Emmis Cuts 91 Full-Time Positions

By Tankboy in Arts & Entertainment on Mar 6, 2009 5:50PM

It seems sports reporter Bruce Wolfe can't catch a break. He was laid off yesterday as Emmis Communications cut 91 full time positions company wide. Seven staffers total were let go in Chicago. Q101 morning show co-host, Jim Lynam and Loop midday DJ Erin Carman were also given the pink slip. Pete McMurray will fill in for Carman for the rest of this week, starting on Monday John "Byrd" Kempf will take over. McMurray will then move to Kempf's 7 p.m. to midnight shift.

It's a rough time for radio, with so many critics claiming the medium is dead and then management cutting talent that was doing well in the ratings, it's not surprising listeners are turning to other sources. Even the White House Press Secretary, Robert Gibbs, claims he doesn't own a radio. Radio-Info reports that yesterday several stations in Washington DC sent him one so that he could learn what the 235 million people who listen to the radio each week already know, local radio doesn't feel all that local.

With the cuts at Emmis, it wont feel local in Chicago anymore. Phil Rosenthal notes that Emmis plans to consolidate the programming of the Chicago stations with the St. Louis stations. The whole reason people tuned in in the first place was that the stations knew the town, it felt personal, the on-air talent were like friends and family. If stations can't maintain that feeling it will be a dead medium.

BY: Pattie Lee

Photo by The Rocketeer