(Not The) Howie Carr Show Live Thread week of Oct 29 2007

HowieCarr.com ^ | 10/29/07 | raccoonradio

[raccoonradio]

Howie still in limbo radio wise though he talked about some of his fave food on Phantom Gourmet this weekend. His column from today's Herald was part of last week's running thread.

[raccoonradio]

Howie Carr live thread for week of Oct 29. Someday
they’ll get all this legal crap settled.

[maryz]

he talked about some of his fave food on Phantom Gourmet this weekend

LOL! Somehow I suspected that's what the "breaking news" would be!

[rockabyebaby]

It was nice to see Howie again and hear his voice! He looked good! HOWIE WE MISS YOU!

[raccoonradio]

Yup...
Now that the Sox have won the WS and baseball’s over till
spring training, what will WRKO do? how will the ratings be
with the Felon, but no Sox and (for now, and perhaps
forever) no Howie?

&&&&&&&&&&&

Boston Radio Blog (A Radio Listener) writes:
Finneran’s Floudering....
The more I think about it...the more I can’t help but wonder why WRKO hired Tom Finneran to do the morning show.

Maybe they really think that you don’t need any experience to do morning-drive in a major market. (I know Finneran has done some fill-ins...but never been a full-time talk host.)

I had heard that someone higher up at Entercom had been pushing for them to hire Finneran even as far back when Peter Blute was leaving the station.

I will admit that he’s not as bad as I thought he’d be....but he’s still pretty bad. He has no idea how to put together a show day to day....and to help to grow the show long-term.

I can’t help but wonder if they are paying him a hefty salary. With the prolonged negotiation and announcement when he came aboard...I can’t help but think yes. However Finneran was out of work....and probably thought this was an easy way to work out his years....so maybe he didn’t need to much $$$persuasion. In any event, it doesn’t matter...

While I think the issue of the ‘help wanted’ ad (i.e..9AM, etc) is a non-issue....the points made about WRKO’s ratings slide into oblivion is worth noting.

WRKO’s overall ratings were down 28 percent among 25- to 54-year-old listeners from the spring to summer, according to Arbitron. Finneran was down 16 percent; Feinburg was down 7 percent and Carr was down 39 percent in that demographic.

%%%%%%%%%

Save WRKO (Brian Maloney The Radio Equalizer) writes:
Now that the Sox have pulled it off and the season is over, what’s next for WRKO?

With a gutted programming schedule and five months until the next regular season begins, what will hold up the fort? Keep in mind that despite the Sox’s huge year, WRKO pulled only an 8 share from 7-10pm during the summer months (as opposed to the 15-20 share we might expect from a team on fire).

Worse, the Finne-felon saw little benefit during his morning show, turning in lackluster figures. In fact, if not for the Sox, the summer ratings book would have been a complete train wreck for WRKO.

Imagine life as a WRKO salesperson at this point- what is left to sell? Other than Rush Limbaugh, next to nothing. In fact, we hear the rumblings from the sales department began long before there was any inkling the Sox might go all the way.

On Finneran, “We’re sick of him!” is the apparent sentiment. For a top-billing salesperson, why stick around for more of Entercom’s misery when competing operations would be all-too-happy to put out the welcome mat?

With the Sox now out of the programming and sales picture until next year, WRKO’s huge weaknesses are instantly more apparent than ever.

[maryz]

I will admit that he’s not as bad as I thought he’d be....but he’s still pretty bad. He has no idea how to put together a show day to day....and to help to grow the show long-term.

When I've heard him, sometimes he's pretty good -- on his own! But he was having Warren Tolman in as co-host about once a week -- how desperate do you have to be to invite Warren Tolman to bail you out? He's even had Kerry (yes, John Kerry!) in to help things out. Makes him sound too often like the PR person for the DNC. That and his unaccountable worship of "elected officials."

[raccoonradio]

UPDATE from the Herald:
Howie Carr BANNED From WTKK—For Now

by Laurel J. Sweet

A state Appeals Court judge today forbid Boston Herald columnist Howie Carr to take over the morning drive show at WTKK (96.9) while his battle to free himself from his contract with WRKO drags out in court.

In other words, there’s no telling when Carr will return to the airwaves.

Judge Andrew Grainger also told Carr, one of the city’s most popular talk jocks and a best-selling author, he could forget about pleading his case to the full Appeals Court.

“This is not one of those extraordinary cases that warrant appellate consideration prior to full judgment,” Grainger sniffed in his nine-page decision.

“In these circumstances, there is no good reason for opening the door to mulitiple appeals when the issues may all be argued together as the conclusion of the case.”

FM station ’TKK has reportedly offered Carr $7 million to jump ship at AM ’RKO (680), where he has insisted he no longer wants to work. The station continues to advertise Carr as its talent, even though he has been off the air for weeks.

[raccoonradio]

UPDATE from the Herald:
Howie Carr BANNED From WTKK—For Now

by Laurel J. Sweet

A state Appeals Court judge today forbid Boston Herald columnist Howie Carr to take over the morning drive show at WTKK (96.9) while his battle to free himself from his contract with WRKO drags out in court.

In other words, there’s no telling when Carr will return to the airwaves.

Judge Andrew Grainger also told Carr, one of the city’s most popular talk jocks and a best-selling author, he could forget about pleading his case to the full Appeals Court.

“This is not one of those extraordinary cases that warrant appellate consideration prior to full judgment,” Grainger sniffed in his nine-page decision.

“In these circumstances, there is no good reason for opening the door to mulitiple appeals when the issues may all be argued together as the conclusion of the case.”

FM station ’TKK has reportedly offered Carr $7 million to jump ship at AM ’RKO (680), where he has insisted he no longer wants to work. The station continues to advertise Carr as its talent, even though he has been off the air for weeks.

[raccoonradio]

UPDATE from the Herald:
Howie Carr BANNED From WTKK—For Now

by Laurel J. Sweet

A state Appeals Court judge today forbid Boston Herald columnist Howie Carr to take over the morning drive show at WTKK (96.9) while his battle to free himself from his contract with WRKO drags out in court.

In other words, there’s no telling when Carr will return to the airwaves.

Judge Andrew Grainger also told Carr, one of the city’s most popular talk jocks and a best-selling author, he could forget about pleading his case to the full Appeals Court.

“This is not one of those extraordinary cases that warrant appellate consideration prior to full judgment,” Grainger sniffed in his nine-page decision.

“In these circumstances, there is no good reason for opening the door to mulitiple appeals when the issues may all be argued together as the conclusion of the case.”

FM station ’TKK has reportedly offered Carr $7 million to jump ship at AM ’RKO (680), where he has insisted he no longer wants to work. The station continues to advertise Carr as its talent, even though he has been off the air for weeks.

[raccoonradio]

UPDATE from the Herald:
Howie Carr BANNED From WTKK—For Now

by Laurel J. Sweet

A state Appeals Court judge today forbid Boston Herald columnist Howie Carr to take over the morning drive show at WTKK (96.9) while his battle to free himself from his contract with WRKO drags out in court.

In other words, there’s no telling when Carr will return to the airwaves.

Judge Andrew Grainger also told Carr, one of the city’s most popular talk jocks and a best-selling author, he could forget about pleading his case to the full Appeals Court.

“This is not one of those extraordinary cases that warrant appellate consideration prior to full judgment,” Grainger sniffed in his nine-page decision.

“In these circumstances, there is no good reason for opening the door to mulitiple appeals when the issues may all be argued together as the conclusion of the case.”

FM station ’TKK has reportedly offered Carr $7 million to jump ship at AM ’RKO (680), where he has insisted he no longer wants to work. The station continues to advertise Carr as its talent, even though he has been off the air for weeks.

[raccoonradio]

UPDATE from the Herald:
Howie Carr BANNED From WTKK—For Now

by Laurel J. Sweet

A state Appeals Court judge today forbid Boston Herald columnist Howie Carr to take over the morning drive show at WTKK (96.9) while his battle to free himself from his contract with WRKO drags out in court.

In other words, there’s no telling when Carr will return to the airwaves.

Judge Andrew Grainger also told Carr, one of the city’s most popular talk jocks and a best-selling author, he could forget about pleading his case to the full Appeals Court.

“This is not one of those extraordinary cases that warrant appellate consideration prior to full judgment,” Grainger sniffed in his nine-page decision.

“In these circumstances, there is no good reason for opening the door to mulitiple appeals when the issues may all be argued together as the conclusion of the case.”

FM station ’TKK has reportedly offered Carr $7 million to jump ship at AM ’RKO (680), where he has insisted he no longer wants to work. The station continues to advertise Carr as its talent, even though he has been off the air for weeks.

[raccoonradio]

sorry for the multiple posts—I kept getting error
messages.

This now from SaveWRKO.com by Brian Maloney:

Another Legal Setback
Emulating their favorite baseball team, Bay State judges are in the middle of their own sweep. In this contest, it’s Howie Carr 0, Angry Revenge-Seeking Massachusetts Justices 3.

One more of these and Team Carr will be knocked on its feet for good.

Today’s ruling means Carr has no chance of joining WTKK anytime soon. And in a further blow, he won’t be getting full appeals court consideration, either.

In a blue state as a non-conforming talk show host, these are the breaks. To these judges, a chance to ruin Howie Carr’s career is like a second World Series victory in less than 24 hours.

Don’t expect the situation to improve for Howie anytime soon. In the meantime, WTKK still doesn’t seem to have a viable Plan B in place (and I mean the entire low-rated schedule, not just morning drive). Why not?

WTKK: Digging In With Current Lineup?
Now finally close to unveiling its redesigned website, WTKK appears to be digging in for the long haul with its current lineup and Howie Carr is nowhere in sight.

Unfortunately, it’s the court system that has forced this upon the station, but status quo even in the short term seems only likely to exacerbate the station’s already-painful ratings decline.

The current lineup has already been thoroughly rejected by the marketplace, so why maintain it? This is one stubborn media market.

[observer821]

Too bad this can’t be settled. I wonder if it really is lib judges playing payback, or if it is really because Howie legitimately messed up in his contract negotiations. Todd Feinburg is painful. I rarely listen but do check in occasionally. His straight stock is painfully dry and boring. Sometimes he tries to be humorous, in the model of Howie, and just plain isn’t. He is totally out of touch with many of the old show standing stories and jokes, so when they come up, he is clueless. And it doesn’t help that he is just plain uniformed about many news and pop culture topics. Good grief.

I used to listen to Imus in the morning and Howie in the afternoon. I am pretty much a talk show junkie, but after losing these two, I realize, its not so much the topics, but how they are handled. When you lose the spice that Imus (like him or hate him, he did cover the news well and had lots of well placed guests) and howie bring, you realize that all the talk shows cover the same topics over and over again, and without an interesting delivery, it just gets old.

Choices are getting scarce. If you are unfortunate enough to be in the area of Cape Cod and close enough to get WXTKs morning show, That is really the bottom. Better now with McKaag gone, who blamed every problem in the world on “you feel gooder liberals”. But Lambert, who thinks the formula to good radio is gripe about everything...”I mean, you know, its like, good grief, I can’t, its just that,Jees Louise, I mean, can’t they,Why don’t,...”

[maryz]

Come to think of it, Howie's written a lot of columns on the MA judiciary -- describing a judgeship here as the softest job in the world, how much they're paid, how much time off they get, who they're related to, etc., etc., etc. Probably wouldn't sway an actual judge, though, sworn to fairness, showing no favor and all that??? ;-)

[raccoonradio]

Who knows—I wonder if his next move is the Supreme Judicial
Court (you know, the gay marriage folks...)

[rockabyebaby]

I am disgusted by the whole thing, RKO’s antics and the judge’s inability to make an unbiased decision....disgusting.

[raccoonradio]

Attorney Joe Ross, a regular on the boston-radio-interest
mailing list (archived at bostonradio.org) had this to
say when I posted about Howie’s latest setback:

Attorney Ross:
“What this is about is (1) an order preserving the status quo while the litigation proceeds; and (2) denial of an ‘interlocutory’ appeal. It’s common to issue an order to preserve the status quo in a
circumstance like this until the rights of the parties are
determined. The case hasn’t actually gone to trial in the Superior Court and won’t for some time. All this skirmishing has been over temporary orders. To disturb the status quo, Howie Carr must convince a judge that he has a reasonable probability of succeeding on the merits and will suffer irreparable harm if an order in his
favor isn’t issued. The irreparable harm more likely would be suffered by WRKO if Carr is allowed to move to WTKK.

“The usual rule on appeals is that you wait until the case is finally over in the trial court before you can appeal. The appellate courts don’t like to have a case appealed bit-by-bit. An appeal before the case is over is an ‘interlocutory appeal.’ It’s sometimes possible
under special circumstances, but it’s not the norm.”

[raccoonradio]

Today's Howie column

Nothing wears a body out like trick-or-treating — or strangling young women. Here Whitey grabs a quick nap with Catherine’s poodles, Nikki and Gigi. Dressed to kill

By Howie Carr | Wednesday, October 31, 2007 |

Still looking for that perfect Halloween costume to wear to the parties this evening?

Why not take a fashion hint from Boston’s First On-the-Lam Couple, Whitey Bulger and Catherine Greig? Oh sure, nowadays the wrinkly fugitives may be dressing down as dowdy tourists in Sicily, but once upon a time, they did it up right. Here are six photos of the fun couple out of character, four of them published for the first time.

Halloween was always a big holiday for Whitey, who now has a $1 million bounty on his head. Whitey loved dressing in costume; you can see one of his most famous photos below. He’s rumored to have disguised himself as a priest, and as an old lady.

Then there was his matching leather overcoat and hat, which prompted one wag to ask, “Hey Whitey, how far’d you have a chase a waiter down Columbus Avenue to steal that outfit?”

Whitey also was known for hanging around outside houses in the dark. Once, before fleeing the United States for good in 1996, he went to the Virginia home of one of his fellow Alcatraz cons. As the ex-jailbird walked up the steps, Whitey stepped out of the shadows and demanded assistance, using words much scarier than “Trick or Treat.”

Catherine Greig, who at 56 is 22 years younger than Whitey, was a standard-issue party girl in the decade when half the population had a license plate on the front of their car with a marijuana leaf and a caption that said “Arrive Stoned.” However, she is also a twin, and most twins dress at least well enough so as not to embarrass their closest sibling.

Meanwhile, the legend of Whitey continues to grow as the 13th anniversary of his flight approaches in late December. This week two more film crews have been in the area - one British outfit is preparing a documentary on the Boston underworld, with heavy emphasis on Whitey. And a network piece on yet another member of the Winter Hill Gang may run on prime-time TV within a few weeks.

As for this evening, if you see an old geezer hobbling up your front steps who looks like he’s pushing 80, who has a buck knife in his boot and who snarls at you, “Trick or treat, bleepster,” forget the Baby Ruths. Call 911. It could be worth a million bucks.

[raccoonradio]

from Tom Taylor’s radio-info.com newsletter (free via email):

“The other rumor-with-legs is about Howie Carr. You may be as tired of hearing about “Howie” as you are about the Red Sox (unless you’re actually in New England), but bear with me for a moment. Greater Media said in Monday’s statement that it’s keeping all its options open with respect to Howie’s situation vis-à-vis Entercom and his future. What if…one of those options is simply putting Howie on the air at WTKK (96.9), and letting the chips fall where they may?”

Hmm...would they risk it? Lawsuits could be launched
right away though and they’d prob. have to pull him off
immediately if Entercom got a judge to issue a
cease and desist order...