I've been asking myself this question a lot in recent months. I know some of you have as well by various posts on different message boards. Since this magazine is in a partnership with the station, I have had the opportunity to meet most of the on-air talent, as well as many who work behind the scenes over the course of the last couple of years.
I can tell you that all of the individuals I have encountered have been stand-up individuals. So, that begs the question--how could an organization with such talent go from easily the No. 1 sports radio station in town, to one where you don't know who's going to be on the air from one day to the next?
The answer to this question can be found in a four-letter word--DELL. Clear Channel is going through the same routine as the Austin-based computer maker has in recent years. Downsizing, layoffs, cutbacks, reduction in force--whatever you want to call it. I don't care what you call it. All I know from personal experience is IT SUCKS!
The most recent person on the chopping block at The Zone was radio personality Chad Hastings. Hasting has been through a lot in recent months. First, his on-air partner of many years, Kevin Dunn, left the station. He flew solo for a while. Hastings finally had his time slot replaced by former ESPN Austin radio guys Gregg Henson and A.J. Hoffman who came on board (to the dismay of many by the comments on those same message boards) and he was paired up with Craig Way at the earlier time slot. He and Way seemed to be doing well and then--BOOM! October 25th he was a veteran Zone employee working with Way, and on October 26th, he could add the word "former" to his title. POOF! Like that he vanished from the air waves. Happy Halloween a few days early.
We have learned that Hastings is still going to be on contract with The Zone. What that means is he will still work in some capacity as it pertains to Longhorn sports. He will do tomorrow's Oklahoma Stat
e football pre-game show with Bucky, and he is scheduled to work the broadcast for all Lady Longhorn basketball broadcasts this coming season. Something makes me wonder if he didn't wish they took that job away from him as well. Go Horns!
Hastings said the last week has bee
n difficult. "Obviously it hasn’t been fun. It sucks. I’m not going to sit around and be bitter about it. It will just eat me alive."
He said the move came out of left field and as far as he knows, it was just a result of budget cuts.
"If you think about the way the way the station was structured, and the way it had become. The person that made the most sense, it was me, from a budget sense," he said frankly.
For all those conspiracy theorists who think Henson, as the station's program director, made the decision on his own to get rid of him, Hastings said he doesn't believe that to be the case. "I don't think anybody was after me. They’re thinking in terms of money. The fact that they’re letting me do the contract stuff, letting me still hang around. That tells you something. It wasn’t some type of bad relationship."
As for those left behind at The Zone, Hastings could only speculate on the general mood, but he has a pretty good idea considering it was something he personally went through when Dunn left several months ago. "There is a sense of trepidation. I don’t think it’s full-blown fear. When you hear things like budget, and financial decisions, changes are always going to cause some kind of concern."
Hastings said he and his wife and child plan on staying in Austin as long as possible. "The goal is to stay here. We really like living here. We’d really like to stay."
He will be missed.
For the latest on Hastings including the exact number of days he worked at The Zone, as well as his sports takes, go to his blog at: www.chadhastings.com.
