St. Jude Executive Responds To iHeart Layoffs: ‘It’s Going To Be A Lot Harder’

Richard Shadyac Jr.

The fundraising efforts for ST. JUDE CHILDREN’S RESEARCH HOSPITAL rely on radio — second only to direct mail — as one of its biggest methods of acquiring new donors, but a chief executive of that fundraising organization, known as ALSAC, has acknowledged that effort “is going to be a lot harder” in the wake of last week’s deep stuff cuts at iHEARTMEDIA (NET NEWS 1/14, 1/15, 1/16, 1/17).

For more than three decades ALSAC has depended on radiothons to raise money and build awareness about the hospital’s lifesaving mission. The largest group of participating stations is Country, with nearly 200 outlets involved in the hospital’s “Country Cares” initiative, but the fundraising efforts have spread to Spanish-language, Gospel and other formats as well. Addressing attendees at the Country Cares Seminar in MEMPHIS on FRIDAY, JANUARY 17th, ALSAC Pres. and CEO RICHARD SHADYAC JR. said that in DECEMBER 2019 alone, radiothons brought in 33,000 new “Partners in Hope,” the group’s name for monthly donors using credit cards. But in the wake of last week’s significant reduction in force at iHEART, that fundraising model faces new challenges.

Responding to a question from ALL ACCESS about how the organization is positioning itself for the future in a changing radio world where — at least at iHEART stations — there will apparently be fewer local PDs and air personalities in each market, SHADYAC said at a SATURDAY press conference, “It just happened, and we don’t really know the full extent of it yet. The announcement came out this week. So while I’ve studied it and tried to understand as much as I possibly can, we don’t know ultimately how this will play out. Look, if some of the programming takes place in a major city, we’ll work with the major city with feeds that go out into the local communities. It’s going to be a lot harder, because local communities love their on-air personalities. I witness it firsthand all the time. People have a true connection with these on-air personalities. They trust them. They’re authentic. They’re members of their community. They live there. Their kids go to school in their communities. So it’s really, really tough. So that’s going to be lost, and we’ve got to figure out a way to address that. It’s too early to tell right now.” He added,”iHEART’s been a fabulous partner, and I’m confident we’ll continue that partnership.”

A few former iHEART employees still made the trip to MEMPHIS, despite having been laid off days earlier. SHADYAC said, “My heart goes out to everyone that’s been affected by those layoffs. The first thing we all need to do is express concern for them, and a hope and a prayer .. that maybe they’ve been able to network while they’re here, and maybe even obtain employment elsewhere.”

The “Country Cares” program has raised $850 million for ST. JUDE since its inception in 1989. Among the new initiative currently being funded, in part, by radiothons are a new research facility set to open in 2021 on the hospital’s MEMPHIS campus, as well as a new housing facility for patient families set to break ground this quarter.

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