WPRO Advertises DePetro’s Time Slot with 50% Pay Cut (UPDATED)
Thursday, January 05, 2017
WPRO AM, one of the last local and live talk radio stations in the U.S., is now advertising John DePetro’s time slot at a salary of less than 50 percent of what DePetro made.
DePetro, the controversial talk show host that had sparked a boycott of the station, served as a national surrogate for President-Elect Donald Trump, and was a ratings hit, resigned from the station on Christmas Eve.
Job Posted
GET THE LATEST BREAKING NEWS HERE -- SIGN UP FOR GOLOCAL FREE DAILY EBLASTAccording to an advertisement placed by WPRO’s parent company on the job board indeed.com, the company states, “Providence location is offering a great opportunity for a Mid-Day (9a-12p) Talk Show Host for Heritage WPRO-AM. Our ideal candidate possesses an extremely good work ethic, is a self-starter, and highly organized, with the ability to work in a fast-paced office environment.”
The position is advertised for $44,000 to $49,000 a year (according to the post - see below). GoLocal has learned that DePetro made a base salary in the range of $100,000 annually as well as significant revenue from live reads/advertiser’s endorsement.
For an AM talk radio station, the loss of DePetro and former Providence Mayor Buddy Cianci in the same year is a massive hit to ratings, revenue, and relevance for the station.
Both DePetro and the late Cianci were media brands in the Providence market. Cianci died in January and since then the ratings for the 3 pm to 6 pm time slot have plummeted.
In most markets around the country, locally hosted political talk radio has been cut and often replaced with syndicated talk radio such as Rush Limbaugh and Sean Hannity that both appear on another AM radio station WHJJ.
Avoiding Bankruptcy
For Cumulus, the past 18 months have been a constant effort to avoid being delisted and staving off bankruptcy.
In the fall, the company forced an eight-for-one stock swap to push the $0.30 stock over a dollar. The repricing set the stock price at $2.40 a share, but almost immediately after the repricing the stock dropped and has hovered at the $1 a share mark. The company has pushed those holding debt to swap for equity. And, according to Reuters, Cumulus filed suit in mid-December against JP Morgan regarding an effort by the company "to proceed with a refinancing that it says would deleverage the company by up to $305 million."
Cumulus for the past two years has been on a major cost-cutting and restructuring effort to keep the company solvent.
The Rhode Island cluster (of which WPRO AM is a member of is profitable), according to local management. But, it is also well understood that WPRO AM has lost a significant number of critical advertisers with Cianci's death and is expecting more with DePetro's absence.
Related Slideshow: Infamous Talk Radio Controversies
Related Articles
- DePetro Announces He is Leaving WPRO Show
- WPRO Boss is Fired
- RI Conservative Think Tank Leader Laments the Loss of DePetro from WPRO
- UPDATED: DePetro Pulled From the Air at WPRO, Officials Claim It Was Tied to a Pre-Scheduled Meeting
- WPRO’s Big Problem Filling the Cianci Time Slot — Who’s Next
- What Does the Future Hold for WPRO?
- Big Radio Companies Facing Bankruptcy - WPRO and WHJY’s Parent Co’s in Financial Turmoil
- RI Secretary of State’s Chief of Staff Posts Message Calling Out WPRO’s DePetro
- Democratic Chair Blasts GOP Leader and WPRO’s Granahan for Clinton Comments
- WPRO Manager Tells Hosts Not to Disparage Each Other
- Media in Chaos - WPRO’s Parent Co. Stock Plummeting, NYT Print Rev Down 19%, and More
- Exodus Continues at WPRO
- WPRO’s Yorke, DePetro Make “Heavy Hundred” Radio List
- Moore: Conservatives Should Boycott WPRO Over DePetro Leaving
- Cumulus Fires Top Boss at WPRO, LITE 105 and HOT 106
- WPRO’s Future is Doomed, Warns National Radio Expert
- “Keep Tara Granahan” on WPRO in Afternoon Petition Starts Online
- UPDATED: Cianci’s Replacement Announced, New Line Up at WPRO
- Since Cianci’s Death, WPRO AM Losing Audience, Especially in Afternoon Drive
