That's Howie Carr's friend "VB", right? Why did he get laid off?
I'm not a regular listener of WRKO, so I haven't heard VB's show. I listen to Howie daily on WHYN 560 (Springfield, MA). We live in CT, between Hartford and Springfield.
However... I did hear the announcement that Howie's sidekick -- Grace Curley -- will be getting her own show on WRKO starting in early January 2021. 12 noon - 3 pm slot. Tough competition vs. Rush Limbaugh (assuming Rush stays healthy).
Grace is talented, but... hosting a daily 3-hour show??
Yes.Doug Goudie was nicknamed Virgin Boy
by Howie tho he just calls himself VB, claiming it stands for Victor Bravo.
VB co produced Howie going back to
the 90s.
Around 2003 VB left to be part of
Fox 25 Boston morning news. Cox
Broadcasting swapped some stations—
Fox wanted to own their affiliate in
San Francisco— so Cox got Ch 25.
They laid off VB.
WRKO hired VB and he was part of the
morning show till he got his own
noon slot. iHeart owns WRKO and
also WXKS 1200 in Boston. Rush is on
1200.
IHeart is deep in debt and wants to
save money.They had a bunch of layoffs
including VB. Howie “owns” his show and
WRKO is an affiliate. Howie and WRKO
can make money with ads. Now the new
Grace Curley show will also be owned
by Howie. So instead of iHeart paying
VB salary and benefits, they wind up
carrying Grace’s show.Grace works for Howie and will continue to do so.
Anyway, iHeart gets to save money
by carrying a show produced and owned
by Howie. Howie may even try to syndicate
Grace.
Believe it or not Rush doesn’t quite get the ratings in Boston that you’d expect.
iHeart runs him on 1200 and had VB,
and will have Grace, on WRKO.
Premiere Radio is part of iHeart and
syndicates Rush.
With over 500 affiliates Rush does
well for iHeart, though talk radio
has declined in recent years in
ratings and earnings. In 2008
iHeart/Premiere signed Rush for
$50 M per year for 8 years. When
that expired, they renewed him for
an undisclosed salary and period of
time...but it was rumored to be much
less.
So Grace will competing against Rush...
but iHeart owns both stations.
Rush is terminally ill as we know....
Grace certainly means well but often lacks depth and her 30-minutes on Howie’s NewsmaxTV’s hour is waaaaay too much.