Several Indianapolis radio employees lost their jobs this week in a round of layoffs by San Antonio-based Clear Channel, the parent company of WRZX-FM 103.3, WFBQ-FM 94.7 and WNDE-AM 1260.
Among those let go: Don Stuck, the morning show host on WRZX; and Ace Cosby, a veteran disc jockey who most recently served as a producer at sports talker WNDE.
"It was a tough day but I made a business decision I thought would benefit our ratings and revenue going forward," said Rick Green, vice president and market manager for Clear Channel’s Indianapolis stations.
Green declined to say how many total employees were let go but confirmed Stuck and Cosby were among them.
Stuck had worked in various roles at the Clear Channel stations for about 25 years, mostly at WFBQ.
He had worked at WRZX as a morning host for several years, including a stint with a co-host, Dave "Gunner" Gunn. Gunn replaced WFBQ DJ Jimmy “Mad Dog” Matis after Clear Channel laid off the 23-year drive-time veteran in 2010.
Cosby worked at WFBQ almost 30 years before Clear Channel laid him off in 2009. He returned in 2010, on a part-time basis as a board operator and sidekick/co-host with Mark Patrick.
Green said the moves are part of Clear Channel's efforts to use "technology and talent we have around the country"—which often translates into fewer disc jockeys— to grow ratings across its more than 750 radio stations.
The Bob & Tom Show, which got its start at WFBQ, now is heard on more than 150 stations. WFBQ midday host Laura Steele also is heard on stations in Dallas, San Antonio and Seattle.
Green said he intends to hire a new morning show host for WRZX.
Wendy Goldberg, a Clear Channel corporate spokeswoman, declined to say how many people the company let go nationally "as a policy, and out of respect." Radio industry websites estimated the layoffs to be in the hundreds.
The company has been implementing a strategy it calls "Premium Choice" that rolls out voice-tracked programming created by disc jockeys in other markets but localized with weather, traffic, news and sports.
"We always look for the most efficient ways to run our business, particularly in challenging economic times, and we never look for layoffs," Goldberg wrote in an e-mail. "But the future of our company and industry depends on our ability to acquire, grow and promote new talent. This new strategy will help us do that."
It's more about greed if you ask Bill “Radio” Remeika, a 16-year Clear Channel veteran who now handles traffic updates for WXIN-TV Fox 59.
"Corporate people in radio tend to treat people like disposable tissues," Remeika
said. "You use them, then throw them away without consideration of what they've meant to your company."
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Clear Channel has stripped their stations of any sense of long-time local personality. Bob & Tome now only comment on Indianapolis area items once an hour while the rest of their programming is easily forgettable.
And that "premium choice" voice-track programming is no solution to radio's problems.
With their listening audience declining every day, mega huge, public corporations like Clear Channel are stuck with having to cut their expenses to keep shareholders happy and the easiest way is by reducing human inventory.
Laughably, Clear Channel radio time rates continue to rise, even as the total listening market continues to shrink.
What the bean counters at mega big radio corps like Clear Channel don't understand is they're getting rid of the last reason listeners have to tune into their stations. With no local air personalities, no local promotions, no sense of community, there's no reason not to tune in Spotify, Pandora, XM/Sirius, CDs or Ipods for the "you choose" music/sports/news you want to hear.
There are those locally-owned stations who will try to stay afloat by keeping their local audience listening.
http://www.clearchannel.com/Corporate/PressRelease.aspx?PressReleaseID=1165&p=hidden
Why should I bother listening to WRZX or Q95 when the LOCAL people are gone when I have iTunes and Spotify with no comercials? I hope B&T, Laura Steele & Dave Gunn aren't next, I won't even need to turn the radio on.
If you want local try WTTS - 92.3. Great music and involved in the community. by far the best choice on the dial.
Radio is killing itself by losing its local identity in favor of a mass-produced nationally syndicated product with no personality.
People buy from people - basic premise of sales. People listen loyally to people on radio, not music. You can get music anywhere. But when bean counter mentality says I can pay one person, program a dozen and hire 1/4 of the on-air talent, and the less expensive the better, then that's sure to build a better return. If not, they'll buy more radio stations, put more people out of work and "lower" expenses - in reality they lower listenership, loyalty and revenues.
The other killer to radio is the glut of stations that have occupied every frequency on the FM band. I now run an LPFM; a great concept to supplement local radio, but so restricted and low priority (not just low power) it's tough to actually serve the community of license. Thanks NAB!
Best thing that could happen is the Clear's and Cumulus's have to shed stations at a discount so that local people could take them back and create a real resurgence of local radio to serve their communities.
I turn off my iPod or Satellite or Pandora and tune into local to hear local info/personalities, without that I guess I will just be keeping my digital music flowing.
Talk about a dying industry.
HD radio is not the savior either. It doesn't work at all on AM (1070 is the only one in town, now with this experiment) and on FM, the subchannels are either not on or not programmed very well.