iHeartMedia, the nation's largest radio operator, has conducted a wave of layoffs across the country, impacting local on-air personalities, including longtime hosts at its Riverside, California station.
Last week, 99.1 KGGI in Riverside cut Evelyn Erives, Nick Nack, and Garrison King, removing the last remaining local on-air hosts from the station. These cuts are part of a broader national effort by iHeartMedia to restructure its programming, which the company states is intended to better leverage technology, move with greater precision across markets, and adapt to the future.
While iHeartMedia has not disclosed the total number of employees affected by the recent layoffs, reports indicate that dozens of on-air personalities and other staff members have been let go nationwide. The company owns over 850 stations across 160 markets, including major Los Angeles-area stations such as KFI-AM, KLAC-AM, KOST-FM, and KIIS-FM.
This round of layoffs follows iHeartMedia's announcement in May of a new savings plan designed to trim an additional $50 million, on top of $100 million in previously announced cost-cutting measures. The company is also increasing its focus on podcasting as traditional radio faces declining audiences and shifting advertising revenue.
The cuts at KGGI come despite iHeartMedia's "Guaranteed Human" campaign launched last year, which pledged that its stations and podcasts would not feature AI-generated personalities or music. It remains unclear who or what will replace the departed local hosts at the Inland Empire station.