Interesting story, but in the back of my mind I am wondering if it is legit.  However, Beasley Broadcasting in the US has been swinging the axe and continue to do so.  As often is the case, this story doesn't make much sense.  Why would Beasley treat their most successful money making station and morning show the same way as stations that don't perform or lose money?    

You have a very successful station with WBZ FM, supposedly the 5th highest in revenue in the US, likely pulling in $45-50 million per year and very profitable.  The day before producer Mike Lockhart was let go, the latest ratings came out and had the WBZ-FM Toucher and Rich morning show with a 24 share in the Boston market. This was the highest rating ever for any morning radio program in Boston. 

The two hosts of Toucher and Rich say that producer Mike is the backbone of the program and a big part of their success.  His reward is to be fired the day after the shows best ratings come out.    

In the scheme of things Beasley is a middle player in US radio with about 62 radio stations. In 2019 they did about $262 million in revenue.  So they obviously have quite a few stations that aren't really big revenue generators and either break even, lose money, or aren't that profitable.  The company has also been getting into sports betting and video games, so this is becoming a more important part of the revenue.

I am wondering if Rich Shertenlieb, the morning host that is now footing the bill for producer Mike Lockhart will be renegotiating his contract. Or at least will he be reimbursed somehow by the company?  Still something about this story doesn't pass the smell test. Shertenlieb is paying not only Lockhart's salary but also a 38% administration fee markup by the company and also now needs to write four stories per day for the stations website.   And this took four days to negotiate?   Smacks of a publicity stunt. 

 

Last edited by paterson1 (October 18, 2022 5:54 pm)

The hosts wanting the producer back would be a given.  Why would Beasley dump the guy in the first place, especially after the morning hosts went to bat for him. Best ratings the show ever had and highest morning radio ratings in Boston history.  Rich Shertenlieb is not only paying the producer's salary but an additional 38% to Beasley corporate for an administration fee?   Sounds like manufactured and orchestrated drama to me and a publicity stunt.  Even if it was all real and true, only makes the story worse. 

paterson1 wrote:

The hosts wanting the producer back would be a given.  Why would Beasley dump the guy in the first place, especially after the morning hosts went to bat for him. Best ratings the show ever had and highest morning radio ratings in Boston history.   

Will they still have the same ratings without him? Probably.

When you're already paper-thin lean, cuts will hit people like that.

It's not a publicity stunt, and they obviously don't need one for ratings.

They're not "poor" but they have shareholders and have to meet revenue expectations. If not, they have to cut costs. This is where they're paper-thin. There's so little left to cut that this is where the cuts start to hit. If I were in charge of executing this grim task, it's what I would have done, too.

I think I read sometime awhile ago that Howard Stern pays all his people out of the massive dollars he receives from Sirius. So there is apparently a precedent ?

mic'em wrote:

I think I read sometime awhile ago that Howard Stern pays all his people out of the massive dollars he receives from Sirius. So there is apparently a precedent ?

It's not uncommon with major market shows in the US that there's a "show budget," that includes salaries, and that budget is managed by the star. T&R requested that their producer's salary be moved into the show budget. We won't know how they made up the difference, but I'd bet the star took a salary cut.