Posted on 06/01/2012 9:41:32 AM PDT by raccoonradio
BANGOR, Maine — On Thursday afternoon, Dale Duff and Clem LaBree were preparing for their 4 to 6 p.m. sports talk show on Bangor radio station WZON-AM 620. At 1:30 p.m., Duff was editing and cutting highlights of Wednesday night’s Boston Red Sox and Boston Celtics games.
Fifteen minutes later, Duff and LaBree were told they were out of their jobs immediately.
Duff, who writes a blog for Bangor Daily News, was the sports director and sportscaster and LaBree was a reporter and sportscaster.
Duff was hired by station owner and best-selling author Stephen King 19 years ago to be the sports director of the state’s first 24-hour sports talk station. It was King who delivered the news on Thursday, Duff said.
“He said we were losing too much money. He said it didn’t have anything to do with broadcast quality,” said Duff. “He thanked us for our hard work.”
Duff said he and LaBree cleaned out their desks and left the station for good Thursday night.
He said they will receive severance packages.
The Zone Corp. has undergone a number of changes in recent years.
The 24-hour, all-sports format was ditched in favor of a progressive liberal talk show format in November 2010.
(Excerpt) Read more at bangordailynews.com ...
Enjoyed audiobook of his 11-22-63. Stick to writing, Stevie.
REDRUM!!!
So a SPORTSreporter and another SPORTSreporter were doing their SPORTS show on a station that stopped doing sports months ago. Got it.
The Obama depression must be wrecking havoc with his portfolio.
Maybe if only the 2 hour SPORTS gives way to 2 MORE hours of libtalk,King will make money ..........LMAO!!!!!!!
Yes though I guess they do carry Red Sox games.
Some comments from the BDN:
>>Is King part of the 1 per cent the Left loves to hate?
>>Huh, Liberal Talk radio hemorrhaging money , forcing lay offs. Big surprise.
>>Is it possible to be a big fan of Mr. King (and Mrs. King) for all they have done for the city but not a fan of liberal talk radio? I don’t listen to any political talk radio. Sports talk and music. Maybe if the station would have stayed all sports times would be better. Far be it for me to advise the King’s though.
>>This shows the looney left true colors...” we need more unemployment”...S. King...what a bone head!!!!
>>I used to listen to Randi Rhodes, Al Franken, Ed Schultz when they
had Air America. After awhile I began my quest to see what the “other”
side was saying. Now I can understand why liberal talk radio never
could survive. Randi and Schultzie were drunks and Al was just what he
still is, a clown. Their whining was just that, whining. I called good old
Schultzie one time when he had a newly elected senator on and was going
to grill him as to why the dems wouldn’t impeach Bush. Schultzie did
everything but say he got a tingle down his leg and never asked the senator
the tough questions. I had to tell him I was disappointed in his slow pitch
questions as opposed to the ones he said he was going to press. At the time
I was a die hard koolaid drinker and wanted him to be tough. I have found all
the libber talk shows just tell us how terrible anyone is who dares say something
that either shows them to be stupid or goes against any marxist beliefs. These
people are plain socialists and are finally showing what they really are even
to admitting it on air. As a democrat I can say, they disgust me and are even
going further left than I can accept.
>>It's ironic that a station that airs angry rhetoric about "evil corporate capitalism" would abruptly cut it's staff without warning to save money. Steven King lives a life of double standards but no one will call him on it because he is the beloved philanthropist of Bangor who writes twisted books.
>>funny it was a good sports station until the liberal BS took over. Should push the lever on the talk show side and let it flush down. Maybe obama can invest in WZON .
>>This is too bad. Shifting the station from its core competency (sports) to being a liberal talk show station was a poor decision and was probably the result of King wanting to drive his own agendas. It's his radio station and he can do what he wants, but it's a shame to see local people lose jobs over a decision to make an unnecessary change.
LIBTALK FAIL....
apparently this sports show (I think on the AM side only) gets replaced with Randi Rhodes. Yeah that’ll work.
Pingarooni, former King fan!
He was a great writer when he simply wrote to entertain. Take a hint Stevie, your Constant Readers feel the same as your (former) Constant Listeners!
But 11-22-63 was awesome. I grew up in the 60s and his prose that dealt with the South in the 60's hit the mark with me. Felt like I was back there living it!
Ha! King is the 1 per cent!
>>Stephen King is a Maine-based author with an estimated net worth of $400 million dollars. Stephen King has sold more than 350 million copies of his novels worldwide and has published 49 books, many of which have become popular films or mini-series,
http://www.celebritynetworth.com/richest-celebrities/stephen-king-net-worth/
Finished audiobook of 11-22-63 yesterday. Yes. So, if JFK wound up surviving and winning a second term, maybe RFK
doesn’t run in ‘68...would Jake Epping’s action save
Kopechne’s life? (she was one of RFK’s boiler room girls)
But, reset...
On Mon. a daytrip to Maine. (Didn’t bring camera). Saw the Worumba Mill and Kennebec Fruit Company (former closed for good, latter—Moxie T shirt HQ—closed for the day) in Lisbon Falls. Tried a Moxie for the first time earlier (bought at gift shop of
Seashore Trolley Museum)—liked it.
Life can change on a dime.
Fire them immediately??? Gee, Stephen. That doesn't sound too "progressive" of you. It sounds more like something that one of those evil Bain Capital excutives would do.
King is a borderline communist...when WZON used to carry Rush Limbaugh; King purchased the station and changed the format, just to silence Rush. Natch, another station picked up Rush immediately...that same station continues to broadcast Limbaugh to this very day, while ZON stumbles around in the Twilight Zone.
Another lib proves that libs can’t run even a small business. Why in the world do voters think putting them in charge of running the country is a good idea?
There's a sure sign you're doing something wrong...
Has she knocked out her two front teeth lately, while howling drunk? Usually happens more than once if you are so inclined.
That hag is quite the pig. The falling down drunk, knocking her own teeth out thing, a few years back was quite telling.
I always chuckle, when driving through one of the few markets that she or Special Ed is on, at how smart they try to come off. Dumb as a box of rocks.
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