Here we are again. Another round of layoffs from one of the top radio broadcast companies in the country. Didn’t we just go through this exercise literally a month ago with iHeartMedia? Also, didn’t this happen in April with Audacy? Yesterday, it was Cumulus Media’s turn at the wheel. The company is battling bankruptcy while working through a reorganization plan to stay alive in the broadcast radio business. Of course, all while engaged in a lawsuit with Nielsen over its ratings business.
As someone who’s sat in meetings making staffing decisions and has also been on the giving and receiving end of the news, I know these decisions aren’t easy. I don’t envy the people responsible for making the selections or delivering the news. At the end of the day, people are being cut from an industry built on people, passion, and connection. That’s not good for business or the future of radio.
Why?
Because the business of radio continues to be its own worst enemy. Cumulus is the country’s third-largest radio broadcast group with more than 400 stations in 82 markets. For the second time in six years, the company filed for Chapter 11 protection to restructure $600 million in corporate debt.
Everyone Follows, No One Leads
iHeartMedia did the same in 2018, and Audacy followed in 2024. Are they better off today? Some would argue business has rebounded slightly. But the industry isn’t reinforcing the very foundation that makes radio the most unique audio medium available. People.
Radio served as a trusted companion for generations. Today, it finds itself struggling to maintain the audience share it still has. Why? Because there are fewer people available to create the local connections that made radio indispensable.
Radio’s foundation was built on informing, entertaining, connecting, and supporting the communities it serves through its talent. Instead, here we are again. More people are losing their jobs, and radio continues chipping away at the very soul that made the medium special.
Does this seem all too common for the good of the industry?
I’ve worked for Barrett Media since February 2025. That’s 18 months. In that year and a half, iHeartMedia has conducted layoffs twice (October 2025 and June 2026). They’re not alone. Audacy had rounds of cuts in March 2025, August 2025, and April 2026. Cumulus now adds its latest roster reductions this week to those in November 2024 and late spring 2025.
All the names and stations affected. Is that a winning formula?
A Flawed Formula
Former KXnO program director Sean Roberts talked earlier this week about how his radio brand was gutted by the recent iHeartMedia layoffs last month. By no means is Des Moines, Iowa, a major market. But KXnO was still a vital piece of the daily ecosystem connecting sports fans to their local teams.
“For a sports format to work in Des Moines, you need local voices talking about the local teams,” said Roberts. “I don’t think you’ll get that support nationally because people aren’t hearing what they want to listen to.”
After 25 years of providing the people of Des Moines with live and local coverage, they now get national syndication. Turn on the syndicated feed and let the system run itself.
Is that a winning formula?
Earlier this week, we saw the complete gutting of legendary classic rock station KCAL in the Riverside/San Bernardino area. Talent with up to four decades of experience and deep connections to the local market disappeared without warning. Instead of personalities, listeners get music. All the time. Every day. A jukebox on repeat with zero local connection.
Is that a winning formula?
What executives too often forget is that the people matter most. It’s a forgotten metric in the abyss of numbers used to measure success. By cutting their own people, companies are losing the battle for their own future. You can’t expect talent and staff that remain to work harder, generate more revenue, and remain fully invested when there are so few examples that loyalty is rewarded.
Working at a radio station today has become a “look over your own shoulder” business. There are more fires to put out than sparks to ignite. If companies like Cumulus, Audacy, and iHeartMedia continue neglecting to invest in people, they have to ask themselves: Why should people continue investing their time in them?
Try Something Different
I can’t tell you how many times I’ve written about this, but it still rings true.
It’s long past time for major radio broadcasters to try something different and get back to investing in people. Technology will continue to evolve. Cars will become even more connected, and consumers will gain easier access to every audio option imaginable. Radio needs to get back to earning every listener instead of assuming they’ll stay at the party.
Radio executives spend countless hours asking how to win back listeners. The answer isn’t hidden in another spreadsheet, another restructuring plan, or another round of layoffs. It’s the same answer it’s always been: give audiences compelling local personalities, meaningful community connections, and reasons to choose your station over every other audio option available to them.
Every layoff may improve the balance sheet for a quarter, but it also chips away at the product listeners fell in love with. You want to make a guaranteed human campaign count? Invest in more humans than cut costs for new technology or another podcast to purchase for your platform.
At some point, the industry has to stop asking why audiences are leaving and start asking what it has done to give them a reason to stay.
Barrett Media produces daily content on the music, news, and sports media industries. Sign up for our newsletters to stay updated and get the latest information right in your inbox.
John Mamola is Barrett Media’s sports editor and daily sports columnist. He brings over two decades of experience (Chicago, Tampa/St Petersburg) in the broadcast industry with expertise in brand management, sales, promotions, producing, imaging, hosting, talent coaching, talent development, web development, social media strategy and design, video production, creative writing, partnership building, communication/networking with a long track record of growth and success. He is a five-time recognized top 20 program director in a major market via Barrett Medi’s Top 20 series and has been honored internally multiple times as station/brand of the year (Tampa, FL) and employee of the month (Tampa, FL) by iHeartMedia. Connect with John by email at John@BarrettMedia.com.