Posted on 04/03/2009 10:40:52 AM PDT by GreatDaggar
Beginning Monday, we welcome a name and voice familiar to many of you, deliver MORE from your favorite morning team, and say goodbye to a good friend and top-notch talk show host.
On Monday, the Grandy and Andy Morning Show will expand to 5 hours! The Grandy and Andy magic starts at 5am and won’t stop until 10am (or slightly earlier if Fred starts to choke on his daily ration of mixed nuts.) Between 5 and 9am, it’s all of the great stuff you’re accustomed to: 20 minutes of news and views commercial free at the top of every hour, opinion and analysis, lots o’ laughs, plus traffic and weather first on the 5’s. At 9am, Fred, Andy and Bryan tackle the big story of the day with plenty of your phone calls, an occasional guest and some great surprises.
We’re also pleased to welcome Joe Scarborough to 630 WMAL. The nationally syndicated Joe Scarborough Show will air between 10am-12noon. Joe is a former U.S. Congressman and current host of MSNBC’s Morning Joe. Mika Brzezinski, who serves as co-host on Scarborough’s morning television show, fills the same role on radio. The Joe Scarborough Show will offer thought-provoking commentary on the day’s leading issues and will feature many of the same A-list guests his television audience has come to expect.
Sadly, The Chris Plante Show has been cancelled. I will miss Chris (and I’d guess that I’m not alone.) He is passionate, smart, crafty, funny and unpredictable. I loved listening to Chris on the air and looked forward to our daily off-air strategy meetings (when Chris did the “cable” version of his show – if you know what I mean. Mark my words, Chris and his extraordinarily talented producer Geoff Holtzman will re-surface soon, I’m sure.
I’m excited that Joe and Mika will join our line-up. I’m thrilled that Grandy and Andy will keep us in stitches for 5 hours a day, but I will miss my friends Chris and Geoff.
Chris Plante’s show was my favorite on local morning radio. Provocative, insightful, and entertaining. I just tried listening to Scarborough’s show for an hour or so. Never again. It sucks bad. Really bad. Very juvenile. WMAL can probably kiss their advertising revenue goodbye from 10-12am.
I agree completely! Chris Plante’s knowledge of history was amazing, as well. His recall ability served him well in challenging callers to defend their arguments.
I contacted the WMAL Ops Director, and am pleased to see that it wasn’t a decision made by the station.
It doesn’t change my resolve to adjust my listening habits, though. I’m going to tune in Laura Ingraham on WTNT’s 570AM from 9 -12 from now on.
“Thanks for your email. First the headline: this was NOT a local decision.
I am truly saddened to see Chris go. He’s a great broadcaster and friend. As you may know, The Joe Scarborough Show is owned and distributed by Citadel Media/Broadcasting - the company that owns WMAL. This move was part of the company’s strategy to get programs that it owns on stations that it owns - something that’s not uncommon in the industry.
I’ve made my share of decisions at WMAL, however this one was not one of them.
Thanks again for your feedback.
Best regards,
Paul Duckworth
Operations Director
630 WMAL”
Yes, Laura Ingraham is on at the same time. First Michael Graham, then Chris Core, then Austin Hill, now Chris Plante. Seeya WMAL.
was it really because Core wasn’t bringing in ratings? I always thought he was fired because he was a 30-year veteran at WMAL and so commanded a higher salary compared to say, Chris Plante so firing Core was an easy way to cut costs.
At first I thought Chris has taken the day off, but then realized he’s gone. I think that new morning show is awful. It’s tough to take another hour of Fred and Andy as they are a bit lame. One of them tries too hard to be funny.
I like Rush and even better Mark Levin, who I think is as talented a radio broadcaster as Rush. But in the morning I’m switching over to Laura Ingraham, whom I didn’t know was on another station in that time slot.
I hope Chris Plante wasn’t fired because he made a group mad. Was it LaRaza or CARE or some America hating group that threatened to boycott because Chris cracked on their issue? I hope not. I listened to Scarboro this morning and it was bad. The girl sounded cute at first but I got tired of her after a short time. This was a bad move by you guys.
I emailed the station GM. I’m done. I will not listen to that station during the 9-12 time slot. Chris was great and Scarborough cannot hold a candle to him.
I really miss my daily dose of Chris Plante. He’s the reason I got more active in my local politics. An extra hour of Grandy and Andy is alright, but seriously?...Joe Scarborough? I’d rather catch Mancow and Laura Ingraham over on 530AM (even though that station in nearly all static in my area). I sure hope Chris gets another gig soon—I’d love to listen to him again.
I listen to Chris Plante as often as I can, and usually time my lunch break so that I can catch some of his show. He was one of the best Conservative voices on radio. I didn’t know until just now that they’d let him go. I heard some other host yesterday and today, I thought it was a fill-in. Then I heard a promo for him on the way home.
This is quite a disappointment. I’m really sorry to see this. I guess I’ll listen to something else in that time slot.
Joe was a wuss, kissing butt. He cried and got choked up over Obama’s speech in the Iowa primary. You can’t count on these wobbly “conservatives”. I think maybe he needs a shot of testosterone.
My name is Ed Johnson from Silver Spring MD and now that WMAL has dropped Chris Plante I will no longer listen to their station. First Chris Core and now Chris Plante. This is out of control.
Is he on XM?
I do NOT like Joe and Mika- they are zeros compared to Chris, and I will no longer listen while they are on, but will listen to all my other favorites-Love Eric and Gary, as well as the Great One, Rush and Sean.
Andromedastar1216
It is located in the Washington DC metropolitan area-WMAL -630 am
I liked Chris the instant I heard him.
But I hadn’t understood how small Chris’ reach was. While you WMAL listeners are, justifiably, upset, you may not realized that he had a couple hours on air here in the Tennessee Valley on WVNN replacing Heraldo Revera. Now we have a host out of Birmingham who does Alabama politics. Yea, that is important, but 2 hours on the state budget and road projects will only go so far.
I hope he comes back. Someday some bright station manager will put the trifecta together - Plante, Limbaugh, Levin. That would be nine hours of radio I wouldn’t miss.
The NappyOne
You should know by now that Plante has been back at WMAL in good standing (9-12) for the last 5 1/2 years.
I realized that right after I hit “post”. We still lost him after a very short stint in Huntsville. I liked him from the start. Same feel I had when I heard Rush for the first time. From the page on where to listen to him this was the only market outside DC he had. Too bad. His show is good enough for a national audience.
Right now we have 6 hours on local (Alabama) talk covered by two hosts, Rush, Savage (Plante here would be ideal to bridge me from Rush to Levin), and Levin.
I guess I will just have to stream or podcast him.
Thanks,
The NappyOne
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