Indy's sports radio landscape: 'When we lose someone like that, it makes all of us worse'
Summary
The layoffs of Query and Schultz, part of a national corporate downsizing by their company iHeartMedia, are a sign of the shrinking world of traditional local media. WNDE will continue to broadcast Purdue football and basketball games, said Brett Beshore, iHeartMedia market president for Indianapolis, after recently agreeing to a 4-year extension though 2024. When iHeartMedia was asked by IndyStar, via e-mail, if "Query & Schultz" could be brought back, as happened in Iowa after outcry from fans over local layoffs of sports personalities, the company did not respond. It did send a statement outlining "a new organizational structure for its markets group as it modernizes the company to take advantage of the significant investments it has made in technology and artificial intelligence." Industry numbers show radio is one of the most powerful mediums in the United States, with a weekly reach of about 90 percent among adults, according to Statista data.