The same day the company posted a $981.66 million net loss for Q2 2024, iHeartMedia revealed more programming-centric layoffs. The news broke Thursday and spread quickly across the industry, particularly at the ongoing Morning Show Bootcamp, with layoffs beginning as early as Monday.
After almost three decades in Salt Lake City, Jeff McCartney is no longer SVP of Programming.
In Cleveland, 99.5 WGAR Program Director Carletta Blake has been released. She joined the station in March 2019. News/Talk 1100 WTAM’s Jimmy Malone was also let go from the cluster. Malone posted on X, saying, “I’ll have more to say later, but after decades of loyalty to my company, they fired me after my show today and didn’t give me a chance to say goodbye to my listeners. I’m grateful for all of the support I’ve received for so long.”
In Phoenix, Rameen Madani is out as Program Director for Mix 96.9 (KMXP) and 104.7 Kiss-FM (KZZP). Cluster morning man Joey Bradfisch is also off KMXP.
Regional SVP of Programming Dave Ashcraft was let go. He is based in Fayetteville, AR, with experience overseeing Jonesboro and Tyler, TX. Nearby, Tulsa’s 106.1 The Twister (KTGX) PD and afternoon host Karla Cantrell has been removed from her post.
Assistant Program Director and Music Director for Minneapolis’ Cities 97.1 (KTCZ) Paul Fletcher is also among those removed after more than a decade.
This story is ongoing and will be updated as necessary.
Expect to lose more for the cuts Iheart media did in Detroit
Dr. Darrius united the city of Detroit
Radio afternoon drive isn’t the same
No one can replace Mr.. Wonderful. no shade replacements
Boycot Iheart untill Dr. Darrius is back on the air in detroit.
Those layoffs will sure put a huge dent in that 981 BILLION dollar loss.
Add another to your list. Matt Appleby, Program Director and afternoon drive host for WNCO-FM Ashland, OH, as well as Creative Director iHeartMedia Ashland/Mansfield OH. Released after nearly 39 years total with the heritage Country Music station. Matt has worked in broadcasting for 42 years. Released August 8, 2024.
The ones who were “let go” need to find jobs at IHM’s strongest competitors and go head-to-head with the IHM stations who fired them. IHM: iHeartlessMedia.
Like many other big broadcasting companies. when the founder passes away, his kids ruin it. Storer was THE best company I ever worked for in my 60+ years as an Engineer. George B. Storer passed, and his kids destroyed it. When Lowry Mays (Clear Channel/iHeart) passed, his kids destroyed it.
It’s not the jocks, it’s Bob Pittman and management and sales. How the hell does he get to keep his job after this?
They are running pretty thin in programming and engineering around here. Not sure how many more cuts they can make. When will we see them start to consolidate markets?
Try getting a hold of someone at a IHM cluster about community support. Or don’t and save yourself time and frustration. Pulling good local talent and shoving Bobby Bones down station’s throats wasn’t a very effective strategy as they further distanced themselves from the community.
I had a great talk with Bobby, he’s a good egg, but he knows what is going on.
Rick
Close to a billion dollar quarterly loss! What a monument to that great I Heart business model. Of course, they will blame the talent, the audience and digital. Let’s not question the cookie cutter stations all sounding the same. In addition to the losses those laid off will experience, how many of the Executive Club have had their obscene salaries reduced due to the losses of revenue while stock holder equity decreases???