Don’t Be Suckered By This Cheap Sympathy Ploy

Let me get this straight: after hiring a convicted felon (and former Democrat House Speakah) as morning host and an alleged child rapist for the midmorning shift, we’re supposed to feel sorry for two of the radio industry’s most notorious mismanagers?

The very public effort by Coffee Boy (in Herald image below, making his first-ever visual appearance at SaveWRKO!) and The Empress to be seen as victims of an angry WEEI listener is beyond belief. In broadcasting, threatening calls come with the territory, to the point where they’re mundane.

Not for a moment am I condoning the actions of one David Banner, who definitely doesn’t moonlight as The Incredible Hulk:

The man charged with leaving death wishes and menacing messages for WEEI sports yakkers John Dennis and Gerry Callahan and their bosses is a down-and-out wedding photographer who says he’s sorry and insists he never would have harmed them.

“I’m really sorry. I’m more angry at myself than anything else,” said David Banner, who says he’s getting help after he allegedly left messages wishing the radio bigwigs would “die.”

In an interview with the Herald yesterday, Banner said he’s been having “a bad couple of years.” He said his mother has Alzheimer’s and he’s been under a lot of stress. He said he also suffers from depression and has had a couple seizures over the past few months.

“It’s been tough. It’s not an excuse. I meant them no harm,” said Banner, 57, who appeared mild-mannered as he spoke from the multi-family Cambridge home where he lives. “If I could take it back I would.

“I’m just an average guy just trying to live a life, and I made a mistake,” he added.

At the same time, anyone with significant tenure in broadcasting who hasn’t toughened up to this kind of crap by now should find a new career.

Want to hear about REAL threats? In 1997, while working the afternoon drive shift at KOH 780 AM in Reno, somebody driving by the rear of the station (which unfortunately fronts a major thoroughfare) took a shot at my engineer, with the ammo stopped only by the interior bulletproof pane. If not for that protection, it would have hit him in the head, the positioning was perfect. Because it occurred during the wintertime, it was already dark, so he didn’t see who did it.

Who did I tick off that day? In Nevada, rather like Boston’s mobbed-up era, there are certain people one must avoid angering.

Before that, I worked at a Monterey Bay, California station that had absolutely NO security. The front windows were shot out repeatedly by friendly passers-by.

And in 1998, just as I was arriving at Seattle’s KVI to begin a new position as evening host, a violent demonstration took place in the building’s lobby, spilling out into the streets. The reason for the OUTRAGE (!!!): KVI hosts were adamantly supporting Initiative 200, which banned certain racial preferences. It ultimately passed.

When Rush Limbaugh visited the station a short time later, it took a full security team to protect him after angry threats of violence were made by dozens of supposedly peace-loving Seattle “progressives”. Standing next to KVI’s newsroom fax, I watched as these unhinged nuts spread this vision of “tolerance” from one machine to another.

Finally, sometimes the most dangerous people in broadcasting are inside the building, not out in the parking area. While at Seattle’s KIRO-AM, then owned by our good friends at Entercom, a fellow host with an unpredictable personality carried a gun with him at all times. Later, he was murdered by a drug addict who had moved into his home several months earlier.

Talk radio, with WEEI’s sports chatter most certainly included, is a medium with both friends and enemies. Whether one is a host or manager, working in this field requires a thick skin.

Though Boston’s a tough town, most of our broadcast outlets are run by touchy egomaniacs. In a dangerous business, that’s not a good fit.

That’s why I see right through The Empress and Coffee Boy: with their track records, they resemble perps much more than victims.

Used To Criticism?

In a news story announcing Tom Finneran’s hiring, the felon himself makes the case that he’s already accustomed to taking critical calls:

He also declared himself more than ready for the rough- and- tumble of talk radio, saying after 26 years in public life he’s accustomed to “people calling in and criticizing.”

The problem is that unlike talk radio, where these calls come directly from the public and go right out over the airwaves, Finneran had a full staff on Beacon Hill to insulate himself from this kind of heat. And, given his legendary arrogance, Finneran likely has one of the thinnest skins in politics.

And here, he really must have had reporters laughing at this comment:

Finneran was accused of lying under oath in a lawsuit that stemmed from a legislative redistricting plan.

Finneran said today he made a mistake and is now paying the price for it.

No, Tommy Taxes, thanks to Julie Kahn and whatever sleazy deal got you this job, you’ve paid no price whatsoever.

The Battle Vs The War

With Tom Finneran’s hiring, Julie Kahn’s reign of terror may have won a battle, but she’s sure to lose the war.

Already, foolish attempts at reasoning are being made by WRKO’s managers, including a sad misconception about the value of media attention. Sources say that Howie Carr is actually being encouraged to rip Finneran to shreds, with the idea that any publicity is good publicity.

Because of their lack of experience, what they don’t realize is not only is it not good for WRKO, it will actually speed up Finneran’s demise, as Carr is positioning his forces for an all-out offensive against the convicted felon.

Tommy Taxes doesn’t have a chance.

Meanwhile, Finneran is said to believe that the intense opposition to his hiring will quickly subside, within a week or so, which will allow him to do the show without serious challenges from callers.

Yes, the callers could very well drop off after an initial week or two, but that doesn’t mean anyone is listening.

In his arrogance, Finneran believes he understands the world of talk radio as well as the legislature. But he’s about to learn a very tough lesson, as he realizes he’s working for a station whose audience simply doesn’t want him, in an industry where he doesn’t belong.

This is why Kahn is all but sure to lose the war: she thought she could force her will onto the listening public. When this goes bad, as it most certainly will, Kahn will go right down with him.

Herald: Finneran Announcement Tomorrow

The least surprising story of the day is that WRKO expects to announce Tom Finneran’s hiring tomorrow at 11am, according to the Herald.

In establishing this site, we never expected to change Julie Kahn’s mind. She’s bound and determined to bring WRKO to its knees and the next phase of the station’s comlpete destruction will begin tomorrow. Opposition, no matter how strong, only forces a person with this mentality to further dig in her heels.

Kahn is simply never going to admit that she has no idea how to program a talk radio station.

At the same time, her determination to rescue a crooked convicted felon friend with no experience hosting a daily talk drivetime talk show seems not to have set off any alarm bells at Entercom headquarters in Pennsylvania. That isn’t surprising either.

While her huge ego and astounding arrogance will eventually be her undoing, for now, she’s still being protected at some level of the company.

In the meantime, all it would take is for about four of Howie’s callers to bring Finneran to the point of exploding into an uncontrollable rage.

The Publicity Trap

If you’re one of WRKO’s managers, the Tom Finneran “deal” must look wonderful right now.

After all, Boston’s news media outlets are tripping over one another to get the latest details on Boston’s political Felon du Jour and his impending radio gig.

And a couple of the columnists at local dailies are sure Finneran will be a hit. Meanwhile, their car radios are locked in on NPR for the drive home from Boston.

How can all of that Finneran publicity do anything but help WRKO?

In a nutshell, this is why talk radio stations occasionally fall into the publicity trap. It’s the same mentality that brought Al Franken and Janeane Garofalo to Air America.

The day Finneran kicks off his first show, the Globe can be counted on to be in studio to chronicle his initial moments on the air. Ditto for Channels 5, 7 and 25. Isn’t it great?

Beyond those first days, however, Finneran’s talk gig will become old news and local media outlets will get bored, moving on to the next topic.

At the same time, Finneran’s lack of real on-air experience will begin to show after these initial programs. While many people, politicians in particular, have one or two decent shows in them, keeping it going beyond that is the downfall of almost all of them in this medium.

The truth is that it takes years to learn how to do talk radio correctly and beyond that, it’s necessary to have a basic level of talent that most wonkish politicians don’t possess.

And worse, someone with Finneran’s sheer level of arrogance and thin skin isn’t used to dealing with people who disagree with him. In fact, this could very well become a show that simply can’t take calls, given that Tom would be forced to lower himself to the level of the little people.

As a result, after a one-month ratings spike as people tune in out of curiousity, the sad reality will kick in: there isn’t a constituency for a Finneran talk show and there never was.

Experienced talk radio programmers know all of this, but Julie Kahn does not.

ELSEWHERE: my Radio Equalizer site will be down until sometime after noon today.

Sleazy Talk Deal Means Felon Avoids Punishment

Despite the new felony conviction of a sleazy, unpopular former Democrat Party legislator, a key WRKO / Boston manager continues to dig in her heels on a dubious programming move, seemingly without regard for the damage it will do to the station.

Meanwhile, disgust over former Massachusetts House Speaker Tom Finneran’s felony conviction yesterday continued to generate anger today, particularly over the light “punishment” received for his guilty plea on perjury charges.

Here’s a newspaper editorial (and another here) that sums up the situation perfectly:

Somewhere in the definition of arrogance lies a propensity for saying things even the speaker knows aren’t true, a tendency to intentionally overreach, even when it’s not necessary, to remind everyone else that you can get away with anything.

That may be the best explanation for why Tom Finneran lied on the witness stand in a civil suit challenging a legislative redistricting passed by the House in 2001. Even in a town that has produced such paragons of arrogance as Billy Bulger and John Silber, Finneran’s arrogance can be breathtaking.

Everyone knew Finneran’s fingerprints were all over the redistricting map; that’s how the redistricting process works. But, when called to testify about the action, he said he had no role whatsoever in designing the map in question.

That part of Finneran’s testimony was so unbelievable that the judge questioned it in a footnote in the opinion ruling the new districts violated the civil rights of minority voters in some Boston neighborhoods. That footnote inspired an investigation by the U.S. Attorney’s office and an indictment of the then-house speaker for perjury. The case was closed yesterday, with Finneran pleading guilty to obstruction of justice.

If not for WRKO’s interest, however, Finneran really would take a hit, as he is losing his pension, right to vote, carry a weapon or run for office. In addition, his plum job overseeing the state’s biotech council is now said to be on shaky ground.

As a result, it’s really WRKO’s Julie Kahn who is determined to ensure that Finneran escape punishment, as she’s standing at the ready with a pot of gold to reward a notorious Beacon Hill crony.

This is despite Finneran’s lack of talk radio experience, in fact, he’s yet to do a single show on the increasingly- troubled station. Nobody knows if Finneran could last a month without realizing just how difficult it is to host a daily drivetime talk show, much less be entertaining or compelling. Most former politicians fail in talk radio for this very reason.

As an insider with many fellow crooks to protect on Beacon Hill, Finneran is the opposite of what one would consider a potentially successful host to be. Instead of taking on corruption, he’ll be there to defend it, as a convicted felon himself.

For an example of what does work, look to WRKO’s Howie Carr, (seen in this photo) who has spent decades skewering the very people Finneran protects, with the ratings to back up his rhetoric. He spent most of yesterday’s show lambasting Finneran, with callers in full support of Carr’s position.

That’s why this deal, which would pay Finneran many times more than even experienced hosts could ever expect to make, appears dirty more than anything else. At the salary level on the table now, even the best potential ratings and revenue could never hope to make up for his high cost. Finneran may very well end up making more than Carr, which smacks of shady dealing in itself.

In addition, in a concession to his clear lack of attributes for hosting a daily morning drive show in a large market, Finneran will likely be paired with a co- host. That brings the overall cost into the stratosphere, up to Air America levels.

Beyond the sleazy Finneran deal, Kahn has been busy rearranging WRKO’s schedule to fit her own liberal political beliefs, rather than maintaining the conservative programming that has served the station very well for years. That’s despite the utter failure of libtalk in the Boston market.

One WRKO host even switched his previous on- air opposition to moonbat Governor Deval Patrick to a supportive stance, which probably saved his job, at least for the short run. However, the moment his views conflict with Kahn’s, even by accident, expect him to go as well.

Clearly, at no point is there any consideration of what would build an audience or an advertising base, it’s simply one of the nation’s worst radio managers forcing her own will upon a listenership that is already scrambling for alternatives.

Due to her clear lack of programming expertise, Kahn has yet to learn what will be a painful future lesson: you can’t force an audience to listen to what are your own personal tastes.

Julie, if you have any questions about this, simply contact the many former Air America executives who are now busy clogging unemployment lines in New York City.

UPDATE: Boston Globe now reports Finneran will likely lose the biotech position:

Thomas M. Finneran, the former speaker of the Massachusetts House of Representatives who pleaded guilty yesterday to obstruction of justice, will likely lose his $416,000 a year job as president of the Massachusetts Biotechnology Council after its board of directors meets Monday to decide his future, according to a person familiar with the board’s discussions.

Finneran is hoping to keep his post as the state’s top biotechnology lobbyist despite pleading guilty to a felony, said another source who is close to him. Allies and legislators have been calling board members to express their support for Finneran.

But the guilty plea makes Finneran too much of a liability to keep as spokesman for an industry dealing with important regulatory and public-relations issues, said the source familiar with the board’s discussions. The 20-member panel, which includes executives from biotechnology and drug companies with offices in Massachusetts, is ultimately expected to ask Finneran to resign.

Finneran is in discussions with the radio station WRKO to host a talk show, a job he was hoping to take while keeping his biotech post, said a person close to the former speaker.

AMAZING: Finneran hopes to “phone in” the radio job while keeping the biotech position! Apparently he has no concept of prep time or what it might take to pull off an entertaining daily show. This is already shaping up to be a major disaster.

Con Job: Crooked Politician May Be Dumped On Talk Radio

Let’s get this straight: a tired, sleazy former Massachusetts Democrat legislative leader with a notorious “insider” reputation who just pled guilty to federal perjury charges (today!) is now ready to be forced upon an unwilling conservative talk radio audience. What gives?

That’s the sad outcome likely awaiting fans of Boston’s WRKO- AM, some of whom have been holding out hope that the station’s recent self- destructive kick could somehow be stopped before it is too late.

If former House of Representatives Speaker Tom Finneran is in fact hired to take over morning drive at the station, despite having no experience holding down a daily talk show, expect WRKO’s remaining listeners to take a hike. (See important disclosure note in the comments section)

How is talk radio compatible with a career hack who has spent his life protecting and promoting the very cronies the station has successfully taken on for decades? It’s like oil and water.

If WRKO’s interest in him seems bizarre, join the club. Beyond one stubborn manager’s insistence that the inexperienced and unproven former politician take a key morning drive slot, there is virtually no public call, much less a potential audience, for a Tom Finneran talk show.

Making the situation even more hard to comprehend is the fact that Finneran reportedly wants a substantial pay package, one which would likely top the $540,000 he currently receives as head of the Bay State’s Biotechnology Council.

That is at least five times what the current morning drive host, Scott Allen Miller, is thought to make and not even in the ballpark of rational industry norms for such a position.

How is an unproven non- talker in a position to ask for this kind of money? Beyond Air America, who would be crazy enough to give it to him?

Meanwhile, the biotech council is currently weighing whether to even keep Finneran in their employ, but a new Boston Globe story indicates that he may very well hang on after all.

The very public negotiations have been a source of embarrassment for WRKO, a once- proud megatalker that has been torn to shreds in the past several months by Julie Kahn, a station executive who lacks any real talk radio programming experience whatsoever.

But the weirder Kahn’s moves appear, the more she seems to dig in her heels, despite her lack of expertise. It’s a triumph of ego over ability.

In fact, WRKO’s rapid implosion has been so unusual and shocking to watch that it will be the subject of an upcoming Radio Equalizer follow- up report. While the station’s mess has been the talk of the industry for several months, the station’s parent company has yet to intervene. But that could change at any time.

In the meantime, when will radio managers learn they simply can’t force bad programming down the throats of their soon- to- be- former listeners? When they are finally forced into the unemployment lines?

Above all, simply because they have nowhere else to go, why should sleazy criminals from the world of politics be dumped onto the talk radio business? What have we done to deserve this destructive force?

UPDATE: Stubborn as a mule, Kahn still continues to press for Finneran, despite his lack of experience or known abilities in this arena. More on the plea deal here.

UPDATE: Finneran is now officially a convicted felon and there are conflicting newspaper reports on the fate of his biotech job:

Disgraced former House Speaker Tom Finneran pleaded guilty to obstruction of justice today avoiding jail but thrusting his job, pension and future career as an attorney all into jeopardy.

Finneran admitted his guilt – and apologized for it today – in federal court. The guilty plea means:

- He must serve 10 months of unsupervised probation.

- He loses his right to vote and carry a gun.

- He agreed to not run for political office for five years.

- He must pay a $25,000 fine, which his lawyer said he would pay today.

The deal will also require a referral to the Massachusetts Board of Bar Overseers, which will disbar him, or at least suspend the longtime lawyer’s right to practice law, a source close to Finneran said.

The felony conviction also means Finneran will lose his $2,575-a-month state pension, which he earned through 26 years of public service. Under state law, a government employee’s pension can be cut off if he is convicted of a felony connected to his job. Finneran’s admission of guilt stems from misleading testimony he gave in a civil trial over the drawing up of legislative districts in 2001 while he was House speaker.

His $500,000-a-year lobbying job with the Massachusetts Biotechnology Council also appears in jeopardy. MBC officials declined comment last night, but sources said the board was caught by surprise and is not pleased with the outcome of the case. Finneran had long maintained his innocence and vowed to fight the charges when he stepped down as House speaker and took the MBC president’s job in 2004.

Finneran, who is expected to land a plum talk-show host gig, could continue lobbying since there are no state laws barring convicted felons from being registered lobbyists, officials said.

Finneran, holding back tears, told the federal judge today he is sorry for what he did.

‚ÄúI embarrassed myself. I shamed myself. I apologize to you … I apologize to my constituents and I apologize to the people of Massachusetts,‚Äù he said.

Boston Globe says the biotech council will wait until at least Monday to decide whether to fire him.

Meanwhile, WRKO’s Howie Carr and his callers are busy blasting Finneran on the air during Friday’s show.