A round of layoffs took place this week at Colorado Public Radio affecting fifteen employees.
A report from the organization says that most of the cuts came in the audio and podcast production departments with CPR News Executive Editor Kevin Dale stating, “I hate to see talented colleagues lose their positions for financial reasons. CPR News has been growing into a powerful news source for the past six years. Our mission has been to become an urgent newsroom that also has time to devote to enterprise reporting and accountability reporting, and we remain dedicated to that.” The cuts were connected to a drop in corporate sponsorships and drops in podcasting revenue. An all-staff meeting was scheduled for Thursday morning.
The cuts followed growth at CPR from 46 employees in 2006 to 214 in 2022 as it expanded to three programming services with “CPR News” based at 90.1 KCFR Denver, “CPR Classical” at 88.1 KVOD Denver, and AAA “Indie 102.3” KVOQ Greenwood Village. Colorado Public Radio also took over the operations of Colorado College’s 91.5 KRCC Colorado Springs in 2020 retaining that as a separate brand.
CPR released the following statement on the cuts:
Colorado Public Radio today announced it laid off 8% of its staff members amid a challenging time for the organization and media nationwide. The 15 positions affected include its standalone podcasting unit and staff that supported production in CPR’s on-site performance studio, as well as part-time and full-time music staff.
“This was a painful and difficult decision to come to, but it is necessary to reset the organization financially and position CPR for future success,” Stewart Vanderwilt, president and CEO, said. “This is a strategic reduction in workforce to clearly focus our efforts to provide free access to Colorado-focused news across the state, and to do so while being sustainable in the face of changing economic realities. And it is also never easy to say goodbye to talented, hard working colleagues.”
For more than 10 years, CPR’s operating revenue consistently grew, including through 2020 and 2021. In fiscal year 2023, revenue dropped, mirroring the experience of public and commercial media across the country as donors and corporate sponsors anticipated a potential economic downturn. In the current fiscal year, revenue is flat. A strategic reevaluation of priorities and resources is necessary to eliminate the deficit and create a sustainable path forward.
CPR will move forward with a driving priority to be first and foremost a journalistic organization committed to being Colorado’s long-term home institution for news. In order to build for long-term sustainability and growth, the organization will focus on its original news content and digital growth. In addition, a focus on exploring additional revenue opportunities for CPR’s music services, CPR Classical and Indie 102.3, will become a greater priority.
CPR’s Audio Innovations Studio was established in 2019 with the goal to create innovative and experimental audio projects. Since then, the Studio produced entertaining, educational and award- winning podcasts and documentaries amid an incredibly volatile podcast landscape. CPR remains committed to this medium of storytelling, and will shift focus to the production of on-demand audio that delivers a repeated and ongoing listening experience and is centered around original news content.
Going forward, the Audio Innovations Studio will be closed, and there will be two new podcast producer positions added directly to the CPR newsroom.
The other eliminated roles include production positions that primarily worked in CPR’s on-site Performance Studio and some on-location projects. In CPR’s music services, one full-time position has been eliminated and three part-time roles will be consolidated into one full-time role.
“This is a challenging time for media everywhere, but I believe CPR is doing the right thing in focusing on its unique advantage: trustworthy, deeply reported, Colorado news,” Bradley Greenwald, chair of CPR’s board of directors, said. “CPR is Colorado’s largest nonprofit news organization, and we must ensure this valuable public service continues to be freely available well into the future.”