And me and the people I work with have every intention of bringing the scene back.
Kris Hitchcock
January 15, 2020 @ 9:46 am
Conrad (B93.7 in Grand Rapids MI) has also been let go, 19+ years there. He was the DJ who first helped me get some music on a lunch hour show, and always helped local country artists in Michigan get some of the rare and valuable opening slots for unsigned artists. Sad to see him axed, with no warning at all.
I Stan for Moe Bandy
January 15, 2020 @ 9:58 am
Limiting the number of stations owned by the same corporation on the Billboard Airplay chart’s panel would go a long way in adding more regional variety. If there were more independently owned stations in “secondary” markets given a place on that panel, those stations that are setting their own playlists could have much more influence.
Because truthfully, more Music and Program Directors than we want to imagine – even on non-corporate stations that have the ability to play whatever they want – are just lazy. Or at least unimaginative. When rotations start to get stale, they just add whatever the latest songs are the latest to debut on the Billboard chart. It takes a lot of work and time to find newer artists that don’t already have the corporate radio stamp of approval (and promotional budget) behind them.
Bobby Bones alone playing a song a handful of times shouldn’t be enough to get a song on the charts.
Trigger
January 15, 2020 @ 11:48 am
This is a very good point, and also plays into the concern for the lack of women and independent artists that get played on country radio. The truth is they get played a lot more via these locally-owned stations. It’s just that the SoundScan and MediaBase panels don’t acknowledge them, which skews the reporting. What is reported on the Billboard charts is basically niche programming being carried by gaggles of corporately-owned stations with the same playlist. In truth, actual country radio as a whole is much more diverse.
Kristen
January 15, 2020 @ 12:15 pm
I don’t think these independent stations are all that great either. You are right they are lazy. I have requested a song to two stations on numerous occasions and they just won’t play it. What happen to playing what the listener wants.
Michelle
January 15, 2020 @ 10:34 am
Yea, AI is soooo spot on. Then why does Pandora and Spotify try to convince me I’ll like so-and-so just because I like this other guy? Human tastes and emotions can’t be mechanized. At least not yet.
Kevin Smith
January 15, 2020 @ 10:38 am
I’m a neophyte in terms of understanding radio economics so bear with me. Isn’t it all about advertising revenue? I’m assuming this is the primary way a radio station takes in $$. And then you have the ratings. So in theory, a widely rated show or program can command higher ad revenue? Assuming this is true then a couple questions. Is ad revenue down across the board, or just in select markets? Are advertisers seeing radio as a dying market? Have advertising fees dropped significantly, as a result? In other words, why the financial hemmorage? If this is the case, then I-Heart sees the solution as changing to robotic programmed top 40 stations or mix stations playing the same old tired drivel. And this is supposed to bring in listeners??!!! How??!! Seems counterintuitive as Trig points out. Unique niche is what will bring people in. Local personalities, local sports talk, well curated music playlists under the helm of people who actually like music are winning ideas to me. I detest these automated “Mix” stations.
Personally, I love local sports talk hosted by people who live in my community and cover our local teams. On the drive home, I love hearing local personalities discuss the days news in a light-hearted and irreverent way.
What does I-Heart see that the rest of us dont? I’d love to know the rationale.
Trigger
January 15, 2020 @ 11:52 am
There are two ways a company can increase their net revenue. 1) They can make more money. 2) They can cut their overhead and pocket more off the revenue they’re already making.
Generally companies try to do both. But when you’re a huge corporation in a contracting market like iHeartMedia, the tendency is to try and cut your way out of budget shortfalls. That’s fine, and sometimes effective, but not if you’re undercutting what makes you valuable in the marketplace, which in the case of radio, it’s serving folks locally-flavored content that Spotify and Joe Rogan can’t compete with.
albert
January 15, 2020 @ 11:52 pm
this is similar in many ways to the problems LIVE music is having surviving in clubs , it would seem …..at least in the vancover ,canada area , although I’ve heard similar stories from friends across north america
as more and more licensed bars, craft breweries , lounges ,restaurants ,neighbourhoond pubs , hotels , cabarets and veterans clubs vye for customers , they each wind up with a smaller piece of the pie. instead of trying to offer something unique and gauge what a patron may want , many take the ‘ save money’ route rather than the ‘ make money’ route and layoff staff , cut their operating hours and , of course , cut or eliminate entertainment budgets . its been a downward spiral for a number of years but has become more pronounced of late .
veterans clubs have a ‘built in obsolescence’ factor to deal with , of course – dwindling numbers of veterans in general and fewer patronizing their clubs . the no-smoking laws and the stiff drinking and driving laws have also contributed to keeping people away in droves from night spots .many, many clubs have resorted to karaoke and or open mic nights , jam sessions ( no costs for entertainment) or sometimes just having live music once or twice a month .
of course all of these coping tactics mean fewer serious musicians are interested in trotting out to a club for ridiculous or often NO compensation leaving amateurs provide cheap entertainment .
its a management thing , to a large extent ….no one seems to know how to make it work . BUT the thing no one seems willing to do is invest MORE into attracting people to clubs and venues by offering BETTER quality entertainment possibly supported by a cover charge when its worth it .
in the past number of years , paying venues have significantly dwindled leaving no place for an act to hone its craft , its chops or develop a following and to ultimately fold up . the scene is flush with inferior players willing to work for gas money and two drink tickets- NOT the way to build business OR support the artists in your community
BP
January 15, 2020 @ 10:42 am
Though a rock station, WMMR in Philadelphia is locally owned. While they still play alot of classic rock they also play new songs and new groups often. In fact I have heard Chris Stapleton often and sturgill Simpson occasionally (midnight train to Memphis and songs from sound and fury). They have local DJ’s and are involved in the community. The most played band in 2019 was Shinedown. One dj always plays one country song during his shift.
KT
January 15, 2020 @ 10:51 am
Why isn’t there more news coverage on this? I mean.. this is a pretty big deal. I don’t listen to radio, but I know who Tige and Daniel are. SCM is about the only site to report on iHeart laying off a ton of people, especially bigger names who people know that don’t even listen to radio. I mean.. to me it’s kind of a big deal. Am I wrong?
Trigger
January 15, 2020 @ 11:55 am
Because in music media, it’s always sunny and they never want to post anything negative. And if you do, you’re ostracized. Also, many media outlets have partnerships with iHeartMeida, and don’t want to upset the apple cart. That said, it is being covered pretty well in radio industry periodicals. Covering the media itself is one of the things I chose to focus on when I started Saving Country Music.
a reader
January 15, 2020 @ 10:59 am
feels like a precursor to a private equity firm takeover. force the old heads out to put younger people in that will take less money, while simultaneously cutting jobs that are ‘redundant.’ this happened to several tv stations at the expense of local news and more centralized offices. iheart has always been too big for its own good and has wielded too much power since it was known as clear channel. hashtag dixie chicks.
Alex
January 15, 2020 @ 11:24 am
Duke FM 93.5 and 99.7 in Green Bay, WI plays classic country. Great variety and plays lesser known album cuts of the years. B93 (93.7) in Sheboygan has a great morning DJ. John Henseler does something different every morning. The station goes downhill after he goes off the air, but we can listen to a few independents in the morning. Both of these stations have a huge local backing. That’s about the extent of decent radio in my neck of the woods.
Tom
January 15, 2020 @ 12:16 pm
While I hate to see layoffs in any industry and despise the continuing homogenization of an industry I worked in and loved for many years, from a programming standpoint I’m not sure if it makes all that much difference in this day and age. Outside of “drive time” slots, most local announcers today pre-record their voice tracks to a hard drive to be dropped in at the appropriate times by programming software. Most announcers aren’t even in the building during their shifts, and if they are they’re generally attending to administrative or production duties and aren’t anywhere near the studio. So while you’re hearing a local voice, it’s not like it’s going to update you on current weather and traffic conditions, announce weather-related closings or cancellations, or tell you to be on the lookout for a lost dog.
When I worked at a station in extreme southeast Iowa years ago, right on the Mississippi. Occasionally someone would call in to report an ambulance coming across the bridge from Illinois, and we would relay that information on the air so anyone listening as they drove down Main Street could prepare to pull over. Occasionally the old swingspan bridge would get stuck in the open position after letting a barge through, and we would pass that along so listeners could alter their travel plans and avoid being stuck on the bridge for sometimes an hour or more. This was the sort of information that all broadcast stations were expected to provide in order to maintain a license not all that many years ago, but has largely disappeared now.
Will
January 15, 2020 @ 12:34 pm
This bleeds into things that are incredibly important to our democracy. News operations got banged in several markets. Since the print media has been decimated, local radio is often the only media covering city, county, or state governmental boards or organizations. Supporting local forms of media is so important for a vibrant music scene, high school/small college sports, and a healthy democracy.
Di Harris
January 15, 2020 @ 2:48 pm
There would be a mutiny in INDY if the Bob & Tom show were pulled.
Not country, but still …
Isaac Kenneth
January 15, 2020 @ 3:16 pm
A pretty dramatic development but not unexpected..so sad to see so many radio folks get let go. That’s just lousy all the way around for them.
hoptowntiger94
January 15, 2020 @ 3:44 pm
With internet and satellite radio, I feel there has never been more DJ opportunities ever. If you are good, you’ll get a job somewhere else. We went thought this with the sports DJs and ESPN personalities. They all eventually landed somewhere else. Maybe making less money to start, maybe not. But they all have more freedom and seem happier. I feel if you have been hanging on to you terrestrial radio job, you are not motivated.
Atomic Zombie Redneck
January 15, 2020 @ 4:00 pm
This really sucks for all the people that lost their jobs.
But how the fuck do you end up TWENTY BILLION DOLLARS in debt? And why didn’t they start by firing the leadership that drove them into debt before they went and sacked the local DJs? What was their CEO and board of directors doing while all this debt was piling up?
I know what they weren’t doing; making good decisions.
Spectrum Pulse
January 16, 2020 @ 12:40 pm
Funny you should ask that: a lot of that debt didn’t actually come from iHeartRadio. They were carrying a lot of debt from all the acquisitions and radio consolidation (~8 billion), but then Bain Capital came in, bought the company through a leveraged buyout, and added an additional twelve billion dollars of debt to iHeartRadio’s balance sheets, which drove it into the ground.
That’s not to say iHeartRadio is blameless here – they’re absolutely not – but they’re as much of a victim of vulture capitalists and private equity as Sears and Toys R Us. It’s gross. Source: https://boingboing.net/2018/03/16/craigslist-not-to-blame.html
Atomic Zombie Redneck
January 16, 2020 @ 1:06 pm
A great explanation, thank you!
Ben
January 15, 2020 @ 5:16 pm
IHeart Radio station or not, 96.1 in OKC plays a good mix of classic and modern country. Bill Reed gives me the weather, traffic, and a cool story in between songs every morning during my 90 minute drive to work between 430 and 6am. He will be greatly missed. This is very sad and irritating.
DJ
January 15, 2020 @ 6:14 pm
This is an interesting topic to me as my cognitive listening days date back to Wolf Man Jack out of the Rio Grande Valley area and KOMA out of OK City in the early to mid 60’s- that was the only two stations we could get in the small west Texas town of Pecos.
I moved to Houston when I got out of the Navy in late 68 and there was KIKK 650 AM- a genuine Country station if ever there was one, but, they signed off early (10pm) IMS- they had some *good* DJ’s who knew the music they played and a couple of them, Arch Yancey and Jackey Ward who were even fair to middlin singers in their own right who played local gigs-
One of the DJ’s, the most popular with the 6 to 10 am show even garnered enough people in his corner to run for a County Constable seat and win- they added FM 24/7 and started going downhill IMO- the big thing in Country here became KENR 1070 AM- it had some pretty good DJ;s whose live ads were at times entertaining- this was happening just after or during the news worthy payola crap that went on- Program Directors started choosing what songs got played and I swear you could almost set your watch by the song played E.V.E.R.Y. day. Soon I was listening to the oldies station- that’s when I noticed, in the early 90’s that the shows were focusing more on the DJ’s than the music- I started listening to talk radio, Rush Limbaugh in particular. I figured if I had to listen to somebody blather on it might as well be on a station that featured that and not a music station because the auditioners pissed me off- a few years ago the shop where I took care of a sprint car had a decent stereo system so I often tuned to the Classic Country station in Houston- I listened to it for back ground noise as much as anything though the DJ seemed to be pretty good- he knew about the music he was playing and offered tid bits of info- if that wasn’t on the satellite TV had some pretty good variety and no DJ -In 04 I started driving a big rig over the road and listened to Sirius, talk and music- there was some good programming involved on both- now, I never listen to radio and when I do the DJ’s make me think of someone auditioning for a TV slot- of course this is the Readers Digest condensed version, but, the bullet points remain the same- the main one being, I don’t listen to radio to hear a DJ auditioning for a TV slot. It seems, at least in a major market like Houston, radio became a launching pad for TV as I’ve seen more than one on the local affiliates- so it seems it brought about its own demise and as any industry learns, usually the hard way, something or someone will replace it with whatever- it’s sad, but true. We adapt, or die. I’m glad I’m the age I am as my willingness and patience with adapting is running a bit short.
Good luck to all those who carry the torch of whatever industry it might be.
Blackh4t
January 16, 2020 @ 1:01 am
I travel a lot internationally, I love it when I hire a car and tune the radio to some local station and get the local gossip, the music and the vibe.
Last time I visited USA I was disappointed that there were very few interesting local stations.
Incidentally I’ve been wondering recently if other readers are interested in real life meetups and showing visitors where the best music spots are.
I’m afraid I can’t offer much, my town just got badly burnt (I’m sure you have all heard about the fires in Australia) but I’m running the local open mic tomorrow because as long as the pub stands we have a town.
My little town can out-country any Luke Bryan song. Which is why we play folk music and not Luke Bryan.
Trainwreck92
January 16, 2020 @ 3:30 pm
Sorry to hear about your town, Blackh4t. I know how devastating wildfires can be, so I hope you’re doing alright, mate.
Terry
January 16, 2020 @ 7:26 am
I love music and love travelling the country putting on local stations to get the feel of the area.
Fond memories driving through West Texas listening to a Western Swing show, through North Carolina hearing bluegrass, and this summer going though Tennessee hearing WSM or other local country stations.
With all the music I have picked up from Trigger’s suggestions (presently its old Tami Neilson, Maddox Brothers & Rose, Paul Overstreet, McKay & Leigh) I don’t have time for radio. I much rather listen to my collection and rely on sites like this for new music.
Sonia K Mullins
February 26, 2020 @ 5:31 pm
I really miss Tige and Daniel. Eddy Fox is great but I miss them. They made me laugh on my drive home. Their sensual about outs were stupidly cheesey but hilarious. I refuse to listen to Bobby Bones. I like him and Eddy. Amy is sooooo pretentious. Lunchbox and Ray Mundo are complete jerks. I completely listen to something else…. anything else than their show in the am. I even change the station when I hear Lunchbox, Amy or Ray do ads on off times.
David Stroud
November 21, 2020 @ 3:36 pm
The problem are two fold why radio stations are going under while the small Independent stations are still going strong.
1,Large stations are playing music that is not the same as the genre. Alternative rock sounds like pop. Rock sounds like pop. Country sounds like pop. This leaves many artists without a home on the radio these days.
2.Letting go of their most popular DJs for a national show. People here in Little Rock cared more of their local DJ than Bobby Bones.
3.Label industry putting people in the wrong genres. A lot of artists from all genres are now being labeled Americana like Bruce Springsteen, Willie Nelson, Mary Chapin Carpenter, Rosanne Cash, Tanya Tucker, Dave Matthews Band, Toed the Wet Sprocketts etc.
4.iHeartmedia going bankrupt while the small independent radio stations who still play the legends and new artists who play tradiotional country like Jon Pardi, Midland and others are growing stronger.