It’s no secret that Entercom CEO David Field and talk radio go together like oil and water. With his white guilt-based fringe political views, conservative news-talk listeners probably seem like they’re from Mars.
We also know that his family’s embattled company isn’t afraid to shed its talk outlets when other firms show an interest in acquiring them. This occurred in Seattle not too long ago, when KIRO (similar to WBZ, but with more talk and several conservatives in the lineup) and KTTH (conservative talk) were traded away for music stations in the San Francisco Bay Area.
Together with their most recent actions in Boston, I believe Entercom may be gearing up to unload WRKO, mostly because they couldn’t give a crap whether it lives or dies.
What actions? Take a look:
— First, the sudden yanking of Red Sox games away from WRKO in order to return them to WEEI. Given new competition from WBZ-FM, this was done in a panic to strengthen their flagship sports operation.
But it also takes away their sole reason for owning WRKO: to have a place for play-by-play coverage without interfering with WEEI’s talk lineup. As WEEI’s ratings tanked and WRKO’s weren’t particularly boosted, that approach failed miserably.
— The almost total elimination of WRKO’s staff. This type of window-dressing often occurs before a sale, as it makes the station appear more profitable. New owners often aren’t interested in acquiring a large headcount, as it may differ with their own plans for the outlet.
— The sudden switcheroo of WRKO and WEEI’s studios, which leaves the former now occupying WEEI’s tiny, dirty, smelly, dingy dump (did I mention disgusting?) while the sports talker has seized control of the larger rooms with views of the Mass Pike and city center buildings.
Clearly, Entercom no longer cares what visiting guests (that sometimes include senior political leaders and local celebrities) think of WRKO’s appearance.
— A staff meeting with Field scheduled for next week. Could be one of his occasional rah-rah events, but major announcements are sometimes made in this setting as well.
It’s tough to sell stations in this deteriorating media environment and I have no idea who might be interested in owning WRKO. But I do believe it’s safe to say that Entercom has no longterm desire to keep 680 AM in its lineup.
Can you imagine having to sit on the same, smelly, stained WRKO chair that Tom Finneran sits on?… Eeeewww
*gasp*
Liberals posing as businessmen, losing money in the process? Why, I’ve never heard of that. Gee, I can’t understand why Air America had such troubles.
It’s saddening to see a once-successful business be driven into the ground by idiots. The timing is good for propping up a brand of radio with a conservative talk radio format – there’s such a foul blast of liberal scourge wafting through Massachusetts that anything with a genuine conservative core is bound to succeed.
WTKK is a guaranteed turn-off to anyone with a brain. I guess ol’ Davey-Wavey Field is trying to fail just as miserably as his competitors. Good riddance, I say.
I heard Howie mention yesterday that a producer got axed and he also mentioned his fax machine got axed as well, who exactly got axed? Is Cooksie still there? Was it one of Howie’s people? I heard Sandy so I know she’s still there…..horseshack maybe got axed? Anyone know?
I think the studio switch between WRKO and WEEI is the most telling reason of all to believe that something is imminent, for the reasons Brian pointed out in his post.
When something bad is coming down the Pike, what better way to hide it than to take away your view of the Pike?
On September 2nd, 2009 at 6:02 am the real Barbara wrote:
“I heard Howie mention yesterday that a producer got axed and he also mentioned his fax machine got axed as well, who exactly got axed? Is Cooksie still there? Was it one of Howie’s people? I heard Sandy so I know she’s still there…..horseshack maybe got axed? Anyone know?”
Yesterday Howie did refer to WRKO as a zombie station. I was out ot town the past few days and I didn’t get to hear the last broadcast (after 30 years) of “Talking Religion.” ;-(. Two weeks ago the host of that show announced its demise in the context of being moved to the WEEI studio–the beginning of the end? Tom and Todd were as cheerful as ever this AM in the first segment. Cooksey was on this morning.
If it weren’t for the fact that their talk format is tanking I wonder if Greater Media would be interested. Simulcast 96.9 and 680 with talk OR
move the WTKK lineup to AM and put music on FM.
Of course the contract situations for Finneran and Carr would have to be addressed.
Or imagine if such a thing happened and Greater put syndie talk on AM and local on FM (again, maybe far fetched–competing against themselves?)
WRKO–Imus, Ingraham, Rush, (Hannity?),
Savage, Doyle
WTKK–Finneran & Feinburg, Graham, E&B,
Carr, Severin, McPhee
Yeah, far fetched but I don’t believe Greater has any AM properties in Boston. Would they buy RKO at a bargain price?
Either way, Howie has 3 years and 3 million dollars left on his contract he signed 2-3 years back. If he goes to TTK, I need him on in the 3-7pm slot, move Severin to another property.
Is our very own WRKO Staffer worried?
He/she and I might not agree on much, but I won’t begrudge him/her a living.
Good luck… whoever you are.
Hoss, RKO made cuts the other day, I wonder if staffer still has a job??????
Jim, long time………you mentioned the Talking Religion program is now gone, don’t tell me, let me quess, one of those paid programs took it’s place,,,,,,is it spackle or vitamins???????
good luck staffer.
realizing that you never understood why some hosts are syndicated and others are not, I wish you well.
wonder what will become of j & j?
Stafer will land on his feet whatever happens. The guy is brilliant. BRILLIANT (like the Guinness guy says on those commercials).
Talking Relig. was actually pretty good. Tho’ I am not religious, I enjoyed hearing current events from the point of view of clergy.
Conservatives infest this country. Haters who are AGAINST everything but offer nothing of their own other than, they don’t want to pay taxes. Conservatives the WORST America has to offer.
I’m fine and will do well regardless of what happens. I wish they canned Cooksie. The kid is a punk.
Actually, Cooksey has done pretty well for a kid with an Associates Degree. He is running for office in Lynn. Who knows if he’ll stay on with the Forum.
Glad you’ll be ok Staffer. Look forward to future arguments.
WRKO Staffer – remember to take a hammer with you to work until all of this blows over. If they do end up laying you off, break off some of the buttons on the board on the way out. That’ll learn ‘em!!
***************************************
Seriously, I hope this current instability doesn’t extend to your position. No one needs that worry in this economy.
WRKO/WEEI, robbing Peter to pay Paul. I think there are higher paid hosts/contracts at WEEI so they probably want to keep that station on life support by taking from WRKO. WEEI was dropping in the ratings before the new FM sports station came on. Now they are running scared. Despite all of the confusion, WTKK still can’t make any headway. I listened to about 2 minutes of Mike Graham. He was trying to create controversy by demanding that the state abolish all Handicap Parking spaces. Man are they a sad sack of a station.
Softy,
Re: you comment about Staffer, “…..The guy is brilliant. BRILLIANT”.
Take it easy! And please, keep that pin on your kilt, matey! I love Staffer too, but this gushing! Be careful….you’ll give yourself away, not to mention you risk sounding like some middle aged horn ball in heat….
“IIIIIIIII am Michael Graham asking the question: Would you ticket somebody who illegally parked in a handicapped space when there are plenty of other empty handicapped spaces available?” Great talk radio– NOT! Nothing worse than someone who is not funny, who keeps trying to be funny… No wonder this comb-overed d_uchebag failed as a “stand-up comedian,” and his wife left him.
“Liberal”: nice try, troll.
Amazing: the Red Sox aren’t on WRKO anymore yet yesterday at 11:50 am during Ingraham I heard a promo saying “every pitch, every hit, and every out of Red Sox baseball is right here on WRKO”. Then during Howie, “…and the best baseball team anywhere, the Red Sox–right here on WRKO!”
The “every pitch” promo was a blatant lie–especially at the beginning of the season where WEEI aired last 2 exhibition games, then first 2 games of reg season. Yet: “every pitch,
every hit…is on WRKO”
And they are STILL running these.
On September 2nd, 2009 at 2:06 pm the real Barbara wrote:
“Jim, long time………you mentioned the Talking Religion program is now gone, don’t tell me, let me quess, one of those paid programs took it’s place,,,,,,is it spackle or vitamins???????”
Hi rB,
I think it will be the financial guy Howie has recently been promoting, from 5 to 7AM on Sunday. I haven’t listened to him but I can’t imagine he has the pizzazz of Bill Kelly or the dynamics of Rubino and Liang
.
Recently I got an I-pod and that’s been keeping me going during my early morning commute and weekends, usually after the first few segments of Tom and Todd, as well as re-broadcasts of Coast-to-Coast AM when the subject is interesting.
piratetoby, I knew you’d like that one! Of course, I left out that Stafer is no piratetoby…
“liberal” – seriously,, get back on your meds.
Jim, I don’t listen to RKO on weekends, it’s unbearable, I did tune in last Sat nite thinking I could catch Glenn Beck but instead I was assaulted with a soccer game. RKO still doesn’t understand what TALKradio means.
No, I am no piratetoby. I don’t have the energy that he has in taking on the suburban rednecks that lurk around here. Still, I did have a night with the pie in her MILF/Cougar days. Take that!
Well, thanks Softy. Truth be told, while I may be lacking in the amount of brilliance Staffer possesses, I do make up for it with E.I. (emotional intelligence) Right? (look at the word “possesses”…..only 9 letters and over half of them are “s”….what an odd word to look at). Anyway…….
…….as long as I know your fondness towards me is not solely based on my peg leg, that’s all that really matters.
Now, Dr. Quincy, what’s the M.E. stand for? Don’t make me guess. It could turn ugly! (just kidding!)
Staffer: my energy wanes, trust me. I’m no longer a “superhero” and at times there are too many rednecks here to battle….all fueled up on moonshine, talkin’ rag time.
But you should know about fueled up on moonshine, talkin’ rag time….wasn’t that the setting for your romp back in the day?
Forget the liver-spotted rear end. When you woke in the morning, were her choppers in a glass beside the bed?
Nah, the pie was still alright back in the day (we are talking 1999-2000). I will say that she wasn’t looking quite as sexy in the morning as she was that night.
yawn
Jim,
Ok, we get it….you’re bored. Tell me, are you one of them ther suburban rednecks lurking about? Cause I’m fueled up today.
Try a large black coffee, followed by a few pieces of green tea gum…….antidote for that big YAWN.
Or I could stop reading your posts. Rednecks? I may have to go back and re-read the comments in this section because I missed the rednecks.
Jim,
Yeah, I’m fueled up, in a good way. I’m not looking to get into anything stupid here. I’m in a great mood and have on desire to ruin it. Sorry if my posts offend and/or bore you. Ignore me.
Anyone catch Magpie just waste a question to AG Martha Coakely? Here is a recap:
(Insert Magpie’s breathless fawning tone) “Now, Attorney General, we know from your visits here that you can cut up the rug. Do you plan on dancing while on the stump”. Nice going Magpie. You should be inducted into the National Softball Hall of Fame (first ballot).
Thx for the recap, Staffer. I missed the segment.
And forget about softball questions. There are “softball” questions and then there are questions that are so dopey, so insipid, they don’t even fall into the softball category.
Let’s see……the term that comes to mind is “dingbat”…… yes, she asked Coakley a dingbat question. She does that a lot.
Well, it takes a dingbat to ask a dingbat question.
piratetoby: “M.E.” = Medical Examiner… And autopsies might need to be performed for some radio shows or stations in the immediate future. Mouthing terms & phrases such as “Lefty, loony liberals,” “Outrage of the Day,” “America’s virtual front porch,” “I’m Michael Smerconish,” & “Tell all your friends about ‘Night Side’” may be hazardous or fatal to a radio show or station.
Michael Smerconish’s show is like a big rice cake doused with soy milk. It is beyond bland. So middle of the road, so safe, so lame.
“tiny, dirty, smelly, dingy dump ”
lol
Correction to my prior comment: “America’s Virtual BACK Porch,”
Amendment to my prior comment: “may be hazardous or fatal to a radio show’s or station’s SUCCESS.”
I look forward tonight to hearing Curtis Sliwa again sounding like he’s forcing up phlegm when he attempts to pronounce a hard “c” — Is that shtick?… Does he think that makes him sound more Canarsie, Brooklyn streetwise?
sorenson? description of the room you rent from your mommy?
Wolfe and Kahn have NO class. Cut from the same cloth. They snort and chuckle at comments like these, but they are indeed classless people. The radio stations provide them the false illusion of importance and power, but they wouldn’t know how to survive if they were suddenly in the same shoes as the rank and file station employees who bust their asses daily to make them both look halfway decent to the advertising community. And it all oozes down from the top. Should be interesting to hear what disingenuous platitudes Field has to drool out when he addresses the remaining faithful. And Wolfe and Kahn will smile at him with wide eyes and be the first to applaud.
Sickening.
And one more thing. Talking Religion vanished without ONE WORD OR MEMO from management.
Nothing. Zero. Treated like junk and kicked out the door. Not even the COURTESY of a DECENT goodbye.
The show also never got any direction or suport from Wolfe. They were left to die on the Entercom vine.
No class, Julie. No balls, Jason. You are little people.
After 30 loyal years of working for FREE, Talking Religion was given a “good riddance” from Entercom management. No class at all.
On September 3rd, 2009 at 8:31 pm, Bob wrote:
“And one more thing. Talking Religion vanished without ONE WORD OR MEMO from management.
Nothing. Zero. Treated like junk and kicked out the door. Not even the COURTESY of a DECENT goodbye.
The show also never got any direction or suport from Wolfe. They were left to die on the Entercom vine.
No class, Julie. No balls, Jason. You are little people.
After 30 loyal years of working for FREE, Talking Religion was given a “good riddance” from Entercom management. No class at all.”
Hi Bob,
This is the most impassioned defense of TR I have seen on this Blog, including my own. I had listened to it since the days of Jim Pansullo as host. I even listened to their live broadcast the week after 9/11/01. Unfortunately I didn’t get a chance to hear the last show; how was it?
Actually, I always thought TR was under the radar screen of WRKO management. On the second last show when Rev, Eschner announced its demise, she couldn’t remember Jason’s last name.
Gulp…
Bob Gamere, a former sportscaster and host of the popular Boston television show, “Candlepins for Cash,” is expected to plead guilty to child pornography charges.
The 70-year-old Gamere was charged last October with using his home computer to send multiple people e-mails with child pornography videos attached.
Bob Gamere- what an old goat. Child porn? Lovely, just lovely.
As a kid “Candlepins for Cash” was always on the TV Sat. morning. I remember it being on, but not really watching it. What I do remember was the bowling was candlepins knocked down with small balls. The town I lived in had a bowling alley and it was also candlepins. What a shock to my small town thinking when traveling across the country I encountered bowling with those big balls! Who knew? Small town= small balls…….big country=big balls.
Ah, yes, the size of bowling balls- what a compelling metaphor for life.
Gamere- what a way to go out! Again, old goat.
ok I’m confused, I turned the radio on a little after 5am and what did I hear? Talking Religion…..the Rev announced it was the final show and she was very upset, asked people to write to her and Jason and say what the show has meant to the over the last 30 years……..was this a repeat of last week’s final show or another final show?
Also once again I tuned in last nite to catch Glenn Beck and the show was pre-empted for a special sports presentation…..soccer…….so RKO continues with the sports…….what part don’t they understand about TALKradio,,,,sports is NOT talkradio……….
the real Barbara…
RKO doesn’t give a crap about Glenn Beck. They consider it “filler material” because the show is essentially free. A barter deal. All this at a time when Beck is red hot!!! RKO doesn’t even promote the show, ever! Ah, but Sports programming…that’s different. Doesn’t matter that nobody tunes in, but they still manage to hoodwink sponsors into advertising for serious money.
If I was Milton’s, the Store for Men (a big sports sponsor) I’d put my advertising dollars with Beck or Howie. Nobody’s listening to college football or soccer on the radio!!! Sports fans don’t listen to these games. They watch them on TV. But they will tune in to TALK about the games. Two different animals.
Bob………buh bye van jones……THANK YOU GLENN BECK! Yeah why bother with a Glenn Beck program where you can actually find out what’s going on in America, naw, let’s go with soccer, yeah that’s the ticket.
Folks…Bob is half right – they don’t give a crap about Beck because nobody is paying money for that time period specifically and they can more than satisfy all the demand they can drum up for talk radio with their other programming.
Soccer is something they take (also for no $) as part of their relationship with the Krafts as a favor. (Known in the biz as a “mercy clearance”)Most of those ads you hear are sold by the team, not by the station.
Other than paid programming, weekends hold very little value to a talk station, especially when the economy is such that demand is low and they have more spots to sell M-F than they have people to buy them.
Pirate, “Candlepins for Cash” was a weekday evening show. I think you have in mind “Candlepin Bowling” with Don Gillis. I find it interesting that Gamere switched his plea. He was facing a possible 40 years in prison–I wonder what the plea will reduce it to? Less or more than what Parenteau got for actually raping a kid?
Cap,
You may be correct. I do remember the name Bob Gamere, but the only bowling show I remember was the one that aired on Saturday. I don’t remember anything during the week…..God, I think once a week was bad enough……watching bowling on TV is about exciting as watching paint dry.
Gamere has got to spend some time in the can, no? For the life of me, I can not remember the Parenteau thing. I remember when BCN fired him, then I remember hearing he was picked up by relatively unknown station (not in Boston)…..NY or Conn. maybe? And that was it. I didn’t know about his conviction until recently. It really didn’t come as a suprise…..he was a weird dude, and I never got the vibe that he was into women…..although he claimed to have a girlfriend somewhere on the Cape.
But Gamere! Being 70+ yrs. old and having to spend time in the can for kiddie porn? Man, that is bad.
pirate – parenteau’s “girlfriend” was in provincetown! Isn’t parenteau back in Boston??
On September 6th, 2009 at 7:42 am the real Barbara wrote:
“ok I’m confused, I turned the radio on a little after 5am and what did I hear? Talking Religion…..the Rev announced it was the final show and she was very upset, asked people to write to her and Jason and say what the show has meant to the over the last 30 years……..was this a repeat of last week’s final show or another final show?”
I also tuned in before 5:00 AM to hear who would fill that time slot, and was surprised and gratified to catch the last show. For the past several months occasionally the show, which is taped a few days beforehand, had been inadvertently re-broadcast on the following week, despite the excellent technical assistance of Bill Cooksey as the Reverend Yvonne Eschner acclaims
I noted that Yvonne once again, as on the prior show, mentioned the Program Director as Jason (only) and not with his last name. She pointed out that the program was a public service of WRKO, and I can’t think of another one they perform, unless it’s school closings which I think are now just put on the website and don’t take up air time.
She suggested that they would try and seek another station, or just do podcasts, but it won’t be the same. I refused to believe that they taped the show and in my mind they were up with me live at that “delightful hour” as Yvonne described it. Despite disagreements with many of their positions, they became familiar and likeable acquaintances to me just as any other talk show personalities I listen to.
BTW, “Jim from Boston.” and “Jim” are two different posters.
real B,
P-town…..now it makes sense. I don’t know if Parenteau is back in Boston. As far as I know, he didn’t participate (barely mentioned) in BCN’s grand finale.
If your really interested in his being back in Boston, maybe Bob Gamere might be able to assist you. (I’d post a LOL if it was not such a sick joke.)
So we have a Jim and a Jim from Boston. I seem to remember a Jim from Medford, too?
Refresh my memory: which “Jim” doesn’t care much for me? But please, don’t all post “me” at the same time, kay?
On September 6th, 2009 at 7:51 pm piratetoby wrote:
“…So we have a Jim and a Jim from Boston. I seem to remember a Jim from Medford, too?
“Refresh my memory: which “Jim” doesn’t care much for me? But please, don’t all post “me” at the same time, kay?”
Jim from Boston is neutral on the subject. He reads WRKO mostly as a talk radio fan, and not so much for the politics.
j from b: While you’re still neutral, what’s with the third person post?
Hello working stiffs of the United States.
Happy “take it up the ying yang by the government ” day.
Hot dog?
“j from b: While you’re still neutral, what’s with the third person post?”
ptb,
Third person for stylistic variation, and parody of self-importance as in “Do you know who I am?”; like some athletes refer to themselves at press conferences.
I’m Jim from Boston on another blog unrelated to radio and I chose that screen name because as a talk show fan that is how I’m introduced on shows when I (rarely) call in. One funny subscriber addressed me as “James de Boston.” I wish I had thought of that
BTW, I have previously asked last year on this blog who here actually calls in. In fact I asked one avid poster named Joy if she was really Patrice from Arlington (a frequent caller particularly to Howie Carr), and as I recall she responded, “Close.”
pirate, naw, I’m not interested in parenteau’s whereabouts, I had heard he was in boston for the big bcn finale but it appears that info was incorrect.
Speaking of frequent callers to Howie’s show, what ever happened to a caller named Brenda, she had a distinct voice, I haven’t heard her for a very very long time.
Speaking of Candlepins for cash, Jerry Williams railed against the TV show at length and called it Candlepins for Dummies. He spotted this as an early example of the dumbing down of TV that has blossomed into the “reality” shows that pollute television today and poison the minds of the next generation.
On September 7th, 2009 at 7:44 am the real Barbara wrote:
“Speaking of frequent callers to Howie’s show, what ever happened to a caller named Brenda, she had a distinct voice, I haven’t heard her for a very very long time.”
I didn’t know of a frequent caller to Howie named Brenda, but about a month ago he did take a call from a Brenda and warmly greeted her and also said he hadn’t heard from her in a long time.
If memory serves, Parenteau was married to a woman named Gail who was in PR in some way. His confusion about his sexuality came to a head (so to speak) when he was arrested for rape of a child in DC while serving as Comedy Director for XM Radio. I met him a few times in the 60′s and 70′s. Weird dude. Gamere stood out a bit more from his environment. A Holy Cross grad, he was famous for hitting on the players at college games on which he did play-by-play. Really quite sad. Drama queen who would drink for 12 hours, then wake up and go for a jog. Needless to say, neither the Jesuits nor the Harvard teams he broadcasted wanted anything to do with him for the last few years. He advertised in the Herald for an “800″ number for handicapping sports betting. Supposedly he was quite talented at that, making his character failings all the more tragic, (especially for his victims.)
As Jerry Williams would say, “I’m annoyed-ah!”
(Just thought I’d throw that in there!)
We miss you, Jer.
Hey Brian, how about updating the blog? I’m getting sick of looking at David Field’s mug.
Brian——->asleep at the wheel.
Again.
Do you not know the power of this blog Bri?
Cicero could not have garnered more intense listening than does this blog.
And you?
Absentmindedly leaving the bride at the alter AGAIN!
She waits with pouting lips and an urgent need for attention.
Shame on you Brian.
There will be no honeymoon for you!
Come back here, Staffer. I missed most of J & M after they started talking body parts. Were you listening? Did the Magpie confess what she looks at first?
I just clicked on TKK’s website and there’s a pic of the Pie in the same olive drab shirt she was wearing in that link that pops up here every now and again. That color is the worst. Forget the facelifts, Magpie. Work on a decent wardrobe.
Mel looks kinda dishy…..love the glasses, but hate her “rap”. Never went for that advise thing. What kind of loser is calling up a radio station for advise?
Mel’s show is like dry toast. It is just so middle of the road. It is similar to Michael Smerconish in that sense.
*I had to turn off J& Magpie just before that segment. I’m sure the pie was in heat and making that annoying giggle at ever little inuendo. 54 going on 14.
Message to WTKK…
Quit messin’ around and program the station, will ya!!!?? Toss the deadwood. They have no numbers, just moonbat political philosophy. And Tom Baker, you’re the likely culprit for the lame programming decisions at the FM Talker. This took a downward turn since your arrival. Please get out of the way and let Grace do what she needs to do. Julie Kahn is chuckling in your direction. If there was ever a time to grab the ring, it’s NOW. Don’t squander another opportunity.
Bob: Yeah, I, too noticed they change since the arrival of Tom Baker, however the regular programing is the same? Am I right?
Can’t devote more thought right now than the above …I’m in the middle of an electrical project from hell at 10:00 pm. I hate when people are late. And it’s too late to stop now.
Staffer, Yeah, I’m sure we missed nothing more than the giggling, horny, ex-cheerleader routine. Gets old. No, it is old.
On yesterday’s Howie show his intro ended followed by a minute or two of silence, then some ads thrown on and finally Howie and Sandy coming on with HC declaring once again that “Entercom happens”. They were trying to do a show from the Eastern Standard restaurant (they did get it going but later there were phone troubles, too).
Howie said, “What can I say? We just stepped into another big pile of Entercom…when will my sentence be over?”
nothing new.
I honestly can’t get the signal for rko in the afternoon and am tired of trying….in the house, in the car..and I am only 20 miles south of Boston.
Hi racoonradio,
I heard Howie’s comments too and I thought he is NOT a happy camper. LOL.
BTW, I heard the podcast of his opening hour on last Tuesday, 9/1, when they moved into the WEEI studio. He and Sandy were pretty funny, for example complaining about all the sticky Tom Brady posters on the walls and the chicken bones littering the floor left by “Rah-rah Radio.”
RKO has been basically toast for quite a while. I can’t get why there are two buffoons running a radio station and just bringing a great programmed radio station in the beginning of this decade to near high school quality.
The worst thing while listening it live on a BlackBerry (cause the AM coverage in S/NH really sucks when the sun is blaring near late PM if I use a walkman), is hearing the phone quality of the callers, with ether the tinny calls or the echoey disconnects when the caller hangs up and its very sensitive to me when listening to earbuds.
(I wondered if they changed to an internet telephony interface, which could be a giveaway, since I think many of the callers call on wire/landlines not cell phones.)
But I guess the little technicalities is really just nothing to them.
I find it pretty bad for Howie to loose his office. A couple weeks ago, he mentioned that he topped in the August books, that he got the National Radio Hall of Fame and other credentials that RKO management wouldn’t care.
And yes, though I was not around in the Gamere days, I do remember Candlepin series with Don Gillis. I guess I am probably the only twentysomethings that knows “who Don Gillis” is to steal Mumble’s quotes. Actually, that show made me get interested in candlepin bowling (and I am a pure New Englander, and I wouldn’t accept no other bowling than candlepin.)
In re to Larry, I am not sure if Jerry Williams was right in that regards. The respective candlepin shows could had lead into the dumbing down, but watching that kind of program was interesting (at least for me cause it got me interested.) Jerry’s career was before my time listening to the talk radio, but I still figuring out the things that he says (as well as Howie’s recollections) about the “dumbing down” is really true or not. I think putting every young people in this country into one group could be stereotypical, but that’s my opinion.
WWZN 1510 AM the only station worth listening to in Boston !
Dear Listeners,
Thank you, from the bottom of our hearts, to all of you who have spoken kindly of “Talking Religion.”
As mentioned, we all showed up and gave our best for FREE. It is very painful that a show that was on the air for over 30 years ended so abruptly on my watch.
Jason “what’s-his-name” treated our program with unbelievable disrespect. But, of course, he doesn’t have a professional bone in his body. The way he treated us was unforgivable, especially when the weekend person, who was shooting up something on Sunday mornings, couldn’t find his way to slip the right CD into the right slot. Hello. A professional manager would have given him another chance – and then – the door. Thus, the countless hours that I put in preparing and the time spent by the panelists – and GUESTS WHO FREELY GAVE OF THEIR TIME, got lost by the junkie at the switch.
WE WILL FIND ANOTHER STATION!!! One more respectful and not so steeped in the verbal diarrhea that dominates WRKO. “Talking Religion” was/is a vital ministry to all of us, especially given the world we live in today. The challenge will be for listeners to find us again.
Once again, thank you to you faithful listeners; for your letters and comments. Perhaps the next time around we can take “live callers” because, the few times that we did, you all made our show so special with your sharp insights and pointed questions.
Sincerely,
Rev. Yvonne V. Eschner