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!)