Clear Channel braces for layoffs, changes

A massive restructuring of Clear Channel Radio, the nation's largest radio company, is about to take place and it appears several El Paso radio stations could be affected. Employees of KTSM (FM 99.9), KTSM (AM 690), KHEY (FM 96.3), KHEY (AM 1380) and KPRR (FM 102.1) are all said to be bracing for some major changes that could include staff reductions. Industry reports including this article in the New York Post say the company, which owns more than 1,000 radio stations and employs 30,000 people nationwide, is about the publicly reveal its restructuring plan. Clear Channel officials are not commenting, but reports say the announcement could come as early as tomorrow. In El Paso, word on the street is that several on-air personalities will likely be affected. However, it is not yet known specifically who will get the ax. Stay tuned.

DTV Delay Bill Delayed

Senate Republicans on Friday succeeded in blocking the legislation that calls for a delay in the transition of analog TV to digital TV. The delay has the support of Spanish-language TV station operators along the border who say their viewers are not ready for the switch. Democrats say they intend to bring the issue back for a vote next week. Read the AP story here. 

Internet Rankings

Which El Paso Internet Web sites are the most-viewed? Take a look: Here are the latest rankings from Compete.com:

Rank    Site                   People      Web Rank 

1.        elpasotimes.com    199,331        8,970

2.        kvia.com                37,250        46,224

3.        kfoxtv.com            34,375         49,773

4.        kdbc.com                10,700        135,956

5.        newspapertree.com    10,472    138,450

6.        ktsm.com                8,599        162,857

7.        kprr.com                  5,071        250,798

8.        klaq.com                  3,814        317,362

9.        khey.com                  3,043        380,478

10.      ksii.com                    2,740        413,089

Comments

[Jose ELP]

KVIA's website is ugly and needs a complete overhaul to make it appealing and user-friendly. KFOX's looks great. How are these views calculated? Unique IP or total number of page views?

[Sales]

Less than a year ago KFOX was inching towards the Times...they even got a so-called "web producer". So why are they in 3rd now??

[Sunland]

Alexa.com results are completely different, especially when you add the diario.com.mx site, this is a very misleading commentary...

[None of your business]

Too bad KLAQ is not part of Clear Channel Radio. Buzz needs to go and go far, far away!

[watch this]

http://www.jibjab.com/originals/what_we_call_the_news

[Sowhat]

The bad thing about the Clear Channel Radio cut backs is that their stations, except for Power 102 are already down to the bone with few workers. KHEY FM has a staff of four, Sunny has six, ESPN has three, News Talk 690 has three and Power 102's morning show alone has at least five or six, a mid-day jock, the night jock, the overnight jock and a number of weekend or fill in people. They already cut back with the loss of 99.1 The Eagle. Word is that that the sales staff could get hit hard. It will be very sad if anyone gets a pink slip. It is time to look at all of these on air folks and see who can fill as many positions as possible. Many have been very spoiled working little more than their four or five hour shifts and having fits if they are asked to do other things. Radio is not just about being a star on the air when it fits their schedule, it is about working as a team to produce the best product for the listeners. They should have someone for instance doing web /on air, production / on air, programming / on air, traffic / on air, promotions / on air, marketing-public relations / on air… in other words they should all wear two hats to earn their checks. That is how I would do things if I had some say so. I also think they should cut anyone that acts like they want to be there, I know there are any number of people who would love to do what these people do, and for a lot less than at least half of them are paid.

[Jon]

The key is to survive a by minimizing the impact as low as possible. I have been through at least 3 layoff in my 20 year career and personally I feel that it the best way to ride this wave is to be prepared for the extreme . I firmly believe in the Murphy ’s Law especially the 3rd one, " Whatever can go wrong will go wrong, and at the worst possible time, in the worst possible way

Also if any one interested in a no-nonsense game of “layoff survival” check out http://www.crootpad.com, a fun way to see different options to survive layoff.

Thank you,
Jon Power

[lisa]

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[media moves]

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