A broadcast conglomerate that owns a slew of New England radio stations – including WBZ and WEEI – has announced massive across-the-board budget cuts.
The effect on specific outlets owned by IHeartMedia has yet to fully play out.
The company, moving forward with layoffs and a restructuring plan aimed at cutting costs, has roughly 10,000 employees across the country.
The layoffs include popular WSRS morning host Chris Zito, who airs in Worcester and Springfield, Massachusetts. Zito is out after 15 years.
The company is looking to save $50 million a year in personnel costs, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
The latest cuts come in the wake of $100 million of previously-announced savings .
I’m lucky if my radio will get Portland . ( or not ) LOL
What happens in NH , MA , and RI is not really news for me .
I miss “ Humble ( but none the less ) Mighty John” .
WBC – AM 1030 makes it to most of coastal Maine and a century ago was how people on the islands got their news as this papers would arrive three days later.
What happened to the newspapers is now happening to broadcast radio — this is the consequence of 90% of all new advertising dollars going to Google and Facebook.
WBZ. Grrrrrr…
Former radio station owner here…
Consolidation of radio station ownership was not the cause of radio’s decline. Radio’s decline was the cause of consolidation.
At stated elsewhere, audience fragmentation makes traditional mass media wildly inefficient from an advertising standpoint, and that has made thousands of stations far less viable.
Downeast Maine is fortunate to have Star 97.7 with true local ownership. Community involvement and a local presence still matter in broadcast. The difference is now community involvement is the exception rather than the rule.