The turbulence at iHeartMedia continues as we get our first glimpse of the ongoing restructuring amid widespread layoffs. New leadership appointments, departures, and station realignments are reshaping company operations from coast to coast.
iHeartMedia has announced the appointment of Steve DeLusant as Region President for New York and Adam Kurtz as Region President for Chicago.
DeLusant has been with iHeart since 2013 as Director of Sales, Vice President of Sales, and most recently, Senior Vice President of Sales for iHeart New York. Earlier in his career, DeLusant was Senior Account Executive at Emmis Communications and a sales associate at WLTW.
Kurtz brings 23 years of media sales experience to his new position, including 14 years in sales management at iHeart. Kurtz began his career at WLIT in Chicago as an account executive. He will replace Matt Scarano, who was let go last week.
Still more names are expected to be included to the layoffs in the days to come, as the company seeks to free up $150 million, according to iHeart CEO Bob Pittman in a Q3 earnings call.
iHeartMedia Division President Bernie Weiss said, “I’m thrilled to promote both Steve and Adam. It’s especially rewarding to find the best candidates for key leadership roles in your own buildings. They’re extremely knowledgeable about our ever-evolving business and have built some of the best media sales teams in the country. I’m confident that they will continue to elevate our New York and Chicago operations to even greater heights and continue to drive revenue.”
As DeLusant takes command of New York City, cuts are affecting Conservative News/Talker WOR-AM, with Len Berman and Michael Riedel exiting as morning hosts. Berman had just anchored the first-ever radio broadcast of the New York City Marathon for the station on November 3. WOR Morning News Editor Terry Trahim has also been let go.
Big changes were also announced on the opposite side of the country, as iHeart Los Angeles made several leadership promotions, while two storied cluster managers departed of their own accord.
26-year company veteran Jeff Thomas has been named Executive Vice President of Sales and Business Development. Thomas will continue leading sales operations while also overseeing iHeartMedia Los Angeles’ Local News Talk Endorsement Network and iHeartCX, the company’s retail in-store radio network.
Adam Wolfson has been promoted to Senior Vice President of Sales to work alongside Thomas. Wolfson brings over 15 years of industry experience, including leadership roles at Audacy and Cox Media Group in Los Angeles, Atlanta, and New York. Additionally, Tracy Barrios is now LA Senior Vice President of Operations. Barrios, who recently celebrated her 30th year with the company, has held leadership roles in traffic, revenue management, and most recently as Vice President of Sales Operations.
Finally, Julie Martzke was elevated to Senior Vice President of National and Event Sales for Los Angeles.
Meanwhile, Program Directors Robin Bertolucci and Don Martin have resigned from their local market roles after 25 years with the station group. Bertolucci was long associated with KFI-AM 640, while Martin served as EVP of Programming for iHeartMedia Sports as well as PD for KLAC-AM 570.
iHeart EVP of News Chris Berry will serve as interim PD for KFI and KLAC. Martin will continue in his Fox Sports Radio/Premiere Networks EVP role.
Scumbags fired Berman and Reidel. They were funny and enjoyable in the morning. Larry Mendte sucks.
The personnel changes at iHeartMedia reflect the rapid transformation in the radio industry. While layoffs present challenges, the appointment of new leaders brings fresh energy, hopefully leading to innovative developments in broadcast media.
Iheart wants to save $150 million for what. What are they going to do with it. Maybe they should give some of it to Conway. He had a HUGE following. Just go to
pasta-thon and you’ll see.
Don’t cut anyone else from kfi on air personnel
Too sad to hear Chris Berry has survived another round of IHeart layoffs. Good luck Los Angeles radio.
Robin leaving KFI? Having spent 25 years in SoCal, and in the shadow of the 50,000 behemoth -it saddens me that she won’t be leading the crew. I hope they don’t screw THIS one up. AM radio in L.A. is a vast wasteland save for KFI and sometimes KNX. Even our San Diego stations are pretty lame these days.
Penny wise pound foolish?
We wish THEM well.
As far as I am concerned, WOR and iheart can go to …..