Severin, now syndicated, calls Howie top talk dog

The Boston Herald ^ | 03/17/2006 | Jessica Heslam

[Panerai]

Controversial radio host Jay Severin says Bay State Gov. Mitt Romney would make a “great president” and admits that former rival Howie Carr is the most influential voice on Boston radio.

“To be honest, I’d have to say Howie, now that I’m in a different time slot. There’s no question that Howie’s the big dog in local Boston radio,” Severin told the Herald during a trip to the Hub. “He’s a Boston legend.”

As for Romney, Severin said he’s one of the “smartest guys” in the country and speaks the language of “regular people.” “He’s the guy I want to see be president,” Severin said.

After four months off - much of that time spent mountain and ice climbing - Severin is back on the radio, two months into a nationally syndicated gig.

His show is heard in 44 states and big parts of Canada and Mexico. Locally, he’s on WTKK-FM (96.9) in Boston.

Severin was in the final year of his contract with WTKK last year when he struck a national syndication deal with Infinity, now CBS. Once Greater Media Inc. learned he’d be nationally syndicated, they took Severin off the air.

His syndicated show began in January and he’s now on evenings, not afternoons. “It’s splendid,” Severin said of being back on the air. “I missed it greatly.”

The so-called bad boy of radio says his biggest, most significant influences are Rush Limbaugh and Don Imus, who happens to be doing his morning show live today in Boston.

As for Severin’s on-air bachelor persona, don’t let that fool you, Severin actually yuks it up in a barn-turned-state-of-the-art studio near his Sag Harbor, N.Y., home where he lives with his wife and child. “I’m a country mouse,” said the New York City native.

[massgopguy]

Then you pay for them.

[surrey]

I much preferred it when Severin was on opposite Howie. I like Howie but he's a very poor speaker and some of his topics are really lame. If nothing else, Jay has a wonderful command of the English language and he despises Hillary with a passion. So how bad can he be?

[nygoose]

A few years back, I was working in New Hampshire and Maine and listened to Howie daily. He is very polite to his callers, very smart and very conservative.

[raccoonradio]

Thanks for the ping. I subscribe to the Herald but haven't
looked at today's paper yet!

I can take Severin in very short doses. He started off his
show Jan 3 (first one) by referring to the execution of
Tookie Williams "the other day" (huh? It was 2-3 weeks
before!!) and blew a noisemaker to celebrate (OK, that I
agree with).

Jay's real name and his marital status have been kept a secret for the most part, though people on radio-interest boards know it. On an early show, someone asked Jay how
his "lovely wife Renee" was doing. Jay angrily cut him off
saying, "You're just pulling a name out of thin air..."
OK, so Jay can keep his personal life secret if he wants but his on-air persona seems to be a young (no) single (no)
horny (maybe) guy.

Oh, and did you know he won a couple
Pulitzer prizes? He refused to discuss that on the
air (and no, he didn't win the prizes, he won the
"equivalent of them") and he keeps referring to
one Boston Globe columnist who challenged him on it,
Scot Lehigh, as "Scat He-Lies".

WPRO in Providence runs him on Sunday nights. Their
webpage was pointed to jayseverin.org by mistake:
that's actually an anti-Jay site (or Jay watchdog,
depending on one's point of view)

[raccoonradio]

Howie was syndicated "nationwide" for awhile, but it was very spotty--maybe 25 cities at best. He was on in places like
Wichita, Salt Lake City, Seattle, and some stations in
Maryland, Florida, and Wisconsin. Now he's on about a dozen
stations. He "lost" WVMT in Burlington, VT for awhile but they're back in his fold now (so that socialist caller from
Montreal can hear him again).

List of affiliates is at howiecarr.com

[cloud8]

Actually, Howie is the top Pug now.


(In case you're not from the Hub of the Universe, Howie recently brought home a pair of Pugs for his daughters.)

[Unam Sanctam]

Why would I pay for them? I said nothing about the issues involved. I'm for stricter enforcement. I just think that calling illegal immigrants names like "scum of the earth" or others that suggest subhuman status is inappropriate and hatemongering.

[Fishface]

Severin is dim. Laura Ingraham was much better.

I'll never forget Severin's election night 5:00PM prediction that it was over: "insiders know that there is no way Bush can win now."

The next day he pretended as if he never said such a thing.

The case for the Iraq War is simple:

1. Strategic Base of operations in the Middle East
2. Oil if we ever really need it
3. Creating a battlefied to fight terrorists in their own
back yard.
4. Making an example of a dictator that didn't cooperate.
5. Springboard for next step in the war on terror.

How people like Jay Severin can't see this is beyond me.

[Fishface]

Severin is dim. Laura Ingraham was much better.

I'll never forget Severin's election night 5:00PM prediction that it was over: "insiders know that there is no way Bush can win now."

The next day he pretended as if he never said such a thing.

The case for the Iraq War is simple:

1. Strategic Base of operations in the Middle East
2. Oil if we ever really need it
3. Creating a battlefied to fight terrorists in their own
back yard.
4. Making an example of a dictator that didn't cooperate.
5. Springboard for next step in the war on terror.

How people like Jay Severin can't see this is beyond me.

[go-dubya-04]

I'm not a huge Romney fan, as I feel he is gutless on a lot of conservative issues, especially his tepid pro-life stand when running for governor, but Jay knows Romney's positions very well. He was broadcasting out of Boston for years and just happens to like the guy.
Please don't chalk-up people's opinions that differ from our own to their ignorance of the issues

[theDentist]

I'm not doing that. I'm just saying that as Romney gets into the real puch and shove of Presidential politics, his positions will change. And as they do, Jay's opinion of him will shift. He'll probably still like the Romney, but he remains firm in how he treats politicians who cannot remain true to their convictions. We'll see for sure over the next year or two.

[go-dubya-04]

Your right about that changing of positions. That's the thing I can't stand about Romney ever since he ran against the "Senior Murderer" from MA in the 90s. I believe the fat bastard was beatable if Romney stuck to an aggressive conservative message but he wimped out during the debates and tried to "out-compassion" a liberal and he ended up looking like a spineless politician with no core beliefs.