Posted on 11/17/2006 12:56:04 AM PST by raccoonradio
WRKO radio today eliminated its entire news staff in a dramatic move station officials said is aimed at focusing full attention on its efforts to build an all-star talk lineup.
The AM station axed seven people, including news director Rod Fritz; news anchor and reporter Paul Tuthill; news anchors Listo Fisher, Mary Blake, Marga Bessette, Sharon Smith and part-timer Deb Daigle.
The cuts were effective immediately.
Slashing the news department - which included an award-winning team of veteran journalists - enables the Entercom-owned station to invest fully in its ‘‘core identity” as a talker, station officials said.
Sources say management wants a strong cast of personalities in place before WRKO begins broadcasting Red Sox games this spring.
“We’re not eliminating news. We’ve chosen to deliver it in another way,” Program Director Jason Wolfe told the Herald. “We’re just eliminating the need for a full service news department because we’re going to put our efforts and our resources into continuing to improve our talk format.”
In a statement, WRKO said it ‘‘will continue to talk about the news of the day through the ongoing dialogue between our show hosts and our listeners.”
With no news department of its own, Wolfe said WRKO will take advantage of digital technology. That includes beefing up its mobile media service and Web site. The station already runs news provided by the Associated Press, Fox News and the Herald on its Web site.
One initiative includes sending people up-to-the-minute, customized traffic reports to their cell phones. On the air, the local news will be outsourced and the national news delivered by Fox News Radio.
Two weeks ago, WRKO fired ratings-challenged talk host John DePetro after he called gubernatorial candidate Grace Ross a ‘‘fat lesbian” on the air.
WRKO’s current ratings aren’t helping the station.
In the key category of 25-to-54-year-olds, DePetro’s share dropped 50 percent, from a 2.2 in the spring to a 1.1 in the summer, according to numbers provided to the Herald.
In the same category, ‘‘Boston This Morning” dropped 68 percent; ‘‘The Scott Allen Miller Show” dropped 18 percent; Rush Limbaugh fell 42 percent; Herald columnist Howie Carr fell 11 percent; Todd Feinburg fell 17 percent; Michael Savage dropped 69 percent and ‘‘Coast to Coast” fell 26 percent.
Sources confirmed to the Herald that WRKO brass has been talking to former House Speaker Tom Finneran about a possible on-air role. The station has been interested in Finneran for some time.
Finneran was indicted last year on federal charges of perjury and obstruction of justice and the case goes to trial in January.
Sources say Finneran has been trying to get on WRKO on and off since Andy Moes died in 2001. Moes was the co-host of ‘‘Blute and Moes in the Morning.” Finneran has not returned phone calls.
I loved Rod Fritz -- he filled in a couple of times (for Howie Carr, I think), and he was great!
Yes it was a surprise to me--I could tell something was up tonight as I listened to Greg Jackson of Pundit Review
Radio filling in for Todd Feinburg. It was a very good
show--Jackson was talking about the legislature _breaking the law_ by recessing without voting on the vote for gay
marriage. A boneheaded rep from Danvers, Spiliotis, was
on, taking the heat.
And during the newsbreaks, there was Fox News at the top of the hour and at :20 and :40 past, a guy with a raspy
voice doing headlines, etc. Huh? Well now I know why.
Really too bad--Fisher, Tuthill, Blake, and the rest
were all very good.
WRKO actually has half decent ratings in "12 + over"
(these ratings can be seen by the public at
radioandrecords.com) but in 25-54 which is a more
valuable demographic, the news is not good apparently.
Could be WRKO/Entercom paid SO much for the Sox rights
that they have to cut corners somewhere. Shocking how
ratings plunged but note that Howie didn't lose as much
as others (he should be safe!). But Savage or Rush
may be gone, etc.
I had heard/read in papers that his (DePetro's) ratings had gone from 2.2 to 1.1 and that was one reason for him getting fired. But that was an inkling of things to come: they knew
that they'd probably be getting rid of him for that,
and the "fat lesbian" comment gave them an excuse. He
prob. would have been sacked anyway due to low
ratings and cost cutting.
But there is good news: Franken is leaving Air America
AND with Clear Channel being bought out, AAR might be
on even thinner ice--since in many cities (like Boston)
Clear Channel owns the stations that run Air America.
And if their ratings are low (they ARE: 0.5!), AAR
may not be long for your radio dial.
I can't believe they'd drop Rush. As I said, you've got to count the actual numbers, not just the percentages. And the article didn't give a timeframe: I know after the (awful) elections, my interest in politics dropped. I still listened to Rush (but usually reading or something while he was on), but for TV I've been throwing an I Love Lucy tape in -- all politicked out for a while.
Savage, on the other hand, well, I guess he's an acquired taste. I can't believe his numbers were ever as high as Rush's, so the percentage comparison wouldn't be meaningful.
I'm afraid you might be right about the Red Sox ruining everything. So do they want to be a talk station or a sports station? (Reminds me of that cable TV exec who was justifying high cable rates because "sports are expensive." Yeah? I hate sports -- all sports! Drop 'em all for all I care, or let people who actually like sports pick up the tab!)
Supposedly they have to pay to carry Rush and Savage (though I thought Savage was "free" to them) and this may be part of
cost cutting...Who knows.
I wouldn't be surprised if they tried to bring back
Peter Blute who now does mornings for WCRN in Worcester. May also wind up bringing syndicated Glenn Beck (they now run him Saturday nights) aboard. WRKO is kind of the "affiliate"
for Premiere, who has Rush, Noory, Drudge, and Beck.
It sounds like they're already doing lots of sports:
Celtics, Red Sox, and BC football, etc. with sister
station WEEI around to TALK sports.
Sports is hot talk radio--many stations who are
dropping Air America are picking up ESPN or
Fox Sports (cheap to run, yet makes ad money!)
Lots of discussion on this topic at link below. Be
forwarned: lots of anti-RKO posts (people who like
to dump on them all the time). Some posts by me...
http://www.radio-info.com/smf/index.php/topic,54644.0.html
People getting tired of politics? Or political talk? Who knows. Not me; I still listen.
I'm a news junkie.
When WRKO (Boston) plays sports, I stop listening.
When WTLK (Florida) plays sports, I stop listening.
Everything changed for the good after 9/11, but this nation's forgetting.
Those news guys and gals were terrific. This is WAY too bad....
NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!
< |:(~
Thanks for the ping.
Haven't been around much this week; should be back next Tuesday.
Hope Howie's still there then!
Can't believe he or Rush could be in trouble.
Rush does OK in the ratings--he's only dropped 11 per cent. Other hosts have dropped as much as 69 per cent!
Though a radio messageboard post said that if ad revenues at Howie's affiliate stations don't pick up, he MIGHT not be syndicated any more .
OOPS!
Meant to write HOWIE does OK in the ratings.
Do Howie's affiliates not do well with his show?
I remember the guy at one station e-mailing me to tell me his was their most popular show.
I'll have to have a look at Boston Radio Watch.
Well on the Boston-Radio-Interest mailing list one post said "Apparently, syndicators of the Carr show have been told that there are changes coming. The lack of ads on the syndication end of Howie's agreement might mean an end to the show being syndicated, but I don't honestly know."
that's all I'm going by
Thanks for linking this to your HC live thread.
What a shocker! Bye-bye Listo.
Way to ruin the station, Entercom. My prediction...as WRKO goes to more and more sports, Howie's going to find another home...on FM.
Best voice on radio.
I never thought I'd see the day. I'm listening to Rush right now and I hope his show on WRKO survives. I rarely listen to Howie, but I'd hate to see him go. He's an institution here, for Pete's sake.
I know a radio sales manager in Ohio and he told me that
25-54 year olds are the prime demo and when it comes to
talk, the older part of that group (maybe 45-54) is who
most listens to talk radio. Talk radio skews heavily toward men--but it's said women make most of the major retail
buying decisions. That could be why talk stations overall
are rated lower than you'd think.
It also might explain why WODS (went all-Christmas the other day) was so eager to go all-Yule. I'd think women more than men would find all-Christmas fun to listen to...and they'd
be exposed to all those ads. Sure, guys like me have
already taken WODS off our pre-sets (IT'S TOO EARLY!)
but women, especially 25-54 year old, are a prime
target for advertisers.
And women, it's said, don't listen to talk as much.
Howie is probably more safe than Rush but note how ratings
for Rush, Savage, and other shows dropped:
>>‘‘Boston This Morning” dropped 68 percent; ‘‘The Scott Allen Miller Show” dropped 18 percent; Rush Limbaugh fell 42 percent; Herald columnist Howie Carr fell 11 percent; Todd Feinburg fell 17 percent; Michael Savage dropped 69 percent and ‘‘Coast to Coast” fell 26 percent.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.