CORTLAND -- Longtime Oldies 101.5 (WXHC) morning man Sonny King is on the job hunt for the first time in nearly ten years. King, who also served as PD and OM for the station, was let go yesterday after his air shift, due to budget cuts.
King says he'd like to stay in Central New York, but he's "open to anything" at this point. He tells CNYRadio.com he's available for operations, programming, airshifts, production or voicetracking, adding "the latter two, I can do from home."
Since being laid off, King has quickly compiled what he calls a "pretty basic" demo reel of his hosting and production talent. You can listen at http://www.djsonnyking.com/sonnykingdemo.mp3. Prospective employers can reach King via e-mail at sonnyking@djsonnyking.com or via phone at (607)756-9094 (home) or (607)423-7785 (cell).
King's radio career started at WIZR in Johnstown in 1974, moving down the Thruway in 1978 to Herkimer's Y97 until 1981. That's when he became PD at Cortland's WKRT for three years, before heading further west, to Buffalo's WBEN and WECK. In 1986, WKRT asked King to come back to Cortland and launch an oldies format... he stayed until 1999, when WXHC came calling to request his programming expertise.
Seems like there's been quite a trend lately of guys with multiple hats at the same station losing their jobs. Wonder if it's just coincedence? Can't believe it's cheaper to replace one guy with two or three.
I doubt King was replaced by anybody. WXHC is a one-station operation with only 2 (well, one now) local on-air talent.
Being the PD likely didn't require much extra work (especially when the other talent is listed as the "Assistant" PD), and being the OM seems pretty redundant. OMs are common in multi-station clusters, where the OM is like the "Super PD" that oversees the other PDs. But what's the purpose of an OM that's only overseeing himself?
Haven't listened in, but I'd be willing to bet the afternoon guy was moved to mornings and the afternoon shift is now being left automated. It's a pretty small operation - they're not going to replace the guy.