It happened this morning....Entercom Buffalo market manager Greg Ried was dismissed by Entercom. Reportedly due to the ongoing FCC investigation of political rate improprieties. Tim Holly, GSM, will be interim market manager.
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Ried out at Entercom.
- Thread starter Oldbloodandguts
- Start date
Quite a run. That income will be tough to find somewhere else at this point in the industry. Maybe GM of his yacht club?
The FCC investigation apparently found errors and omissions in their Public File. Don't know if they have concluded if it was administrative incompetence or actual wrongdoing. The complaint that launched this was over political ad rate charges.
Entercom has been "trimming" staff nationwide at all levels. This could just be part of that, but an investigation involving malfeasance never helps. Have not yet seen an Entercom Buffalo press release about this move...
Entercom has been "trimming" staff nationwide at all levels. This could just be part of that, but an investigation involving malfeasance never helps. Have not yet seen an Entercom Buffalo press release about this move...
General Manager, Joe Beamer?
Ried had a 20 year run as GM or Co-GM of the Entercom cluster, some of those years in a management partnership with Larry Robb. Lots of down-sizing and RIFs during his reign, so there's some irony in Ried catching a bullet. He probably gets a comfy exit package and will spend the summer sailing. Sounds to this poster like Entercom pulled the plug on Reid using the "public file and political rates" as a cover to avoid age discrimination litigation. The time-worn "your position has been eliminated" cause is tough to apply to a GM/Market Manager of six radio stations. Maybe they just told him "Billing is down, it's all on you. See ya." So now Tim Holly's get his turn behind the big desk. One former Entercom jock described him using the term "Machiavellian."
They have 7 stations if you count the 1 share ALT Buffalo format. It's been reported that 2018 and 2019 were not good for the cluster. Entercom has valid reasons for wanting change.
As for age discrimination, Radio is very slippery about getting around that. They can say his position has been "reorganized". They may simply put Rochester and Buffalo under one GM(or 5 markets for that matter). As you said, the company probably gave him nice parting gifts and it was amicable...
If Holly becomes more than interim expect LOTS of changes at Entercom. There will be an exodus of top sales talent. This could also be a precursor to a former CBS manager moving up into the Market Manager position. The former CBS crew seems to be tightening their grip on the entire organization.
That's right, Holly is a very polarizing character...most salespeople think of him in Gestapo terms. He is lazy, bullheaded, plays favoritism with certain veteran salespeople, and knows nothing about the other parts of the radio station, other than sales. Doesn't go on sales calls and salespeople prefer this. He was attached to Ried's hip. We'll see how long his reign lasts before the whole place implodes. Other clusters should start placing calls to the better salespeople at Entercom now...good poaching material!
Joe Beamer??? GOOD LORD!!
Lynn Hooper. But yeah, she's on the beach too. Here's the Buffalo News' account https://buffalonews.com/2020/01/13/local-entercom-radio-leader-ried-out/
Because Entercom blew out the local HR person when they RIF'd a bunch of people last summer, corporate gassed Ried and his assistant by phone. Funny, is a dark way. Imagine the call. "Great memo to the staff, Greg! By the way, we changed the door locks but you won't be getting a new code. Somebody from corporate will give you a call in a few days. Have a great vacation."
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For what it's worth, I'd rather be fired on the phone. Far more preferable than the in-person drama replete with escort out of the building. I don't know why anyone would wanna go through that BS.
https://news.****************/artic...com-Buffalo-SVP-General-Manager-Greg-Ried-Out
Here is the confirmation.
Here is the confirmation.
Why bother with a phone call? They could text or email the news with a little emoji. Face to face human interaction is overrated in the modern world.
Iheart just announced another massive bloodletting. When the guy who's supposed to tell you you're fired gets fired before he can tell you = Priceless...
Or a tweet
Anybody have an educated guess as to what kind of money Ried may have been pulling down? 200k+ perhaps?
A GM of seven stations is well-compensated, the salary based on a number of metrics, billing and margin being among them. He very likely was making enough that going without a paycheck will have an impact. A reliable source says Entercom released him "with cause" and he was denied severance benefits, Entercom citing issues related to the Public File and political rate discrepancies. He's said to have been utterly shocked by Entercom's decision to terminate his employment.
Don't be messin' with Davey Field yo.
If Entercom is facing fines over the FCC investigation, then that was a factor in this decision. When someone holds a prominent position for 20+ years, they may get complacent and feel untouchable. All employment is ultimately "At Will" and can be terminated with or without cause. Look at what's happening in the industry.
Reid was around when one of his PDs was fired for taking payola from record labels. He certainly is savvy enough to know the rules of the Radio Game. It appears he brought this on himself...
Reid was around when one of his PDs was fired for taking payola from record labels. He certainly is savvy enough to know the rules of the Radio Game. It appears he brought this on himself...
In the sales business, it might be termed a "cold call."
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