The largest Radio company in the United States, IHeartMedia, has started laying off "less than 5%" of their workforce, as announced in the radio press (and other news outlets) recently.
The layoffs include managers, programmers, positions that oversee operations of entire 'clusters' of IHeart stations, as well as air staff. The NY Post says the layoffs amount to "hundreds" of positions.
As I reported in this blog four years ago (and it was also reported in the Radio press, as well as elsewhere), IHeart laid off roughly 10% of their workforce at the beginning of 2020. There have been other layoffs in the Radio industry by other companies since then, including some IHeart positions.
So -- since the beginning of 2020 -- the largest Radio company in the US has gotten rid of maybe 12-14% of their workers.
IT HAS HAPPENED SEVERAL TIMES BEFORE
In this section I am listing links to several earlier articles I wrote in this blog concerning the previous layoffs in Radio. There are a few common threads in the reasons for the layoffs. First, Radio revenues are down, largely because ad rates industry wide have declined. Secondly, leaders in the industry think that Radio is in decline and are acting accordingly. Thirdly, the companies involved are in debt, or otherwise having revenue problems, and possibly ratings issues as well. Fourthly, the industry's bigger players are consolidating operations, thanks to available technology. With more centralized operations, middle management positions -- like program directors in major and middle sized markets -- are less needed, or important.
And the mostly unstated reason is that listeners are going online -- but not necessarily to online platforms run by Radio companies.
So here are the articles I wrote:
This article is about the IHeart layoffs at the beginning of 2020, where they laid off 10% of their workforce.:
These articles deal with various layoffs, or station closures that also negatively affected Radio employment.:
Interrock Nation: Radio Morning Shows Experiencing Decline -- another moneymaker for Radio is fading
This next, extensive article, 'Who Killed Radio', goes into detail concerning the numerous processes that reduced the Radio medium from something vital and relevant to an industry in decline.:
(To more easily see the graph, you can right click, and open it in a new tab).
REVENUES ARE DOWN, OR FLAT -- BUT COSTS ARE STILL GOING UP
This latest series of IHeart layoffs are yet one more indicator of an industry in decline, and an unfortunate one. IHeart's impetus for laying off just under 5% of their workers is that -- despite some claims of Radio companies seeing more revenues recently -- revenues overall are down in Radio, and costs are still up, due to inflation.
In one of the articles below, it is claimed that IHeart's online media platform has increased numbers of listeners. Of course, other data (see the graph above) shows that IHeart's online platform is not one of the top players in online listening, and it's only got 8% of streaming listeners in GenZ and the Millennials.
THEY'LL JUST 'GO ONLINE' -- NOPE
Some commenters and experts in the Radio industry believe that the laid off IHeart radio workers will be able to find similar jobs in related fields, mostly online. They think some of the Radio skills transfer to other fields. After all, audio entertainment, in general, is headed online. So why wouldn't the lost jobs also drift online?
Well, the biggest problem with that style of thinking is that online is a different animal. Some of the tech -- audio and visual tech used -- may be similar, but the online content business model is much, much different, and much less apt to have actual employees.
Most podcasts (aside from the big names like Joe Rogan, Tucker Carlson, Shawn Ryan, Rick Beato, David Pakman, the Daily Wire podcast guys, and the like) are one or two person affairs, where everything is done by one person, using their computer, with perhaps a nice backdrop, a good microphone, and a high quality web camera. They don't need the extra people that traditional media have usually needed. Also, as AI and other automated technology increases, the need for former Radio skills in other fields will be lessened.
If you have AI gathering your news for reporting, who needs actual people?
If you have AI voices for announcing your YouTube infotainment videos, who needs actual announcers?
If you have an easy to use Digital Audio Workstation on your computer, which has less of a learning curve than the SADIE, AudioVault, or SONIC systems that were popular in Radio in the 2000's, who needs a sound engineer or sound editing tech?
And if you are a smaller operation, podcasting on a platform that can monetise your podcasts via a contractual agreement -- who needs sales reps?
I'll repeat what I've said previously whenever these stories of layoffs come up: The vast majority of the laid off people will never work in Radio again, and most of them will never work in a related field again. They will have to be retrained in another industry.
I wish them luck. Been there, done that.
Technology, and changes in media from legacy industries like Radio, TV, Cable, and Newspapers to everything being online content (much of it not bringing in much revenue unless you are a BIG player like the aforementioned podcasters) has made many of the skills used for Radio redundant.
And, as I said before, a lot of podcasters are small businesses with moderate incomes. No extra revenue for employees.
I feel for the laid off people. They got their notices just before Thanksgiving and Christmas. Most of them know that they won't work in the field again, and many of their skills -- like the sound engineering skills I had when I worked in Radio -- do not transfer outside of the industry.
But it is what it is.
Here are two news articles on the layoffs, which I've referenced throughout the article.:
A picture of my Squeakers in better days. I had just gotten my DSL router, and had just hooked it up. She was -- naturally -- curious about it. This was around 2012? 2013? I still miss my cat....
IN OTHER LIFE...
Just a week ago, we had Halloween. I took a handful of pics of decorations in my neighborhood. I think I will put them in a separate blog article. I only had two small groups of trick-or-treaters -- three kids in all, with three more people if you include parents and one of the kids' mom. They all got candy (except the one mom, who doesn't tolerate candy well).
So now I've got more mini chocolate bars to eat -- enough to last me for a year.
The weather is somewhat moderate for November, which I'm fine with. The MW DX conditions have picked up a little. As most long time DXers know, this Solar Cycle has been a dud. But it does seem to finally be showing a little promise. I actually heard a couple Oregon stations again for the first time in over a decade!
I have several posts I've been working on and they just need pics. So over the next couple weeks there will be a cluster of them posted, including one on the Solar Cycle.
So stay tuned.
Peace.
C.C., November 9th, 2024.
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