Big cuts at Emmis, now CBS Radio

[cflmusiclover]

http://www.radioandrecords.com/RRWebSite/

While I may not be the biggest fan of Clear Channel, they do take an unfair proportion of grief for exactly what Emmis and CBS Radio are doing. Cumulus and Citadel don't such a high profile in the area of cutbacks but both of them operate pretty lean to begin with.

I wonder if the usual "radio is dying!" uproar will be screeching when somebody other than Clear Channel is going through force reduction?

 

[SirRoxalot]

Savings?

CBS may just be repairing the damage made by Joel Hollander. At least they waited until after the holidays before swinging the ax.

Emmis was down 11% in NYC. Emmis also lost 26% of its national advertising. The company lost $5.5-million. You don't really expect that the people who earn millions are going to cut their own salaries, do you? So, part-timers and "back-office personnel" bear the brunt.

All those of you who think that cutting talent will bring in MORE money, raise your hands...

 

[cflmusiclover]

They're swinging the ax after the holidays because, as with other companies, 2008 revenue is falling far behind projections. Most of those let go were in management. It's not a matter of "cutting talent bringing in more money" but a matter of cutting expenses so the bleeding affects the bottom line less. Yes, I said bottom line- radio IS a business, after all. We're not in some sort of non-profit endeavour for the sake of playing songs or working at our college stations, for goodness sake.

Yahoo cut 13% of it's workforce a couple of weeks ago and nobody said a word. Do we believe ANYBODY using Yahoo will even notice any difference in their product?

 

[SirRoxalot]

Management?

"Most of those let go were in management"?

Can you cite me a reference for that statement? It doesn't jibe with the statement that Emmis issued, saying that most of the cuts were "part-timers and back-office personnel".

Of course, the weekends aren't really important anyway, are they? Saturday 10a-3p is only one of the most listened-to time periods of the entire week.

I think that most of us here are aware of the realities of commercial radio. We're also aware that many companies have cut programming to the bone, and are now extracting marrow. The result has been voice-tracked & syndicated radio that has turned off listeners nation-wide. THAT'S why revenues are falling.

 

[cflmusiclover]

Re: Management?

"Most of those let go were in management"?

Can you cite me a reference for that statement? It doesn't jibe with the statement that Emmis issued, saying that most of the cuts were "part-timers and back-office personnel".

Of course, the weekends aren't really important anyway, are they? Saturday 10a-3p is only one of the most listened-to time periods of the entire week.

I think that most of us here are aware of the realities of commercial radio. We're also aware that many companies have cut programming to the bone, and are now extracting marrow. The result has been voice-tracked & syndicated radio that has turned off listeners nation-wide. THAT'S why revenues are falling.

Reference was to CBS' statement.

And, don't blame voicetracking and syndication- that's been an excuse for mediocre radio talent for 30 years (more syndication than VTing, of course, since voicetracking has only been around about 10 years). Oh, yeah, I forgot: better throw *the consultants* into the mix, since they also know nothing and get jocks fired.