iHeart Radio announces major restructuring

[CTListener]

All Access:
WBZ also cuts ties with overnight talk host Bradley Jay.

So this last bastion of local overnight talk will be turned over to syndication now?

 

[spt87]

So this last bastion of local overnight talk will be turned over to syndication now?

Radio is its own worst enemy. The more programming is cut the less people listen. Most AM stations died as much due to the radio industry abandoning it and making a junkyard of garbage programs as anything else.

In the past I would have been looking to email someone or make some noise as when Steve Leveille was let go. At this point I’ve kinda given up and just accept that radio will continue a slow spiral down the drain.

National feeds and info that duplicate what I can get from multiple other places. Good luck.

 

[spt87]

Is there quantifiable evidence of this, or merely anecdotal and/or personal experience? And if this is a legitimate factor in listenership, does it positively impact the profit margin of WBZ?

Just a guess. Deb was there 35 years with probably close to 30 of those in morning drive. With normal cost of living raises she was probably one of the higher paid on air staff. Josh was brought in as the “name” personality for the morning news in the tradition of Gary LaPierre, Joe Matthieu, etc. iHeart doesn’t seem to promote the anchors the way CBS did. Its just the news with a couple anchors. Rod Fritz - kind of a unique personality. The new anchors just read the copy without too much flair. They probably make less.

 

[TheBigA]

Radio is its own worst enemy. The more programming is cut the less people listen.

That's why they're not cutting programming. People are being cut, but programming will remain.

Most AM stations died as much due to the radio industry abandoning it and making a junkyard of garbage programs as anything else.

That's not true. Audiences abandoned AM for FM first. Once the audiences disappeared, the stations had no money for staff.

 

[CTListener]

That's not true. Audiences abandoned AM for FM first. Once the audiences disappeared, the stations had no money for staff.

Although WBZ still has a sizable audience, but I suppose its billing underperforms due to the age of that audience.

 

[raccoonradio]

Fybush on facebook said RKO lost an assistant PD and a show producer.

Years ago BZ cancelled Brudnoy in favor of syndie Tom Snyder.Reversed after listener protests.Then at some point WBZ eliminated Steve Leveille broadcast and Lovell Dyett show in favor of Overnight America which sister stations in St Louis (its home), Pitt. and Minn. also picked up.

Steve returned after listener protests but retired not long after.Dyett got a half hr in middle of the night.

Bay State Rock facebook group urging its members to write WBZ and try to reverse the decision.

 

[Eli Polonsky]

Years ago BZ cancelled Brudnoy in favor of syndie Tom Snyder.Reversed after listener protests.Then at some point WBZ eliminated Steve Leveille broadcast and Lovell Dyett show in favor of Overnight America which sister stations in St Louis (its home), Pitt. and Minn. also picked up.

Steve returned after listener protests but retired not long after.Dyett got a half hr in middle of the night.

Bay State Rock facebook group urging its members to write WBZ and try to reverse the decision.

Those happened years ago under CBS. I very much doubt it will happen now with iHeart.

 

[spt87]

That's why they're not cutting programming. People are being cut, but programming will remain.

So they cut Bradley Jay - sounds like a programming cut to me. I guess we will see what comes on at midnight but if it is Red Eye America or George Noory I’ll chalk that up to a programming cut.

That's not true. Audiences abandoned AM for FM first. Once the audiences disappeared, the stations had no money for staff.

Yes its not completely true BUT there is some truth to it. In this case you’ve got a station bringing in plenty of money but we cut anyway and work to get a negative feedback loop started. Same thing happened on plenty of other AM’s and once you lose the audience on an AM it is probably a lot harder to get it back.

Its their station - if they want to flush it have fun.

They may need to very quickly re cut a bunch of bumpers if they are no longer “always live, always local”. Wouldn’t want any false advertising going on.

 

[spt87]

I do have a paid iheart radio subscription. I bought it after they purchased WBZ as a show of support since the mostly didn’t break anything and made a few things better. I’ll see what happens over the next day or two but I’ll likely be canceling that.

 

[WMC2006]

Scott Fybush reports that Tony Bristol is gone from Worcester's WSRS/WTAG and WSRS morning co-host Greg Bedard is gone:

Another veteran who’s out is Tony Bristol in Worcester, who served as PD of AC WSRS (96.1) and news-talk WTAG (580/94.9) since joining the cluster in 2015.

Also gone in Worcester is WSRS morning co-host Greg Bedard – and when you then add in the cut down the Pike in Springfield that claimed the job of WHYN-FM (93.1) co-host Kera Burk, you have to wonder whether the next step will be to combine the remaining halves of their shows, Suzanne Lewis at WSRS and Chris Zito at WHYN-FM, for a regional FM morning simulcast similar to the one that’s already happening between WTAG in Worcester and WHYN(AM) in Springfield

 

[WMC2006]

From Greg Bedard's (now former WSRS morning co-host) personal Facebook page:

I always had, in the back of my mind, the knowledge that radio wasn't going to be forever. However, I did not expect that today was going to be my last day on the air. iHeartRadio is making some significant changes and I was a part of those changes today. I will miss sharing stories, learning, asking questions, being told I'm wrong or right... And most of all laughing every morning with you. Thank you for letting me be a part of your morning. Thank you for sharing your stories with me. I tried to enjoy every moment and succeeded, for the most part. In my head I'm still a 5 year old kid, in my bedroom closet "studio" with my "on the air" sign, playing records. My focus now is where it should be: on my family, my health and my business that I'm so proud of.

 

[WMC2006]

And this from Tony Bristol's Facebook:

Today, unfortunately, I became part of iHeart’s restructuring process and was not in future plans for their stations in Worcester. In my five years there, we had a relentless team of competitors who made a difference every day. I made great friendships with them that I will never forget and will miss. Being part of the WSRS and WTAG team helped us dominate the market, grow many community needs and helped me grow as a manager. I’m grateful to have been a small part of that. I’ll miss “The Woo” and plan to be there when the Red Sox take the field in 2021 regardless of where I work. Change brings opportunity so it’s on to my next venture. Thanks Worcester. It was a fun ride.

 

[raccoonradio]

Sounds like WBZ doing all news well past midnight?

 

[Cap-n Spackle]

Sounds like WBZ doing all news well past midnight?

Time, Traffic and Temperature every 10 minutes.

 

[spt87]

Seems so but I’d say it is all voice tracked.

 

[TheBigA]

Yes its not completely true BUT there is some truth to it. In this case you’ve got a station bringing in plenty of money but we cut anyway and work to get a negative feedback loop started. Same thing happened on plenty of other AM’s and once you lose the audience on an AM it is probably a lot harder to get it back.

"Plenty of money" isn't very specific. We know the revenue has been declining, while expenses have gone up. They've cut back a lot of fringe local talk left over from the CBS days, and it hasn't affected the ratings at all. The majority if the listening takes place during the day, and that remains local news.

The problem at WBZ is the audience is aging, and that isn't going to get better as time goes on. Because once the aging audience dies, there's no one there to replace them. You can hire all the staff you want, but that won't bring younger audiences to AM radio.

 

[spt87]

That's why they're not cutting programming. People are being cut, but programming will remain.



That's not true. Audiences abandoned AM for FM first. Once the audiences disappeared, the stations had no money for staff.

"Plenty of money" isn't very specific. We know the revenue has been declining, while expenses have gone up. They've cut back a lot of fringe local talk left over from the CBS days, and it hasn't affected the ratings at all. The majority if the listening takes place during the day, and that remains local news.

The problem at WBZ is the audience is aging, and that isn't going to get better as time goes on. Because once the aging audience dies, there's no one there to replace them. You can hire all the staff you want, but that won't bring younger audiences to AM radio.

I thought their strategy was to get people listening to the iheart app, the youngins then are pulled in since its on their phone and iheart has content for podcasts to boot. Maybe that isn’t working.

I wish them luck. I won’t be listening to a recorded news loop all night but I did used to listen to Bradley quite a bit. They could just go off the air at midnight and save even more money.

So if BZ has an aging demographic issue on the AM band, then what is the excuse on the cape at WCOD where they cut the Dan and Stephanie morning show? Good ratings, lean run station and cluster already, FM playing hot AC so no demographic issue.

The frustrating thing for me is I had been duped into thinking iHeart had turned a corner and was investing into making their stations better. BZ seemed to ride thru the acquisition mostly intact and the iHeart stations on the cape like WCOD seemed to be doing ok. Now back to cutting off limbs and I’m back to avoiding all iheart stations.

 

[TheBigA]

I thought their strategy was to get people listening to the iheart app, the youngins then are pulled in since its on their phone and iheart has content for podcasts to boot. Maybe that isn’t working.

It depends on what content we're talking about. Putting content for boomers on new technology won't automatically yield a younger audience. It just gives the existing audience an alternative. You're an example of this.

So if BZ has an aging demographic issue on the AM band, then what is the excuse on the cape at WCOD where they cut the Dan and Stephanie morning show? Good ratings, lean run station and cluster already, FM playing hot AC so no demographic issue.

Maybe you don't know, but they just went through bankruptcy reorganization. That completely changed the ownership of the company. The lenders now own the company, and they're trying to get some of their money back. So there are across the board staff cuts, regardless of audience. Once they cut expenses, the lenders will sell their share of the company to new owners. When the new owners come in, they'll likely have a new strategy.

 

[spt87]

It depends on what content we're talking about. Putting content for boomers on new technology won't automatically yield a younger audience. It just gives the existing audience an alternative. You're an example of this.



Maybe you don't know, but they just went through bankruptcy reorganization. That completely changed the ownership of the company. The lenders now own the company, and they're trying to get some of their money back. So there are across the board staff cuts, regardless of audience. Once they cut expenses, the lenders will sell their share of the company to new owners. When the new owners come in, they'll likely have a new strategy.

I’ve heard all about it but I don’t care. They would get their money back a lot more effectively if they kept people listening to the stations rather than gutting the programming. Maybe they should sell off some of the stations if they don’t have the resources to operate them properly. The FCC needs regulations that block license transfers if the acquiring owner doesn’t have sufficient resources (aka can’t have too much debt either). I know that won’t happen but I think there is some merit to the idea.

 

[TheBigA]

I’ve heard all about it but I don’t care. They would get their money back a lot more effectively if they kept people listening to the stations rather than gutting the programming.

As I said, WBZ has been making cuts and changes at WBZ for 2 years and it hasn't hurt ratings. Same with WRKO. Selling stations diminishes the size of the ad platform and hurts revenue. So that's a bad idea. They have the resources to operate radio stations, just not maintaining the status quo. This is a $5 billion company. But they are way over-staffed given the nature of the business. They don't need a live person in Boston telling you what song you just heard at 2 in the morning. There are other ways to do the exact same thing. It's not the 1960s any more. They understand that, and in fact iHeart is able to handle this transition better than any other radio company.