Photo Credit: Cumulus Media
Cumulus Media starts layoffs in Indianapolis and Central Pennsylvania following iHeartMedia’s job cuts last week.
Cumulus Media has started layoffs in Indianapolis and Central Pennsylvania this week ahead of the holiday season, joining iHeartMedia who cut around 500 jobs the week prior.
In Central Pennsylvania, Cumulus parted ways with WARM Program Director Dave Russell, and radio personalities AJ Cobain, Venetia Stephenson, and Gary Sutton. In Indianapolis, the company saw the departure of multiple industry veterans, such as WZPL Program Director Jimmy Steele, who came on in 2022 after serving as Operations Manager for Cumulus in Mobile, Alabama.
Other Indianapolis mainstays to exit Cumulus include WFMS morning co-host Kevin Freeman, who leaves after three decades with the company. Freeman is joined by WJJK afternoon host Laura Steele, Promotions Coordinator Jennifer Trevino, and members of the sales team.
Meanwhile, the list of names of those affected by iHeartMedia’s round of layoffs the week of the election continues to grow, with roles including both market and regional personnel.
Bob Pittman, CEO of iHeartMedia, addressed the recent layoffs during the company’s Q3 earnings call, where he assured shareholders that radio is still going strong as it seeks to save $150 million by “eliminating redundancies.”
“What we’re not doing is 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,” said Pittman in response to Radio Ink.
“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 radio giant has cut long-time radio hosts and employees in major markets across Boston (Alan Chartrand), Chicago (Angie Taylor, Matt Scarano), Cleveland (Bill Squire, Mary Santora), Dallas (Patrick Davis, Cruz, Domininc ‘Zakk’ Zaccagnini), Denver (Alfred ‘Big Al’ Williams, Michael Coover, Brandon Krisztal), Houston (Karah Leigh, Stan Norfleet), Miami (Gina Ulmos, Frankie P Pagliaro, Armando Lapido, Mark Mackenzie), New York (Len Berman, Michael Riedel, Terry Trahim), Philadelphia (Mike Kaplan, Sam ‘Nugget’ Dababneh), Phoenix (Jody Oehler, Kelly Manders), Salt Lake City (Eric E. White, Erica Shea), San Francisco (Don Parker, Jerry Houston, Jason Dahlstedt, Chidi Nwachukwu), Washington, D.C. (Paul Jaxon, Lisa Berigan), and countless others.