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.
One of my favorite sayings when presented with two options is “It can be both.” However, I don’t think that’s an option for iHeartMedia and the crusade to save AM Radio.
As I’m sure you’re aware, the radio giant is slashing hundreds of jobs in the latest of a long line of job reductions. Nearly every aspect of the company — from the C-suite level, to sales, to on-air and production — has been affected by the cuts.
But when you look at the profile of the on-air personalities that were cut in the past few weeks, there is a similar pattern.
Stations like 710 WOR, KFI-AM 640, 600 KCOL, 1200 WOAI, Rip City Sports Radio 620, FOX Sports 980 WONE, 1460 KXNO, 850 KOA, FOX Sports 910, Sports Talk 790, 1040 WHO, 1430 KASI, 1370 WSPD, 540 Newsradio Orlando, and I could go on and on, but you get the picture.
What do they all have in common? They’re AM signals. Some of them are heritage brands. And yet, they weren’t immune to ongoing cuts.
To be frank, I don’t think it can be both “We need to save AM radio because it is such a vital platform!” while simultaneously dumping as many salaries you can find. Those are competing ideologies. You can argue that the best way to save a tree is by cutting off the dead branches…but when the branches are what make up the interest in keeping the tree around in the first place, that analogy doesn’t fly.
In an effort to be fair, this isn’t specifically an iHeartMedia issue. Cumulus Media, among other national radio companies, is also letting go of some AM Radio hosts in cost-cutting measures.
But iHeartMedia carries the burden of being the biggest radio company in the country. So like Walmart and McDonalds, they sometimes have to carry the criticism for entire industries, fair or unfair.
But it is fair in this instance because it is the company making headlines by laying off major radio talents to save what CEO Bob Pittman has estimated as much as $200 million in salary. However, I don’t know how many companies or industries that have cut their way to prosperity.
Almost everyone agrees radio’s future is by producing live, local, meaningful content that is personality-driven. And yet…the people who produce live, local, and meaningful content are becoming an endangered species.
So excuse my skepticism that radio companies who, along with the NAB, have led the Depend on AM Radio campaigns are actually believing the messages they’re putting out. Because it’s the classic “Do as I say, not as I do situation.”
However, The “Do as I say, not as I do” strategy isn’t going to be a winning one if iHeartMedia truly hopes to keep AM Radio afloat. Because how can you expect the general public, let alone Congress, to invest in the battle to keep the medium active if the companies who own the stations aren’t committed to it themselves?
I don’t ask that question facetiously. I’m dead serious: How do you sell the idea that you still care for AM Radio with the utmost regard and believe it has a strong future in the greater media landscape when all of your actions suggest otherwise?
I believe in the strength of AM Radio and what it can provide to the general public. But only if that future includes the programming required to keep it at a sustainable level. If the future of the band includes simply running nationally syndicated news/talk radio shows like Glenn Beck, Clay Travis & Buck Sexton, Michael Berry, Jesse Kelly, and Our American Stories or just slapping on the FOX Sports Radio brand in as many markets as possible, the future couldn’t be more bleak.
It can’t be both. And it feels increasingly unlikely that the days of investment in local talents in AM Radio brands will ever be anywhere close to what it is even today, after massive cuts as stations across the country.
So, to me, I think we have our answer on whether or not AM Radio is worth saving. If the largest radio company in the nation feels that way about the medium, why should I — or anyone else for that matter — feel any differently?
Garrett Searight is Barrett Media’s News Editor, which includes writing bi-weekly industry features and a weekly column. He has previously served as Program Director and Afternoon Co-Host on 93.1 The Fan in Lima, OH, and is the radio play-by-play voice of Northern Michigan University hockey. Reach out to him at Garrett@BarrettMedia.com.
