Howie Carr Weekly Thread, week of Oct 22, 2007

HowieCarr.com ^ | 10/22/07 | raccoonradio

[raccoonradio]

Howie Carr weekly thread

[raccoonradio]

The Howie Carr Show live thread is now called the Howie
Carr Weekly Thread. It will come out on Sundays or Mondays
and there will be no guaranteed ping every day (Howie’s
radio status is in limbo) though you will be pinged if
there are Howie columns of interest, or news about Howie’s
situation etc.

From this week’s North East Radio Watch by Scott Fybush:

—
It’s not just the Curtis/Kuby/Imus transition that’s not going quite the way it was meant to go - in MASSACHUSETTS, Howie Carr continues to fight the ruling that’s preventing him from making the jump from Entercom’s WRKO (680) to Greater Media’s WTKK (96.9). Earlier last week, Suffolk Superior Court Judge Allen van Gestel ruled in Entercom’s favor, saying it had the legal right to match WTKK’s offer, and thus to keep Carr’s services locked up until 2012.

Carr and his legal team are appealing the ruling; Carr’s not returning to WRKO willingly; and in the meantime both WRKO’s afternoon shift (hosted, for the moment, by Todd Feinburg) and WTKK’s morning drive (where Michael Graham is holding forth for now) remain in limbo. (With, we’d note, the looming question of a new Boston home for Imus if he does indeed return to syndication - could that be WRKO’s cue to cut its losses on the flailing Tom Finneran morning show and install former WTKK fixture Imus in its morning slot?)

[rockabyebaby]

I can't believe the felon is flailing...lmao....why would RKO hire someone with no experience,,,,,,no need to answer that question! LMAO @ the felon and RKO,,,maybe they can replace him with Buddy Cianci,,,,not sure if he's still on the air in RI, I heard he's doing a dismal job as well which would make him a contender for a job @ RKO!

Miss you HOWIE!!!

[surrey]

I just wish they would resolve this mess and get everyone in place. I absolutely cannot bear to listen to that grating Michelle McPhee. Who decided that she could carry a show? Just awful!

[raccoonradio]

Buddy Cianci is now doing middays on WPRO in Providence.

Widely considered to be one of the most exciting and charismatic leaders in the City of Providence's history, Vincent A. Cianci, Jr. is the longest sitting Mayor in Providence's history, and the longest serving American mayor of a city with 100,000 or more residents. An outspoken champion of inner city revitalization, Mayor Cianci has received national recognition throughout his life and was voted "America's Most Innovative Mayor" in 1996. The former Mayor promises a fast-paced, provocative and entertaining show. Buddy will be joined daily by WPRO's Ron St. Pierre --WPRO site

Some down in R.I. had gone on messageboards and said the show is boring.

[raccoonradio]

>>national recognition

yeah, unlike that OTHER Felon he had to do jail time.

[raccoonradio]

(and..where’s the toupee, Buddy?)

[rockabyebaby]

Some down in R.I. had gone on messageboards and said the show is boring.

LOL, they say the same thing about the felon, maybe RKO should hire Cianci and pair him with felon, the perfect duo, double the boredom.........zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.

[AU72]

Buddy is one ex-felon I would listen to.
The only mayor to have his own line of pasta sauces.

[rockabyebaby]

Todd Feinberg in for Howie,,,,,,,,,,yet again

[Calvin Locke]

Wasn’t he a pall bearer for Anthony Quinn?

[AU72]

Wasn’t he a pall bearer for Anthony Quinn?

Wouldn't doubt it. I believe Anthony Quinn was living in Bristol RI when he passed.

I was vacationing in Athens when AQ died and it was a very big story there, given that "Zorba the Greek" started a golden age of Greek tourism.

[Calvin Locke]

I was wondering about their connection. It just seemed odd at the time.

Greek tourism increased because of a guy from Chihuahua, Mexico?

More so, than Jackie O?

[johnny7]

The only mayor to have his own line of pasta sauces.

Mike Albano of Springfield went that route... and I bet there's hundreds more who have.

[Calvin Locke]

http://www.openmarket.org/2007/05/31/buddy-cianci-pasta-sauce/

There was an Albano article, but it was a Knight-Ridder subscription site to read the whole thing.

[raccoonradio]

some of the messageboard posts:

RADIOHEAD06:”I love talk radio and have been a fan for a long time. Love both local talk with a heavy aim towards local issues but also love the national shows. I can honestly say the Buddy Cianci show is the single most boring radio show I’ve heard in a long long time. No energy! None at all! Buddy doesn’t bring any depth to any topic because he doesn’t know the nuts and bolts of the local issues and it’s quite apparent he doesn’t spend a whole lot of time researching to get up to speed. His interviews are laughable in their lack of basic knowledge of the facts.
A very disappointing product.
...
I’m sure he’ll pull better ratings than Rush but I don’t think Buddy has the radio sizzle he once did.
He sounds bored and disinterested. The same things I feel when I listen. Or I should say did listen.”

wcwc3434: “I agree Buddy is boring, BUT, there are thousands of
people who will listen to him . One of the reasons why, is the way WPRO markets him.
‘ Buddy will be here tonight, Buddy will be There tonight!’ WPRO is expanding the idea that Buddy
is an Icon! Like Babe Ruth or Frank Sinatra. Brillant. Thing that is really WIERD, is when Buddy talks
about crimes and criminals, just creepy, because he IS one!”

Skynet74: “I couldn’t care less where Buddy is going to be tonight, tomorrow night or this weekend. Honestly.... Who gives a crap? Is this the show that WPRO envisioned? Talking about where Buddy feeds his face? Geeez... how exciting. Buddy’s best days are over. I’m confident that ratings will reflect that. But of course when ratings don’t go up, I am sure the station will defend their position by telling people that these things take time. Then in about a year when the excuses run out WPRO will have to face the fact that people don’t care to hear about Buddy’s meal plans.”

JointChinese: “I have never met Mr. Cianci but was really let down when I started listening. Maybe my expectations were too high. I could care less how many meatballs he ate the night before. I guarentee that weight he lost in the joint, won’t be gone for long. The show is way too slow and boring. It’s become a big “remember when” session. People that talk that much about the past are headed that way. Most of the callers sound very old.”

[raccoonradio]

From Herald Messenger blog, by Jessica Heslam:

WTKK to WRKO: We don’t understand your “conduct”

In the wake of Howie Carr filing an appeal late Friday, WTKK-owner Greater Media released this statement yesterday:

“We fully support Howie Carr’s appeal and welcome a second opinion on his career options. We do not understand the Court’s decision to give Mr. Carr the stark choice between unemployment and continuing in a position he intended to leave when his contract expired in September.

“We also don’t understand Entercom’s conduct. At Greater Media, we believe our first and foremost obligation is to our employees and we cannot imagine a situation in which we would force a valued employee to work against his will rather than allow him to capitalize on a rare opportunity to take his career to the next level.”

[ssaftler]

Well, Greater Media can certainly talk the talk. I wonder, if they were on the other side of this conflict, if they would be walking the walk?

[raccoonradio]

some comments to an article I posted on the Boston Radio
Blog (http://bostonradio.blogspot.com ):

---

Enough is enough...While RKO would have to let its cash cow go, letting him go would at least free its listeners from limbo. It’s so painful listening to Todd Fienberg do his show everyday, I think even Todd feels bizarre about doing it. You know if Howie is forced back on RKO, he will use it as a chance to rail on the morning “felon” and probably get booted anyway.-—anonymous

---

LET MY HOWIE GO!!

It is obvious that RKO is scared that Howie is going to kill Finneran in a head to head matchup. So that is why Howie is stuck in Limbo. I don’t mind Todd Fienburg, he’s OK, but RKO has really ticked me off with this whole situation. I would have continued listening to Howie’s vacated slot but I’m boycotting it until the situation is resolved.-—Justy

---

I’m sure Fienberg is a nice guy but Howie he ain’t... I’ve quit tuning in over the web for now cause it’s just not worth it anymore!!! I wonder if Howie called the judge out for doing something a few years ago or what? How many more!!!—anonymous

[raccoonradio]

Yes, true; I do know Jay Severin left a few years ago
when HIS contract expired to do a (short lived) syndicated
show, a better opportunity for HIM (and Greater may have
fought tooth and nail to try and re-sign him...?) . Of course WTKK got to be one of the affiliates anyway :) And nine
months later, he either quit or was dropped by Westwood One
(I say it’s the latter) and was back in Boston...