Originally posted Sunday, January 19, 2020 by RODNEY HO/rho@ajc.com on his AJC Radio & TV Talk blog
iHeartMedia, the largest radio chain in America, took a cleaver to its staff last week, cutting more than 200 people, from DJs to talk-show hosts to producers to program directors.
The company has not released a complete list of those departed, but a recent Cleveland.com story said it could have been as many as 1,500 out of 12,500 employees. IHeart even took down the on-air schedules of all its radio stations earlier this week when the cuts happened. iHeart also opened itself to mockery and cold corporate speak by using the term "dislocations" for layoffs or cuts.
Atlanta - where iHeart owns talk 640/WGST-AM, country 94.9/The Bull, top 40 Power 96.1, hip-hop 96.7/The Beat, Latin Hits Z105.3 and Alt 105.7 - didn’t appear to get hit too hard.
Two full-time staffers I have been able to confirm were let go were Alt 105.7's mid-day host and assistant program director Wendy Rollins and 96.7/The Beat mid-day host Terry J (full name Terry J. Griffin Jr.). Their bios have been taken down off their respective websites.
>>RELATED: Radio Insight’s on-going list of those cut nationwide.
The Beat also lost three other mixer/hosts: Tha Kid Reckless, Jazzy T and Moran the Man, according to Radio Insight.
That particular station is the fifth hip-hop station in a market with four much bigger ones: V-103, Hot 107.9, Streetz 94.5 and OG 97.9. Its ratings were far smaller than the others, with a relatively weak signal and the Breakfast Club syndicated morning show.
Alt 105.7, in the meantime, last year hit record low numbers in its ratings since it became an alternative rock station in 2013. Changing its name from Radio 105.7 did not help matters, apparently. It lagged far behind the two other rock major rock stations 97.1/The River and Rock 100.5.
About the Author
