More names from the Entercom cuts last week have become known:
Jay Hicks exits as Program Director of Hip Hop 95.5 WPGC Washington DC. Hicks joined WPGC last September after previously programming WBLK Buffalo, WGPR Detroit, and WQHH Lansing.
Brian Lopez departs as PD of Classic Rock “Eagle 96.9” KSEG and Sports “ESPN 1320” KIFM Sacramento. Lopez had been with KSEG since 1994, serving first as morning show producer before rising to APD in 1999 and PD in 2013. He began programming KCTC in 2007.
Along with the previously reported Chris Booker, Chelsea Briggs has also exited mornings at CHR “97.1 Amp” KAMP-FM Los Angeles. Briggs joined the station in January 2018 after serving as a video host for Billboard Magazine.
Matthew Reid departs as APD/MD/night host at Hot AC “Mix 104.1” WWBX Boston. Reid joined then WBMX in 2009 after runs at WPLY Philadelphia, WWZZ Washington DC, KZQZ San Francisco and KBKS Seattle.
Susan DeVincent is out as evening host at Classic Hits “Sunny 98.1” KXSN and overnight host at Country 103.7 KSON San Diego. DeVincent also served as a traffic reporter for the cluster and previously hosted mornings at AC 96.5 KYXY and Sports “97.3 The Fan” KWFN.
Melissa Maxx exits nights at Alternative “104.3 The Shark” WSFS Miami. Joining the station in September 2018, Maxx previously hosted nights at 95.5 KLOS Los Angeles and has also worked at WBAB Long Island and WBCN Boston.
Also departing WSFS is morning co-host Mike ‘Spanish’ Gregory.
Steve Edwards exits afternoons at Soft Oldies “EZ 1430” KEZW Denver.
‘MC Chrissy’ departs nights at CHR “B97” WEZB New Orleans after a year and a half in the position.
Update 4/3: The names being forced to depart Entercom continue to come out as more big names exit the company.
Chris Booker departs as morning host at CHR “Amp 97.1” KAMP Los Angeles. Booker moved to mornings last October after hosting afternoons since the brand’s 2009 launch. He previously has worked at WIOQ Philadelphia, WXRK/WFNY-FM New York and hosted mornings at the infamous “Blink 102.7” WNEW New York.
“The TJ Show” hosted by TJ Taormina and Loren Raye departs mornings at CHR “103.3 Amp Radio” WODS Boston. The duo joined WODS in 2013 following its flip to CHR from the syndicated Elvis Duran Show. Also departing are producers Matt Shearer and Nick Benevenia. They were given the opportunity to do a final show this morning.
Recently inducted Country Radio Hall of Famer, Chuck Edwards departs Country 99.5 WYCD Detroit after 20 years with the station. Edwards joined WYCD in 2000 after a long run in afternoons at KSCS Dallas. Co-hosts Steve Grunwald and Rachel Hunter remain in mornings.
Also exiting WYCD is APD/MD/midday host Tom ‘Cadillac Jack’ Kapsalis. Kapsalis joined WYCD in November 2018 after stints in Tampa, Philadelphia, Las Vegas, and Washington DC.
Nancy Quill exits middays at AC “Magic 106.7” WMJX Boston after 38 years with the station.
Geoff Sheen departs “The Morning Mix” at Hot AC “Mix 96.5” KHMX Houston. Sheen joined KHMX in 2017 after previously working as a Sports talk host in San Antonio, Fresno, Modesto and the Sports By-Line USA network.
Jason Kidd departs mornings at Classic Hits “94.7 The Drive” WIAD Washington DC. Kidd has previously worked on-air at WRQX Washington, WXYV/WWMX Baltimore and programmed WPGC Washington, WQSR Baltimore, KQBT Austin, WKST Pittsburgh, and WWHT Syracuse.
After 23 years with Alternative “Alt 105.3” KITS San Francisco, Aaron Axelson departs as APD/MD/afternoon host.
Diana Steele departs middays at Classic Hip-Hop “104.3 Jams” WBMX Chicago. Steele joined WBMX in April 2018 in what was supposed to be a temporary voicetracking role from her San Francisco home.
Nancy Barrow departs “The Hot Morning Crew” at “Hot 93.7” WZMX Hartford after 21 years in mornings.
Bobby Duncan departs as PD/afternoon host at Classic Rock 92.3 KGON Portland. Duncan joined KGON in November 2018 after previous programming stints at KLOL Houston, WGRD Grand Rapids, and WXMX/WKIM Memphis.
Harris Allen becomes the second WFAN New York update anchor to take a contract buyout. Allen joined WFAN after a long run on-air at Rock 102.7 WNEW.
Morning show co-host Jack Freeman and evening host TJ exit Hot AC “Q104” WQAL Cleveland. Freeman joined WQAL in 2018 after previously being part of WKQI Detroit’s “Mojo In The Morning”.
Freddy Snakeskin exits as PD/morning host at “ROQ Of The 80s” KROQ-HD2 Los Angeles.
Dean Richards has departed as Music Director and evening host at AC “Lite 100.5” WRCH Hartford after 28 years with the station.
Drew Cuthbertson has exited as Market Operations Manager for Radio.com after three years with the company.
Dennis Fithian departs as late night host at “97.1 The Ticket” WXYT-FM Detroit after 14 years with the station.
Sports reporters Joe Salvatore and Bruce Macgowan exit News 740 KCBS/106.9 KFRC San Francisco.
The New York Post reported that the pay cuts asked of remaining employees will be broken down with those making $50,000 to $100,000 taking a 10 percent cut, those making $100,000 to $250,000 taking a 15% cut, and those making over $250,000 taking a 20% reduction in salary through the second quarter or negotiate new terms.
Original Report 4/2: Entercom has become the latest radio operator to announce a series of layoffs, furloughs, and pay cuts for employees.
In a memo from CEO David Field, the company details some of the financial moves it needs to take during this crisis. Beyond the people that will be exiting or furloughed of whose numbers have not been disclosed, the company is suspending its stock dividends and 401K matching and implementing salary reductions in the second quarter between 10 and 20 percent for any employees with a salary above $50,000 per year. Field himself will take a 30% paycut.
Among the names exiting the company today are:
Liana Huth departs as corporate SVP of Programming Innovation. Huth joined Entercom in December 2015 and was responsible for creating and developing content opportunities and strategic partnerships.
Kenny Jay, leaves as Program Director of Country “US99” WUSN Chicago and “102.9 The Wolf” KMNB Minneapolis. Jay joined WUSN in January 2018 and readded those duties at KMNB last November after previously programming it and 94.1 KMPS Seattle for CBS Radio.
Smokey Rivers departs as Program Director/afternoon host of Soft AC “94.1 The Sound” KSWD Seattle after two years. Rivers joined KSWD in May 2018 after recent roles as OM for Scripps Tucson, VP/Programming for iHeartMedia Phoenix and VP/AC format for CBS Radio.
Terry Foxx exits as Program Director at Sports “92.9 The Game” WZGC Atlanta. Foxx launched the brand in 2012 after previously programming 93.7 KDKA-FM Pittsburgh.
John Minko, an update anchor at WFAN New York since its launch in July 1987, has accepted a contract buyout. Minko will continue to call St. Johns University games.
Jay Berman, sports anchor at News 880 WCBS New York and CBS Sports Radio, has tweeted he was let go.
Kasper is out as afternoon host at Country “US99” WUSN Chicago after four years. Kasper joined WUSN after previous stints at WAKS Cleveland, WRVQ Richmond, WIOQ Philadelphia and WRTS Erie.
Eric Tyler departs afternoons at CHR “B96” WBBM-FM Chicago. Tyler originally joined WBBM-FM as night host in 2016 and was quickly promoted to afternoons. He previously spent a decade as APD/MD at “Kiss 106.1” KBKS Seattle.
Brian ‘Wookie’ Kostek departs as APD/MD/afternoon host at Country “Y108” WDSY-FM Pittsburgh.
Toni Marie is out as APD/MD/midday host at Country “99.5 The Wolf” KWJJ Portland.
Andrea Duffy has exited middays at AC “B101.1” WBEB Philadelphia after seven years with the station.
Casey Reed has announced her exit from mornings at CHR “96.5 TDY” WTDY-FM Philadelphia. Reed joined WTDY-FM in November 2018 after working at multiple other CHRs in Philadelphia.
Amanda Casey exits middays at Hot AC “Q104” WQAL Cleveland. Casey had been in the position since July 2018.
Aaron Carreno exits as morning host at “Mix 105.1” WMHX Madison and afternoon host at “99.1 The Mix” WMYX Milwaukee. Carreno joined WMYX in September 2018 after hosting afternoons at Entercom’s KZPT Kansas City.
Ryan Gibbons departs as morning show producer at CHR “103.7 Kiss-FM” WXSS Milwaukee. Gibbons joined WXSS in 2016 after stints in Philadelphia and Seattle.
Jeffrey ‘Jmatt’ Matthias departs Digital Program Director for Entercom Milwaukee and midday host at WXSS.
Chuck Friemond departs mornings at Sports “105.7 The Fan” 1250 WSSP Milwaukee after 11 years with the station.
Also at WSSP, Bill Schmid departs as part of the afternoon “Wendy’s Big Show”.
Zach Duarte is out as night host at Sports “790 The Ticket” WAXY Miami.
Trevor Murray exited WAXY after fourteen years. Most recently Murray had been working as a part-time host at the station.
Julie DiCaro exits as night host at Sports “670 The Score” WSCR Chicago.
Connor McKnight departs as midday co-host at WSCR.
Jason ‘Snupe’ Daniel exits afternoons at “Hot 95.9” K240EL Austin and high school sports host on 1370 KJCE.
Terry Phillips departs as Creative Services Director at Country 99.5 WYCD and Classic Hits 104.3 WOMC Detroit just shy of twenty years with the stations.
Sassy exits as Program Director/afternoon host at CHR “103.7 Kiss-FM” WKXJ Chattanooga.
Mathhew ‘Slightly’ Warshawsky departs as afternoon host at Hot AC “94.9 The Point” WPTE and nights at CHR “Z104” WNVZ Norfolk.
We’re told that a lot of the cuts were also focused on the promotions and local digital departments within the company as well as significant reductions to the company’s national production team.
Thank you for your resilience, dedication and fortitude as we manage through the extraordinarily challenging and disruptive impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. We are all doing our best to ensure that our loved ones remain safe and healthy while working tirelessly to serve our listeners, customers, and communities. I am deeply appreciative of everything you are doing to keep us moving forward under these difficult conditions. We are fortunate to work in an industry that plays such an important role in our country at a time of crisis, providing a critically important and trusted local voice for news and information as well as entertainment, companionship and respite during these uncertain times.
Unfortunately, the severity of the situation necessitates us making significant cost reductions in order to cope with the realities at hand. Our nation is facing unprecedented disruption that has shut down countless businesses and entire industries, including many of our customers. This is having a very large impact on advertising revenues. We must take hard but necessary actions to ensure that we endure the crisis and emerge as a strong, healthy and competitive company.
I am deeply saddened that we need to make these painful moves at this time, but they are necessary under the circumstances. We are doing everything in our power to minimize the number of layoffs through shared sacrifice across the organization, but we will still need to eliminate or furlough a significant number of positions. In order to make the transition less painful for our colleagues, we will be providing up to an extra month of additional severance for those individuals for whom their normal severance and the recently announced enhanced federal unemployment benefits provide less support. In addition, we will be providing enhanced employee benefits for furloughed team members.
We will also be taking other cost reduction actions at this time, including the temporary suspension of our dividend and our 401K Company match, the elimination of Q1 and Q2 bonuses, and temporary salary reductions of between 10% and 20% for anyone earning a salary in excess of $50,000 per year. I will be taking a 30% salary reduction. We hope to restore regular salaries, bonus eligibility and our 401K plan match at the start of the third quarter. I very much appreciate the sacrifice that people will be making in these difficult times.
We will get through this crisis and put this all behind us. Better days lie ahead. With the tough but necessary actions we are now taking, we are doing what is required for us to preserve the health of the company and ensure that we are strong when we get to the other side. Our future is further protected by our strong financial position with substantial cash reserves and virtually no debt due before 2024. And when the crisis abates, we look forward to resuming our growth and building on our strong strategic position as a leader in the audio business, including the best lineup of local radio stations in the United States.
I deeply appreciate your dedication and commitment and look forward to better times ahead.
We will be following up with additional information shortly.Yours,
David
In Buffalo, Mr. Pergament reports that WGR’s Paul Hamilton and (perhaps) WKSE’s DJ Anthony are out…
https://buffalonews.com/2020/04/02/local-entercom-radio-stations-facing-furloughs-layoffs-salary-cuts
It just seems like they are using the COVID-19 pandemic as an excuse to get rid of their long-time employees. For the most part, that’s who they are canning, which is seriously wrong.
Steve Edwards seems to be gone from ez1430 aurora/Denver.