iHeart Media Is Laying-Off Dozens Of Its Employees

What in the world is going on at iHeart?

Even though iHeart has over 850 stations there is no room for people. The company has been suffering from a financial crisis for quite some time now. Last year the company restructured its debt in a Chapter 11 bankruptcy proceeding from $16 billion to $6 billion.

“It was a shock. I definitely didn’t see it coming. I’m sure a lot of people didn’t,” adds a program director, and on-air DJ who goes by Dent. Mr. Dent lost his job on Tuesday morning. After 20 years at Dayton, Ohio, rock stations WTUE and WZDA, he says, “You can never really sit too comfortable, can you?”

The company wouldn’t confirm to the press the exact number of employees they’ve laid off, but said in a statement that “the number is relatively small given our overall employee base of 12,500.”

“We are modernizing our company to take advantage of the significant investments we have made in new technology and aligning our operating structure to match the technology-powered businesses we are now in. This is another step in the company’s successful transformation as a multiple platform 21st-century media company.”

-I Heart Radio statement

Tuesday’s layoffs sent a surge of concern through the company. People’s phones were going off in the middle breakfast, some had 45 second meetings and were then shown the door. The layoffs are hitting mostly the mid-major markets such as Pittsburg and Richmond, Virginia.

(Cover photo courtesy of Fox Business, video courtesy of WSYR, source Billboard)