Hail To The Losers

If you're in the broadcast business it should come as no surprise that my old company did their mass firings yesterday. Roughly 1850 employees in all. Read how some of it went down here. It was the worst kept secret in the industry- the firings would happen on Inauguration Day to keep the news off the front pages and closer to the comics, where it truly belongs. Truthfully, a layoff of "only" 1,850 doesn't sound like a lot these days. Still for the people who got their walking papers it was a pretty crappy day. I spent of lot of yesterday texting and talking to those that lived and those who died. It's confusing, but I think that those who are still employed may have it worse than those who were released.

See, it's going to happen again. Maybe next week, next month, next Christmas. It's going to happen again. Here's why: the company in question has simply made one ill-planned move after another. One bad move begets another bad move and so on. Much of the KWNR promotions staff was gutted yesterday. KWNR's ratings have been at an all-time low. Would the ratings be at such a low if John Marks hadn't quit because he could no longer handle drinking the brew of the witch? Or if Brooks O' Brian hadn't been jettisoned? Or Stunt Runt relegated to weekends? Or yours truly fired for being "too newsy"? I'm guessing not. Higher ratings would've meant more revenue, and that would've meant more people would be going to work today. The colossal mismanagement by the biggest radio ownership group in the land is directly responsible for yesterdays firings of 9 percent of the company's workforce. I'm sure it never occurred to them that firing good people to save money will only do that- save money. It won't increase revenue, and that will lead to more firings down the road. Don't call them layoffs. Layoffs imply there's a chance to come back. Not so here, kids.

So for those "on the beach", enjoy your nine month severance, try and clear your head and remember- good things can happen for bad reasons. My thoughts today aren't with you, but for those in the next line of fire.