For some writers and reporters, there’s no bigger thrill than pressing send on a breaking news story. Not for me. I value relationships over clicks. When someone I know and hold in high regard is part of a story that involves radio industry layoffs or a personal decision to exit, I hate writing it. I know a lot of people will read the article and contact the individual featured in it. That can be exhausting when you’re trying to escape a stressful situation in your professional life. But we also have a responsibility as a media outlet to relay the news to the industry. That’s what I signed up for when I went down this road in 2015.
But that is how I felt Friday morning when I learned that Don Martin and Robin Bertolucci were exiting iHeartMedia Los Angeles. Information was coming in from every angle. With a story like that, which involves two people I know, like, and respect, the last thing I want to be is wrong. If Don or Robin called and said ‘we’re not leaving, we’re still here’ I’d have been sick. Usually though when 5-6 sources relay similar details, you know something’s happening, and it has to be covered.
Making it harder was the fact that I have a great relationship with Julie Talbott, Scott Shapiro, and Kurt Kretzschmar, and other members of Fox Sports Radio and Premiere Networks. They’ve been great supporters of ours. When something happens that involves a member of the group who we value working with, it sucks. Fortunately, Don is staying involved with Premiere and Fox, but on Friday morning, that information wasn’t clear. Having to report it was stressful.
No matter how much anyone tries to dress it up, the radio industry suffered two black eyes last week. iHeartMedia issued layoffs across the country affecting music radio, sports radio, and news/talk. Of course, this happens just as advertising agencies are deciding on their marketing plans for 2025. It’s hard enough for buyers to be excited about our business when they read stories about bankruptcy and decreasing revenues. Company layoffs don’t exactly inspire confidence.
On iHeartMedia’s earnings call this week, CEO Bob Pittman said that technology will be the key to increasing iHeart’s operating leverage. Pittman believes that technology alone will reduce annual expenses by $150 million in 2025. Staff reductions are helping reduce savings to roughly $200 million.
When asked to explain how technology would help iHeart save such a large sum of money, Pittman said “I think what we’re doing is not getting rid of air talent. What we’re able to do now, because we’ve got technology is take talent in any location and put them on the air in another location. So it allows us to substantially upgrade the quality of our talent in every single market we’re in.”
First, c’mon Bob. You’re not getting rid of talent? When did Alfred Williams, Rich Shertenlieb, Len Berman, and Joe Pags become producers? Secondly, are these men all now doing shows for the company from their homes that nobody else is aware of? They were high income hosts in top markets and were all laid off. That means you got rid of air talent. Suggesting otherwise is disingenuous.
Pittman’s points though about featuring talent from different locations suggests a bigger focus moving forward on national and regional syndication. For instance, maybe instead of iHeart branding cities individually like iHeart San Antonio, iHeart Austin, iHeart Dallas, and iHeart Houston, they become iHeart Texas with all outlets featuring one show in each location. That’d keep the content semi-local, and local advertisers connected to local voices, while reducing full local lineups in each city.
The other option is to rely more on Fox Sports Radio and Premiere Networks programming. The content is more national than local but iHeart does employ many of the best talent in the business. Among them, Bobby Bones, Ryan Seacrest, Charlamagne Tha God, Colin Cowherd, Dan Patrick, Sean Hannity, and Clay Travis and Buck Sexton. It makes sense to distribute them everywhere.
Their radio shows may not deliver big local ratings everywhere, but they do have large audiences. With dollars shifting to digital, you can see why iHeart would double down on national stars with greater reach. Meadowlark Media CEO John Skipper said at the 2024 BSM Summit in New York that he believed local people delivering local content would matter less in the future. Pittman clearly agrees.
If you’re a radio lifer waiting for Pittman to return radio to the glory days of the 1990’s, wake up. Those days are gone. Bob isn’t beloved by many local talent and programmers but he’s a sharp executive who’s led America’s largest radio company since 2011. His decisions may not be popular and could turn out to be wrong, but he makes shrewd choices in favor of what he thinks will deliver growth for the company. Radio revenues continue to trend in the wrong direction, so it’s clear that he’s trying to transform the company, even if it ruffles feathers, and disrupts professional situations.
The questions I have are ‘why would listeners in one city care to hear talent and content from other places that have no local connection? How does losing skilled talent and accomplished executives make the company stronger? Why should iHeart employees feel good about where they work when layoffs have occurred regularly since 2020? Why should employees, partners, and shareholders trust that this is the right vision for the future when change has been a recurring theme? Furthermore, why should advertisers invest large revenues in local talent and stations, if the company can’t assure them that they’ll still be there?
iHeart has made cuts before but rarely do they include names like Rich Shertenlieb, Alfred Williams, John Kuhn, Joe Pags, Len Berman, Michael Riedel, and John Mamola. Cutting ties with successful people doesn’t make a company better. It makes competitors stronger. These professionals will be re-hired and play a role in challenging iHeart in local markets for future business.
The recent layoffs raise questions about the health of the industry, and the future for large operators. Robby Bridges suggested last week that it was time for groups like iHeart to sell. Dave Greene challenged professionals to develop a Plan B given the lack of security in the radio business. Pittman would likely unload radio stations if the return on investment made sense, but how many people are actively looking to spend big to acquire them? Jeff Smulyan owns an FM stick (98.7) in New York City and is open for business, but his price hasn’t been met. He’s not going to take a bath just to get rid of it. I don’t suspect Pittman would either.
Layoffs are a part of the media business. They are not going away. If media professionals expect them to subside, they’re not in tune with reality. I’ve shared this article before but unfortunately most professionals don’t take the time to read. Radio recorded 15 billion in revenue in 2023 according to Kagan Research. In 2024, the RAB projects the industry to deliver 13.6 billion. Looking ahead to 2025, it’s even lower at 12.9 billion.
IF that information is correct, it implies that the radio business will have lost two billion dollars in two years. If we go back in time to 2014, revenues were 14.9 billion. That means there’s been no financial growth for a decade, and even worse, a decline is upon us.
If you were running a business, and saw your revenue not grow for years, and then suddenly shrink by 10-15% in 2-3 years, would you carry the same payroll moving forward? Unlikely. Would you increase your investments in future growth? Probably not. We can all love and believe in the radio industry, but if the dollars aren’t there, tough decisions have to be made.
Believe me, I hate seeing this unfold, and having to communicate it to industry professionals. I’d love to tell you ‘business is booming, better days are ahead, and there’s no industry more exciting to be in right now than radio.’ But I won’t mislead people, especially when the evidence suggests otherwise.
Corporate radio is trying to push a boulder up a mountain at the moment while others stand in front of it and try to send it backwards. These are hard times for large radio groups. Smaller companies have better stories but those get often overlooked. When talented people like Rich Shertenlieb, Don Martin, Robin Bertolucci, Alfred Williams, Joe Pags, John Mamola, and Len Berman either exit or are laid off, it doesn’t provide a positive feeling. If it can happen to them, it can happen to you, regardless of how talented or tenured you are.
If you’re passionate about the business like me, and hope to be a part of it for years to come, there are two things you need to do.
First, make sure you’re adding value in multiple ways to the company. If all you have to offer are over the air ratings, don’t be shocked if it’s not enough to keep you employed. What are you adding beyond your shift? Are you creating digital impact or just playing in the space? Have you brought in revenue relationships to the radio station that would exit with you? Did you invest time in building a personal brand so that you’re attractive to other operators if your current employer chooses to move on? How many industry relationships have you established to make sure future conversations are available should your situation change?
Just as important, how much does your salary affect the bottom line? The higher your price tag, the more of a bullseye on your back. If you’re not adding value in a superior way to anyone else on staff, you become a target. Are you willing to work for less or move to a smaller market to help a smaller operator? Doing so could extend your career, but that isn’t always possible or attractive.
Secondly, start preparing yourself to live without it. You may intend to do this forever, but supporting yourself and your family should come first. Finding work in other fields is easier, and radio professionals have skills that transfer to many areas. I built Barrett Media in 2015 believing that I could provide something different that wasn’t available. Though personal reasons influenced my decision to go down this path, I also saw troubling signs ahead for the industry.
You don’t think about stability when you’re 22-30 years old, but when you enter your late 30’s and early 40’s, priorities change. Paying a mortgage, raising kids, and supporting a family all come into play. Radio may be your first love, but if you’re not open to other forms of employment or developing skills to contribute to other mediums, you’re putting yourself at risk. The radio industry is still fun. It has the potential to be lucrative again, but with debt suffocating most larger radio groups, the ride ahead will be bumpy.
If there’s one thing to remember from this week it’s a comment Bob Pittman made. He said, “there is not going to be a slot for everybody.” Knowing that’s the reality, the question now is, what are you doing to make sure there’s one left for you?
Upcoming Barrett Media Changes
- We recently launched our Ratings page. Data for the top 200 radio markets are now available. Check out the latest reports up top on the site or by clicking here.
- I announced last week our plans for the Barrett Media Top 20 series. A quick reminder, our News/Talk series runs January 6-10 and January 13. The Music Radio series debuts January 20-24 and 27-29. And Sports Radio gets released February 3-7 and 10.
- We distributed two emails last week, one for our website/content survey. Another for speaker opportunities at the 2025 BSM Summit in Chicago. Each will be emailed again this week so keep an eye out. Interest in speaking is high, and I do appreciate it. I’m taking my time with this process to make sure every speaker and session at the conference matters.
- Another change we’re making goes into effect on Monday December 2nd. We are reducing our newsletters from four (4) per day to (2). There will be a Barrett Media Morning Edition distributed daily at 8am ET. The Evening Edition will go out M-F at 5pm ET.
The 8@8, Rundown, Pulse and Press Pass have been fun to create, but two full-service newsletters is better for everyone. It saves industry professionals from being hit 4x per day by us via email. We’re able to send a mix of content to our full audience rather than to smaller custom built groups. Doing so allows us to offer better advertising value to our partners, prioritize better content, and reflect the brand you see online. Plus, we know that most readers aren’t consuming twenty three stories per day, which is what we currently send out each day.
More focus will be placed on original features, opinions, and in-depth stories in the morning. Industry news will earn top billing in the evening. Promotion of articles from other content sources is being discontinued. Our goal is to offer 7-9 stories each morning, and 7-8 in the evening.
Quick Hits:
- Credit to NewsNation and Newsmax on being ahead on election night. The two networks were within a minute of each other calling the race for President. They also did an excellent job making calls on projected winners in various states throughout the evening. I thought Fox News did a strong job too with its coverage, featuring a more balanced desk. Fox finished atop the ratings with Bret Baier, Martha MacCallum, and Bill Hemmer delivering excellent coverage. I tried watching MSNBC but the commentary was very one-sided. CNN offered better balance though the network lost 44% of its election night viewership compared to 2020.
- Congratulations to Doug Gottlieb. His tenure as head coach of Wisconsin-Green Bay’s men’s basketball team may have begun with a loss at his alma mater Oklahoma State, but knowing Doug for twenty years, I know that was a special moment for him personally. Gottlieb is juggling dual roles as head coach and Fox Sports Radio’s afternoon host. Some questioned whether or not he could do both jobs simultaneously. I’m rooting for him to pull it off.
- I loved seeing the announcement of Adam The Bull and Dustin Fox reuniting in podcast form for BetRivers. That’s a smart hire by Adam Delevitt and the BetRivers bunch. Bull and Fox created a lot of success together in Cleveland at 92.3 The Fan.
- Attention Skip Bayless and Ryan Evans, it might be wise to update your password on X regularly. Last week was not a good look for either of you.
- Stephanie Eads, Derek Futterman, and I will be in attendance this week for the ESPN Edge conference in New York City. Jimmy Pitaro, Mike McQuade, Tony Reali, and other ESPN executives are speaking at the show. I’m looking forward to being there.
Barrett Media produces daily content on the music, news, and sports media industries. To stay updated, sign up for our newsletters and get the latest information delivered straight to your inbox.
Jason Barrett is the Founder and CEO of Barrett Media. The company launched in September 2015 and has provided consulting services to America’s top audio and video brands, while simultaneously covering the media industry at BarrettMedia.com, becoming a daily destination for media professionals. Prior to Barrett Media, Jason built and programmed 95.7 The Game in San Francisco, and 101 ESPN in St. Louis. He was also the first sports programmer for SportsTalk 950 in Philadelphia, which later became 97.5 The Fanatic. Barrett also led 590 The Fan KFNS in St. Louis, and ESPN 1340/1390 in Poughkeepsie, NY, and worked on-air and behind the scenes at 101.5 WPDH, WTBQ 1110AM, and WPYX 106.5. He also spent two years at ESPN Radio in Bristol, CT producing ‘The Dan Patrick Show’ and ‘GameNight’. JB can be reached on Twitter @SportsRadioPD or by email at Jason@BarrettMedia.com.
