NPR will lay off 10% of its workers, or at least 100 employees, as the public radio broadcaster has been pinched by a slowdown in advertising and sponsorship revenue particularly for its lineup of podcasts.
Final decisions about which jobs will be cut are expected to be made by March 20, in consultation with unions representing NPR’s workers, according to a memo NPR CEO John Lansing sent to staff Wednesday. The not-for-profit organization has a yearly budget of about $300 million; in 2023, revenue is likely to fall short of that by $30 million-$32 million, he said, according to an NPR report.
“At a time when we are doing some of our most ambitious and essential work, the global economy remains uncertain. As a result, the ad industry has weakened and we are grappling with a sharp decline in our revenues from corporate sponsors,” Lansing wrote in the memo, according to the New York Times.
Last year, NPR generated $134 million in advertising revenue but it became apparent for the 2023 fiscal year that would come in far lower than that. Prior to reaching the decision to make layoffs, the organization had already put a freeze on hiring, eliminated nonessential travel and suspended its internship programs.
NPR broadcasts across more than 1,000 member stations across the U.S. As of the spring of 2022, it said it had a weekly audience of 48 million listeners and readers across platforms including radio, smart speakers, npr.org, social media, live events, NPR apps and podcasts.
NPR joins a wave of other media companies that have made layoffs in recent months, including the Washington Post, CNN, Vox Media, BuzzFeed and Bustle Digital Group (BDG), which shut down Gawker as part of its cutbacks.
Pictured above: NPR headquarters in Washington, D.C.
Todd Spangler
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