Radio and podcast giant Audacy has conducted another round of layoffs.
Media reports have estimated the number of layoffs in the hundreds, with a number of radio hosts at stations across the country, as well as content producers for Audacy, posting on social media about being laid off.
Audacy has made workforce reductions to ensure a strong and resilient future for the business. We are streamlining resources to stay competitive in a rapidly evolving media landscape and to best position Audacy to continue serving listeners and advertisers with excellence, the company said in a statement. The news comes after longtime CEO David Field stepped down from the position at the end of January, saying at the time that the company was now in a strong competitive and financial position and that it was the optimal time to pass the baton to new leadership.
Audacy emerged from a Chapter 11 bankruptcy in January 2024 and emerged in September 2024 as a private company and with a restructured balance sheet that reduced its debt load.
As part of emerging from bankruptcy, Audacy had to approve the transfer of its radio licenses over to a nonprofit group funded by George Soros.
In his departing memo, Field said the company had come out of its restructuring last September with the industrys strongest balance sheet.
Audacy is home to a number of popular radio stations including KROQ and KRTH 101 in California, 100.3 Jack FM in Dallas and WINS-FM in New York. The company is also home to a podcast division, which has titles such as Office Ladies, Fly On the Wall and The goop Podcast. The podcast division includes Pineapple Street, which offers several TV and film adjacent titles, and laid off 25 percent of its staff in January 2024.
Board member Kelli Turner is taking over the position of CEO on an interim basis as the board searches for a new leader.