KFMB Budget Cut Rumors Could Mean Staff Layoffs

The pompous, omnipotent anchorman (Jack Nicholson) surveys the newsroom, which will soon be decimated by budget cuts. These layoffs are brutal, he says.

“You could make it less brutal by knocking a million or so off your salary,” says a network executive standing behind him.

Silence. A cold stare from the anchorman.

“A bad joke,” the stammering executive says. “That was just some sort of sick joke defense mechanism that doesn’t in any way reflect my feelings.”

As KFMB staffers brace for another round of cuts, the second in a year, more than a few must be thinking of that scene from “Broadcast News.” Newsroom personnel believe that News Director Jim Holtzman has been told to cut 10%, about $600,000, from his budget.

Wait, doesn’t Ted Leitner make about that much?

Just a bad joke if you’re a KFMB employee. That’s not how it works. Leitner will probably keep his cushy job and salary, and a dozen lower echelon employees, such as camera assistants and writers will lose their jobs. Although management has repeatedly said that no decisions have been made, at least one veteran reporter has reportedly been told that he should look for work.

Down the hall at KFMB radio, similar cuts are in the works. General Manager Paul Palmer confirmed that he expects to cut 10% from his operating budget for the ‘92-’93 fiscal year.

As they prepare for the ax, employees are left with one major, gut-wrenching question: Why?

Although advertising sales are down throughout the media industry, both KFMB television and radio look relatively robust.

The television station is clearly a cash cow. August Meyer bought the TV station in 1964 for $11 million, and the station is reportedly debt free.

KFMB signed a lucrative affiliation deal with CBS two years ago, and must be sitting quite nicely, now that CBS is No. 1 in the network ratings battle, aided by the success of the Winter Olympics telecasts in February. Its newscasts are not No. 1, but they’re a solid No. 2.

On the radio side, the ratings for both the AM and FM are strong and stable. The AM is entering its most productive period, buoyed by Padres broadcasts, and is preparing to increase the power (and profitability) of its signal. According to General Manager Palmer, the station spent millions to increase the AM’s night signal to 50,000 watts, which should kick in this month.

Radio revenues in San Diego are no longer increasing at a 10% to 20% yearly rate, as they were a few years ago. But after a horrible 1991, by all accounts, radio revenues are again looking up in 1992.

Revenues have been “perking up, but they are still off from two years ago,” Palmer said. The station loses a million dollars a year on the Padres, Palmer said, calling the station broadcasting deal, “the worst baseball deal in all of baseball.”

But the station must have felt that it would reap some benefits from the baseball broadcasts, which help the ratings of other shows. Palmer pointed out that the station’s news-talk format is expensive to produce, requiring more personnel than a music format.

The TV news staff of about 200 people also is bigger than those of its counterparts.

But the same management personnel who are overseeing the budget cuts are responsible for having built up the staff, and they must have felt there was good reason for hiring the extra people.

“Maybe we didn’t look at the expenses as completely when there was increasing profitability and billing,” Palmer said.

The Meyer family, which owns the stations, is hardly hurting for cash. Forbes magazine recently estimated their wealth at $300 million.

Some observers speculate that the one scenario that makes sense is that the stations are being prepared for sale. Family patriarch August Meyer died a few months ago, and he was always considered the broadcasting enthusiast--not his son August Jr. (Chris), who now has complete control.

All the recent actions--cutting staff while improving the physical plant--are typical of a company that wants to sell a property. They don’t mind spending money on equipment, or on stars like Stacy Taylor and Leitner, because those are salable assets. Salaries of off-air personnel are liabilities.

Palmer said that he has talked to Chris Meyer and was told the stations are not for sale. The market for stations is depressed right now, and Meyer doesn’t want to pay both inheritance and capital gains taxes, Palmer pointed out.

Other than mismanagement and the catch-all “tough times” though, the eventual sale of the stations--maybe not now, but sometime in the near future--is the only possible rationale for the human toll about to be extracted from the staff.

Of course, such speculation is meaningless to KFMB employees. They don’t care if Chris Meyer is worth $300 million or $250 million. They just want to know who is going to have a job at the end of the month.

A recent memo from XTRA-AM (690) Vice President Howard Freedman to staff: “I will buy lunch for anybody that can get the Mighty 690’s name or call letters on (Los Angeles rival) KMPC.” He also offered some helpful tips. “Be creative as possible and realize that you could get cut off mid-sentence, so I suggest that you don’t open with: The Mighty 690 or AM 690, but rather talk about a sports topic.” . . .

XTRA-AM has finally decided to drop Larry King’s syndicated nightly talk show, a decision which was long overdue. He didn’t fit into the sports format. On some nights he was bumped by Kings broadcasts, and on other nights it was delayed so XTRA could run a high school sports show. Don’t be surprised if King ends up on KSDO-AM (1130) again. . . .

Local television news has apparently run out of story ideas. Channel 10 spent last week doing a series “cheap thrills,” and this week Channel 8 is rolling out another tried-and-true feature concept--going undercover to investigate auto mechanics. . . .

After a three-day suspension (with pay) imposed for airing a poorly edited Andrew Dice Clay routine, Mike Berger, Jeff Prescott and Russ T. Nailz are back on the air at XTRA-FM (91X), the bastion of “cutting edge” righteous indignation. . . .

Two guys with completely different personalities and styles celebrated anniversaries in San Diego radio last week: Paul Palmer has been with KFMB for 20 years and rock ‘n’ roll disc jockey Jim McInnes marked the start of his 19th year with KGB.

CRITIC’S CHOICE

BRITISH FILM GEM, ‘LIFE IS SWEET,’ AT KEN

Although overlooked in typical fashion at Oscar time, “Life is Sweet” was an overwhelming critical success, the type of film that wins over audiences with characters and style instead of car crashes. Directed by Mike Leigh, it is the story of various characters attempting to survive and prosper in modern England. It returns for one night (Wednesday) at the Ken Cinema, paired with Beeban Kidron’s “Antonia & Jane.”