iHeartMedia is expanding the role of Oklahoma Senior Vice President of Programming JJ Ryan to cover three additional states, as the broadcast company continues to consolidate leadership roles into increasingly more regional positions.
Ryan, who has spent more than a decade with iHeart across two separate stints, announced the expanded responsibilities on LinkedIn. He will now oversee programming for Oklahoma, Arkansas, Kansas, and Missouri. Ryan takes on some of the duties formerly held by Greg Chance, who was laid off earlier this month.
Chance had returned to the company in 2023 as Senior VP of Programming for Des Moines, St. Louis, Indianapolis, and North Dakota. During his career, Chance oversaw programming for more than 20 stations, spanning music, talk, and news formats. He previously served as Program Director and Senior VP of Programming at iHeart.
He also inherits the past responsibilities of former Regional SVP of Programming Dave Ashcraft, who was removed from the company in a separate, smaller RIF in August.
The consolidation is part of a $150 million cost-cutting endeavor for iHeart, which CEO Bob Pittman called a “modernization journey” during the broadcaster’s most recent earnings call, which is all about, “flattening our organization, eliminating redundancies, and breaking down silos,” per Pittman.
