Most members of the news team at KFI 640 in Los Angeles, including News Director Chris Little, lost their jobs on Monday amid iHeartRadio’s push to cut hundreds of jobs nationally.
Little, in an Instagram post, said 17 of the talk radio station’s 25 person news team were fired, including him. His Instagram post showed the station’s Christmas tree, which was put up a day before the employees were axed.
“Seventeen news people got fired today. We put up the tree, yesterday. I’m one of the departed,” Little said.
KFI anchor Jo Kwon, editor Erin Ben-Moche, and reporters Corbin Carson and Kris Adler were among the other employees who lost their jobs.
Tim Conway Jr., who hosts his namesake show from 4:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. Monday through Friday on KFI, addressed the layoffs at the top of his show on Monday.
“A lot of people have left the building at iHeart Media,” Conway Jr. said, “and it is tough.”
Conway Jr. then shared memories of employees working on Christmas and talked about his long work relationship with Little.
Little had been with station, which brands itself as “more stimulating talk and news radio” for Los Angeles and Orange County, since 1991. He was named News Director in 2000.
Parent company iHeartRadio is currently slashing hundreds of jobs across the U.S. The company owns about 860 stations nationally and is dealing with a substantial debt burden, as the New York Post reported on Monday iHeartRadio had “roughly $5.21 billion in total debt.”
Last week, on iHeartRadio’s Q3 financial call, CEO Bob Pittman said the job cuts would help the company save about $150 million by “eliminating redundancies.”
Veteran KFI program director Robin Bertolucci and her husband, Don Martin, who ran sports station AM 570 from the same building in Burbank, both stepped away last week amid iHeartRadio’s national cuts.