Bulletin: First round of iHeart layoffs
Whenever there's a discussion about the future of AM radio, the success of iHeart's KFI radio is cited as an example that amplitude modulation is not yet dead. The station has transitioned from being the home of Rush Limbaugh, Dr. Laura Schlessinger, and Art Bell to being almost exclusively live-and-local, featuring Bill Handel, Gary Hoffmann, Shannon Farren, John Kobylt, Tim Conway Jr., and Mo'Kelly, plus a smaller but mighty news department headed by Chris Little.
The consistent factor over the past two-and-a-half decades has been Program Director Robin Bertolucci. She was recognized as one of the best managers in the country. Note the past tense. Bertolucci has officially retired from her responsibilities at the iHeart Radio facilty in Burbank, with no replacement having been named.
In her memo to her staff, she noted her son was in pre-school when she started at KFI, he's now a 27-year-old. She thanked the talent both on-air and behind the scenes, recognized the station's award-winning news team, and acknowledged the "technical folks" who maintain the station's 50,000 watt signal and their presence streaming online.
Then there's Robin's husband, the well-established on his own Don Martin, who is stepping down voluntarily from his Program Director duties at KLAC ("AM 570 LA Sports") but stated "I am not retiring nor resigning! I am looking forward to continuing my journey with Julie Talbott and the FSR (Fox Sports Radio) Family."
During his time as PD, Martin oversaw the station becoming the flagship for the now World Series champion Los Angeles Dodgers, the NBA's LA Clippers, and UCLA sports. AM 570 was one of the first affiliates when Dan Patrick debuted his new nationally syndicated program, which is followed daily by FSR's Colin Cowherd. The rest of the day is well-known local talent, including Fred Roggin, Rodney Peete, Petros Papadakis, and Matt "Money" Smith. Martin also helps oversees the NFL's Chargers on sister station ALT 98.7 (KYSR).
The changes across the country at iHeart Radio reflect an overall five percent reduction in force, saving thc company approximately $150 million. In an interview with Radio Ink, iHeart Media CEO Bob Pittman offered this explanation:
“I think what we’re doing is not getting rid of air talent. What we’re able to do now, because we’ve got technology is we can take talent we have in any location and put them on the air in another location. So it allows us to substantially upgrade the quality of our talent in every single market we’re in.”
“Great talent are great talent because people all wanna be their friends. When you look at Ryan Seacrest, he’s America’s favorite friend. Everybody wants to be his friend. Or Charlamagne tha God or Bobby Bones.”
“There’s not a slot for everybody. Just because [talent] was willing to live in the market, doesn’t assure that they’re the best person for that slot.”
“The criteria had to be willing to live in Hattiesburg, Mississippi, or Jackson, Mississippi – my old hometowns – in order to be on the radio. Today, technology frees us of that constraint and our programmers can now make the decision about who’s going to be the best talent in that time slot on that radio station regardless of where they live.”
There will be other changes taking place between now and next week. We'll update you as we learn more names and more stories.
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