Lifestyle cancels Ebony 104

On Friday, Ebony 104.1 FM’s format was cancelled, and in the process, the station’s parent company, Caribbean Lifestyle Communications, fired the station’s four announcers with immediate effect.

In a release the company stated, “We have decided to discontinue the Ebony format as of 1st March 2018, as our findings indicated that this format was no longer viable in the current market. While this decision was difficult, we must keep up with market changes (as do many other companies in our local and global economic climate). We thank our listeners, clients and our exceptional on-air crew for their support. Stay tuned for what’s coming to 104.1FM.”

Many people expressed shock about the “closure” of the station.

Some people on social media said the announcers were sent home with no previous notice, and were then locked out of the station. Caribbean Lifestyle Communications CEO, Anthony Maharaj told Sunday Newsday he did not believe the announcers were surprised by the move as there were previous staff meetings indicating that things were not working out.

He also said people were of the impression that a large number of employees had been sent home but it was only the four announcers. He added that all the announcers had other jobs so they were not “out on the streets.”

“Engineering, traffic and the other staff are staying. We have other stations. But even so, the station remains. We are just changing the format with a different kind of music.”

One of the announcers that was fired said he expected the move.

He said one year ago, they were told that the station needed to make some changes to be more viable so they restructured their programming. He said there was another meeting on January 5, when management said they would wait until after Carnival to see if advertising numbers improved. At that point, he said he knew management would close the station soon.

He said at the meeting on Friday the announcers were given their severance and a thank you for their services. “They said the (advertising) agencies felt our style of radio is no longer relevant. They wanted us to sound more urban, that even though we had listeners, it was not translating into dollars.”

However, he said he did not believe management really tried to save the station. He said for months there had been no day-to-day management of the station and that it had been operating on autopilot. Another Ebony announcer, Shawndel George, said she had been working at the station for six years and was surprised by the decision to fire them all. She too said they met with management in January and were told that advertising numbers had dropped as advertisers were moving to more urban stations.

However, in the meeting on Friday, they were told there was no change so management had on choice but to stop Ebony’s operations. “We were expecting some sort of change but to close down altogether, it was a surprise to me.”

She said while some of the announcers had side businesses or sideline jobs, they were mostly seasonal and was not a source of steady income.

Therefore, she said the announcers would all feel the financial burden of the loss and would have to look for another permanent job.