Posted on 07/10/2007 9:14:03 AM PDT by raccoonradio
Why in the world didn’t they pull the trigger on the extension? It makes no sense at all... I’d be firing some people this afternoon for blatant incompetence.
Once it’s decided that Howie can jump to ‘TKK, expect to hear Wolfie’s been fired...at least one rumor said that Julie Kahn
would give Wolfe the heave-ho if Howie did leave. They
are frantically trying to keep him, or at least delay
him moving to WTKK (or demand he stay off air for awhile,
“non-compete” etc.
This is the genius that radio sites and the Globe raved about.
Hey Entercom, where’s your messiah (Wolfie) now?
http://www.boston.com/news/globe/living/articles/2006/03/15/talk_of_the_town/?page=full
“’My initial goal is to make the station more exciting,” says Wolfe, 38. ‘’When you listen to WEEI, you feel that you have to sit up a little bit in your chair. It’s not background music. I’m not suggesting that ‘RKO is background music, but if we can somehow adopt that same philosophy in a way that benefits ‘RKO, I believe we will enhance the product.”
Radio Ink named Wolfe top programmer of 2005, and Talkers magazine publisher Michael Harrison says, ‘’Jason Wolfe is to talk radio what Theo Epstein is to baseball.”
He took one of the premier talk stations in the country and in no time at all destroyed it.
Now, if D&C jump to WTKK as was rumored, or the Big O decides to take a walk, say goodbye to the whole empire. All they’ll be left with are Sox games.
“Why in the world didn’t they pull the trigger on the extension? It makes no sense at all... “
Because I don’t think they really LIKE Howie Carr. He’s not really Jason Wolfe’s cup of tea. But since he has strong ratings, they can’t let a rival station have him.
Julie and Jason were probably hoping he would move to Florida.
BY SCOTT ALLEN MILLER:
...Lots of people want me to sound off on the whole Entercom/Howie/WRKO thing. I have kept my mouth shut about WRKO for a long time. Anything gracious I said would have been viewed as phony and I would have been accused of being vindictive if I said anything critical. There was a clause in my contract that allowed Entercom to match the salary of any radio station, just to keep me off the air. That clause expired yesterday. However, I am still bound by a non-disparagement clause that limits how much I can criticize Entercom and its management. I have to be careful what I say about WRKO and Entercom for fear of being sued. Please bear that in mind.
So allow me to put it this way: WRKO is done. As Bones used to say on Star Trek, "He's dead, Jim." Say good night, Gracie. Within a year, WRKO will no longer be a news/talk station, and that's sad. Boston deserves more quality talk radio, not less.
For many years, Howie Carr has been the tent pole that held up WRKO. Howie's show brought in most of the station's revenue. We're talking about millions of dollars. Those millions of dollars just packed up and drove to Morrissey Boulevard. No one -- not me nor anyone else -- can fill that void and immediately recoup those losses. It would take years and a long-term marketing investment to build a show as successful as Howie's. Entercom's shareholders don't have that much time to wait or that much money to invest.
And it's precisely this lack of a long-term commitment to building other successful programs that has left WRKO so vulnerable with the loss of just one show. Losing a successful drive time program like Howie's would be devastating to any station. But losing Howie especially hurts WRKO because Entercom has not invested in building up the station's ratings around him.
I should make it clear that this history of neglecting WRKO is not the sole fault of any one person and in fact it predates the launch of WTKK. When this new, strong competitor on the FM band backed by clever TV and outdoor advertising campaigns emerged in 1999, Entercom was content to let Howie carry the station without investing in talent, promotion, or marketing to new listeners. As a result, most of WRKO's existing audience began aging out of the 25-54 year-old target demographic while WTKK aggressively increased its share of "in demo" listeners. WRKO burned, Entercom fiddled, and now Howie is getting out while he can.
Good for him.
5. He takes the slot that Barnicle desperately wanted!
The fiction columnist didn’t want that slot.He’s too lazy to work every day.Plus his wife is the breadwinner.She’s a big wig for a bank in Boston(I forget which one)
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.