International Community Radio Taipei (ICRT) General Manager Doc Casey resigned yesterday amid signs of a power struggle within the station.
"Doc Casey has resigned from the general manager's post," ICRT news director Todd van Wyks confirmed yesterday.
The departure follows several low-key meetings recently between the non-profit organization's chairman Nelson Chang (
Just two weeks ago, Chang polled staff and found the main roadblock to turning the station around was Casey's lax management and his lack of an overall operational strategy.
But according to a station insider who requested anonymity, "Doc Casey was ousted by the employees in a vote of no confidence."
Downplaying Casey's resignation, Chang yesterday said that he would soon seek a replacement for the general manager's post.
"As a leading music and information provider, the station is constantly adjusting its programming to cater to listeners' preferences," Chang told the Taipei Times, adding that "personal considerations instead of the programming style were behind Casey's resignation."
Also ousted in the shake-up was program director Tony Taylor. Taylor allegedly "resigned" as well recently, Chang said.
Back in April -- on the station's 23rd anniversary -- Casey and Taylor overhauled ICRT's programming format from talk-intensive to more music-oriented.
At that time, Casey vowed to move to a more American-style format, which he said "can create programming appealing enough to the masses while still appealing to our primary audience, the foreign community."
With ratings sagging, he also promised to take the station back to number three from its previous number five position in the greater Taipei area.
But the numbers show the effort failed.
According to ACNielsen Taiwan yesterday, ICRT slipped to number seven in listener popularity in Taipei for the first three quarters of this year, down from its No. 6 position in the fourth quarter of last year.
But Wyks denied speculation that Casey's resignation had anything to do with the station's new programming style, saying "Casey may be looking to explore other possibilities in local radio, or in the US."
Casey, who worked for the station for over 14 years, was not available for comment yesterday.
Facing uncertainty, Wyks, nevertheless yesterday said that the station will continue its current programming direction and immediately form a management committee -- made up of the station's department heads -- to run the troubled station.
Downplaying Casey's resignation, Chang yesterday denied that he would get further involved in the station's operations saying he wouldn't get involved with a company with such a small economy of scale.
Refusing to give figures, he said that the station is expected to post losses this year although it did turn a small profit in November.
Until the late 1980s, ICRT -- Taiwan's only English-language radio station -- dominated the airwaves. Today rivals UFO radio (
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