iHeartMedia layoffs include former Syracuse radio program director: Reports

iHeartMedia is laying off hundreds of employees, including a former radio host and program director that worked in Upstate New York.
Radio Insight reports Domininc “Zakk” Zaccagnini is out as PD for classic rock station Lone Star 92.5 (KZPS-FM) and 97.1 The Eagle (KEGL-FM) in Dallas, Texas. He had been working in the market since June 2023 after previously programming the company’s iHeartRadio stations News Radio WHAM 1180 and Hot Talk Radio 95.1 in Rochester and NewsRadio 570 WSYR 106.9 FM in Syracuse.
According to his LinkedIn profile, he worked as program director and an on-air host in Syracuse and Rochester from January 2022 to June 2023. His previous roles include co-hosting the nationally syndicated Fox Sports “Zakk & Jack Show” and hosting an NFL pre-game show for the Kansas City Chiefs on KCFX and the San Francisco 49ers post-game show on KSAN.
Zaccagnini has not publicly commented on his departure.
iHeartMedia has not specified how many layoffs happened, but a source told the New York Post that hundreds of its more than 10,000 employees were axed Tuesday. The broadcasting giant has roughly 860 radio stations across the U.S., including in Albany, Binghamton, Buffalo, New York City, Poughkeepsie, Rochester, and Syracuse.
Wendy Goldberg, an iHeart spokesperson, downplayed the cuts and told Billboard that “very few jobs” have been affected.
“Our broadcast radio audience has more listeners than it did 10 years ago,” she said, citing its No. 1 ranking for podcasts and a Nielsen study showing younger listeners have increased slightly. “We’ve been able to achieve this by modernizing the company and increasing our use of technology… These changes are another step in that journey.”
iHeartMedia, previously known as Clear Channel, has gone through many cuts over the years, including hundreds in 2020 and more than 2,000 employees in 2009; former Syracuse and Rochester radio DJ “Mayor” Pete Kennedy was laid off in 2022. The debt-plagued company has shifted to more syndicated and automated programming over the years; iHeartMedia now has more radio stations (five) than local DJs in the Syracuse market.
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