Loss of Jobs in Media due to COVID-19

[Buddy Shula]

Not sure is any of you understand this, but losing a job you have a passion for , like a radio DJ, is devastating and sad. I know people who are on this board that have either been laid off or eliminated, or expect they may be.

Have some compassion. This is a very unprecedented time.

As an owner, the industry and my stations were flourishing until a few weeks ago. There are two reasons that my small company, and other larger companies, have to either lay-off or eliminate positions.

Revenue. Advertising has dried up. No ones fault. The government shut things down. Like media companies, main st companies are scared. I don’t blame them. You can’t have people on payroll if advertising dollars are not coming in, unless your Jeff Bezos. You want to be able to pay your employees.

Health. Control rooms are full of germs. Microphones, surfaces, control board, it is easy to catch something when there is not a deadly virus going around. If stations are equipped, jocks can broadcast a show from home, if they are not equipped, they can’t.

The large companies, and my small companies have a responsibility to their staff, company, and the listeners to make sure the right steps are being taken to all are safe.

When I heard that DJ Anthony was let go, I was sad, but not surprised. When others were let go, I was sad for them, but not surprised. I hope when things are back to normal, that radio will hire back these passionate air people that separate us from satellite. I know WECK will.

Let’s stop the pettiness, and think about the people who are missing being on air right now. There are a lot of them.

 

[TheBigA]

Good luck Buddy!

 

[SirRoxalot]

Desperate times call for desperate measures. None of Buddy's guys are going to starve during their hiatus, and they're better off at home and not exposed to shared spaces. It's going to take time for radio - and a lot of other businesses - to recover from this pandemic. We're all learning something about patience during this event.

 

[Mike Sheridan]

Great posts here. I agree. Stay well everyone.

The nay saeyers are starting to come out now saying it's been over hyped by the media and liberals.

As someone who worked in radio for many years the news people I worked with had one goal, get the story before the competition and get it right. Sure we all make mistakes but where would we be without the information?

Others might think it's no worse than the typical flu but I'm not willing to take that chance!

 

[b-turner]

Lots of people are taking flack about layoffs and such. Most stations are owned by small companies with limited income potential and little financial cushion for such events as this. Essentially it is about like owning a radio station in Greensburg, Kansas the day after the tornado, assuming your facility wasn't struck.

I never worked for the guy but we became friends. He had an AM/FM combo in his town and served his county. He said I had no idea of what he went through getting the stations to the point where they were. For him, as a single guy, he lived in the office he had in the station and was the only person running it. He said he worked trades to eat, for gas for the car to make sales calls and put some of the bills he could on his credit card. He worried a lightning strike would put him over the top in expenses or that while he was out selling ads, the FCC would come by and find the station unattended. In short he 'went for broke' and made it. He recalls how thrilled he was to hire a high school student to come in 4 hours 4 days a week. Eventually he managed to afford a staff and got the FM on the air. He said employees have no clue what most owners went through to create the radio station that they work for.

Retired now, I spoke with him about the economic shutdown. He said he is so happy he is not now running his stations. He said he hated disrupting families and took it to the point he never fired anybody but rather asked them to find their next job and let him know when that happened. He said to be forced to layoff those that help put a roof over his head and food for his body would really bother him but he would likely have to do so. All he could offer, if he had the stations now, would be that he hopes he will be around and able to hire them back after this is over. He said owners like him see his employees as the reason for success and to toss them out in the cold because you don't have the money is the worst thing he thinks he could do. He said you depend on them and they depend on you, so you never want to go there but when the dollars are gone, what do you do? He thinks lots of stations are in that situation now or will be in the next few weeks.

He noted one friend with a small market station lost 40% of his billing in March. For May he is at about 7% of the prior year (as far as billing already on the books and he likes to sell long term contracts). He said he was putting annual contracts on hiatus when clients requested. He notes all the high school sports dollars and various community event dollars his station counted on are gone and worst of all his salespeople had already sold these packages the station cannot collect to pay them commission on. And he said that a few clients were sticking with him because they know he needs the business just like they do. That friend said the station was solid and turning about 15% profit, maybe 20% in a great year but as low as 5% in a bad year. He lost money in 2008 and is now bleeding money faster than he has ever seen. When you go from $30,000 to $12,000 a month almost overnight, it's scary (especially when we have yet to see the light at the end of the tunnel).

I'm not trying to minimize the person's pain who was let go, but I post this to point out in most cases, the owner is in the same boat and has a human side too. Sure they still have an asset but with that comes a FCC responsibility to live up to (and that ain't cheap).

 

[TheBigA]

What people may not know is that these sales campaigns are booked months in advance. Right now, no one knows when this thing is going to be over, so nobody can really plan on launching a new campaign. The TV networks, for example, hold events for advertisers in May in order to lock up advertising for the fall season. Those junkets are probably going to be canceled or postponed. It's hard to do any kind of advance planning when you can't predict the future.

 

[SirRoxalot]

One other consideration that people have failed to recognize is that the people who own stations usually invested their profits in either short-term or long-term investments. Looked at the stock market lately? A lot of owners - and 401ks - aren't looking especially healthy or bringing in the dividends that they were a couple of months ago. That means that small owner don't have that backstop, and big owners have nervous investors wonder if they should get their money out of radio and put it into industries that haven't been hit as hard as broadcasting. The biggest sales job in the world right now may be preventing investors from tanking the stocks and selling to vulture capitalists who will shred what's left of the industry.

 

[davideduardo]

One other consideration that people have failed to recognize is that the people who own stations usually invested their profits in either short-term or long-term investments. Looked at the stock market lately? A lot of owners - and 401ks - aren't looking especially healthy or bringing in the dividends that they were a couple of months ago. That means that small owner don't have that backstop, and big owners have nervous investors wonder if they should get their money out of radio and put it into industries that haven't been hit as hard as broadcasting. The biggest sales job in the world right now may be preventing investors from tanking the stocks and selling to vulture capitalists who will shred what's left of the industry.

Small station owners are a special class of people. Those who have a single market operation, whether a stand-alone, and AM-FM or a couple more local station in a cluster, took a lot of their profits as salary and benefits for themselves and family members.

In the smallest operations, there was no "idle capital" that was invested in short-term investments. And if there was any surplus, it was generally put into quality bonds that produced income and liquidity, but more often kept in a savings account for contingencies.

In the longer run, most privately owned group principals invested must like the rest of Americans in the same income range. That meant anything from savings accounts to mutual funds to individual stocks and bonds. The range is huge.

The most common investment by small station and group owners would be in mutual funds that are planned for retirement, and those generally are split in determined percentages between stocks and bonds.

But a lot of small station owners consider their station or stations as their principal investment. In their case, with revenue off as much as a reported 90% in some situations, these owners will have to depend on whatever cash they had on hand and on the ability to get government help, loan payment suspensions, etc.

Those small owners generally don't have large investment portfolios. Many have longer term loans that they took out to either buy the station, to upgrade equipment or to cover down years. Some are still recovering from the last recession, 12 years ago. For smaller operators, their stations are their investments.

 

[Rusty Bridges]

If there's anything the business didn't need right now, it's a pandemic and ensuing protocols established to stanch the spread of the coronavirus. The original post here is quite impressive in large measure because it lacks the hubris that so many previous posts contained. Yes, it is indeed a time for compassion and understanding, especially for local owners.

On a tangent, it's going to be a very weird Spring book. Conventional wisdom says that local, live radio does well in times of crisis, but that mostly pertained to natural disasters such as floods, tornadoes and blizzards. This pandemic is an entirely different disaster that precludes and prevents people from getting closer. This pandemic denies a sense of personal closeness because it demands that we stay distant to save our lives. Music stations aren't contesting as effectively, if at all. Personalities are being RIFd; promotions and remotes are canceled. News stations are stretched to the limit, trying to cover stories while at the same time doing their best to protect reporters' and staff members' health.

At this writing radio is totally pinned to the mat. Forgive my pessimism, but I don't see a resurgence for at least a year, possibly longer, ratings or not. Clients and advertisers have bigger priorities, even if they get a government check. The advertising bill isn't at the top of their payment plan and buying a schedule, wise as it may seem, may be out of reach. However, I am intrigued by the number of local commercials I see running on Channels 2, 4 and 7, as well as the local inserts on CNN, Fox News and CNBC. This may portend a brighter prospect than offered a few sentences earlier, but I'm not counting on it.

If you're a DJ, plan on being furloughed for a long time. If you're an AE, your job hangs in the balance on an hour-by-hour basis. If you're an owner... good luck. Seriously. Good luck to all. This poster completely understands why staff cuts are essential. At this point it's triage, the only way to stay alive. In some cases it wouldn't be a surprise to learn that (music) stations sign off at midnight to save a few bucks each day. And who could blame them.

 

[TheBigA]

Conventional wisdom says that local, live radio does well in times of crisis, but that mostly pertained to natural disasters such as floods, tornadoes and blizzards.

All of those things are local and this pandemic is not. Of course it's disproportionally hitting NY state, but that doesn't mean Buffalo specifically. Most of the worst is downstate.

 

[Rusty Bridges]

All of those things are local and this pandemic is not. Of course it's disproportionally hitting NY state, but that doesn't mean Buffalo specifically. Most of the worst is downstate.

If you lived here, you'd know otherwise. Buffalo is not New York City, but the city and county are facing serious challenges. Two days ago 40% of the patients in a suburban nursing home tested positive. This will help bring you and others up to speed. https://erieny.maps.arcgis.com/apps/opsdashboard/index.html#/dd7f1c0c352e4192ab162a1dfadc58e1

Today's New York, state and city, could be next week's Florida, Michigan or Louisiana. Hopefully not, for the sake of citizens in those states. The pandemic is global, national and local, and it's taking a personal and economic toll.

 

[TheBigA]

If you lived here, you'd know otherwise. Buffalo is not New York City, but the city and county are facing serious challenges. Two days ago 40% of the patients in a suburban nursing home tested positive. This will help bring you and others up to speed.

Similar stories all across the country. Not unique to Buffalo.

The question is if you're a news person at WBEN, and you just got laid off for 3 months, what do you do?

 

[davideduardo]

If you lived here, you'd know otherwise. Buffalo is not New York City, but the city and county are facing serious challenges. Two days ago 40% of the patients in a suburban nursing home tested positive.

If you substitute "Palm Springs" for "Buffalo" the same story is precisely true for a local news story.

And it applies in one form or another to nearly every other part of the US or the world...

My oldest daughter is in fear because in a nearby city, the virus has overwhelmed the authorities to such an extent that people are leaving bodies on the sidewalk in the hopes that they will be retrieved.

As BigA said, this is a national, an international, and a global story. Most of the significant news about cures, solutions and aid come from the national and state governments, and are not at the local level.

 

[davideduardo]

On a tangent, it's going to be a very weird Spring book. Conventional wisdom says that local, live radio does well in times of crisis, but that mostly pertained to natural disasters such as floods, tornadoes and blizzards. This pandemic is an entirely different disaster that precludes and prevents people from getting closer. This pandemic denies a sense of personal closeness because it demands that we stay distant to save our lives. Music stations aren't contesting as effectively, if at all. Personalities are being RIFd; promotions and remotes are canceled. News stations are stretched to the limit, trying to cover stories while at the same time doing their best to protect reporters' and staff members' health.

And the ratings for the third week of March (which is not a calendar week) which is now 3 weeks ago show adult radio listing off by around 15%... with variance by market but all near that.

The impact is such that Nielsen has called for a conference call early next week when the March numbers are released for the PPM markets.

Because this is both national and very visual, TV coverage has benefited. Local stations are hampered by the need to stay off the street so we get a lot more talking heads in home studios in most medium and small markets.

 

[TheBigA]

And the ratings for the third week of March (which is not a calendar week) which is now 3 weeks ago show adult radio listing off by around 15%... with variance by market but all near that.

But the reality is that nobody cares about the ratings because there are no clients right now.

 

[davideduardo]

But the reality is that nobody cares about the ratings because there are no clients right now.

I see considerable interest at major stations among friends who work for a number of the larger and better known groups. This event is being seen as disruptive, and can realign preferences and change the rank of stations once a bit of normalcy returns.

The issue is also about what can be done to "hold the fort" when some companies have released half the staff; when conditions improve, many stations will be very different due to staff changes at the stations and social changes among listeners.

 

[Rusty Bridges]

This is not an argument. I think we're saying the same things in different ways. That duly noted, it might surprise a few people to see how many Buffalo TV reporters are out on the street. Now, to be fair, many of the reports or packages that are "out on the street" are stand-ups with sound bites/video bites. But there have been two to three person-to-person interviews, all respecting social distancing. Additionally, the County Executive and County Chief Medical Officer host a daily briefing, which also is carried by the local TV stations, as well as WBFO and WBEN. Substantial credit should be given to the local radio and TV reporters who are working stories and out on the street. Credit also is due to the TV stations for clearing time for the reports. If anybody is left in local traffic departments, they deserve credit too for re-scheduling the logs every day. It's a thankless job.

 

[TheBigA]

Just as a follow up, I mentioned that the nursing home story in Buffalo wasn't unusual. Today, Rachel Maddow reported the same thing:

https://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow...nursing-home-front-line-in-shadow-81865285641

She points out that pretty much anywhere you have nursing homes, you also have an outbreak of Covid-19. They seem to have all of the elements.

I searched the web for more on this, and to no surprise, a lot of law firms have noticed it as well. You can expect a series of lawsuits soon. Maybe in Buffalo.

https://www.cochranfirmdc.com/nursing-homes-covid-19-faq/

 

[boombox4]

Just as a follow up, I mentioned that the nursing home story in Buffalo wasn't unusual. Today, Rachel Maddow reported the same thing:

https://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow...nursing-home-front-line-in-shadow-81865285641

She points out that pretty much anywhere you have nursing homes, you also have an outbreak of Covid-19. They seem to have all of the elements.

I searched the web for more on this, and to no surprise, a lot of law firms have noticed it as well. You can expect a series of lawsuits soon. Maybe in Buffalo.

https://www.cochranfirmdc.com/nursing-homes-covid-19-faq/

I have a feeling that a lot of what is happening in nursing homes nationwide isn't getting reported, if my own region of the US is any indication. For example, in my area (Western WA state) the local media stopped reporting the number of nursing homes with the COVID-19 present after early March... The local government websites seem to avoid the subject as well, so the public is more or less uninformed about the extent of the problem in long-term care facilities.

At the same time, a national news agency reported a couple weeks ago that 23 local nursing homes had it, and last week a state health authority told NBC News that the number of affected nursing homes apparently climbed to 53. So the information is apparently being leaked, or is common knowledge among some in the media or governments, but it's just not being publicized -- maybe because there is just so much information swamping the news about coronavirus.

 

[davideduardo]

I have a feeling that a lot of what is happening in nursing homes nationwide isn't getting reported, if my own region of the US is any indication.

You are correct. And so far I have not seen any national network or cable news channel focus on nursing homes with some kind of in-depth report.

In my market, half the population is made up of seniors. And there are lots of nursing homes in the full county (a county which is larger than the 5 smallest states, incidentally). There have been plenty of local TV reports on deaths and infections at those facilities.

The worst are at ones where people who had ended possible treatments in a hospital and are living short end-of-life periods at such homes that offer continuous care. In one case, only one of two dozen employees showed up three days ago, and the seniors were sent to other facilities... many with lots of equipment and fluid connections.

It seems that this is a significant news story.

Nursing homes are not famous for resort living. They are not a replica of one of the Sun City developments. They are mostly for people who can't make it on their own and whose family can't deal with the issues due to either priorities or inabilities.

The only person to mention this subject that I know of (although I don't listen to him) was Limbaugh who said that many victims were at the end of their lives and vulnerable. He was immediately criticized and scorched for saying that, although it is definitely a fact.