Posted on 08/29/2007 11:00:29 AM PDT by raccoonradio
Howie Carr Show live ping
Howie’s column from today (which I already pinged to list
members, along with a Herald article about just how much
Howie could make if that WTKK deal goes through):
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1888380/posts
Have you seen this thread yet? Hope Howie talks about this next....what a doosey!!!
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1887586/posts?q=1&;page=401
Hope he does talk about it—has been brought up by Belling
(guy filling in for Rush) and others
see other thread—Richard Jewell, “the uni-bubba”, found
dead in home.
Thanks for the updates re Howie’s jump to FM.
you’re welcome. Some folks on radio-info.com (well, one
in particular) think that Howie probably won’t be able to
make those performance bonuses due to heavy competition
from other stations/shows so it would be far short of
$7 million for that contract. But Howie, from what we’ve heard, would like to go to FM...get a morning gig...
no Red Sox pre-emptions, etc.
Now it’s up to Entercom and Greater Media to settle all this.
Would he still be likely to have other affiliates if he jumped to WTKK or would he just be on 96.9?
And John Edwards also spends his money on $800+ haircuts.
A couple of links:
U of Wash Press The Boys of Boise
Book cover from 1966 The Boys of Boise
Some more details on the Howie legal mess, from the
Messenger blog at the Herald’s site
http://www.bostonherald.com/blogs/messengerBlog/
August 29th, 2007
Howie’s deal not a slam dunk
Posted by Jessica Heslam at 12:09 pm
Before WRKO radio host Howie Carr becomes WTKK’s multi-million dollar man, he needs to settle his legal woes, the Herald has learned.
WTKK’s July 9 offer, which could make Carr $7 million over five years, clearly spells out that before Carr takes over the FM station’s morning-drive slot, at least three of the following conditions must be met:
1. Carr doesn’t receive a matching or better offer from WRKO (680 AM) owner Entercom Communications.
2. Entercom agrees to wave its non-compete and right-of-first-refusal provisions.
3. Or, a court rules that the provisions are unenforceable.
Entercom matched the financial terms of WTKK’s offer within 24 hours. Carr then filed a lawsuit claiming the right to match provision in his WRKO contract is illegal. WRKO’s lawyers have filed a countersuit and say they have the right to match any rival offer.
In addition to the lucrative incentives at WTKK, Carr gets five weeks paid vacation and can negotiate talent fees for commercial endorsements for up to six separate clients each year.
I guess Emily Rooney is not fond of Howie; haven’t
read all of it yet but I do have an excerpt:
http://www.bostonmagazine.com/home/articles/_and_now_a_few_words_from_the_hosts/page3
EMILY ROONEY:
“I’m not a big fan of Howie Carr. I was a fan of Don Imus. I like Jay Severin. I like Michael Graham. I don’t think any of those guys, in their hearts, are mean-spirited. I think Howie is. I think his viciousness is genuine.
“The question is, what does it do for ’TKK in the morning? Because is that where I’m going to go? I was an Imus junkie. I really enjoyed the repartee, and I enjoyed the interviews. I liked the whole shtick.
“They’re [Howie’s audience] not going to be up at 6 in the morning.”
MY RESPONSE:
>>I was an Imus junkie
“I’d rather listen to the classy guys who call female basketball players ‘nappy headed hos’”
Well, get a job with the “corpse in a cowboy hat” (as Howie calls him), Emily “Thanks Dad” Rooney.
D’jever wonder who...really...cares? :)
Howie’s viciousness toward hack politicians and criminals is indeed genuine, ma’am, and that’s why we
like him. Well, most of us do. She is right, though, about at least one member of Howie’s audience
not being up at 6 in the morning. That’s because I’m sorting mail till 2:30 in the morning and need my
sleep and thus will have to record Howie’s new show (if it ever happens) on my comp. to hear later.
But many people will be able to hear Howie in the morning, even though you, Ms. Rooney, are
probably considering them the same way Leona Helmsley considered anyone who wasn’t rich
(”only the little people pay taxes”). Stuffy attitude, anyone? Rah-ther...
>>Rooney: My biggest fear in the world is boring people.
Same here. So I’m really scared of you, Emily :)
A $7 million Carr?
Howe Carr could – with superhuman ratings from the beginning of his five-year deal with Greater Media’s WTKK – bank as much as seven million bucks. But that headline camouflages the fact that more than half of that would come from his dangling-carrot bonuses. The thing is, Howie’s current employer, Entercom’s WRKO, claims it has a “right-to-match” privilege in his expiring contract. So presumably every time Peter Smyth over at Greater Media sweetens the deal to Howie through his attorney Bret Cohen, it causes more potential pain at Entercom. Now, the last time I wrote about some supposed difference between Peter Smyth and David Field at Entercom, I heard from both of those worthy gentlemen, insisting that there were only good vibes between them. I believe it – but this (as talker Bruce Williams would say) is “bidness”, and nothing but business. Entercom thinks it has a legitimate claim on renewing Howie. I ’m told that Howie, at this point, just wants out. And Greater Media has offered him this potential goldmine.
Howie Carr could make $800,000 a year just in bonuses – If…
It’s a big if: The Boston Herald’s Jessica Heslam says Carr (who’s also a Herald columnist) is eligible for a ratings bonus of $200,000 per quarterly Arbitron – if he finishes #1 25-54. But even third place wouldn’t be bad - $100,000. Fifth place with adults would be worth $70,000. And even if he’s a measly eighth place on FM talker WTKK, he’d pocket an extra $30,000. And here’s what he could count on: a first-year salary of $450,000. Then $500,000, $550,000, $600,000 and $650,000 in the out-years. I almost forgot – that “bonus” thing has another wrinkle. He’d get an extra $25,000 “premium” if he hits a bonus milestone during the Spring or Fall books, which are more important to buyers. And – if Howie can get disentangled from Entercom and can put on the headphones at WTKK by October 1, he gets a “signing bonus” of 50 grand. His current contract – the one Entercom wants to renew – expires September 19. How did Carr do last year at WRKO? The Herald estimates (very precisely) that he made $790,000.
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