Posted on 04/17/2010 1:04:05 AM PDT by raccoonradio
Howie thread for the week--note that Howie Carr has been suspended by WRKO/Entercom for the week of Apr. 19 due to his badmouthing the station. Various fill in hosts. If there are any Howie columns they will appear here.
Things have gotten ugly at the "sneaker building" (the New Balance bldg in Brighton where WRKO is) as WRKO management has finally had enough of Howie's on-air digs at him. Stay tuned here for commentary on this, the usual fun, and so on
Ping for Howie in exile, the Howie Carr show without Howie Carr. As you may know by now WRKO has suspended Howie for badmouthing the station.
The article below is by Mark Schnyder of Boston Radio Watch
http://www.bostonradiowatch.com
FRIDAY, APRIL 16, 2010
WRKO suspends Carr
WRKO 680 AM’s talk show host Howie Carr has been suspended for a week effective today. The Boston Globe which broke the story tonight reports that Carr is being benched for speaking badly on air about WRKO and its owner Entercom.
Carr has been an unhappy employee since his attempts to leave WRKO for a rival station WTKK 96.9 back in the summer of 2007. WRKO matched WTKK’s offer, a reported $7 million over five years, citing a clause in his contract that gave that right Following setbacks in his legal fight to jump to WTKK, Carr was forced by courts to return WRKO.
When he returned to his highly rated afternoon drive program in November 2007, Carr told listeners the contract dispute had been worked out to the “mutual satisfaction” of the parties involved.
However, for the past two and half years, Carr has been often heard taking on-air shots at WRKO and its parent owner Entercom. The Globe report cites sources that say Carr’s been growing increasingly unhappy with the most recent developments involving WRKO’s programming decisions. The station lost Rush Limbaugh’s show to new conservative talker WXKS AM 1200/Rush Radio in early March.
I hope Howie calls in during the week; Sandy can use the Voice Changer on him, so no one will know.
Yup!
one comment to Globe article:”WRKO will get creamed in that time slot if they lose Carr. 95% of his listenership will leave with him. Seriously - ever try to listen to his show when he has a guest host, like Col. Hunt, on? It’s brutal. Howie is the king of Boston radio.”
Laura I jumped the shark for me this week when she kept going on and on whining about how Tiger Woods didn't say nice things about the other guy's family. She should do some religious-based show, her real interests are there and she speaks well about those subjects, but she and Hannity just keep saying the same things over and over til I get crazy.
I miss Jerry Williams, Gene Burns and David Brudnoy.
I don’t think he’ll end up at WTKK. It looks like they don’t have an open slot for him unless they drop someone from their lineup to lure him in.
from Globe
http://www.boston.com/news/local/breaking_news/2010/04/wrko_suspends_t_1.html
excerpts:
>>But a source with knowledge of the situation said the contretemps with Carr, which dates back to a bitter contract dispute in 2007, has escalated markedly in recent weeks and included verbal attacks on station managers. Carr’s contract with the station, the source said, pays him in the neighborhood of $1 million a year, meaning the suspension could cost him between $16,000 and $17,000.
>>Carr, who is also a columnist for the Boston Herald, could not be reached for comment.
A woman who answered the phone at his Wellesley home said the radio host was in bed and could not come to the phone.
‘‘It’s April break next week, so he’ll be off the air,’’ she said. ‘‘There’s no comment.’’
>>‘‘I think Howie is very upset about the way the station let Rush Limbaugh go and how there’s not much left on the air,’’ said Donna Halper, a radio consultant and media historian. ‘‘Howie is just unhappy about the fact that the station is not what it was when he got there.’’
A similar situation happened in Mpls/St. Paul a few years ago, when Rush Limbaugh's show left KSTP and ended up on Clear Channel owned KTLK 100.3 FM.
2 dead, 1 in San Fran. Miss em too.
I could see RKO putting Manning in for Howie and running Dennis Miller 12-3 next wk but they will prob stick w/
Col Hunt and Avi in for Howie
Yeah, it's been years since gene Burns took off for SF. That bummed me out, I thought he fit in well here. Brudnoy was very different from the others, his show was more intellectual and varied, but it was very COMFORTABLE, if you know what I mean, he'd come on at night and I'd relax and work at home and listen to him talking to writers, or debating issues, and if you weren't prepared you were just lost.
Jerry was the first radio guy I ever listened to, back in high school.
I like Howie, but he's not in their league. He's just different, which is fine, but Rush is in that league, he's not.
Ain't that the truth? Gone are the days when I had to decide who I was going to listen to carefully, because there was so MUCH to hear. Savage is awful, and the rest of the station are just placeholders.
Burns and Brudnoy agreed. Williams I dunno.
Williams was one of the originators of the format. He will always be THE talk show host of Boston, to me.
Brudnoy......My grandmother and I used to listen to him in Rockland, Maine. If the winds were calm and the skies were clear we could get the station. I remember how she wouldn’t answer the telephone or the door when he was on the radio.
Brudnoy is the guy that single handedly made me a libertarian/conservative. I miss that guy.
Howie rules the air in Maine at 3:00 PM. I think his show is on three stations in Maine from Portland to Bangor.
I've even tried NPR but couldn't last to the first commercial--they're so damned dull. Brudnoy got your mind going; NPR tells you what you're supposed to be thinking.
I’m letting on how old I am but Larry Glick
That’s easy. Dump Egan and Braude. Her voice makes my hair hurt. Despite being and ultra-lib, I can take Jim but she makes me nuts.
They renewed their contract (E&B) so doubtful but who knows
May enjoy John Batchelor, 10p on WTKK 96.9...
Jerry Williams helped make me libertarian/conservative. I did like Howie when he filled in for him and of course Howie did inherit the slot.
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