The owners want their investment back with profit.

Time to trim.

Here’s how Townsquare is going to look a lot like Cumulus.

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1. The big personnel changes coming to Townsquare.
2. The first two jobs to be eliminated in Townsquare consolidation.
3. How Townsquare plans to run with fewer people.
4. The management change in the field.
5. Which new role is ahead for “lucky” Townsquare sales managers.

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It happened on a recent manager’s conference call.

Not meant for your ears.

A plan to trap its own employees.

Snag the snitches who dislike Pittman.

What suddenly got Bob Pittman’s panties in a bunch.

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1. The threat to dispense false information about a company that is partially public and in violation of Federal law.
2. What Bob Pittman did when one of his lemmings made the threat in the call.
3. The impossible thing that Clear Channel is asking managers to do.
4. What is not being said publicly – what Pittman doesn’t want anyone to know about Clear Channel’s future plans.
5. The truth about sales RIFs.
6. The two biggest targets for layoffs.
7. The fate of the regional calling centers and local sellers.
8. Those programming RIFs that were scheduled too close to the sales RIFs.
9. The one thing Clear Channel will sell for sure and the other that they will consolidate.
10. Why Pittman is suddenly concerned about something his employees have been doing since he took over – Bobby leaks.

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SpongeBob BossyPants is getting ready to eat some crow.

He’s about to reverse himself on a major decision that is hurting the company badly.

In fact, in some markets it’s beginning to happen now.

But you’ll never hear that from him.

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1. Why Pittman is reversing himself on a major policy decision he made in the past year.
2. The employees that will be affected most.
3. How Pittman’s reversal will affect current employees fearing for their jobs and those who have already been let go.
4. Why Pittman doesn’t want anyone to know what he is doing.
5. Who Pittman is targeting for this turnabout – sales or programming.

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Entercom wasted no time firing their morning team in Rochester for a tasteless transgender joke.

What you don’t know is that the offensive joke had nothing to do with their firing.

And be on the lookout for copycat radio groups who have declared war on their own radio personalities.

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1. The real reason Entercom acted like lightning when they went 10 years without firing a programming exec who did far worse things.
2. Why radio personalities will want to keep an eye out for a new tactic that failing radio groups are starting to use to shake-up their stations.
3. Truth or dare:  what the replacements for the fired Rochester personalities will reveal.
4. For stations that actually care about racial and gender issues, 3 ways to always do what’s right by your audience.
5. What CEO David Field’s new cologne tells you about how Entercom is now willing to do business.

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While you’re choking down hot dogs and hamburgers over the holiday weekend, Clear Channel is getting ready to blow up another working part of radio.

More changes to how Clear Channel sells.

New recruits.

Who they are after and who they are not.

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1. The Evil Empire is recruiting again but its current or recently RIFed sales people need not apply.
2. How salespeople from competitors are being approached for this new type of sales gig that only SpongeBob BossyPants could think up.
3. Why this is the exact opposite of the Pandora sales model.
4. The recruiter’s actual pitch to working prospects the company is contacting.
5. You won’t believe where Clear Channel is harvesting leads to rustle up some candidates for this new sales job.
6. Why even a name change to reflect the new strategy is not out of the question.

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I used to think John Hogan was good for a couple of more years because Bain gave him a raise, contract extension and benefits.

But poof!

Gone when Bob Pittman needed a scapegoat to blame for declining billing.

Now Pittman’s job is on the line and sources say Bain is concerned about the direction the company is taking.

Clear Channel after Pittman promises to be very complicated.

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1. How much time does Pittman have left as CEO of Clear Channel.
2. How will Bain handle that big new contract extension SpongeBob got last year? 
3. Three people who could be Pittman’s successor and what it means to the radio group.
4. Who the favorite is to replace Pittman and who is the long shot.
5. How a new CEO will handle programmers and on-air talent.
6. The outlook under a new boss for sellers who are now being RIFed at a record pace.

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Clear Channel has now adopted a quarterly RIF cycle.

They can still fire anyone they choose, but they are becoming obsessed with creating a reason even if it is trumped up.

Now The Evil Empire has 5 more ways to screw employees before, during and even after they get the axe.

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1. Why it has become so important to Clear Channel to create a reason to fire a person whether legitimate or not.
2. The way they now blindside employees who have worked for them for more than a few years.
3. How they can determine the absolute worst possible time to fire an employee – and then go right ahead and pull the trigger.  Cruel examples that border on pathetic.
4. Non-competes from hell – take them or leave them but if you leave them you’re screwed in these two ways.
5. The kiss of death compliment Clear Channel has now started using to reassure employees – a corporate phrase that you never want to hear from a supervisor because it means you’re next.

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This week Lew Dickey is preparing to face Cumulus shareholders again.

I’m sure he’ll talk Nash and Nash Icons and platforms, economies of scale, new opportunities and the other bullshit failing CEOs usually spew.

On the eve of this meeting new evidence has surfaced for which shareholders should hold Dickey accountable.

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1. Why Chipotle shareholders have the right idea and it should be used against Lew Dickey for excessive executive compensation.  Details.
2. Why is the decline of your stations being suppressed from shareholders and the public? 
3. How bad Cumulus audience losses are in the critical major markets – after all, this guy wants to buy CBS, God forbid.  Some questions you should ask Lew.
4. For the first time we know the overall audience loss for all rated Cumulus markets.  Hold him accountable with these numbers.
5. What’s behind those Westwood One firings – over 10 more people whacked and more offered part-time on Friday alone.  What’s the end game?

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No business travel unless approved.

Take the cheapest flight.

Pay some of the expenses yourself.

Except if you work for this division of Clear Channel.

A dirty deal and disrespect for hardworking Clear Channel employees exposed.

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1. Which prominent Clear Channel division gets to run up expenses at will without restrictions.
2. How one member of this division skirts the travel restrictions other employees are forced to follow – see her Facebook page but take your blood pressure medication first.
3. Who was popping corks, drinking champagne and taking selfies in business class no less while everyone else was banned from traveling.
4. Which prominent Clear Channel exec is enabling her.

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Bad news.

Clear Channel’s key revenue markets are tracking way down again in the second quarter with no indication they will make up their 6-7% losses even by the end of this year.

Bob Pittman’s head is now on the Bain chopping block.

He’s taking aggressive action to blame someone else – I mean, to get to the bottom of it.

All this on the eve of another huge RIF.

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1. What’s up with these new Pittman mandated SWAT teams soon to be going from market to market.
2. The scary part – who is on these SWAT teams and what is their mission.
3. How long will they be in your market.
4. Why the findings are likely to piss off the very people who could make things better.
5. Who gets blamed if the SWAT team fingers operations in your market.
6. The 3 biggest Clear Channel trouble spots that could be responsible for taking Pittman down.
7. Pittman’s cockroach strategy for surviving.
8. Bonus video!  See the infamous $21 million Bob Pittman “mist tunnel” here.  Your highway taxes at work – so to speak.

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Bob Pittman has met the enemy and it is the very advertisers and agencies he needs to keep his job.

Advertisers are revolting in protest over Clear Channel’s recent sales RIFs.

They don’t want their MTV. 

They want their sellers back.

And wait until you see how they are hitting Pittman below the belt.

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1. How advertisers are retaliating against Clear Channel.
2. How Pittman’s RIF plan is also hurting his competitors and all of radio.
3. How effective this agency revolt is after just a few weeks.
4. The one thing that tripped off this agency revolt and the sales RIF was only part of it – it’s what happened next that made the advertisers go for blood.
5. Will Pittman back off – you may be surprised at the answer.

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This article was made possible from sources close to the situation at Clear Channel. When you have news to report, you are automatically in my Witness Protection Program, which has never revealed a source. 

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Follow me on Jerry’s Instagram.  My daughter was married Saturday and I’ve shared some beautiful pictures.

One of our own is in trouble and needs our help.  Steve Mills, a Clear Channel talent in Allentown, PA has stage 3 mixed cell Hodgkin’s lymphoma.  He’s trying to fight the disease, but the medical bills are killing him, too.  Any donation will help.  I’m pledging $100.  Will you give something – anything to help this young man survive and live his life with his beautiful family.  Donate by clicking here.  Together we can capture the real spirit of radio.

Now we know what the cutoff point is.

Who gets spared.

Who gets axed because they make too much money.

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1. If you’ve been recruited by the Evil Empire within the past few years, you might want to read this first.
2. What is the salary firing point for regional markets – if you make over this amount, Bobby P is gunning for your job.
3. How Bain bean counters will be refocusing on major markets next.
4. How SpongeBob BossyPants plans to eliminate as many as 30 market managers (well, he has proven now no one is safe not even revenue producing salespeople).
5. How Pittman plans to operate in clusters where market managers are fired.
6. Which parts of Clear Channel could soon be for sale.
7. Which parts will likely be liquidated (I can name two right off the bat).
8. And which divisions will be further consolidated to save salaries.

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The clowns at the Evil Empire made the mistake of pitching one of my sources in our anonymous Witness Protection Program.

Robo Boy is the replacement for hundreds of experienced Clear Channel sales people RIFed right out of the business.

You kind of knew this regional call center idea was going to be shitty.

But this shitty?

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1. The prospect (our source) takes you through their robo pitch point by point.
2. You’ll never guess – ever – what their ironic sales point was before asking for the sale.
3. How Robo Boy handled relationship selling over the phone.
4. Where these regional call centers get their leads.
5. How Clear Channel got into their deep revenue decline by bonusing too many spots and allowing too much trade.
6. A source dishes on how Clear Channel exec Tom McConnell allegedly handled trade in his own words.
7. How regional sales call centers are supposed to nuke Pandora’s local sales operations.
8. How these robo calls are designed for an immediate close – right there, on the phone.

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$21 billion in debt is not that bad says Clear Channel.

Things will get better by 2016.

That’s the garbage Clear Channel is feeding the happy talk radio trade press.

But the reality is, Bob Pittman is scared shitless and is planning some dire moves.

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1. The new RIF rotation – how often, who and when the next one hits.
2. How bad is Clear Channel’s financial crisis in the minds of financial people who study these things.
3. How much interest Pittman paid to get $850 million in loans to kick a very small part of his $21 billion debt load for only a few years – the best that he could do.
4. Bain Capital is so worried about their investment in Clear Channel that …
5. The Clear Channel hiring freeze that Pittman doesn’t want to talk about.
6. Clear Channel Outdoor – part of their magical multiplatform company – is taking gas.  Here are the changes coming to Outdoor and when.
7. To keep employees from leaving before Clear Channel is ready to fire them they are approaching people and telling them this.
8. What’s up with those new quarterly performance reviews and why are they doing them now.

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What gets the Dickeys off more than firing big name air talent?

Firing them twice!

They like to hurt people.

And they still continue to get rich.

Look at the dirty deal Scott Shannon got from John Dickey – the second time he was fired!

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1. Why John Dickey was hell bent to drop Shannon’s True Oldies format from 40 of their stations – hint, it had nothing to do with ratings.
2. How’s that Todd for Scott replacement at WPLJ working out for Cumulus.
3. What the Dickeys are planning to do to other personalities that remain on their smaller market stations – and firing them would be humane in comparison.
4. How Cumulus starts to get Nashified starting today.
5. Why the Cumulus hiring of former CBS programmer Brian Thomas will end ugly.

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Steve Mills is a highly talented air personality for Clear Channel in Allentown, PA. He has company health insurance but has medical bills that occurred before his health insurance kicked in for stage three cancer.  His fundraiser site is www.youcaring.com/swingforsteve.  He’s one of our brethren.  Whatever you can do to help will be most appreciated.