Clear Channel lays off 8 in Madison

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: Clear Channel lays off 8 in Madison : Samara Kalk Derby | The Capital Times — 1/22/2009 8:38 am : ---------------------------------- : : Eight people were laid off from Madison's Clear Channel radio stations Tuesday, according to sources close to the matter. : Those who lost their jobs include The Mic 92.1's program director, Brian Turany, and producer Sam Roecker, who is now doing news and features with former morning host Lee Rayburn on www.leerayburn.com. : Also let go were traffic reporter Charlie Conover, who reported for all six of the local Clear Channel stations, and Star Country WMAD/FM 96.3 assistant program director Tyler Reese. The other four were advertising representatives, whose names were not available. : Mike Ferris, FM operations manager for Clear Channel Madison, said at a meeting last week that The Mic 92.1's format is not in danger. : : Ferris and Jeff Tyler, vice president and market manager with Clear Channel Radio, would not comment Wednesday on the layoffs and instead directed calls to the company's corporate communications director in San Antonio, Texas. : "The company is not breaking numbers down by geography or business function. We're not releasing names," said Lisa Dollinger, a spokeswoman for Clear Channel Communications, Inc. : An internal memo to Clear Channel employees was sent by company CEO Mark Mays Tuesday afternoon. : In it, he said the company has eliminated approximately 1,850 positions across its corporate, outdoor advertising and radio sectors. : "We have thought carefully and at some length about the steps we need to take as a company to succeed during this unprecedented downturn," Mays said. : "While a significant portion of these positions represent a realignment in our sales departments, the positions span all departments and represent approximately 9 percent of the total Clear Channel Communications workforce." : Some of the employees laid off in Madison were given as much as nine months severance pay, according to former The Mic 92.1 morning show host Lee Rayburn, who quit of his own accord three weeks ago to protest programming decisions made by the station. : "It sounds like everyone was given a pretty sweet deal by management at Clear Channel in Madison. I really think the local management, from what I understand, and I'm not a fan obviously, went to bat for those guys who lost their jobs yesterday," Rayburn said, adding that "I should have stuck around." : The 37-year-old Clear Channel is the nation's largest radio company, but generates more than half of its revenue from its billboard business. The company operates six stations in the Madison market: WIBA-AM (1310), WIBA-FM (101.5), WMAD-FM (96.3), WTSO-AM (1070), WXXM-FM (92.1) and WZEE-FM (104.1). : The company has about 30,000 employees worldwide. Neither Ferris nor Tyler would say how many employees Clear Channel has in Madison, but a former employee estimates it is between 50 and 60. : Clear Channel is implementing a massive restructuring plan that seeks to cut $400 million in costs at the company, according to a story published in the New York Post last week. : The restructuring includes layoffs as well as cuts to programming budgets. : The company is also likely to move toward a "national programming" model that requires less local-level staffing, the newspaper said, despite being criticized in the past for a similar action using centralized disc jockeys that made it appear as if they were broadcasting from local stations. : The initial round of layoffs began Tuesday, Inauguration Day, so Clear Channel managers could minimize the press coverage, sources told the New York Post. : Turany, who until Tuesday was program director for The Mic 92.1, said he had some sense that the downsizing was coming because it was reported in trade magazines in December. : "It's still a big change. The first time I've been unemployed since college," he said. "There's an old saying in radio that you haven't been in radio until you've been fired and this is actually the first time I've ever been fired from a radio job." : Turany stressed that the layoffs were not targeted, but affected more than 1,500 people across the country. : "It wasn't an ideologically motivated event. It was a reaction to the economy," he said. : Local radio host and social justice activist John Quinlan credits Turany for building up the progressive talk station The Mic 92.1, which has a devoted following. : "While he didn't do it alone by any means, it was Brian's vision for reaching out to the Mic's listeners through remotes and special events and blogs and his trademark e-mails that made people feel a sense of personal connection with their station. That's likely to end now," Quinlan said. : Turany gave Quinlan his break into talk radio. Quinlan, who is currently the host of "Forward Forum" Sunday afternoon from 2 p.m. to 3 p.m. on WTDY/AM 1670, calls Turany one of the best bosses he's ever had. : "Clear Channel never appreciated what Brian accomplished. Think of it -- how many radio stations have engendered the kinds of passion and loyalty and action as The Mic did under Brian in such a short period of time?" Quinlan said.

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