Clear Channel cuts at least 9 local radio staffers

Kutmaster Spaz and Jimmy da Geek lost their 10-month-old morning show at KHJZ-FM 93.9, or "939 Jamz," and longtime radio personality Mike Buck was relieved of his afternoon talk show at KHVH-AM 830 as part of nationwide, cost-cutting job cuts implemented by Texas-based Clear Channel Communications Inc.

The three local personalities were among at least nine people who lost their jobs in Honolulu Wednesday, but an exact number was not available and all the names could not be independently confirmed.

"We don’t discuss internal staffing matters," said Chuck Cotton, vice president and general manager of Clear Channel’s seven Honolulu stations.

He confirmed, however, that Michael W. Perry and Larry Price, the top-rated morning radio team in Hawaii, still have jobs.

The cuts are primarily from the programming operations of the stations and include off-air personnel, according to multiple sources.

Radio and record industry website All Access "is hearing an estimate that it’s ‘many hundreds of folks’," the site reported Wednesday. Ninety names with station and market affiliations, some of them with email addresses, were posted as part of a running tally of the newly unemployed on AllAccess.com as of Wednesday afternoon.

Cotton was among the company officials barred from providing specifics of the massive layoffs to the news media, but who were given approved talking points that included references to the difficult economy.

"We always look for the most efficient ways to run our business in challenging economic times, and we never look for layoffs," Cotton said. "We look to grow and promote new talent and this strategy will help us do that."

Cotton cited a "robust" set of internal tools that allow Clear Channel stations across the country to share resources, including talent for on-air shows and commercial production as well as music libraries and other operational needs. However, "Hawaii is somewhat unique," and "importing talent from mainland markets doesn’t fit here," he added.

Rumored for days, if not weeks, the cuts hit many, if not all those affected, like the oft-analogized ax.

"This was not expected," said Jimmy "da Geek" Bender. "I didn’t have a backup plan."

He co-hosted the morning show largely from Clear Channel studios in Arizona, but frequently returned to Hawaii at his own expense to do the show with Spaz from the station’s Iwilei studio and to make personal appearances.

"Unfortunately for me, radio is the one thing, especially having gotten back into it … that I was born to do."

Bender’s co-host and longtime friend Kutmaster Spaz posted a message on his Facebook page thanking listeners for tuning in, expressing "no hard feelings," and wishing the company "and the rest of the staff at 939 Jamz the best." He will continue with "my different events, DJ gigs and family duties," he said.

Conservative talk show host Mike Buck could not be reached. His page on the KHVH website says he is "on vacation until Friday! Thank You. Mahelo (sic) Brock you rock!" in reference to fill-in host Brock Whaley. Other personalties’ biographies also remained on their respective station websites Wednesday afternoon as well.

Another terminated employee, who asked not to be identified, confirmed the additional departures of Ryan Sean, on-air personality and program director for KHJZ and program director for KUCD-FM 101.9; KUCD on-air personality and production director "Haz Matt" Matthew Wells; KSSK-FM 92.3/AM 590 nighttime and weekend air personality Chris Peters; and producer Joe King, as well as a change in the Star 101-9 morning show that will have Hudson Hott host solo, while co-host "Scotty B." Blaisdell will move to middays. The vacated morning show on 939 Jamz will be helmed by KSSK personality Kathy "With a K" Nakagawa, another source said.

The job cuts were not performance-related, Cotton said. "If there’s an opening here, they’re all welcome back. This was not personal. This was a restructuring of our stations and how we do business."