Tom Taylor on the Clear Channel firings

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: At Clear Channel, heads just kept rolling. : by Tom Taylor : Wednesday, January 21st 2009 : "They called out the names over the intercom, one-by-one." : I'm told that was the scene at Clear Channel's cluster in Greenville-Spartanburg, SC. And truth to tell, local managers didn't have any good options, did they? But after the laid-off staffers in many markets got the news, they were commonly asked to leave the building immediately and to return this weekend to pick up their personal stuff. In at least one major-market case, it was done more coldly. Fired staffers were told their stuff would be shipped to them and they shouldn't stop to say goodbye to co-workers as they were escorted from the building. Their questions weren't answered by the managers doing the layoffs, and the report I got was "the people were treated like they were second-class citizens." And then there's the report out of Tucson - that management stationed a police officer outside the building to watch, as people were shown out of the facility and into the parking lot. : No doubt, security was an issue for Clear Channel. : Not just the cop in Tucson - but also potential post-firing damage to a company-owned website. Some T-R-I readers say Clear Channel took measures to keep ex-employees from being able to get at station websites. In fact, all personalities were apparently unable to access their webpages yesterday morning. That's probably just common sense. But think about the larger scene - As Americans watched the procession of a new administration, Clear Channel employees watched their friends depart in hasty fashion, maybe in shock. T-R-I has been telling you for weeks that this January 20 mass firing was "all about the numbers." It's business-school accountability stuff and done by remote-control, from San Antonio. But isn't there a human dimension? And how de-motivating the sight must have been for many survivors - and how alienating. One former CC manager tells me "while you must deliver the news and the paperwork in a way that does not allow for a lawsuit, you can do it in a sensitive and caring way." He warns "The publicity from this might backfire and become a public relations challenge." Though with all the other cutbacks - audio manufacturer Bose chopped 10% of its workforce yesterday - Clear Channel may not get much notice. And most folks I heard from thought their severance package was fair. : So with all the sales-department casualties at Clear Channel - are there enough people to talk to clients? : It's not a trivial question as so many sellers and sales managers get blown out. It's great to reward the rainmakers and heavy hitters, but at a time when advertising is beyond "challenging", doesn't radio need more shoe leather on the street? One non-Clear Channel Southeastern market manager emails T-R-I to say "our industry needs to get out to generate new sources for business and" - get this - "I can tell you the seasoned pros are the worst at creating new business." He adds "On top of that, if you give them more existing accounts, not only will you get less new business, but you're likely to get less than you should get out of your current accounts, because these people are generally operating in a comfort zone." He predicts "this will provide Clear Channel with short-term savings, but it will cost them more in the long run." Just to provide some scale for what Clear Channel did - perhaps 30 of the 65 full-time and part-time jobs eliminated yesterday in Orlando were in sales. In Washington, D.C., four local sales managers and one GSM were whacked, along with a bunch of sellers. In Louisville, more than 10 sellers are gone, including two with 20+ years on the street. In Philadelphia, WIOQ sales manager Tom Interrante is gone. : Lots and lots of programming department folks are gone, especially outside major markets... : Though big markets weren't spared, either - 19-year WNUA, Chicago veteran Rick O'Dell got smacked, despite the fact that he was handling the programming and music director duties plus a five-hour midday airshift. He tells the Tribune "this might be a case where the survivors have it worse than the people let go", given the already-overworked condition of the workforce. In L.A., Hot 92.3/KHHT programmer R Dub! didn't make it. Atlanta PD Randall Bloomquist started his day with a pink slip from WGST (640). I'm told that Cincinnati wasn't hit particularly hard - no PDs missing, but WEBN Dawn Patrol member Jenni "Buzzkill" Huss and WLW's morning sports anchor Scott Springer are out. But up in Cleveland - oh, my. Ohio Media Watch first reported 46 people gone, then upped that to "over 50", based on what WTAM's Mike Trivisonno said on the air. Those include WGAR morning co-host Michelle Maloney and WMVX morning-show producer Brigette Dineen. In St. Louis, John Matthews is no longer PD at classic hits KLOU. In Minneapolis, KEEY PD Mary Gallas is out. And KFAN, Minneapolis sports talker Chad Hartman's out after being the "longest-tenured host at KFAN", says the Star-Tribune's Judd Zulgad. Chad's producer and utility infielder Darren (Doogie) Wolfson was likewise parked. Then you get into the medium markets, and the toll mounts further. Like Ft. Myers/Punta Gorda ops manager Louis Kaplan, who's been with the company for many years. : Some Clear Channel stations blow out almost everybody - like XTRA 1360 in San Diego. : Format change ahead? And what's happening at Detroit sister all-sports station WDFN, where the entire local staff has been offed and the splash page says "we're re-modeling"? And what's up at Orlando's WQTM (740) - will it drop the Spanish classic hits La Preciosa to return to all-sports? The San Diego sports-station wipeout was complete, from programming department folks (Craig Eltson, Mike Costa, Jeff Dotseth, Josh Rosenberg) to sellers, and some folks wonder if the format's toast, too. The station's already flipped once in the past 14 months, from progressive talk to sports. Other losses at the Clear Channel offices in San Diego include CC Traffic sales managers Tim Stemler and Cathy O'Brien, KHTS sales manager Jason Courtemanche, KGB afternoon driver DJ Ditch and promotion director Jay Isbell. We did our best to track these for you all during the day yesterday at Radio-Info.com, and the humongous traffic may've slowed up delivery. Radio-Info parent in3media just added an additional server. : Mark Mays says they eliminated 9% of the Clear Channel workforce. : That's right inline with what we'd expected, and the total is 1,850 positions across the breadth of Clear Channel - radio, outdoor and (Mays mentions this first) corporate. He calls the personnel decisions, which I believe were made by the number-crunchers in San Antonio, "difficult yet necessary." He challenges the employees to "remain highly entrepreneurial and innovative" as well as "focused and compassionate." Then Mays says "Clear Channel Communications has more resources than any of our peers. The tools are here. The support is here." It's too bad the $19 billion debt load that Bain Capital and Thomas H. Lee Partners incurred to pull off last Summer's buyout is also there. Back to the cuts at corporate - we have yet to hear what those might be. Or what's being cut at international radio and outdoor. : Clear Channel cuts the cord with corporate Senior VP of news/talk/sports Gabe Hobbs. : A competitor says "that's a huge loss for Clear Channel." Gabe's not only patiently worked with all the CC stations and with Premiere, he played a major role in the ramp-up of Fox News Radio as Clear Channel switched dozens of its stations to Fox. Tampa is where Hobbs was also the ops manager of the talk-based stations there, like WFLA (970) and sports WDAE (620), plus the sports operations for the NFL Buccaneers, the baseball Rays and NHL Tampa Bay Lightning. Gabe spent 25 years at Clear Channel and predecessor Jacor. : Another Senior VP is shown the door - Premiere's Amir Forester. : Us journalists like public relations and communications pros who are reachable and responsive - and we understand that there are many things they can't speak about at any given moment. Amir's been a pro, and her departure after many years at Clear Channel-owned Premiere Radio Networks based in L.A. is especially regrettable. Also gone at Premiere, out of the New York offices - Elle Castro at Premiere Prep, a producer who specialized in the hip-hop scene, and satellite tour coordinator Dennis Falcone.

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