Posted on 08/22/2007 7:41:21 AM PDT by LIBERATENJ
My mom just called to tell me that Bob Grant is on WABC radio right now. I turn on the radio and sure enough he is. Anyone know when this began. It's great to hear him on the air again. The TRUE king of talk radio.
He’s been on all week, filling in for John Gambling while he’s on vacation. I think tomorrow is his last day, not sure though.
He’s been back doing various substitute host roles at different times for the past three weeks.
Now get of my computer you fake, phony, fraud!
LET’S BE HEARD!!!
Straight ahead!
Never heard of him. Must be a New York thing? They think everything from there is the “King of...” what ever. Even if no one in the rest of the country ever heard of it/them/him/etc.
That said, Bob Grant is pro choice on abortion and he’s cut-and-run on Iraq.
Bob should stay retired. When he talks about those two items, he sounds like the Sfachim.
Confirmed: Bob Grant taking evening spot at WABC
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/1884809/posts
What is he? 90?
I remember listening to him in the ‘70’s
Get off my phone you fake, phoney, fraud!
Oh Jeez
Its the March of the Gabones!!
Now GET OFF MY PHONE!
YOUR influence counts. YYYYYYUse it!
SaveWRKO.com/RadioEqualizer blogger Brian Maloney is
reporting the same thing. Getting 8 to 10 pm slot. I never
really heard Grant other than when he did a couple
guest shots on with Hannity, plus former WRKO talker
Jerry Williams used to talk about Grant.
http://www.savewrko.com/archives/2007/08/confirmed_bob_g.php
He ran a nation wide syndicated show for a short while. About the time that the gagazotes started wearing him down.
78 years old, I guess, and yes I guess this is where
Mark Levin got his “get off the phone you big dope”
routine...?
Holy Cow! Who is Bob Grant?
Never heard of ‘Bob Grant’. The only KING of talk radio is Rush Limbaugh!!
more via Radio Equalizer blog (same guy as SaveWRKO)
*** Exclusive To The Radio Equalizer ***
by Brian Maloney
Eleven years after his termination over a poorly-received comment about Commerce Secretary Ron Brown’s death, conservative talk legend Bob Grant is set to return to New York City’s WABC-AM, according to high-level industry sources.
An official announcement is set for later today.
Grant will assume the 8-10pm slot vacated by Jerry Agar, who was hosting the show from a studio in Kansas City. Until early 2006, Grant held down afternoon drive at fossil-talker WOR-AM.
While continuing to enjoy popular support in New York City radio circles as well as industry respect, there are questions about whether Grant is a good fit for WABC’s long term needs. At 78, he remains a legend, but it’s hard to imagine this run as more than one last lap around the track.
Paving the way for his return was the recent ownership change at ABC Radio, with Citadel Communications taking over from Disney. That takeover has meant that a lot of the previous quirkiness (and fear of on-air controversy) has been swept away, which overall should be good for talk radio.
In the big picture, talk radio is still failing terribly at building the next generation of talkers who can move it forward. As it now stands, the medium appears to be milking its oldest hosts until their final days. When they are gone, does radio’s most important format simply shut down?
Actually, even Rush admitted listening to Bob. He and Bob used to share the same studio for a while. He was truly the first at a time when talk radio was only a New York kind of thing.
If you ask all the talking heads today, they mostly will admit to listening intently to Bob.
“taking over from Disney.”
The Disney people hated Bob more than Algore hates Bush.
He blasted every body. He got fired from ABC over some black controversy. Was immediately snapped up by WOR and I lost track after that.
When liberals take potshots at conservatives, accusing them of racism and bigotry, you can look to Bob Grant.
He used racist and bigoted language 30 years and got away with it because he was a cash machine for the station.
Rush gets called a racist because of what liberals think he says, or worse, for the things they make up about him.
Grant is a racist for what he actually says.
Bob, Rush and Lynn Samuels were at ABC at the same time. It was always funny hearing Bob first come on, after he was just dealing with that squawking moonbat in the hallway.
Carolyn
That's good news. I'm in the car at that time, and I can't take Agar.
Bob Grant is cool!
Grant then, was his sonic progenitor..
Grant is a racist for what he actually says.
Such as???
The despicable comments about Ron Brown were more than enough. It’s been many years, but making fun of his callers’ accents, referring to David Dinkins as a Men’s Room attendant, telling callers to go back to their own countries... the list is so long it would take a whole thread.
David Dinkins was a horrible mayor... one of a long line of horrible mayors. There were plenty of ways to express revulsion at the horrible things he did without descending into bigotry.
Rush does it every day with humor and intelligence.
My grandfather spoke with a thick Sicilian accent after living here for more than 70 years. He was a great American who loved his country. Yet Grant made it a practice to ridicule people (especially West Indian callers) before they could even get out a complete sentence.
We can’t criticize hate mongers like Jullianne Malveaux, et. al., and condone the hate-filled rants of so-called conservatives like Bob Grant.
I don't know what else he said about Brown but he was under investigation for corruption for selling trade missions. Grant's comment hardly need be racially motivated.
The Dinkins' comment was apparently about him wearing a white dinner jacket at a function.
Has he made racially insensitive comments? No doubt, but I'm not sure the two specific incidents you mention are necessarily racially-motivated rather than taken as such because of the target's ethnicity.
Three hours of Bob's WOR show used to be syndicated in San Diego. I found him shocking and abrasive. His show was a radical departure from the rather sleepy talk programming I'd heard to that point.
Well, maybe not King of Talk.
King of the Reo Diner, absolutely.
Now get off my phone, you mutant!
At first I listened to Bob Grant for the humor, but in the process of being entertained I was educated, and because of that most of my views today are conservative.
I was entertained by the way he dealt with some of his callers and that was mainly the reason I listened, but then I also started listening to WHAT HE WAS SAYING, not just how he was saying it.
My political views would most likely be different if I had not listened to Bob.
from radio industry guy Tom Taylor (note: “Disney-owned ABC never wouldve gone for this.”)
Hannitys always admired Grant as one of the progenitors of modern talk radio so its fitting that Bob made his on-air announcement about joining WABC on Seans show. And as for PD Phil Boyce he gets a chance to un-do something that the mouse-bosses at Disney forced him to do 12 years ago, when he had to leave corporate meetings in Florida and fly up to New York to fire Grant. That was because there was some not-so-magical Disney sensitivity about what Grant said re: Clinton Administration cabinet member Ron Brown, who died in a tragic 1995 plane crash. Boyce reluctantly made the plane ride North and hed probably tell you that it took the station 4-5 years to recover from losing its signature afternoon drive personality.
What makes Grant unique? It wasnt just Bobs thunderous pronouncements and sometimes irascible temperament. The WABC release correctly says that you listened to hear what kind of offbeat (sometimes nutty) callers would show up on his phone. Sometimes Bob would roar Get off my phone and hang up. What does Grants hiring do for WABC, which just enjoyed a strong Spring rating book? For one thing, I think its something that new Citadel/ABC Farid Suleman should some get credit for. Disney-owned ABC never wouldve gone for this.
Bob Grant will follow Mark Levin, in the 8-10pm slot.
And check how many syndicated shows originate at WABC: Rush Limbaugh. Sean Hannity. Mark Levin. Im not saying that spells syndication for Bob Grant, but its something to ponder as New Yorkers will have a new reason to listen to 770 at night. Grants hiring ends a punishing split-shift schedule for Jerry Agar, whos been creating separate shows for his hometown WLS, Chicago (9-11am) and then WABC (8-10pm). The Chicago Sun-Times says Jerrys wife and kids (aged 8, 12 and 15) will get a chance to see him around the house a little more. Okay, lets keep the speculation going one step further: what if Farid Suleman really does pull off a deal to hire Don Imus, for some kind of daytime shift at WABC? I dont know whether negotiations are underway, but based on the calls Im getting from the New York media, a lot of people sure expect that deal to be made, or at least attempted. Can Farid handle the flak surrounding Imus? Sure. He might even be looking forward to it with a smile.
guess it starts tonight? radio-info.com:
“Bob Grant comes home to WABC - starting tonight. Grant was one of Sean Hannity’s inspirations in talk radio, so it’s fitting that WABC let Bob reveal he’s returning to WABC - 12 years after he was fired - on yesterday’s Hannity show. The PD who was told to fire Bob back in 1995 is also the PD who gets to re-hire him: Phil Boyce. Things have changed since then, because the owner is no longer Disney, but Citadel. Grant will do 8-10pm weeknights for WABC, following Mark Levin. Meanwhile, the rumors continue in New York radio circles about the return of another fired personality: Don Imus.”
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.