(update – here’s a good writeup on the topic from Jeff Blumenthal at the Business Journal)

Audacy, the Philadelphia-based company that owns 94 WIP and KYW NewsRadio, among other local stations, is going through another round of layoffs this week.

That’s according to Radio Insight:

Multiple sources have confirmed to Radio Insight that a round of layoffs are imminent across Audacy’s local markets with the planned personnel cuts taking place as soon as Tuesday.

Audacy CEO David Field and CFO Rich Schmaeling indicated “cost reductions” were coming on their Q2 Earnings Call earlier this month with Field stating, “We are working to enact substantial sustainable savings through a number of measures to improve margins and profitability across the business. We believe we will be able to deliver meaningful cost reductions without hindering our strategic priorities and growth plans.” Schmaeling added, “We are working on a program to meaningfully reduce our expenses and we will provide further details about the scope and extent of those actions on our third quarter call.”

For some context here, CBS Radio sold its cluster of radio stations to the company known as Entercom back in 2017. Entercom, which is headquartered at 2400 Market Street, then rebranded as Audacy in March of 2021.

During the pandemic, the company laid off staff and implemented cost-cutting measures, like most broadcast and media companies that were struggling through the early days of COVID-19. It was then that Rob Charry and Cindy Webster were let go, though both have since been brought back to WIP, which was good to see. Audacy also let go of some talent at their music stations, such as Casey Reed from 96.5 and Andrea Duffy from B101.1.

We’ll have to wait and see what Audacy does with this round of layoffs. They’ve historically valued their sports stations, which bring in more money than the music stations, so WIP and WFAN up in New York should come through relatively unscathed, you would think.

One sports veteran who was let go was Jerry Coleman down in Baltimore:

I’ll update if we learn anything new. Audacy locally owns WIP, KYW, 1210 WPHT, WOGL, B101, and 96.5 TDY.