In Radio, there's an old adage that 'everyone gets fired sooner or later'.
For years it was a running joke at radio. I used to hear 'I was fired' stories a lot during my 20 year stint in the industry.
When I lost my first radio job -- I was an intern at a local classic rocker in October-December of 1987 -- the Program Director said "Hey, don't worry. Radio people won't think you're bad news because you got fired. I got fired from my first radio job, too!"
It just happens in Radio.
Lately, it's been happening more and more.
The problem is that with the financial woes hitting my former career field lately, layoffs and 'Reductions-in-Force' are getting more and more frequent. And this time it's apparently hitting a lot of middle management and sales people -- including some programmers -- at American radio media giant IHeart.
IHeartMedia has announced a series of layoffs that hit various operations all over the US. Even a programmer in Seattle (at Sports radio station KJR-FM) is being laid off.
Here's a couple articles from online media newspaper Barrett Media.:
https://barrettmedia.com/2026/04/15/marc-james-departs-kjr-as-iheartmedia-continues-ongoing-layoffs/
Other people at IHeart stations are being let go, including some air talent. It's like February 2020 all over again -- seeing social media posts by morning DJ's and the like who are saying good bye to their loyal and faithful listeners.
Here's a news story about a veteran morning host in Connecticut who's being let go.:
It's all very sad, really. The vast majority of those laid off will never work in Radio again.
A lot of us who used to work in the industry look at this debacle with a mixture of sarcasm and chagrin. Many of us -- who no longer work in Radio -- know exactly how it feels to be laid off, and never work in Radio again. Every guy I was laid off with -- all seven of us, when they eliminated our entire department in December of 2006 -- never worked in Radio again.
That's the chagrin part.
The sarcasm part? That's when you read of yet another round of layoffs at a radio company and you wonder if there is anybody left at that company to lay off.
IHeartMedia has a mixed reputation in Radio. Many credit the company for trying to move their operations online, where the future seems to lie. The IHeartRadio online platform has been a success.
But many Radio fans also dislike the company for the consolidation, homogenization, and sometimes heartless appearing actions, like when the company got rid of 10% of its radio staff in early 2020 -- including many DJ's and airstaff who loved their jobs, and found themselves laid off, with little chance of working in Radio ever again.
Some of the social media posts by laid off DJ's were heartrending. They were working at a dream job, relating to people, connecting with their communities, and -- as far as many of them knew -- they were still getting ratings.
Then the axe came down.
To many who used to work in Radio, these rounds of layoffs that seem to occur every year -- not just at IHeart, but at the other big American Radio companies too -- are just another indicator of the downward slide that the industry is taking.
Less people on the airwaves, more automation, less local content, and the medium seems less and less personable.
Although the Radio industry is hitting some hard times, there still are a lot of cool and diverse radio stations on the night time airwaves. KBBR 1340, out of North Bend, Oregon is one of them. KBBR plays an interesting mix of oldies and classic hits. North Band, and its sister city, Coos Bay, are on the Southern Oregon Coast, where the weather is in the mid 60's F year around.
IHeart has famously adopted an anti-AI stance, with commercial announcements and some PR releases announcing that the company is anti-AI, and that the voices and songs you hear on their stations are 100 percent human.
Now the jokes about this latest round of layoffs is 'where are the humans? They're all being laid off!' and the like.
However, there is a revenue problem that is behind a lot of these layoffs.
One other large American radio company, Cumulus, is going through Chapter 11 bankruptcy proceedings. During the proceedings, Cumulus reported that its broadcast radio revenues declined 15.9% in 2025. Network revenue (including WestwoodOne) was down 22.5%; Advertising revenue from Radio was down 12.9%. The company as a whole lost $200 Million last year.
Here's a report on Cumulus's revenue declines from RadioInk.:
The drops in broadcast radio, spot advertising, and network revenues are indicators that Radio's revenues, industry wide, aren't in terrific shape. Many who work in the business side of Radio believe that what Cumulus is facing isn't a rarity. After all, CBS Radio News is being eliminated because of revenue losses.
Online there are plenty of folks who claim that these nosedives in revenue are because Radio isn't 'live and local' anymore, or because the music stations have short playlists, or because big Radio companies like IHeart 'ruined radio'.
The fact is the internet has damaged radio. There is no getting around that. I have no idea what Radio is going to sound like in 2036, but my guess is that there will be even less human voices on the airwaves, more syndication and consolidation, and less AM and less FM stations on the airwaves.
In fact, the number of Radio stations in the US continues to decline. RadioInk reports that even FM is in decline -- in the past four months 19 commercial FM stations in the US shut down (there were 32 AM stations shut down during the same three month period).
These station shutdowns and the recent layoffs are just more symptoms of the issues the Radio industry is facing. And Radio is not alone in this. Newspapers, Magazines, Broadcast and Cable TV -- all these media that used to be taken for granted as important and vital media are starting to feel the pinch.
The world is changing, folks. It's all internet content.
The Internet is killing Radio.
I'll end this with the most positive note I can: If you're a Radio fan, keep tuning those radios, and enjoy the fact that there are still stations on the night time airwaves to listen to.
Quit bitching and griping about the fact that it's not 'live and local', or that the stations don't play every one of your favorite songs. The industry is having money problems, and the listeners and advertisers have increasingly drifted online. TikTok, Instagram, X, Spotify, Pandora, YouTube, et. al. are the new "radio".
Online podcasts are the new 'talk radio', just as streaming is the new 'music radio'.
It's just the reality.
Right now I'm going to return to my fiction writing, and listen to my GE Superadio 1, which sits near my writing desk in my den, and it is playing a bunch of stations on 1400 kHz. It's a wild mix of sports, Classic Hits, and a bunch of other stations all mixed in.
Until next time, my friends,
Peace.
C.C. -- April 16th, 2026.
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