CUMULUS officially went into furlough mode on Friday--like other businesses, particularly radio, that have been ravished, financially, by the Coronavirus pandemic, Cumulus/ SF asked its hosts from virtually all its Bay Area radio stations, including KGO and KNBR, to consider "pay cuts and/or furloughs" They were asked to respond in a week.
KGO host, John Rothmann, mentioned the policy shortly before signing off his KGO show (6-9PM) last night (Friday).
Cumulus isn't alone.
I LEARNED, through a well-positioned broadcast source here, that the policy on local show hosts will commence April 20 and that, "no one, no department, is immune" from the policy.
INITIALLY, I'm not surprised by any of this. I heard advertising is down anywhere from 75-90 percent, a whopping hit on the local radio broadcast domain (and in all other markets, big and small); it's completely devastating and while it hurts all of us consumers, it is killing radio companies too and as long as the situation gets worse, (economically) before it improves, you can expect severe cuts (pay) and wholesale furloughs across the board.
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