Yeah just heard about it...he was saying he’d be off next week on vacation in Fla. etc...
the funny thing is Entercom took him back and seemed to grin and bear his criticism of them, etc., as long as he got good ratings. Maybe they are trying to save money now? Set him free then!
Howie Carr list ping. Yikes!
Not sure who’s filling in for Howie (he did hint at Col Hunt for a couple days, maybe Avi too?) but here are alternatives:
Jay Severin/Michele McPhee 96.9 Boston Talks
Sean Hannity 1200 Rush Radio
BY BRIAN MALONEY
SAVE WRKO
WRKO Yanks Carr Off The Air
by Brian Maloney, April 16th, 2010 at 10:58pm
With their station near death, WRKO managers have decided to pin the blame on Howie Carr, absolutely the only thing keeping what’s left of 680 AM afloat (other than perhaps Michael Savage, speaking from a ratings perspective).
They’ve apparently decided to yank him from the airwaves for a week, simply because thin-skinned, bitter, failed executives hope to shift blame away from their collapsing operation. From The Globies late this evening:
Conservative talk radio host Howie Carr of WRKO 680 AM has been suspended for a week, effective Friday, for publicly and repeatedly using his program to bad-mouth the station, a company executive said.
Julie Kahn, vice president and marketing manager for Entercom Boston, which owns the station, said Carr’s behavior toward his employer has become increasingly caustic and intolerable.
‘‘His behavior and his anger at the company is unacceptable because he denigrates the company, the medium, the station, the signal, and he’s a highly, highly, highly paid employee,’’ she said.
She declined to comment publicly on the exact trigger for the suspension, or its terms.
But a source with knowledge of the situation said the contretemps with Carr, which dates back to a bitter contract dispute in 2007, has escalated markedly in recent weeks and included verbal attacks on station managers.
Attacks on station managers? SO WHAT! What about ratings and revenue?
Or the other affiliates that carry Howie’s show throughout New England?
This is beyond pathetic, first, from the standpoint that The Empress, Coffee Boy and other corporate suits could still have their jobs after destroying Entercom’s (NYSE:ETM) Boston cluster, but also to think that the one person they choose to punish is their remaining lifeline to solvency.
Howie needs to find a new home and fast. WRKO is finished.
For their part, WXTK-FM, WGAN and the other Howie affiliates had better start thinking about a Plan B, another show to fill the slot, as I don’t believe Carr’s will be airing there much longer.
Note: Brian says maybe Howie’s affiliates would turn to something else but Howie could well be stuck at RKO till late 2012 by contract
Well, if they set him free, I sure hope Howie will quickly find another station who will take him, and keep his syndication (as I've mentioned before, we listen to Howie via WHYN 560, Springfield, MA).
In the Hartford, CT area we are still mourning the loss of our beloved and excellent conservative radio talk show host Jim Vicevich, whom I think was poised for expansion (syndication). Instead there was some "contract dispute" at the end of March, and now Jim is banished from flamethrower WTIC 1080 AM's airwaves.
The replacement for Jim's once-great show? Some nitwit has-been FM-type "shock jock" (wannabe IMO) babbling on non-stop for 3 hours - it is pure torture. "Sebastian's" show is disgusting and appalling. Never in my life did I think 84-year-old radio giant WTIC 1080 would sink this low.
Jim Vicevich's show lives on now via Blogtalk Radio, but in no way is it the same as before, and not as convenient as snapping on a radio at home or in the car. Now he gets a handful of loyal listeners per day, where before he had thousands (maybe even a million+). I'm becoming an infrequent listener now, where before I heard just about every show. It really sucks...