Media

Two dozen WBUR staffers take buyouts, 7 get laid off

WBUR is working to mitigate the impacts of a multiyear decline in advertising revenue and to navigate a crowded radio market.

WBUR's CitySpace, an events location on Commonwealth Ave. David L. Ryan/Boston Globe

April 24, 2024

WBUR announced Wednesday that a combination of buyouts and layoffs would significantly impact its staff. Seven people were being laid off, and 24 staff members chose to take voluntary buyouts, according to a letter from CEO Margaret Low. All told, about 14% of the station’s staff members could be impacted, according to a WBUR report on the situation.

The seven people being laid off include three part-time employees. They will leave before the end of June, according to Low. She also announced that nine unfilled positions are being eliminated, travel costs are being reduced, and the station is negotiating lower rates on contracted services.

The blow to WBUR comes as the NPR affiliate struggles to withstand a serious decline in advertising revenue. Advertising makes up about a quarter of WBUR’s revenue, and it has fallen more than 40 percent since 2019, according to a recent Boston Globe report. WBUR will begin fiscal year 2025 with a budget that is down $4 million compared to the current one, according to Low.

Laid-off workers will get four weeks of severance pay as well as an extra week of pay for each year that they spent at the station.

The large number of employees who took buyouts allowed WBUR to limit the number of layoffs that were needed, Low said. Some who are being laid off could be rehired to fill other positions.

Four members of the station’s senior leadership team took buyouts: Executive Director of Business Partnerships Pete Matthews, Senior Director of Finance Del Reese, Director of Membership and Campaign Strategy Mike Steffon, and Executive Director of Engineering, Operations and IT Karl Voelker, according to Low.

While 20 additional staff members opted for buyouts, that number will not be finalized until May 1, the deadline for participants to fully commit. Those who do commit will have their last day on May 10.

“I won’t try to characterize what led people to choose this path — the reasons are many. Everything from being ready to retire to a chance for another chapter. We recognize that the departure of so many colleagues will be a significant change for WBUR and it will take time to absorb it all,” Low wrote.

Both WBUR and GBH have been grappling with a decline in listenership accentuated by the pandemic and the resulting disappearance of daily commutes for many. In 2017, WBUR had 534,400 weekly listeners, compared to about 387,500 in February, according to Globe reports. During that same period, GBH’s weekly listenership dropped from 445,200 to 299,000.

Programming changes are also coming to WBUR. The last local newscast will shift to being at 8 p.m. sometime before the end of the fiscal year, and host Lisa Mullins will anchor the 7 p.m. and 8 p.m. newscasts on top of “All Things Considered.” Sharon Brody will anchor hourly newscasts until 3 p.m. on weekends in addition to her current responsibilities as host of “Weekend Edition,” according to Low.

“The Common,” which until this point was a 15-minute daily news and culture podcast, will shift to becoming a weekly show. It had attracted a “new, younger and more diverse audience,” Low said, but audience and revenue growth are still lacking. The show will retain much of its “format and identity” but will now have a different “cadence.” Expanding the show’s original reporting and amplifying its brand will be priorities.

Despite the grim news, Low sought to project confidence. She cited data that shows WBUR as Boston’s number one news station for 14 months and counting and said that the listening audience and digital numbers are now growing steadily. Shows like “Here & Now” and “On Point” reach millions of Americans a week, and the latter saw a 50% year-over-year growth. WBUR continues to produce top-tier written journalism, like a recent report on alleged serial rapist Alvin Campbell Jr. Low teased an initiative to modernize the station’s technology with the goal of “personalizing” relationships with audience members coming in June.

Many audience members are still eager to support the station. WBUR’s spring fundraising push generated twice as much revenue as last year, according to the station’s own report. Requests for donations are now appearing at the end of online articles, and people can get an ad-free stream and early access to the “Beyond All Repair” podcast through a new membership program.

Low said she resisted calls to slash the budget further.

“It’s our belief that $4 million dollars in cost reductions was as much as this organization could bear. Many people advised us to cut deeper than we needed to. We did not do that because we don’t think you can cut your way to success. We need the runway — a little more time — to build the resources necessary so WBUR can thrive for decades to come,” she wrote.