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Additionally, is this ruling stating that Howie is being forced to accept the Entercom offer? Forced?

—Howie contract was due to end 9/19/07
—Howie announces Greater Media gave him an offer
back in July
—Entercom matches the offer (allegedly)
—The judge rules that Entercom is entitled to match
the offer—and it’s implied _Howie is being forced to
accept it_! He can’t just say, OK, but no thanks? Thus
he is forced to extend his contract another 5 years
for an employer he doesn’t want to work for.

What does he do now—say something nasty on the air
and get fired? Then he can join WTKK?

I hope he appeals it; what else can he do? Sit
out radio? Return to a station he hates to
work for? Appeal? Or even go to WTKK anyway
and risk a lawsuit (THAT would be a given) from
Entercom. In the meantime listeners suffer
with more Not-The-Howie-Carr-Show.

We’ll have to wait to hear from Howie and
his lawyers.

Is Howie indeed the puppet that Entercom
portrays him to be in the new feature on
the ‘RKO site?

Maybe Howie should have kept his mouth
shut and waited for the contract to end
and then “accept” the Greater Media offer.

Note that it was said that WRKO, in matching
the competiting station’s offer, “ratcheted
up the pay”. So does this mean that Howie gets all those performance incentives WTKK was
offering, since that would be a “match”?
(Or were those offers added AFTER the
original offer?) Does this mean Howie gets a morning show on ‘RKO because that was one
of his demands?

Unless legal action changes things Howie
could be working for an employer he doesn’t
like for the next 5 years. And in the
short term, listeners suffer with Howie
OFF air.

More Entercom follies, from today’s Herald, about their
former morning show host—who claims that an insider at
WRKO trashed his Wikipedia entry:

by Jessica Heslam, in today’s Herald:

A former WRKO radio host says he’s keeping his “legal options open” after someone at his former station allegedly maligned his Wikipedia entry by adding that he was “heavy into Satan worship” and “enjoys sex with wild pigs.”

Scott Allen Miller, who was replaced by Tom Finneran in morning drive slot in February, learned on Friday that his entry had been altered. Every computer connected to the Internet has an IP address, which Miller said he traced on the Internet to Entercom Communications, owner of WRKO (680 AM).

Miller said he reported the vandalism to Entercom’s IT manager, Sid Schweiger, who verified that it was an address registered to Entercom. Miller said no one at Entercom has reached out to him.

“It just shows that months later, after I’ve gone, somebody there thinks it’s cool to use a company computer to go online and take shots at me for no reason,” Miller said.

“They’re legally obligated to stop that kind of thing,” Miller said. “I am keeping all of my legal options open.”

The derogatory and graphic references to Miller were added in September and someone later corrected it, the former WRKO talk host said. Miller said Entercom is responsible for “the action of its employees on its network, and I would expect them to take responsibility for that.”

However, Entercom Communications said yesterday it is not investigating. Several bloggers, including Miller, have reported the incident.

“This sounds like the silly season,” said George Regan, spokesman for Entercom. “I know Halloween is coming up, it’s right around the corner, and we’re not going to get involved in this lunacy.”

When Miller left the station, he said he and Entercom executives signed a non-disparagement agreement. “We’re both bound by this mutal non-disparagement clause that prevents us from slinging mud at each other,” Miller said, “and I’ve lived by that.”

Unless legal action changes things Howie could be working for an employer he doesn’t like for the next 5 years. And in the short term, listeners suffer with Howie OFF air.

One can only assume that Howie sought the advice of a lawyer (a good lawyer) before having signed that contract five years ago.Two judges now have declared the clause(s) in question to be legally binding on both Howie and RKO.Could it be that Howie got lousy advice from his lawyer five years ago or was he not paying attention when said lawyer explained the "we're allowed to match any competing offer" clause to him?

And....although I like Howie a lot I must point out that Howie has always said that "if someone claims it's not about the money,you know that it is" and now *he's* claiming that it's not about the money.