Hundreds OUT Nationwide At CBS Radio

Rumored for weeks, massive lay-offs are being reported at CBS Radio Stations nationwide. The firings were ordered from top management in NYC.

CBS Radio is firing around 200 employees, many off-air personnel. However, on-air talent is not totally escaping the axe. Those departing include KEZK St. Louis morning host Vic Porcelli and KYKY night jock Brion O’Brion, WWFS New York morning co-host Kim Berk, and Seattle’s Sports KFNQ 1090 AM The Fan” loses its only local show as afternoon hosts Steve Sandmeyer and Jason Churchill are out.

As many as 27 employees are out in NYC, 13 in Detroit, at least 5 in St. Louis, and 10 are reported out in Chicago, including  Dustin Paul Karolewicz, WUSN 99.5 FM Production Director and Justyna Syska, WUSN-FM morning show producer.  In Sacramento, the GSM and one addional staffer are gone.  In Philadelphia, longtime KYW 1060 AM newsman Vince Hill was let go.

The CBS Radio lay-offs are not confined to this week.  Over a third of on-air talent at News WCBS 880 AM reportedly have been let go since the beginning of 2015.

Nothing officially has been heard from management..no one seems willing to talk.

Andre Fernandez

CBS Radio has been dealing with declining revenue in recent years, but it has largely avoided mass layoffs until now.

Longtime CBS Radio President and CEO Dan Mason announced his retirement in April from the company. According to Chicago Radio&Media, many insiders have said this was not a true retirement, but that Mason was gently pushed out from the company. As somebody who came from a radio background, including starting out on air, and later, in programming, Mason knew what it took to produce quality radio programming. He fought against pressure from other segments of the corporation that sought deep cutbacks.

Mason's replacement as CBS Radio President is Andre Fernandez, who has almost no experience in radio. Fernandez started his career on Wall Street and then took on many financial leadership roles in companies, with the only true media corporations he worked for being Telemundo and Journal Communications. He was not hired by CBS Radio to produce quality radio, but rather to deal with the company's shrinking numbers.