David Field let the door hit him in the butt on the way to taking a minor pay cut as all the other major CEOs went first.

Then yesterday he circulated a memo to employees telling them many will lose their jobs while arguing how bad things are and how good they are – at the same time.

And that lots of them will be temporarily “furloughed” and others will have their pay cut just like their CEO.

Except for one thing.

The “Furloughs” are phony.

Perhaps the most important disclosure about the Entercom firings is in the fine print.

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Newstips 

iHeart, Cumulus, Beasley and Entercom are panic firing in the name of furloughing.

Saga has decided to go down the road not taken.

Old school CEO Ed Christian is making the long bet and he can afford to because Saga has virtually no debt.

It’s not that Saga’s business isn’t being adversely affected by the coronavirus and economic uncertainty.

It’s just that panic firing is so blatantly a tactic of companies that are going out of business or filing bankruptcy.

Once iHeart started furloughing, every other lemming followed but will any group follow Saga’s lead once they see how this innovative plan works.

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Newstips  

Notice how they’re no longer “layoffs” or ‘dislocations” in the radio industry now.

They’re furloughs – Entercom, Townsquare and iHeart plugging into a term being used by non-radio companies to cut costs and blame it on the coronavirus.

After “Furlough Tuesday” yesterday, Cumulus is not to be outdone.

Cumulus is as bad off as the other radio companies due to their own mistakes when the economy was booming.

We’re beginning to see who is going to get whacked.

And a growing concern by so-called “essential” employees who may survive the week ahead.

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Newstips  

For the past five years ever since Entercom took over CBS Radio every CBS or Entercom employee feared the last day of a fiscal quarter.

Today, they have real reason.

This is the last day of a terrible quarter for the radio industry and particularly Entercom.

The firings will come fast, the reach will be surprising and the company will eliminate and consolidate expenses to counter its mounting revenue losses.

Make no mistake, this is a large layoff.

A new and different Entercom will emerge.

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Newstips  

Yesterday iHeart conducted a “phantom firing” that is shrouded in uncertainty that may be causing more anxiety than even their pre-virus 1,000+ mass “dislocation”.

Publicly, they are saying one thing, but behind the scenes there are a lot of concerns about just who is non-essential and whether they are in fact expendable after the 90 days are up.

This typical smoke and mirrors approach for iHeart is reportedly massive now.

And a handful of draconian cutbacks that probably don’t have anything to do with the effects of the coronavirus on their company – some absolutely jaw dropping.

No one believes the radio industry will come back even when the virus goes away so the real question is – what exactly did iHeart just pull off in the name of the coronavirus.

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Newstips