Brian Ping out at KNX

[KMan]

Nationwide Audacy cuts, not sure if there's any other names from the LA Cluster.

https://twitter.com/brianpingnews/status/1783272763471610143

Lance is keeping a list here, but Brian isn't on it yet.

More Names From This Round Of Audacy Layoffs

Original Report 4/24: A round of layoffs is ongoing today at Audacy. Sources indicate approximately just under 100 employees were

radioinsight.com

 

[KMan]

Evening/overnight traffic anchor Tanya Campos also out - she's removed KNX traffic reporter from her twitter bio.

This evening Claire Beverly, a KCBS traffic anchor who maybe doing reports remotely from Salem, Oregon, slid into that shift at 2100hrs.

Would be interesting if they double-dip traffic KNX/KCBS the same as WCBS/WINS in NYC for the evening/overnight hours.

 

[Signal Geek]

I'm sorry to hear about anyone losing their job. However, I didn't care for Ping's voice. It's like a caracature of a radio newsman (staccato, rapid-fire deadpan delivery). KCBS/San Francisco's anchors in general sound much more like real people talk.

 

[TomásEstefan]

I'm sorry to hear about anyone losing their job. However, I didn't care for Ping's voice. It's like a caracature of a radio newsman (staccato, rapid-fire deadpan delivery). KCBS/San Francisco's anchors in general sound much more like real people talk.

Things have changed since then, but in the not too distant past the processing on KNX 1070 made many of the announcers sound like "circus barkers", KCBS, by comparison, sounded like a smooth FM station.

 

[Andy Ludlum]

I'm sorry to hear about anyone losing their job. However, I didn't care for Ping's voice. It's like a caracature of a radio newsman (staccato, rapid-fire deadpan delivery). KCBS/San Francisco's anchors in general sound much more like real people talk.

Perhaps what is more important than a critique of Ping's delivery is the what these layoffs signal is ahead for the station. Ping with 13 years was making full AFTRA scale. I presume his replacement(s) will be cheaper with less seniority and likely part time. What's next? More cuts? AI? Bankrupt management only sees a daypart with fewer listeners.

Evening/overnight traffic anchor Tanya Campos also out - she's removed KNX traffic reporter from her twitter bio.

This evening Claire Beverly, a KCBS traffic anchor who maybe doing reports remotely from Salem, Oregon, slid into that shift at 2100hrs.

Seeing KMan's report that an Oregon-based traffic anchor is doing reports for both KNX and KCBS is disturbing. Unless something has changed, an out of market report would not fall under the station's AFTRA agreement. And coupled with KNX's recent decision to do away with airborne traffic reports (Which KFI is hammering in promos) it suggests the station doesn't believe they offer anything better than what I can get on my phone from Google or WAZE.

Dwindling resources overnight leave the station exposed in the case of natural emergency, particularly earthquake when the internet could go down and you might not even be able to get your Oregon-based traffic reporter on the air.

 

[TheBigA]

Bankrupt management only sees a daypart with fewer listeners.

Hiring more staff and paying them more money won't fix the fewer listeners problem. Take a look at KQED as an example,

Dwindling resources overnight leave the station exposed in the case of natural emergency, particularly earthquake when the internet could go down and you might not even be able to get your Oregon-based traffic reporter on the air.

Twenty years ago, the government gave that responsibility to the department of homeland security. It's up to them to inform the public in case of any emergency. Radio is simply one tool at their disposal. Look how they handled Maui last year.

 

[Andy Ludlum]

Hiring more staff and paying them more money won't fix the fewer listeners problem. Take a look at KQED as an example,

That wasn’t my point or suggestion. But if you continue to produce an increasingly inferior product to save money the listener problem will only get worse.

Twenty years ago, the government gave that responsibility to the department of homeland security. It's up to them to inform the public in case of any emergency. Radio is simply one tool at their disposal. Look how they handled Maui last year.

I did it for a very long time. I’m not aware of any all-news station that does not see as its role to inform the local audience in times of emergency. Certainly they don’t see themselves as a tool for DHS. Radio with its immediacy still should be your best source for information should there be a major earthquake overnight. I get concerned when I see an all-news station deliberately less prepared to cover an emergency.

 

[ChannelFlipper]

Perhaps what is more important than a critique of Ping's delivery is the what these layoffs signal is ahead for the station. Ping with 13 years was making full AFTRA scale. I presume his replacement(s) will be cheaper with less seniority and likely part time. What's next? More cuts? AI? Bankrupt management only sees a daypart with fewer listeners.

I am sure other radio professionals might care about "full AFTRA scale", but nobody else does. Take a look around you: The entire concept of the a union representing radio station talent is outdated and will soon go the way of the Dodo bird, because most radio talent is, sorry to say, imminently replaceable, and the few who are not don't need union representation. I know that I am sure to get responses from radio professionals (to whom this is a personal matter) telling me otherwise, but time will tell, and I am positive as to what it will say.

 

[Weiserguy]

Seeing KMan's report that an Oregon-based traffic anchor is doing reports for both KNX and KCBS is disturbing. Unless something has changed, an out of market report would not fall under the station's AFTRA agreement. And coupled with KNX's recent decision to do away with airborne traffic reports (Which KFI is hammering in promos) it suggests the station doesn't believe they offer anything better than what I can get on my phone from Google or WAZE.

Dwindling resources overnight leave the station exposed in the case of natural emergency, particularly earthquake when the internet could go down and you might not even be able to get your Oregon-based traffic reporter on the air.

I posted this back about 18 months ago, and I think it's germane to Andy's comment:

On the occasion that an earthquake happens in the middle of the night, I hit the on button on a nearby radio, and usually KNX is already talking about it...If this stops...well...KNX is finished...

Let's get even more specific on this nuance. On August 24, 2014 - almost 25 years from the major Loma Prieta quake of 1989, a magnitude 6.0 happened in Napa (the city, within the county) at about 2:30 am. That was early on a Sunday morning, and by coincidence, I'd woken up a few minutes before that event (pee break), and was still wide awake when it hit. I live on the Peninsula, about 55 miles south as the crow flies, and it nearly jolted me out of bed. So I grabbed for my little bedside radio and started dialing around. KGO was on autopilot, KQED too, and KCBS was running one of those canned "CBS News in Review" programs. It took their overnight anchor close to 15 minutes to get the station out of autopilot and back live - he was probably having a lunch break - and start taking calls from listeners and their own newspeople, who immediately swung into coverage mode and started hitting the ground to file live phoners.

There was a time when KGO would have been live and local, and would have immediately started taking calls from listeners. The value of the callers' testimony was sorta limited, but at least the anecdotal reports of perceived strength and damage (or lack thereof) across the vast listening area helped quantify how big an event it had been until the USGS could publish something official. But KGO by then was a shell of its pre-2011 self.

Back then, KQED had been running off their server 11pm-5pm 7 night a week, and NPR's Weekend Edition didn't start until 5am, so there was no local coverage until someone got into the building sometime in the 4am hour. In fact, they were caught so flatfooted, and were so embarrassed, that they re-staffed the overnight hours and to this day have that shift covered.

And in an admirable example of "No Good Deed Going Unpunished", that KCBS anchor, who was caught with his pants down - I'm guessing literally, in a bathroom stall, thinking he still had a half hour for his "biobreak" - was laid off a month or two later. I won't mention a name, but he was a station veteran.

So yeah, quakes do happen in the middle of the night, and they wake people up, and on occasion cause damage, injury and even loss of life. But if a tree falls in the forest and there's no live body left to report on it, does the medium retain any credibility?

 

[TheBigA]

That wasn’t my point or suggestion. But if you continue to produce an increasingly inferior product to save money the listener problem will only get worse.

The problem will get worse irrespective of the product, as once again can be observed with KQED.

I get concerned when I see an all-news station deliberately less prepared to cover an emergency.

Right now, the question is how many commercial all-news stations will survive. There are less than a dozen nationally. Most of them are owned by a company that is currently undergoing bankruptcy proceedings.

 

[TheBigA]

So yeah, quakes do happen in the middle of the night, and they wake people up, and on occasion cause damage, injury and even loss of life. But if a tree falls in the forest and there's no live body left to report on it, does the medium retain any credibility?

The problem now is that credibility isn't a function of staffing. You could have the biggest news staff in town. But if people only listen to radio in their car, and the disaster happens when they're asleep in bed, then no one will hear your great news staff.

No news staff is bigger than the entire population. Everyone today sees themselves as the media. They have cameras in their phones and they have access to the world's biggest platform. How can your local news staff compete with that?

 

[Andy Ludlum]

I am sure other radio professionals might care about "full AFTRA scale", but nobody else does. Take a look around you: The entire concept of the a union representing radio station talent is outdated and will soon go the way of the Dodo bird, because most radio talent is, sorry to say, imminently replaceable, and the few who are not don't need union representation. I know that I am sure to get responses from radio professionals (to whom this is a personal matter) telling me otherwise, but time will tell, and I am positive as to what it will say.

I'm not bemoaning talent not being paid at the highest scale. I'm pointing out this is a slippery slope that could lead AI announcers or recorded hours because "overnight is not important and no one is listening anyway." One of the reasons news is an expensive format is you have to be staffed and prepared to respond whenever big news breaks, even if it is overnight. Disappoint the listeners in an emergency and they won't come back.

 

[ChannelFlipper]

I'm not bemoaning talent not being paid at the highest scale. I'm pointing out this is a slippery slope that could lead AI announcers or recorded hours because "overnight is not important and no one is listening anyway." One of the reasons news is an expensive format is you have to be staffed and prepared to respond whenever big news breaks, even if it is overnight. Disappoint the listeners in an emergency and they won't come back.

I agree with that. But radio listeners are, in my experience, not terribly nuanced in their views. If a previously trusted station like KNX were to let them down, they would not say "KNX let me down and I won't count on them again" they will say "radio let me down and I will not use them again" and then ensure that some other means of media delivery will be their replacement choice.

 

[Andy Ludlum]

The problem now is that credibility isn't a function of staffing. You could have the biggest news staff in town. But if people only listen to radio in their car, and the disaster happens when they're asleep in bed, then no one will hear your great news staff.

Agreed, a lot of the audience is in the car. But if the big one comes while they are in bed, we know many listeners have been conditioned to turn in to see what is happening. It's not an either/or listening pattern. If that (occasional) listener is disappointed, they won't come back the next time. If you look at all news audiences during times of disaster/emergency, the audience is more than the P-1 in-car listener. Sometimes the casual audience increase is significant. Not all will become regular listeners, some are converted and others know they will find dependable information the next time they need it.ot of the audience is in the car, but if the big one comes while they're in bed, we know regular listeners will tune in to see what is happening. If that (occasional at-home) listener is disappointed, they won't come back next time. If you look at all news audiences during times of disaster/emergency, the audience is more than the P-1 in-car listener. Sometimes the audience increase is significant. Now they aren't going to become regular listeners, but some will stick and others will know they will find reliable information the next time they need it.

No news staff is bigger than the entire population. Everyone today sees themselves as the media. They have cameras in their phones and they have access to the world's biggest platform. How can your local news staff compete with that?

Everyone may consider themselves media, but do you trust just anyone when you and your family's safety depends on it? Most people have limited experience with it, but phones/internet can be unreliable, slow or even dead during (at least the early hours of) a major emergency.

 

[Andy Ludlum]

I agree with that. But radio listeners are, in my experience, not terribly nuanced in their views. If a previously trusted station like KNX were to let them down, they would not say "KNX let me down and I won't count on them again" they will say "radio let me down and I will not use them again" and then ensue that some other means of media delivery will be their replacement choice.

Perhaps, but I think a news radio listener would try other sources, KFI - maybe the public stations though they don't shine with breaking news. In the early minutes/hours of an emergency, those "other means of media delivery" might not be available.

 

[TheBigA]

Agreed, a lot of the audience is in the car. But if the big one comes while they are in bed, we know many listeners have been conditioned to turn in to see what is happening.

Tune in to what? Increasingly people don't own radios in their home. In my case, the last time there was a disaster in my area, I found out by a text. And I'm in the radio business.

If you look at all news audiences during times of disaster/emergency, the audience is more than the P-1 in-car listener. Sometimes the audience increase is significant.

The problem there is the ad rate isn't based on disaster listening. So stations base staffing on average audience.

In terms of natural disasters, people want to SEE the disaster. So their first impulse is TV. Hurricanes, tornados, and earthquakes are big for TV. The Weather Channel can become the #1 cable channel during a major weather event. But they typically sign off from live coverage at 8PM.

Everyone may consider themselves media, but do you trust just anyone when you and your family's safety depends on it? Most people have limited experience with it, but phones/internet can be unreliable, slow or even dead during (at least the early hours of) a major emergency.

When you see 50-100 tweets on the same subject from different people all with documentation, it's hard to ignore. Back in the day, newsrooms monitored police radio. Today, a lot of them look at social media. If your phone is dead, it's very likely your radio is dead too. Do you think KNX, even in your day, has more reporters than Twitter?

 

[Andy Ludlum]

Tune in to what? Increasingly people don't own radios in their home. In my case, the last time there was a disaster in my area, I found out by a text. And I'm in the radio business.

I’d have to look for one too. You may or may not get a text. There’s a reason it is strongly recommended to keep a battery powered radio in a disaster kit.

The problem there is the ad rate isn't based on disaster listening. So stations base staffing on average audience.

Of course. Staffing at night for a news station was a matter of playing the odds. I’m just suggesting they may be taking too much of a risk.

In terms of natural disasters, people want to SEE the disaster. So their first impulse is TV. Hurricanes, tornados, and earthquakes are big for TV.

Agreed. If you have power/cable etc.

When you see 50-100 tweets on the same subject from different people all with documentation, it's hard to ignore. Back in the day, newsrooms monitored police radio. Today, a lot of them look at social media. If your phone is dead, it's very likely your radio is dead too. Do you think KNX, even in your day, has more reporters than Twitter?

Of course not. But Twitter is a raw feed of reporting people with varying skill levels and insight. Some terribly inaccurate stuff has wound up on Twitter.

 

[TheBigA]

I’d have to look for one too. You may or may not get a text. There’s a reason it is strongly recommended to keep a battery powered radio in a disaster kit.

It's strongly recommended to get a colonoscopy every three years. How many people listen?

Staffing at night for a news station was a matter of playing the odds. I’m just suggesting they may be taking too much of a risk.

I'm as big a cheerleader of radio as you are, but I also see the reality. If radio doesn't figure out how to pay the bills, it won't matter anymore. You can't staff if there's no money. There's no safety net for radio.

 

[30james]

Evening/overnight traffic anchor Tanya Campos also out - she's removed KNX traffic reporter from her twitter bio.

This evening Claire Beverly, a KCBS traffic anchor who maybe doing reports remotely from Salem, Oregon, slid into that shift at 2100hrs.

Would be interesting if they double-dip traffic KNX/KCBS the same as WCBS/WINS in NYC for the evening/overnight hours.

Sad to see him go as well as Tanya cookie cutter formats generally don't serve the public interest we will see where knx goes from here

 

[kfbkfb]

Around here (KC area), one (maybe both) of the news/talk AM stations switch over to the audio of a local TV station during some severe weather events (KMBZ AM switches over to audio from KMBC TV 9), this seems like a good way to have live weather info for radio listeners (who may be using a battery powered radio) without the overhead of an overnight staff at the AM station(s).

I don't know if the TV station makes the decision to interrupt the AM station programming of if someone at the radio station makes the decision.


Kirk Bayne