The takeaway from this week’s events

August 20, 2022 Off By Eric O'Brien

Based on the comments I’ve seen about the terminations at Audacy this week, I feel the following things need to be said. For the record, this post is really for the average listener, most of whom likely do NOT read this website. Also, this is not an official statement and is based exclusively on similar situations in the past.

  1. Those who have been let go from Audacy stations across the country were let go by orders from corporate. This is likely due to the company’s stock market price being below $1.00 per share since early July. Audacy is in danger of being delisted from Wall St.
  2. There is no rhyme or reason as to how those were were terminated were chosen. Tenure, salary, etc. did not seem to be any factor in the decision.
  3. In the case of Kevin Battle’s departure from KDKA Radio, it had little if anything to do with his politics nor that of the station; for that matter the corporation. I promise you this is not about a person’s political leanings.
  4. As for Kristen Buccigrossi’s departure… I just consider that completely unfair. Of course, that is the case for every victim in this situation. Kristen had over ten years with the cluster (when CBS was still the owner). She was behind the scenes before the on-air opportunity opened up in 2018.
  5. If you think these are the worst terminations out of this situation, read about Roberta Jasina from WWJ in Detroit.

Again, average listeners. You may not like what or whom you are hearing on the air. But your complaints will be waisted by going to Audacy Pittsburgh.

Not so much for WDSY, but with KDKA the realignment of the on air crew is a lot like rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic. There are only so many players left on the team and one can assume if people have been terminated due to a financial crisis, they aren’t going to be in a hiring trend right now. So if you are among those who think Larry Richert and Marty Griffin won’t sound good together, or Paul Zeise isn’t the right fit for the middays, I suggest you wait it out and give it a chance. The results can sometimes be surprising and you may have a newfound respect for those whom you didn’t appreciate previously. Same thing for the country listeners – Give Cadillac Jack a chance… he just got to town under the wire.

Finally, if you feel the strong need to vent your frustration over these departures, save your breath. It’s not that your comments will fall on deaf ears so much as there is likely little chance that things will return to the way they were. Out of the many situations like this that occurred in the past, this is perhaps the best example as to why radio stations need to be out of the hands of corporations and return to the “small business” ownerships. Guaranteed they will be better able to serve in the public interest of the community that way.

Your opinion may vary. You are invited to share, but we ask you please support it with solid reasons.