Paul Robins’ second act on Sacramento radio has come to an abrupt end.
The afternoon drive host on soft rock station KBEB-FM (92.5 FM) announced he was released from the station’s parent company iHeart Media this week as layoffs continue throughout the national radio chain of over 850 stations.
“If you turned on 92.5 The Breeze this afternoon, I was not there,” Robins said in a social media post, referring to KBEB’s on-air moniker. “Spoiler Alert: Get used to it.”
It was Robins’ second stint with the Sacramento station: For more than two decades, Robins hosted a morning show with colleague Phil Cowan when the station was known as KGBY “Y92.” He was released from the station in 2007 and later became the morning host of “FOX40 Live” on KTXL (Channel 40).
Robins announced his departure from KTXL in 2018 after he was hired by William Jessup University to teach a digital media course. As part of the move, iHeart Media agreed to build a studio at the college and hired Robins back to do afternoon drive for KBEB after the station abandoned a country music format for a soft rock playlist.
https://www.facebook.com/iHeartJessup/videos/300063057317943/
Robins looked at the bright side of this week’s layoff, saying it gives him more time to focus on his class.
“My main job— and my heart— has been at William Jessup University this past year,” Robins wrote. “And now I’m blessed with a few more hours every day to serve the campus!”
Robins is one of several high-profile on-air personalities laid off by iHeart Media as part of a company-wide restructuring. Earlier this week, Mike Hagerty, the news director at KFBK (1530 AM, 93.1 FM) was released from the news-talk station.
On Thursday, Wendy Goldberg, a corporate communications executive at iHeart Media, declined to comment on the specifics of the layoffs in Sacramento. A company statement forwarded by Goldberg said the company was “aligning our operating structure to match the technology-powered businesses we are now in.”
“During a transition like this it’s reasonable to expect that there will be some shifts in jobs – some by location and some by function – but the number is relatively small given our overall employee base of 12,500,” the statement said. “That said, we recognize that the loss of any job is significant; we take that responsibility seriously and have been thoughtful in the process.”
