Report: Pandemic Responsible For 45 Stations Going Silent

Every year the federal government spends around $1 billion in advertising to promote its programs and military recruitment.

But, The L-A Times reports many of the local TV, radio and newspaper companies that carry those advertisements are being financially devastated by the economic shutdown in most of the country due to the coronavirus crisis — even as the hunger for news and information on the pandemic is driving up viewing and readership.

So media companies have joined an initiative led by the National Assn. of Broadcasters to push for a significant increase in the current ad budget part of the next fiscal stimulus package being considered by Congress, known as Phase 4.

Dennis Wharton

“For so many broadcasters and newspapers, this is a life-or-death situation,” said Dennis Wharton, an executive vice president for NAB. “The advertising that supports local journalism and hometown radio and TV stations in many cases has simply disappeared. It’s just a desperate situation, and far more dire than anything seen in decades.”

Representatives for media companies have been gearing up a lobbying effort for the plan aimed at expanding federal advertising spending to between $5 billion and $10 billion for the rest of the year, according to executives who have been involved in the developing the proposal but were not authorized to discuss the details.

The federal government was expected to lay out as much as $2 billion in ad spending this year, with additional dollars allocated to encourage participation in the 2020 census. The NAB will ask for spending on pandemic-related ads that instruct citizens on how to get back to work safely, social distancing and wearing masks.

The proposal has bipartisan support from 74 U.S. senators and 124 House representatives, who cite the work that local media have done in their communities to keep the public informed on the pandemic.

Radio and local newspapers have also been particularly hard hit by the staggering loss in advertising revenue since the shutdown began last month. Radio and broadcast TV stations are expected to see ad revenue declines in the range of 25% for the year, according to various analyst estimates.

At least Forty-five radio stations have signed off the air since March 11, the date the World Health Organization declared the coronavirus a global pandemic. Of those, 17, or 38%, specifically cited financial conditions related to the coronavirus pandemic as the reason for going silent.

The figure includes five radio stations in Maine that served their communities for 45 years.

Also,  Radio has responded to the advertising slowdown with layoffs, furloughs and pay cuts.  Among those are:

• On March 24, Radio and Music Pros reported furloughs at Meruelo Media stations. Meruelo has stations in five markets.
• On March 27, Radio and Music Pros reported layoffs at Forever Media stations. Forever has stations in 11 markets.
• On March 31, Inside Radio reported pay cuts and layoffs at Townsquare Media Group and furloughs and pay cuts at iHeartMedia stations. Townsquare has stations and sites in 67 markets. iHeart has stations in 153 markets.
• JVC Broadcasting furloughed some employees, according to reporting by Ed Ryan in Radio Ink. JVC has stations in New York and Florida.
• American General Media had layoffs, Radio and Music Pros reported. American General Media has stations in seven markets.
• On April 1, Inside Radio reported on layoffs, pay cuts and furloughs at Beasley Media stations. Beasley has stations in 15 markets.
• On April 2, Inside Radio reported on layoffs, pay cuts and furloughs at radio stations owned by Entercom around the country. “Entercom is the fourth major radio company to make extensive cuts this week in the wake of the COVID-19-fueled economic shutdown.” Entercom has stations in 46 markets.
• On April 8, Radio and Music Pros reported layoffs and furloughs at Radio One/Urban One stations. The company owns stations in 15 markets.
• Radio Ink reported temporary furloughs and pay cuts at Cumulus, which, according to Cumulus, owns 424 stations in 87 markets.
• On April 15, Inside Radio reported layoffs, furloughs and reduced hours at Alpha Media Stations. Alpha Media has stations in 21 states.
• On April 21, The New York Times reported pay cuts for executives at NPR between 10 to 25%.