20 Comments Add your own

• 1. WRKO Staffer  |  December 5th, 2008 at 7:22 am

  The real story here is that Finneran stole the tasteless “What would you be willing to trample for” topic from the Andleman’s “Phantom Gourmet” show this past Saturday. The “Phantom Gourmet” did a show that was called something like “What restaurant would you trample someone to get into”. For people who call themselves “gourmets”, they are pretty tasteless.

• 2. Celtic Frost  |  December 5th, 2008 at 7:24 am

  I have often heard Father Finneran mumble the phrase “iron-clad contract.”

  Bri-guy, can you tell us what, exactly, that means in radio-biz land? That is, can WRKO not fire him for excessively poor ratings? Or would they then be on the hook for the remainder of Father Finneran’s $$$?

  Pat Lucci or WRKO Staffer, maybe you can opine on this, too, since you are 2 folks who know the biz thru-and-thru?

  Are all the “firings” in radio always at the end of someone’s deal (unless, like Johnny DePetro, they repeatedly shoot themselves in the foot)?

  I had been thinking Father Finneran was improving a while back, but he is worse than ever.

• 3. Joe from Brighton  |  December 5th, 2008 at 8:55 am

  Tom Finneran is the death of talk radio.

  Who in the hell thought that this crooked ex-pol “from Mattapan” would make a great talk host?

  And Hedlund is right down there with him. Another bag of wind without an ounce of talent.

• 4. Pat Lucci  |  December 5th, 2008 at 11:10 am

  They can fire Finneran for things that are specifically mentioned in his contract or for violations of company policy. Theycannot fire him because his ratings are dreadful. To get rid of him for reasons otther than contract violations they need to either negotiate to buy out his deal or pay him for the term of the contract. Then they need to find someone to replace him and pay that person.

  This is not a good deal for Entercom.

  By the way, the exchange between the Felon and headlund can only be responded to with the following bit of advice, “When the sum of their IQs hits double figures, they should sell.”

• 5. bjd  |  December 5th, 2008 at 11:29 am

  Joe from Brighton:

  The answer to your question:

  Who in the hell thought that this crooked ex-pol “from Mattapan” would make a great talk host?

  Would be somebody that is absolutely clueless about talk radio. (The present person at the helm came from sales not programming, right? She believes that talk radio is here to sell a windshield or a mattress. All that’s needed to do this is “create outrage”.)

  — OR —

  This could have been an attempt at turning the last part of the media that did watch what the hacks did blind to their actions. If you look at all the events it is difficult to believe that the people making the decisions are really that clueless. Weren’t they in radio all their lives? I wold think that even if they were nothing more than mail room flunkies at a small town radio station they would know more of what not to do than this bunch. has demonstrated.

  If it is the later, what is / was the pay back?

• 6. Celtic Frost  |  December 5th, 2008 at 12:20 pm

  Thanks, Pat.

  What confounds me is the abject inability to admit a mistake from Jules and JayJay (although the cost is, as you pointed out, very steep to eat his contract and hire another flak catcher).

  For crissakes, Father Finneran stinks: his ratings are in the gutter (as is his sense of humor); his morality is even lower (convicted felon); he has no speaking skills whatever; and he constantly is swallowing into the mic!

  Sheesh.

• 7. Bill  |  December 5th, 2008 at 3:15 pm

  He does swallow into the mic (which is annoying)and Wendy is always hacking with her finger on the cough button (as if we can’t hear her) but I enjoy the show. Good rotation of guests, and surprisingly he and Feinberg are good together. Claprood not so much… is she done? Syre is a good segment.

  I know this site is slanted against him, but what do you people want?? Scott Alan Miller? Boarderline OK. Peter Blute? Good, but not great. O-Zone where are you???

  But this blog is built on the very premise that WRKO sucks, so I wouldn’t expect any posts that are “fair and balanced”.

• 8. WRKO Staffer  |  December 5th, 2008 at 4:04 pm

  And what of Wendy Murphy? Brian, how about devoting a page to her? She is by far the most media hungry person ever to come along in quite awhile. She would sell her children to get on the air. She is a horror show on the air too. Not only is she foul-mouthed, but she really is pretty clueless about issues (apart from being prosecuting anything that walks when it comes to children/women’s issues). I think she may even be worse on the air then McPhee and that is saying something. Regarding Heldlund…the guy is a clown. He sounds stupid with his attempt at relativism in regards to the events in Bombay (or whatever the place is called now) and the soldier’s of the American Revolution. I mean, I’m sure he thinks he is quite clever using such tacts and arguments but when you use a relativist approach, at use good historical comparisons.

• 9. bjd  |  December 5th, 2008 at 4:49 pm

  Staffer,

  Putting this in perspective for you, Wendy is a “better” part of felon’s show. (Read it again, I said better part of FELON’s show. I’m not saying she’s GOOD!)

  Now, compare her salary to his. Almost makes the person that signed Wendy seem like a person that knows radio. Keep in mind all my comments are relative to felon and reese. Take any of this and go across the dial and it all falls apart. There’s nothing good on RKO in AM drive.

  Seriously staffer (julie) stop kidding yourself. You know as well as I do that felon has to go. Try doing what Air Amerika did to Randi Rhodes. They were able to get out of paying that foul mouth dope her contract when they dumped her. Entercom’s lawyers did a number on Howie, turn them loose on felon. If you can’t stay local, sign on with Quin and Rose. You’ll OWN AM drive.

• 10. Lee  |  December 5th, 2008 at 5:10 pm

  Brian, I’m surprised you didn’t mention a comment about The Felon in The Herald’s Media Biz column in the last several days.

  Jessica Heslam did a profile on Dan Ray in his newfound radio gig at ‘BZ. Now, I knew Dan slightly when I worked in TV about 15 years ago. I would describe him as gentlemanly, quiet, and classy.

  In the article, he lauds The Felon, and mentions that they are very good friends.

  With that remark, all of my respect for Dan Rae - and his work - went right down the hopper.

• 11. Cap'N Spackle  |  December 5th, 2008 at 5:33 pm

  (Frostie, since when did your affected persona object to guys swallowing? [oh no you di'int])

  As to the topic at hand, I think maybe Hedlund was just doing the usual one-cohost-plays-devil’s-advocate talk show thing, no? Pretty standard fare when there’s more than one person on a talk show, it seems.

  Caught a snippet of Graham this A.M. in which he mentioned “Howie whatshisname” in positive terms in reference to some issue.

  Is Howie still wearing his 96.9 button on the air over @ the Big 68, trying to stick it to The (wo)Man?

• 12. Skunky  |  December 6th, 2008 at 1:58 pm

  Bill, the fact that you like the “Felon and Friends” show says more about you than you prolly hoped to share. Pretty embarrassing for you, I reckon. Here, go to this website and at least TRY to educate yourself on what good radio is…you have to not really know to enjoy that crap!

  radiotime.com

  Hedlund IS a joke! We don’t need anymore fake conservatives…we are drowning in Liberals enough already!! The fact that ANYONE listens to “Felon & Friends” makes we wanna projectile vomit and over the Holiday weekend in November I got to listen to Todd Feinberg fill in and boy, what a difference…but WRKO is way too daft to figure out the difference and hire him back. Retards!

  When Salem radio was still around, I got to listen to Bill Bennett’s “Morning In America” show (once Scotto was canned!)…and I HATE that show! It is not one of my favourites, but a real gem in contrast to “Felon & Friends”…in fact, I’d rather listen to Michele McPhee and “Eagan & Braude” in lieu of the gasbag Felon!

  That “Joe & Huggie” show has to go! They are truely unlistenable and I listen to repeats of “Brian & The Judge” when that dopey show is on! I am really disliking “The Phantom Gourmet” because those guys are so arrogant and dismissive to the callers…they used to be so funny and nicer at the start of the show.

  I liked “John DePetro”…yes, I knew he was very annoying and an instigator, but his show was fun and I loved it when he let callers go at it.

• 13. WRKO Staffer  |  December 6th, 2008 at 3:25 pm

  Skunky, you claim to be a fan of “good radio” and yet you liked DePetro’s show?? LOL!!

• 14. BostonVernon  |  December 6th, 2008 at 5:46 pm

  Bill

  accurate is not always fair or balanced… it is however always accurate

• 15. aging cynic  |  December 7th, 2008 at 3:52 pm

  WRKO staffer: I’m still waiting for the apology from Wendy for the Duke Lacrosse fiasco. In his book on the incident, Newsweek’s Stuart Taylor calls her out as a sleazy demagogue. Hearing her criticize Chuck Turner was almost humorous.

• 16. louis  |  December 7th, 2008 at 7:58 pm

  I have been listening to talk radio in Boston for over 30 years. You would think someone in this town would be smart enough to put the Townhall crew on the air. Bill Bennett in the morning with Hugh Hewitt in the afternoon would be tough to beat. The problem is there are no smart people on the air in Boston any more. Gone are the days of David Brudnoy and Gene Burns. Now we have the Felon and Michelle McPhee. It’s just not worth listening to the radio.

• 17. Skunky  |  December 8th, 2008 at 12:56 pm

  Staffer…I’m just being honest…I don’t give a stuff if you like my taste in radio. I never will, either. LOL.

  You come off as intelligent YET are a Obama supporter. LOL! How’s the O’Clinton picks hitting ya? You know, a lot of Liberals feel like the Clinton years were so fab (World Trade Center, Khobar Towers, Somalia, USS Cole, Kenya Asprin Factory bombings, Chinese trade secrets…and his MANY scandals and outrageous pardons) yet can’t see all the pertinent stuff I listed. LOL.

  Liberals voice concerns about Obama

  Liberals are growing increasingly nervous – and some just flat-out angry – that President-elect Barack Obama seems to be stiffing them on Cabinet jobs and policy choices.

  Obama has reversed pledges to immediately repeal tax cuts for the wealthy and take on Big Oil. He’s hedged his call for a quick drawdown in Iraq. And he’s stocking his White House with anything but stalwarts of the left.

  Now some are shedding a reluctance to puncture the liberal euphoria at being rid of President George W. Bush to say, in effect, that the new boss looks like the old boss.

  “He has confirmed what our suspicions were by surrounding himself with a centrist to right cabinet. But we do hope that before it’s all over we can get at least one authentic progressive appointment,” said Tim Carpenter, national director of the Progressive Democrats of America.

  OpenLeft blogger Chris Bowers went so far as to issue this plaintive plea: “Isn’t there ever a point when we can get an actual Democratic administration?”

  Even supporters make clear they’re on the lookout for backsliding. “There’s a concern that he keep his basic promises and people are going to watch him,” said Roger Hickey, a co-founder of Campaign for America’s Future.
  Obama insists he hasn’t abandoned the goals that made him feel to some like a liberal savior. But the left’s bill of particulars against Obama is long, and growing.

  Obama drew rousing applause at campaign events when he vowed to tax the windfall profits of oil companies. As president-elect, Obama says he won’t enact the tax.
  Obama’s pledge to repeal the Bush tax cuts and redistribute that money to the middle class made him a hero among Democrats who said the cuts favored the wealthy. But now he’s struck a more cautious stance on rolling back tax cuts for people making over $250,000 a year, signaling he’ll merely let them expire as scheduled at the end of 2010.

  Obama’s post-election rhetoric on Iraq and choices for national security team have some liberal Democrats even more perplexed. As a candidate, Obama defined and separated himself from his challengers by highlighting his opposition to the war in Iraq from the start. He promised to begin to end the war on his first day in office.

  Now Obama’s says that on his first day in office he will begin to “design a plan for a responsible drawdown,” as he told NBC’s “Meet the Press” Sunday. Obama has also filled his national security positions with supporters of the Iraq war: Sen. Hillary Clinton, who voted to authorize force in Iraq, as his secretary of state; and President George W. Bush’s defense secretary, Robert Gates, continuing in the same role.

  The central premise of the left’s criticism is direct – don’t bite the hand that feeds, Mr. President-elect. The Internet that helped him so much during the election is lighting up with irritation and critiques.

  “There don’t seem to be any liberals in Obama’s cabinet,” writes John Aravosis, the editor of Americablog.com. “What does all of this mean for Obama’s policies, and just as important, Obama Supreme Court announcements?”

  “Actually, it reminds me a bit of the campaign, at least the beginning and the middle, when the Obama campaign didn’t seem particularly interested in reaching out to progressives,” Aravosis continues. “Once they realized that in order to win they needed to marshal everyone on their side, the reaching out began. I hope we’re not seeing a similar ‘we can do it alone’ approach in the transition team.”

  This isn’t the first liberal letdown over Obama, who promptly angered the left after winning the Democratic primary by announcing he backed a compromise that would allow warrantless wiretapping on U.S. soil to continue.

  Now it’s Obama’s Cabinet moves that are drawing the most fire. It’s not just that he’s picked Clinton and Gates. It’s that liberal Democrats say they’re hard-pressed to find one of their own on Obama’s team so far – particularly on the economic side, where people like Tim Geithner and Lawrence Summers are hardly viewed as pro-labor.
  “At his announcement of an economic team there was no secretary of labor. If you don’t think the labor secretary is on the same level as treasury secretary, that gives me pause,” said Jonathan Tasini, who runs the website workinglife.org. “The president-elect wouldn’t be president-elect without labor.”
  During the campaign Obama gained labor support by saying he favored legislation that would make it easier for unions to form inside companies. The “card check” bill would get rid of a secret-ballot method of voting to form a union and replace it with a system that would require companies to recognize unions simply if a majority of workers signed cards saying they want one. Obama still supports that legislation, aides say – but union leaders are worried that he no longer talks it up much as president-elect.

  “It’s complicated,” said Tasini, who challenged Clinton for Senate in 2006. “On the one hand, the guy hasn’t even taken office yet so it’s a little hasty to be criticizing him. On the other hand, there is legitimate cause for concern. I think people are still waiting but there is some edginess about this.”
  That’s a view that seems to have kept some progressive leaders holding their fire. There are signs of a struggle within the left wing of the Democratic Party about whether it’s just too soon to criticize Obama — and if there’s really anything to complain about just yet.
  Case in point: One of the Campaign for America’s Future blogs commented on Obama’s decision not to tax oil companies’ windfall profits saying, “Between this move and the move to wait to repeal the Bush tax cuts for the wealthy, it seems like the Obama team is buying into the right-wing frame that raising any taxes - even those on the richest citizens and wealthiest corporations - is bad for the economy.”
  Yet Campaign for America’s Future will be join about 150 progressive organizations, economists and labor groups to release a statement Tuesday in support of a large economic stimulus package like the one Obama has proposed, said Hickey, a co-founder of the group.

  “I’ve heard the most grousing about the windfall profits tax, but on the other hand, Obama has committed himself to a stimulus package that makes a down payment on energy efficiency and green jobs,” Hickey said. “The old argument was, here’s how we afford to make these investments – we tax the oil companies’ windfall profits. … The new argument is, in a bad economy that could get worse, we don’t.”

  Obama is asking for patience – saying he’s only shifting his stance on some issues because circumstances are shifting.
  Aides say he backed off the windfall profits tax because oil prices have
  dropped below $80 a barrel. Obama also defended hedging on the Bush tax cuts.

  “My economic team right now is examining, do we repeal that through legislation? Do we let it lapse so that, when the Bush tax cuts expire, they’re not renewed when it comes to wealthiest Americans?” Obama said on “Meet the Press.” “We don’t yet know what the best approach is going to be.”

  On Iraq, he says he’s just trying to make sure any U.S. pullout doesn’t ignite “any resurgence of terrorism in Iraq that could threaten our interests.”

  Obama has told his supporters to look beyond his appointments, that the change he promised will come from him and that when his administration comes together they will be happy.

  “I think that when you ultimately look at what this advisory board looks like, you’ll say this is a cross-section of opinion that in some ways reinforces conventional wisdom, in some ways breaks with orthodoxy in all sorts of way,” Obama recently said in response to questions about his appointments during a news conference on the economy.
  The leaders of some liberal groups are willing to wait and see.

  “He hasn’t had a first day in office,” said John Isaacs, the executive director for Council for Livable World. “To me it’s not as important as who’s there, than what kind of policies they carry out.”

  “These aren’t out-and-out liberals on the national security team, but they may be successful implementers of what the Obama national security policy is,” Isaacs added. “We want to see what policies are carried forward, as opposed to appointments.”

  Juan Cole, who runs a prominent anti-war blog called Informed Comment, said he worries Obama will get bad advice from Clinton on the Middle East, calling her too pro-Israel and “belligerent” toward Iran. “But overall, my estimation is that he has chosen competence over ideology, and I’m willing to cut him some slack,” Cole said.

  Other voices of the left don’t like what they’re seeing so far and aren’t waiting for more before they speak up.

  New York Times columnist Frank Rich warned that Obama’s economic team of Summers and Geithner reminded him of John F. Kennedy’s “best and the brightest” team, who blundered in Vietnam despite their blue-chip pedigrees.

  David Corn, Washington bureau chief of the liberal magazine Mother Jones, wrote in Sunday’s Washington Post that he is “not yet reaching for a pitchfork.”

  But the headline of his op-ed sums up his point about Obama’s Cabinet appointments so far: “This Wasn’t Quite the Change We Envisioned.”

• 18. bjd  |  December 8th, 2008 at 2:01 pm

  I thought Howie said last week that a few more were let go on Friday. Anybody have any details on them, how many are remaining, or the over / under on when RKO folds?

  Do you figure they’ve already begun prepairing their case for a bailout?

  Imagine j & j asking the government for money. Can you imagine the exchanges?

• 19. WRKO Staffer  |  December 8th, 2008 at 3:49 pm

  Skunky..I’ll say it again…you like Depetro…LOL. BTW, your last post is the friggin’ Treaty of Paris. This is only a blog.

• 20. Skunky  |  December 9th, 2008 at 6:56 pm

  Hey Staffer…when you run this blog YOU can control my posts. Again, I couldn’t give a fat rat’s what you think.

  You couldn’t even tell my “War & Peace” post was to showcase how DUMB Obama supports are, LOL!

  Ok, and I’d like to say my FIRST talk radio favourite show was Howard Stern. Still love him too!

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