It’s been a few weeks since the annual iHeart Employee Bloodbath. Although I personally somehow once again outwitted, outlasted, and outplayed talented co-workers to survive again, I am not feeling particularly grateful about that. In previous years after the bloodbath (that’s what our market has taken to calling the annual cutting of employees right before the holidays) there was a sense of gratitude in those left behind to take on even more work that their fired colleagues used to do. Not this year after I read this in the New York Post:
Wendy Goldberg, an iHeart spokeswoman, confirmed the layoffs. She noted that the company has focused on expanding its Gen Z audience and that its broadcast radio audience has “more listeners than it did 10 years ago.”
“Although in a company of 10,000 people very few jobs have been affected, there have been some and we never take this step lightly no matter how few jobs it entails; every team member is important to us and has our respect and appreciation.”
Very few jobs have been affected? I have been in this industry for over three decades. When I started in my current Large Market we had approximately two-thirds MORE employees than we have right now. We had a flourishing promotions department, sales assistants, Assistant PDs, and a support staff that did so many little things that don’t show up as directly related to profit. Over the last six years all of those people have been fired. Empty desks now occupy the renovated studios that iHeart spent millions to remodel.
But guess what? Most of the work that those people did still exists. It was just shoved off onto the remaining employees, most of the time without a raise. The days after the Bloodbath were filled with text messages from friends checking to see if we made the cut. To a person they all said some variation of “I really thought there was no one else left to cut”. These cuts aren’t jobs that didn’t matter!
Air talent is voice tracking in multiple markets. Production is doing spots for all over the country (oh, and “production” is usually one person now). Account Executives are being flooded with new and exciting products to sell with no support from their overworked sales managers. The notion that cutting another person from a skeleton crew doesn’t affect every other job in the cluster shows just how out of touch iHeart corporate is from the day-to-day operation of the company they run.
I’ve worked for Mom and Pop radio stations, and other large media companies. I’ve always been proud to say I work at iHeart. The innovations that the company has pursued in the form of the iHeart Radio app have been groundbreaking. The iHeart Music Festival is a fantastic way to bring young people to our products. Technology at this company is best in class.
But if radio is to survive in this new world where someone can program their own radio station on Spotify with all their favorite songs, or can get the news of the world with their phones, or traffic reports from Waze on demand, it is only our people that make us better. The people who live and work in the communities they serve, and understand the quirks and foibles of that area. Those who show up at Christmas parades, business openings, and concerts to talk to our fans. Spotify will never be able to beat us at that. However, we’ve beaten ourselves by firing the people who could make all of it happen.
I’ve stayed in this industry for so long because even with the low pay and long hours, this job was FUN. I’ve had an amazing life because of radio, and have done things I could only dream of because of it. For that I am eternally grateful. But this job is not fun anymore. The pay is still low, and I’ve seen more people cry at work the past two years than I’ve seen in the previous thirty.
A good chunk of my colleagues around the country are either actively looking for a new job or plotting their escape from the industry entirely. When talking to former colleagues who have been fired in previous years, most have left the business and wax poetic about how much more money they are making with a lot less stress.
The thing I worry the most about is we are seeing the rise of a workforce in Millennials and Gen Z that isn’t willing to sacrifice their entire life in service to any boss, especially for low pay. Why would they want to come work here? At least in the old days there was free pizza.
This column has been brewing in me for several years. One more exchange in the New York Post story made me finally put pen to paper. It was this:
“I have heard that iHeart is going through a major restructuring,” a top radio executive who does not work at iHeart told The Post. “They have to show their lenders that they are improving profits.”
“I heard there is a lot of pressure on Pittman to stem the decline.”
The source also noted, however, that Pittman and iHeart CFO Richard Bressler both still have access to a private plane. According to securities filings, iHeart leases an aircraft at a cost of $42,000 a month.
“You’ll know they are serious when they fly commercial,” the source said.
You’ll know when they fly commercial, indeed. So far, they’d rather fly on the backs of employees they fired right before Christmas, again.
This column was written exclusively for Barrett Media from a longtime, accomplished broadcaster currently working for iHeartMedia in a Top 20 radio market. Their identity has been protected due to the sensitive nature of the content.
