Cumulus cutbacks affect local stations.Byline: Sherri Buri McDonald The Register-Guard Atlanta-based Cumulus Media Cumulus Media, Inc. (also known as Cumulus Broadcasting) NASDAQ: CMLS is a large owner of radio stations in markets in the United States with 307 stations in 61 markets as of December 31, 2005. Inc., which owns six radio stations in Eugene-Springfield, is cutting its local work force by 10 percent. Cumulus cumulus: see cloud. laid off five programming employees on Monday, said G. Michael Donovan Michael David Donovan is a voice actor for many TV shows and anime. He is most known for his voice on the series ReBoot for his voices of Phong, Mike the TV, Cecil, and Al. He has also provided the voice of Sabretooth for and Carnage for Spider-Man Unlimited. , vice president and general manager. He declined to identify the individuals, but said they included on-air talent, as well as behind-the-scenes support staff. He said he didn't anticipate any further cuts. Cumulus now has 49 employees working at its offices/studios at 1200 Executive Parkway, near Valley River Center Valley River Center is a shopping mall located in Eugene, Oregon. As the largest shopping center south of Portland and north of San Francisco, this mall comprises over 130 local and national stores and restaurants. . Donovan said the cuts were the result of "a companywide review of resources." "Like any well-run company, Cumulus is constantly re-evaluating and measuring the performance of its different clusters," Donovan said. "We're constantly evaluating to see if we have the proper mix of resources as compared to return," he said. A "cluster" is industry parlance for a group of stations in a specific geographic market. Cumulus' Eugene cluster includes KEHK, adult contemporary music In February, Cumulus moved all of its area operations from two west Eugene locations to the Executive Parkway building. Staff had multiple roles at multiple stations, Donovan said, so the cuts will affect all six stations. "Their responsibilities will by necessity be picked up by other people on staff, which makes more work for everybody," Donovan said. Earlier this year, Cumulus replaced some local programs at its area stations with syndicated programs in an attempt to boost audience and increase advertising profits. Donovan said Tuesday the layoffs were not connected to those changes. Cumulus is the second-largest radio company in the United States, with 287 stations in 58 mid-size U.S. markets. Its corporate parent, a publicly traded company publicly traded company A company whose shares of common stock are held by the public and are available for purchase by investors. The shares of publicly traded firms are bought and sold on the organized exchanges or in the over-the-counter market. , reported a loss of $92.8 million on sales of $252.6 million last year. San Antonio-based Clear Channel is the nation's largest chain, with more than 1,200 stations in 50 states, including four stations in the Eugene-Springfield market. |
|
||||||||||||||||

Printer friendly
Cite/link
Email
Feedback
Reader Opinion