CC Cuts coming

[scooterodell]

Check out the story here first:

http://www.nypost.com/seven/01162009/business/clear_channel_plans_revamp_150374.htm

It looks like we should expect more than just "trimming the fat." When they say they want to move to a national programming model, I think that's an indicator that the "Seacresting" of America is about to commence. We may very well see national shows for every daypart, at least outside of AM drive. Just hire one great DJ for each daypart for each format and you're set. Fire everyone else.

 

[fybush]

The fearmongering on this has been unbelievable. Will there be cuts coming? Absolutely. But this is 2009. Everybody's cutting, and everybody's looking at cost-saving measures like national programming. It's not just Seacrest - listen to nights on WBEE or WTSS and you'll hear Entercom doing the same thing.

Beware the echo-chamber effect here. What starts out as message-board rumor seems to have a way of getting picked up by a few key bloggers (many of them with agendas of their own at play) and amplified into something more than it is - and next thing you know it's all over the New York Post, whereupon it gets picked up again on the message boards.

There's a certain sense, in some of the hundreds of threads now going on this topic on various boards here and elsewhere, of barely-restrained glee at watching the biggest player in the industry take a tumble. I've long been of the belief that a falling tide sinks all boats. If CC's hurting, and making cuts like this to try to keep going, that's bad news for all of us who are still (for the moment) employed in the business.

What will happen next week will happen next week - and until it does, it's wise to remember the advice screenwriter William Goldman once gave about trying to make predictions in another turbulent, ego-driven industry, Hollywood: Nobody knows anything.

 

[GSmitty]

Very well put, Scott.

 

[Mike Sheridan]

I don't think it matters much what anyone says here or what the papers say. CC will do what CC will do and that's it. I think anyone in radio today should have a backup plan no matter who they work for.

Best of luck to all.

 

[The Voice of Reason]

The New York Post is just reporting old news. Everyone here knows that layoffs are forthcoming this year in radio and in television. We've already witnessed the massacre going on in the Boston and New York City markets.
Not only will commercial radio be hit hard, but also non-commercial broadcasters will be sharpening the ax as national underwriting will be impacted.
I can inform you that media buys in January are far below what they were last year at this time, and February's projections look even worse.
We read phrases like "trimming the fat and "cutting to the bone" plus other metaphors. Let's under stand that we are talking about peoples' lives here. Many of those who have already, or will lose their jobs will find it very hard, if not impossible to find other work in this industry; especially if stations continue their policy of reducing staff to balance their budgets.
Another point I wish to make is that even ad agencies might have to reduce staff because of the economy. So this isn't just a "radio thing." The current economic situation will have a far-reaching impact on a variety of jobs.