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KNBR to cut nightly sports call-in show after 51 years

The story linked above was updated with the on-air announcement by station PD and afternoon co-host Adam Copeland stating that morning show co-host Paul McCaffrey, executive Lee Hammer and "some digital people" were also let go.
 
I can't believe they fired Paulie Mac. Him and Murph have been together for like, I don't know, 15 years. Their ratings must really be suffering.
 
Does anyone have the true ratings (key ones) story between KNBR and 95.7 The Game? Recent overall ratings shared on this blog show KNBR doing well vs. 95.7. However, the SF Gate article points to a blog called BSM that shows 95.7 crushing KNBR, at least a year ago. What's the real situation? I would be very suprised if 95.7 would be doing that well. The station does not come in well in many parts of the Bay Area.
 
adradio said:
However, the SF Gate article points to a blog called BSM that shows 95.7 crushing KNBR, at least a year ago.
Click to expand...

I think you're referring to this article:

barrettsportsmedia.com

KNBR Cuts Staff, Including Hosts Paul McCaffrey and F.P. Santangelo

Adam Copeland, who was tabbed as Program Director of KNBR earlier this month, revealed the cuts at the end of his program co-hosted by Tom Tolbert Wednesday afternoon.
barrettsportsmedia.com barrettsportsmedia.com

What are posted here are 6+ ratings. The article refers to specific dayparts.

During the summer ratings period, KNBR finished with its best book of the year. However, the station remained behind competitor 95.7 The Game in every daypart except mornings, which will now undergo a change with the departure of McCaffrey. In the overall prime ratings in the men 25-54 demographic, KNBR finished 15th with a 2.6 share behind The Game’s 11th-place 3.2 share.
Click to expand...
 
The problem is that KNBR has fallen from where it was before the pandemic. KNBR was once a Top 5 station 6+. Now it's barely Top 10. Add to that the fact that radio advertising in general has fallen. So both ratings and revenue have dropped. Cumulus only owns two FMs in San Francisco: KNBR and KSAN. Truthfully, KNBR is the only cash cow in the cluster. The four AMs are all under water. So given the drop in ratings and revenue, there is no alternative but to cut costs where they can, and the only place is with personnel. All of those affected are all saying nice things, which tells me they're all getting good severance packages.
 
Greg Goodfellow said:
Right before Christmas, no less.
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November layoffs are SOP for most companies, as that's when budgeting for the upcoming year is completed. That's when investors and Wall Street analysts and fund managers expect those projections to be ready. The laid-off employees are collateral damage. Nobody likes to put people out of work at any time of the year. It's just unfortunate that people in no danger of experiencing holiday season hardship themselves dictate when companies must inflict that pain on their workforce.

But really, what's considered a good time to cut payroll? Summer? People will complain that big bad CEOs are ruining workers' vacations. April? That's when people start planning for summer fun. September? That's back-to-school shopping time; think of the children! So November really is no more or less "cruel" than any other month.
 
CTListener said:
November layoffs are SOP for most companies, as that's when budgeting for the upcoming year is completed. That's when investors and Wall Street analysts and fund managers expect those projections to be ready. The laid-off employees are collateral damage. Nobody likes to put people out of work at any time of the year. It's just unfortunate that people in no danger of experiencing holiday season hardship themselves dictate when companies must inflict that pain on their workforce.

But really, what's considered a good time to cut payroll? Summer? People will complain that big bad CEOs are ruining workers' vacations. April? That's when people start planning for summer fun. September? That's back-to-school shopping time; think of the children! So November really is no more or less "cruel" than any other month.
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I understand-business is business. One might wonder how far in advance these folks were notified. I have a 62-year-old friend who got a termination notice less than 2 weeks ago. He was totally blindsided. When I was a teacher, a reduction in force notice was given no later than March. Obviously those folks were not only able to finish the school year employed, but had enough advance notice to make all necessary plans. We were lucky in that regard-I know education is a different animal than what you folks deal with.
 
Greg Goodfellow said:
One might wonder how far in advance these folks were notified. I have a 62-year-old friend who got a termination notice less than 2 weeks ago. He was totally blindsided.
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If they listen to their station, they know the changes in the advertising situation. We're in the 4th quarter, and it used to be when stations made their money with all the retail advertising. Now, most of retail has disappeared. We used to get lots of Sears and Penney's ads this time of year. Now they're bankrupt.

They can also see what's happening in the RSN business. These are companies paying huge rights fees to teams, broadcasting games with huge costs, that receive small and aging audiences. It's a bad place to be right now. So they may not have known the specifics of who was being let go, but they had to see how bad they're doing. The ratings came out, it confirmed what people knew, and the company had to take action. As I said, the company will be paying severance to these people for a while, so they won't be left out in the cold at Christmas. The law requires them to also receive healthcare for at least a year. It sounds like some of them qualify for Medicare.
 
Greg Goodfellow said:
I understand-business is business. One might wonder how far in advance these folks were notified.
Click to expand...
WARN notices are required 60 days in advance (where there are 50 or more employees on-site). This is a federal requirement; California probably has additional requirements but I don't recall them at hand. A common practice in larger companies, though, is to keep the laid-off employees officially on payroll for 60 days but not have them perform any duties, have any access to systems, etc. and then terminate them with severance.


Greg Goodfellow said:
He was totally blindsided. When I was a teacher, a reduction in force notice was given no later than March. Obviously those folks were not only able to finish the school year employed, but had enough advance notice to make all necessary plans. We were lucky in that regard-I know education is a different animal than what you folks deal with.
Click to expand...
Broadcasting is notorious for a near-total absence of job security. It's one reason I didn't try to go back once I was pushed out for the third time.
 
Mark Roberts said:
WARN notices are required 60 days in advance (where there are 50 or more employees on-site).
Click to expand...

Doesn't apply in this case. The office isn't closing, and it only affects a few people.

Mark Roberts said:
Broadcasting is notorious for a near-total absence of job security.
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The only place that offers job security is the court system. Otherwise everyone is fair game. I used to include the ministry, but lately that's been a bit scary. My sister was laid off from public schools. We see how volatile government work has become. If you want job security, become self employed.
 
TheBigA said:
...As I said, the company will be paying severance to these people for a while, so they won't be left out in the cold at Christmas. The law requires them to also receive healthcare for at least a year. It sounds like some of them qualify for Medicare.
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First, nobody qualifies for Medicare unless and until they've hit age 65.

Second, "The law" doesn't require that the laid-off employees of any company "receive healthcare for at least a year." Even in employee-friendly California. (Relative to some other states, which can be overtly employer-friendly and employee-hostile.)

What you are referring to is COBRA. That does require companies that lay employees off to offer them the chance to buy a continuation of healthcare benefits (hence the "COB" in COBRA). The former employee must pay for their coverage out-of-pocket for up to 18 months, at a cost not to exceed 102% of the employer's cost to provide coverage to continuing employees. (The extra 2% is to theoretically cover the employer's cost to administer the COBRA program. Also note that an employer who doesn't offer benefits in the first place has no obligation to offer COBRA, since there are no benefits to continue.)

So while the former employees get the advantage of being able to bridge their benefits at the employer's below-market-rate negotiated cost of providing those benefits to their "group", each employee must adhere to the law and the former employer's regulations, such as paying their premiums to the company by the first day of each month, etc. It's by no means a freebie, unless the company must honor the terms of a personal services contract or a union contract which require more than the legal minimum.

For any California employee who still doesn't have a job by the end of the 18 months, there is a state-level version of COBRA (CAL-COBRA?) that can extend the arrangement for an additional 18 months. If the employee is still unemployed after three full years and exhausts both COBRA and CAL-COBRA protections, the employee either transitions to the Affordable Care Act, i.e. "Obamacare", or has become old enough to qualify for Medicare.
 
Weiserguy said:
What you are referring to is COBRA. That does require companies that lay employees off to offer them the chance to buy a continuation of healthcare benefits (hence the "COB" in COBRA).
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That's what I meant. Cumulus has been offering laid off workers COBRA.

And yes, we don't know what's in their contract, so there are other factors. My point is they're not being thrown out in the cold with nothing after years of service.
 
Weiserguy said:
So while the former employees get the advantage of being able to bridge their benefits at the employer's below-market-rate negotiated cost of providing those benefits to their "group", [...]
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That said, the employee pays both the employer's and the employee's share plus a little more. I believe the actual figure is 102% of employer + employee cost. My spouse is on a COBRA plan so I can check.
Weiserguy said:
For any California employee who still doesn't have a job by the end of the 18 months, there is a state-level version of COBRA (CAL-COBRA?) that can extend the arrangement for an additional 18 months. If the employee is still unemployed after three full years and exhausts both COBRA and CAL-COBRA protections, the employee either transitions to the Affordable Care Act, i.e. "Obamacare", or has become old enough to qualify for Medicare.
Click to expand...
One big loophole, though: Cal-COBRA does not apply when the employer is self-insured with respect to health insurance. ERISA (federal) takes precedence in such an instance.
 
Greg Goodfellow said:
I understand-business is business. One might wonder how far in advance these folks were notified. I have a 62-year-old friend who got a termination notice less than 2 weeks ago. He was totally blindsided. When I was a teacher, a reduction in force notice was given no later than March. Obviously those folks were not only able to finish the school year employed, but had enough advance notice to make all necessary plans. We were lucky in that regard-I know education is a different animal than what you folks deal with.
Click to expand...
How about spending days to prepare a presentation for a new organizational set of functions, only to find out by phone 15 minutes before the final version to be presented now specifically excludes you because, hey, you’re out.

Business is cold, cruel and often inhumane. No sector is immune to that.
 
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