I’m hearing from some that Howie Carr has been oddly quiet regarding The Felon’s latest troubles. Is that true, or have we missed something he’s said?
Save WRKO
I’m hearing from some that Howie Carr has been oddly quiet regarding The Felon’s latest troubles. Is that true, or have we missed something he’s said?
Howie as said NOTHING about the felon’s predicament, I’m thinking wolfe and kahn told him to shut up. You know Howie would be all over this if he could.
I’m thinking he’s playing quiet because maybe it was hinted that a certain timeslot would be opening up soon…
What a disgrace Finneron is. WRKO is getting everything they deserve with him. If not for WEEI I am not sure what Kahn and Wolfe have done well. Let’s face it WEEI’s success is based more on how teams are doing more than anything else.
The success of WEEI is the brainchild of former GM Tom Baker. The Empress stabbed him in the back to get what she wanted. Coffee Boy has been along for the ride since day one and never has had a legitmate idea of his own. Sooner or later both will get their just rewards. Finneran is one of the more embarrassing hires ever in radio. This latest incident is just icing on the cake. As for Carr, He is laughing all the way to the bank $$$$. He could care less about Finneran, Coffee Boy or the Empress.
Even if da Capin’ moved to AM drive, he’d still be living to serve the almighty management at RKO. I’m sorry to say that the once mighty pitbull is now a neutered pug on a very short leash.
Yes it would be better than imus, but it won’t be like the old days.
There was a 2 line piece in his Herald article on the Florida Primary yesterday and thats it. You haven’t missed anything, the neutered version of Howie Carr has softballed it. A far cry from the “Warden” that he promised to be last year.
babs, girlfriend, i will whip Howie an email and ask him for real if he is being restricted by J&J
Since joy can whip Howie an E-mail and presumably get a reply on such a sensitive subject, do you suppose she is actually one of Howies’s favorite callers and faxers, known as “Patrice”? Just a spontaneous speculation
Well there is that whole match the TTK offer thing… they DID offer him AM drive, so in theory Howie could insist WRKO put him in AM drive to honor the matching offer part of the contract, even if it isn’t on a FM frequency. Personally I don’t think Howie would translate well to AM drive.
at 5:50pm howie just slammed the felon. the people need a lobbie not the state police
At about 5:59 PM on 1/30/08, Howie Carr said that the taxpayers need a lobbyist, not the State Police
He added that the legislators are supposed to be the taxpayer’s lobbyists.
At 6:09 PM on 1/30/08 Howie Carr proclaimed himself the unpaid lobbyist for the common man.
It must frost Entercom management to no end to see Howie mailing it in while they are obligated to pay him big bucks. ‘Mailing it in’ leads to a decline in listeners and that leads to a decline in advertising revenues. But Howie’s paycheck is the same ‘large’ each week or month, so in essence he is ‘sticking it to the man.’ I haven’t listened to WRKO since he left the show last year. I am contributing to the decline in listeners and am happy to be doing so. Keep collecting that ‘contractually-obligated’ paycheck, Howie! We’ll catch you on the back end when you stop being an indentured servant!
Tommy’s on his way out. They now just got to settle this thing but they’re pissed. You heard it here first.
Howard says stick around and there will be more to come on the felon once the dust has settled. and as wrko staffer alluded to the dust should settle soon but i think brian is right this is a disgrace to leave him on the air like this
somewhere scott allen miller is smilin’
and no i am not patrice… but you are getting warmer
Hey, I have an idea! Maybe with the Felon on the way out (according to WRKO Staffer), the folks at our formerly favorite station can use those extra dollars to re-hire the newsroom staff that Coffee Boy massacred. That would go a long way towards putting WRKO back on the road to respectability.
NH, I think the former RKO news staff has moved on to greener pastures, they’re better off!
Jim, wow, I missed Howie’s comments last nite, I had to step out of radio land for about 1/2 hour, guess I picked the wrong time to leave!
Joy, I’m thinking the same thing, SAM is grinning ear to ear,,,,,there’s that old saying, what goes around comes around and we’re watching it happen.
Chris I agree with you, Howie’s mailing it in and laughing all the way to the bank, life is good for Howie!
Counting the days to the felon’s demise…..tick tick tick tick………..
Again at 6:17 Howie mentioned having a felon for a lobbyist for the cops. He squeezed it in several time over the broadcast. He really went on a tirade about commiting purgery. Gotta listen closely folks.
Joy,
My guess is Brenda from Beverly.
(and she’s actually pretty hot!!)
Barbara -
You are correct. Rod Fritz, Mary Blake, Marga Bessette, et al. have found new positions with people who actually care about reporting the news. A “friend” says that they believe Listo Fisher went ahead and retired from the business after the mass firings at WRKO. You can occasionally hear Rod Fritz filling in on Fox News Radio national broadcasts and I have also heard Marga Bessette filing reports from the NH Primary and the Florida Primary for Fox Radio, as well. I believe she was in Fla. following the Giuliani campaign for Fox. She has also done fill-in spots on 96.9 FM. It would have been great to hear her doing the news on a Howie Carr FM morning show over on WTKK.
All of these people deserved far better than to be fired by a mental midget like the Coffee Boy. He has demonstrated publicly his inability to properly manage one of the great radio resources in the entire country. He obviously has naked pictures of his Entercom superiors because that is the only way an imbecile like him could keep his job.
I know this sounds humorous, but I have actually encountered untalented radio management-types who kept their jobs simply BECAUSE they had incriminating evidence on their superiors. I know of one very well-known sexual harasser of female employees who has been allowed to remain in his position because the superiors who would have to fire him are guilty of harassment themselves. In fact, this harasser actually GOT his current job because the superiors had to move him out of his previous position because of complaints from female staffers there. They couldn’t outright fire him because he knew they were involved in the same shenanigans themselves, so they “exiled” him to a smaller, more “out of the way” market, near you. He has proceeded to wreck that stations’ quality, as well. Quality broadcasting is not the only thing that suffers when huge conglomerates amass dozens, if not hundreds, of stations. Sometimes employees are mistreated and harassed because no one is watching the management from corporate headquarters. They are only interested in extracting every penny of revenue before they sell-off an empty husk of a radio station to some local buyer who will have to rebuild it, thereby making it attractive to the next big conglomerate.
Except for a few locations, truly local radio (locally owned & operated) is becoming very rare.
NH – the radio industry is only one area where harassment exists,,,,,two words…slick willy.
It’s unfortunate that these people get away with the behavior…as a result everything and everyone around them suffers, morale is low, quality is poor, productivity suffers, it’s a ripple effect. Radio sure isn’t what it used to be, then again, not too much is like what it used to be.
Did anyone happen to catch Wendy Murphy when she first came into the studio this morning (Thurs.) and said to the Felon – I’m surprised you’re still here. He tried to hush her up and said “haven’t you heard of long term contracts?”
http://www.bostonherald.com/blogs/news/messenger/index.php/2008/01/31/finneran-ive-got-a-multi-year-contract/
Finneran: “I have a multi-year contract”
Jessica Heslam says she was told by Julie Kahn that “she and Finneran are having ‚Äúproductive‚Äù conversations and she should have a resolution and anouncement next week.”
To all the Tommy-hawks out there:
Dana Hersey had a peculiar introduction to Finneran’s Forum this morning (Friday 2/1) after the 6:00 AM News and repeated after 7:00. He said it was Tommy’s last show, and then after a pause added “Wait a minute,… of the week.” What a funny slip of the tongue; he’s usually so precise in his delivery.
Jim, I’m thinking that crack was no slip of the tongue, I turned the radio on during the seven o’clock hour to see if the felon was still on the air,,,,I heard that intro as well, I don’t think any intro just goes on the air without approval from either j or j. I could be wrong, however, I think RKO isn’t taking the felon’s situation with lobbying seriously…they’re making light of it so none of the listeres gets upset, God knows we’re too stupid to figure out what’s going on, but, I digress…..I keep hearing the promo for super tuesday for howie, reese and the felon doing special reports, etc. but I have not heard the promo for the felon going to alaska, either they’ve pulled it or the cruise has been sold out….
Hi Barbara,
I saw your post at 12:05 subsequent to mine; I was writing tongue-in-cheek. I know Dana’s was a deliberate comment. It will be really interesting to see who fills the spot. I just hope Bill Kelly keeps his weekend gig
I was thinking of this Blog last night because it was a miserable night for talk radio. WRKO had basketball, WBZ had hockey; my Internet stream for Savage, WCRN, had UNH basketball. I wound up listening to Bruce Williams (know him?) on WNTK (on the Internet). WEZE was my last talk alternative on broadcast radio, but the signal is weak where I was. I’m so into talk radio that when I do my yoga, rather than new age music, I usually listen to Michael Savage! I really have to activate my XM radio soon.
Hey Jim;
I LOVE SAVAGE! I’m getting ready to listen to him now at this link:
http://64.92.199.74/CRN4-IN
I hate it when he or Howie is pre-empted for sports, drives me nuts……
I dont know Bruce Williams,,,,he is as entertaining as Bill Kelly!!
After listening to the promos today it looks like the felon will be back next week to do coverage of super Tuesday,,,,,,,,I didn’t hear the promo today for the alaska trip, either it’s sold out or they’ve pulled the ad due to the felon’s upcoming departure!
I’m listening to Howie in the background, he’s going to have Mitt on at 6:40…..
Here’s SAVAGE!
Hi Barbara,
Thanks for the reply; always nice to chat with a knowledgeable talk show fan. Many people to whom I mention talk shows reply they listen too, but often it turns out to be NPR.
Here’s my link to Savage:
http://mikerobertswebdesign.com/wcrn/index.htm
It’s the website for WCRN, 830 AM which I can pick up as a broadcast in town. Sometimes my web access to him is blocked and I then listen to Bruce Williams, as an alternative at:
http://www.wntk.com/newsite/content/listen.php
He is pretty interesting (really; not like Bill Kelly
. He is sort of a financial version of Dr. Laura, but different than Bob Brinker. His shtick is pretty unique. He was on in Boston a few years ago, maybe on WRKO in the 7:00 – 10:00 PM slot. I’m not fond of listening to Bob Brinker as a financial consultant, or any other financial consultants, but I think his views on political economics are really good and he has good guests in the last hour.
BTW, there are a lot of radio talk show host biographies on Wikipedia. I’ve found Carr, Miller, Savage, Bruce Williams, Finneran, etc. Here’s one for you—do you remember Bob Raleigh from the midnight shift on WBZ in the 90’s? I also liked the Two Chicks Dishing.
I did catch Mitt on HC and I’m now listening to Savage.
Hey Jim,,,,,,OMG did you get a chance to watch Greater Boston? I’m not a fan of the show but something made me put the tv on and it just happened to be on channel 2, what a riot,,,,,the panel spent 10 minutes bad mouthing the felon, no one had a nice thing to say about him and his new lobbyist job, it was good tv!
I don’t listen to NPR or any liberal talkshows, as Mike would say, liberalism is a mental disorder and I’m all set with that! I’m not familiar with Bob Raleigh, I stick to RKO or I listen to music.
Ungh, two chicks dishing, God I hated them! They were soooooooo whiney, I hate whiney women and those two took the prize, one was worse than the other! I think Darlene was the worst, she came across as prissy, high falootin’ and yes, whiney!
I don’t mind Bob Brinker for the reason you stated.
Listening to the last hour of SAVAGE,,,,,oh, did he leave early? This talk of the chinese food sounds familiar??
Hi Barbara,
I rarely watch TV talk shows but I know of Greater Boston and it is pretty good. I especially like John Carroll. He may be a cousin of George W. Bush and as I recall he used to write a pretty good newspaper column in the Globe I think.
Bob Raleigh was a particularly exuberant midnight shift host on WBZ who retired several years ago. I listen to radio starting often before 4:00 AM catching the tail end of overnight shows and it is a distinctly different atmosphere, softer and more intimate. When the 5:00 AM shows come on it is quite jarring. I listen to Talk radio so much that it has become a way of telling the time of day for me. So at 5 AM, early morning is over.
WBZ overnight is also interesting because the signal travels so far. They have regular callers from Michigan, Ontario, Delaware, etc. A few years ago I was driving at night to Washington DC listening to David Brudnoy, who could hardly speak a full sentence because he was coughing so much. When I arrived back in Boston, I was shocked to learn he had AIDS, but of course he survived a few years thereafter. Did you hear his last broadcast before he died, literally on his deathbed ? It’s hard to imagine WRKO keeping a host for his/her natural lifespan! (Though WRKO did have a special last show with Jerry Williams, who I don’t think was terminal, but was a shadow of himself. He did have a caller who fabulously imitated Mike Dukakis and that bit was hilarious.)
I had to google the Two Chicks, who were named Lori Gold and Leslie Kramer. As I recall they had a nasty breakup. Leslie Gold, as of Jan 2006, had been broadcasting in NYC on an FM station as the Radio Chick. When you mention “Darlene,” could that have been Darlene McCarthy, a local personality, who may have had something to do with the Chicks? I think that what they did, they did well, which often was being “air-headed” (or whiney).
I missed the last hour of Savage because I had to leave my computer terminal and listened to broadcast music, namely classic rock. My internal clock tell me that soon it will be time for Bill Kelly, but with WRKO, you never know. (Whew, he still is on.)
I used to be for many years, a 24-7 listener to RKO, until the slow but increasingly rapid demolition of it taking place over the last couple of years. I am almost excited by what is going on at RKO…..maybe the higher-ups over J&J will get rid of them (J&J) before RKO is totally, irrevocably demolished or maybe Entercom will bail…….. I do not listen in the a.m at all anymore, listen to Carr more and more frequently as he regains his brass ones, Savage when I can, Coast To Coast every night I can’t sleep, except for week-ends since they interrupt it with stupid boring insufferable infomercials, (then I go to streaming and also subscribe to C2C podcasts). Maybe….. is it possible that WRKO could be on the mend????
Hi Nancy,
Those stupid boring insufferable infommercials are also on WBZ around 4:00 am on Sunday, interrupting Jordan Rich’s fine program.
I’m not sure how you conclude WRKO is on the mend. Basketball interrupting Savage, Reese Hopkins, Ellen O’Brien and Gonzo, and the prospect of Wendy Murphy replacing Tom Finneran as suggested by a subsequent comment are my counter-arguments. (See post by WRKO Staffer on February 2, 2008 08:27 AM on the discussion thread, “Finneran Pretends He Still Has A Radio Gig”).
(PS to Barbara: Note that I don’t include Finneran himself, or Bill Kelly on my list
Jim,
I’m not concluding anything, I said ….maybe… just a glimmer of hope, if they get rid of the felon and Howie regains some of his former irreverence…………..I listen to RKO so seldom that I could not conclude anything, it was just good to hear Howie sounding like his old self the other day……who knows
Hi Nancy,
Thanks for your comments. I was just listing some changes over the past few months that cause me to tune out WRKO and figuratively challenging your conclusion. There sure is a lot of rancor though towards WRKO on this website. In fact there is a lot of rancor between correspondents to this site. I just read the heated exchange on the thread, ‚ÄúPriorities‚Äù over the past couple of days up to today between BiSh and Barbara—WOW.
I began reading this website around September, but I know it goes back much earlier into 2007, and I am unfamiliar with previous postings by others, so I don’t know how these things get started. I don‚Äôt recall seeing your name before; are you new? (No reply necessary.) I hope you get to read my note. I think this thread ends tomorrow or the next day.
Hi Jim.
No, not new, but I jump in every once in a while to see if any positive changes are taking place in RKO land and to add my own 2¬¢ into the fray, I’ve been lurking around this site since I heard they were firing Scotto….just when I got to really appreciate him….have added my own comments here and there….the thread is here to stay In think and gets updated as comments are added…………are you an RKO fan for a long time?
Hi Nancy,
Thanks for your reply. I have been listening to WRKO and talk radio in general probably since the early 80’s, e.g. Gene Burns, Jerry Williams, etc. I like to say that I’m such a voracious listener that I even listen to “Talking Religion” at 5:00 AM on Sunday mornings, going back to the days of Jim Pansullo. I enjoy writing to this Blog, not so much to bash WRKO, but to chat with similar aficionados. On 12/29/07, I wrote:
“Might I add that it seems there has been a recent spate of discussions to this blog by usual and some apparently new posters who are really familiar with the past and present Boston Talk Show scene. Those I have enjoyed particularly include but are not limited to: Practical Progressive, Chris, Rocky, Joe, Barbara, AW, Lisa, eriemike, Andrea and raccoonradio.”
It seems that since then, I have mostly heard from Barbara, raccoonradio, and rarely Andrea and Rocky.
I too liked Scotto and had some E-mail correspondence with him when he was in Boston. In fact, there is an entry about him in Wikipedia with the comment, “He freely gives out his personal AOL Instant Messenger screen name (IAmScotto) and answers most of the email he receives from listeners, often in surprising length.”
If you note in the Comment Policy for this Blog, comments are closed for an entry after five days. BTW, it’s funny you should describe yourself as lurking around this website. I am an active subscriber to a Listserv and I met up with an old acquaintance. When I told her that I hadn’t seen her name before, she told me she too was “lurking.”
I look forward to future postings.
Oooops, never read the policies and I thought that I had posted to older than that topics……….oh well…..I also sent e-mail to Scotto, he reminded me a little of Gene Burns and I don’t think I could praise any talk host better than that!!!
I like Talking Religion if I’m awake……….
I have sporadic comments throughout here and there.
I am not sure I can be called an aficionado, I was simply a huge fan of rko, and now actually have to think of other productive ways to spend my time, which is not a bad thing. My morning ride to work is now in silence, which also is not a bad thing….and I don’t always have Howie on the way home the way I used, sometimes silence is preferable especially if it is a depressing news day.
Nice corresponding with you….
Hi Nancy,
For me, the silence without talk radio is deafening, whether at work, home, commuting or even just going for a walk. I think that the way to go during the lulls in good programming is podcasts as you note, or my preference of XM radio. During my commute, I always seem to find something to listen to, including music which requires a lot of button pushing, though the choices are less with WTTT gone. I can’t seem to focus on books on tape. I occasionally do very long drives, several hundred miles in a day, and XM makes it doable.