Temecula iHeart Radio Loses Key Voice In Mikie Dellinger

TEMECULA, CA — iHeartMedia's national staffing cuts on Nov. 2 — which were partially blamed on down revenue due to the coronavirus — have impacted Temecula on a personal level.

DJ and program director Mikie Dellinger at iHeart's Q103.3 and Radio 94.5 station in Temecula received a pink slip.

Dellinger confirmed his departure in social media.

"It pains me to write this. I feel like I just got kicked in the nuts, but today I have been let go. I am no longer on Air at Q103.3 & will no longer part of the iheart family. 18 years with the same company, 16 here with you in Temecula on the Q," he wrote.

"I am extremely proud of what I have put out and achieved while with this company," Dellinger continued. "This hurts, given that I built this station from small town classic rock to the wide mixture it was. The Q was my baby. 2020 has been a BITCH, it has opened my eyes to new possibilities and allowed me to reflect on what's most important. I want to thank everyone who supported me, tuning in on the radio, text messaged, emailed, followed on social media, and experienced the ups and downs of life and allowing me to be a part of your day no matter what was going on in the world.

"I have had the chance to be a part of this amazing local community and met wonderful people along the way," he wrote. "Shout out to Temecula, Murrieta, Menifee, Lake Elsinore, Fallbrook, Hemet (sounds like something in your throat), Wildomar, San Diego, and Everywhere the damn signal came in.. or didn't lol- for ROCKING out with Mikie."

The November cut that included Dellinger is the third round of layoffs for iHeart in 2020. The staff reductions have impacted multiple stations across the U.S., not just Temecula, with many program directors let go just a week ahead of iHeart’s Q3 earnings report.

In an earning's call Monday, iHeart Chairman and CEO Bob Pittman told analysts that despite tumultuous economic times, the company has scaled costs to meet ongoing challenges but none of its stations are going away.

"We have no intention of walking away from any of our locations," Pitmann said.