RBR+TVBR INFOCUS
DELRAY BEACH, FLA. — On May 3, 2016, the Tampa Tribune was acquired by its longtime rival, the Tampa Bay Times — formerly the St. Petersburg Times. The Tribune was folded, with operations merged into the Times, leaving Nielsen Audio market No. 19 with just one daily print publication.
On Monday, that ended: the Times will now publish only on Wednesdays and Sundays, as the novel coronavirus has ravaged the company’s finances.
The newspaper isn’t the only media organization grappling with job losses. Monday also saw the nation’s No. 1 owner of radio stations, a “local first” media company with radio at its core, and a newspaper industry giant also slash their respective pay rolls.
In an online announcement not easily found on the TampaBay.com homepage, the Times called the two-day-a-week publication of the only daily newspaper serving Hillsborough and Pinellas Counties temporary, starting April 6.
A “steep drop in advertising” is to blame.
The reduction in print editions also sees “some staff” furloughed for eight weeks, with reduced working hours for others.
“These extraordinary times call for extraordinary measures,” Times Chairman/CEO Paul Tash said.
At least the Times was public regarding its decision. As of 10pm Monday, Gannett had only distributed an internal company memo earlier in the day sharing details of an extensive three-month employee furlough plan. Anyone making more than $38,000 will be required to take one week of unpaid leave in April, and in May, and in June.
The details were published by The Washington Post, which said it obtained the memo from the President of USA TODAY.
A separate memo, from Gannett CEO Paul Bascobert, disclosed that he will forego his salary in 2020; Gannett’s executive team would take a 25% pay cut. Some 17,000 people work across more than 100 newspapers at Gannett, which was obtained by the former GateHouse Media in a recent mega-merger valued at over $1 billion.
“By choosing a collective sacrifice,” Bascobert wrote, “we can keep our staff intact, reduce our cost structure, deliver for our readers and clients and be ready to emerge strong and with opportunity to grow when this crisis passes.”
A TEMPORARY GOODBYE
Understanding the “extraordinary measures” and “collective sacrifice” impacting the print media perhaps put into proper perspective how iHeartMedia and Townsquare Media are acting to protect their coffers.
At iHeart, CEO Bob Pittman and COO/CFO Rich Bressler co-signed an internal memo distributed Monday that addressed how it is responding to the COVID-19 pandemic and acting to “preserve the health of the company.”
The memo, obtained by Streamline Publishing, noted that, “During this unsettled time, we also know the biggest economic concern among our employees is understandably about preserving jobs—and we want you to know that it’s our main concern as well.”
Is iHeart trimming its payroll? Yes, for now.
“Given our pullback from live events and our shift to a work-from-home model, there are a few jobs that are not essential until our business operations revert back to usual,” Pittman and Bressler said, stressing that iHeart has not engaged in layoffs or a reduction in force.
This week will see iHeart implement a 90-day furlough for “a small total number of employees.”
And, Pittman and Bressler note, “We look forward to welcoming them back as soon as we can.”
To avoid permanent layoffs, Pittman has agreed to take no salary for the remainder of 2020. He’s also declined to take his incentive bonus for 2020. Bressler and iHeart’s senior management team will take salary reductions ranging from 30% to more than 70% of their total compensation for the remainder of the year.
In addition, iHeart has moved forward with the following austerity measures:
- Reduction of all expenses that can be postponed without impacting our service and commitment to our communities;
- Temporary suspension of the 401(k) match;
- No overtime without pre-approval;
- Temporary suspension of new raises;
- Strict limitations on – or complete elimination of – Travel and Entertainment (T&E) expenses.
“We believe all of these reductions give us more room to protect jobs,” Pittman and Bressler said.
In closing, the top two iHeart executives wrote, “We’ve never lived through anything like this and, as managers, we’ve never had to make more difficult decisions. However, please know we are listening, studying and considering all options before we make the important decisions that affect you and the company. We may miss on some of these decisions — and we will pivot when we find better ones — but throughout it all, we truly appreciate your support for us, for your colleagues and for the company.”
“We’ve never lived through anything like this and, as managers, we’ve never had to make more difficult decisions. However, please know we are listening, studying and considering all options before we make the important decisions that affect you and the company.” — Bob Pittman and Rich Bressler, iHeartMedia
A SMALLER TOWN POPULATION
Following Monday’s Closing Bell on Wall Street, Townsquare Media CEO Bill Wilson distributed a lengthy company update via e-mail to staff.
The memo, obtained by RBR + TVBR, offered a sobering snapshot of just how devastating the novel coronavirus has been to Townsquare.
“While our employees are putting on a brave and positive face, Townsquare is not unscathed by COVID-19,” Wilson said. “The economic impact on our business has been significant over the past 2 weeks.”
He reiterated some of what was disclosed during Townsquare Media’s Q4 and year-end 2019 earnings call: All live events for the upcoming months have been scrubbed, “resulting in millions of dollars of lost revenue.” Further, “a sudden and substantial decline in our advertising business (broadcast and digital)” due to the COVID-19 pandemic will result in “much lower” revenue “for a period of time.”
As such, the dreaded reduction in workforce, rather than furloughs, has been seen at Townsquare Media. Sixty-five people were dismissed, including 26 corporate employees. There could be more to come in the weeks and months ahead.
“While Townsquare will clearly prevail, it quickly became clear to me that in order to get through the current situation we’ve had to make some very difficult decisions and sacrifices over the past 10 days, and being transparent, I believe we will have to make future sacrifices as well,” Wilson disclosed. “When the first of your five pillars is YOU Matter, it’s hard not to question if this is true when we are terminating employees at such a challenging time. The decision to let these employees go was based on a number of factors, the most important being my belief that reducing our overall workforce was necessary to protect our business and the remaining team moving forward.”
For employees who are remaining at Townsquare, the company 401(k) match will be suspended effective April 1.
“As you know, starting a 401(k) company match was something I was very proud of implementing upon becoming CEO and I regret having to suspend it,” Wilson said. “I look forward to re-implementing the match once we overcome these challenges together.”
What about the salaries of those in Townsquare’s C-Suite? Eighteen individuals “volunteered” to take a 10% pay cut, which is temporary.
The memo came ahead of a 5pm ET Monday all-staff call hosted by Wilson.
While it was not publicly known what was stated on the call, Wilson concluded the memo with a rallying cry for Townsquare’s staff. “The key to overcoming the challenge we face is to bond together as we always have as a strong Townsquare Team,” he wrote. “Over the past two years, your work has translated to industry leading performance. During this crisis, together as a team we will leverage our bond and do what is best for our listeners, our communities and our clients. We got this.”
