Howie Wins Afternoon Drive Wars, Vay Cay Jay Loses
by Brian Maloney, January 15th, 2009 at 04:30pm
Is Vay Cay Jay’s laziness finally catching up with him? According to today’s Boston Herald, Howie Carr is now beating Jay Severin in the all-important 25-54 adult ratings demographic.
For some time after his lengthy absence from the airwaves, due to a high-profile legal battle with WRKO owner Entercom, Carr’s ratings were far behind Severino’s. But the gap has been closing ever since, with complete victory achieved in the new Fall 2008 Arbitron Survey numbers.
Jessica Heslam reports that Howie generated a strong 6.3 share, good for a first-place tie in afternoon drive! Carr didn’t just cream Vay Cay by almost a full share point, he beat every music station in town with the exception of KISS-FM, with which he must share the top prize.
Lessons and potential fallout:
— Vay Cay’s astounding laziness is now beginning to hit WTKK where it hurts. No longer can Severin simply coast into victory. Between an unbelievable amount of time off (apparently built into his contract), to fourth-hour repeats of the first and stale, recycled jokes, Jay has more bad habits than virtually anyone in radio anywhere.
Beyond that, he’s virtually invisible in the region outside of his radio program. Nor is he a national political player. Vay Cay is essentially a lotto winner, paid big bucks to sit in his basement and play radio every once in awhile.
— Howie’s previous attempt at revenge against Entercom by intentionally doing a crappy show hurt his public standing. He has since learned his lesson and the ratings have just now returned to past levels, if not substantially higher.
From here, he should continue to ignore his employer’s arrogance and incompetence. Since they aren’t likely to survive 2009 (they barely made it through 2008 in one piece!), focus on delivering what the audience expects.
And if Howie really wants to dominate Boston’s ratings for good, he should dump the crappy fill-in hosts (which include his friends), eliminate the fluff segments and focus on keeping fans happy.
— With the radio industry in a state of collapse, it’s hard to imagine how Greater Media can continue to afford Vay Cay’s million dollar annual payout. For half of that amount, Howie is now delivering substantially higher numbers. WTKK’s sales department no longer has bragging rights, especially since the real ratings are in the Herald for all to see.
What exactly are they getting for their money?
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20 Comments Add your own
1. WRKO Staffer | January 15th, 2009 at 4:58 pm
Jay even got in a little hissy over Don Imus’ treatment of him when Jay appeared on his show. Because of that hissy, Jay took his ball and went home (and then went on about how Don Imus was mean to him…cry me a river). Now granted, Imus isn’t the greatest show but it is national at least and it did provide Jay some sort of exposure beyond 495. Oh well. I think what’s going on here is that he is simply bored. After his leaving WTKK for his failed syndication gig, Jay’s heart hasn’t been in it. At least when Howie came back to WRKO after his showdown, he still seemed to have fun with it and poke WRKO in the eye (double the fun). Anyway, Brian, I do agree with you. Howie should solidify this all by tightening up his show just a bit. Get rid of the Pet Vet and Max segments. No more wasteful segments in antiquated 1960’s television “stars” promote their appearence at a car wash, etc. Howie is so much smarter than this. Anyway, congrats Howie.
2. WRKO Staffer | January 15th, 2009 at 5:07 pm
BTW, Jim Braude and Margery Eagan just inked a deal for a long-term contract with WTKK. They aren’t going anywhere. Look for more Kiss Ask the Gov. and Kiss Ask the AG segments. More years of fluff on the radio. How about a segment on R-rated snowboards (ripped from the day’s headlines). What shite.
3. Mike | January 15th, 2009 at 5:33 pm
So the important question is - will Howie’s bonuses kick in or is there a loophole since he shared the top slot with KISS-108? Given the financial outlook, can Entercom afford to pay him the big bucks he’s earned? And if they can’t, how can they justify the Felon’s humungous salary?
As far as the fluff segments, I agree with the Staffer, but unfortunately those are popular segments, so I doubt he’ll cut them. I do wish he’d get rid of the 60’s TV stars, though.
Anyway, congrats Howie!
4. Mega Therion | January 15th, 2009 at 5:41 pm
Severino continually blows every opportunity. He repeats segments verbatim(3 o’clock and 5 o’clock soliloquy) and yeah..he’s out at least 30% of the time. He’s a 58 year old man who tries to come across as a young bon vivant. A smart guy who wastes so much time on nothing…
5. Cap'n Spackle | January 15th, 2009 at 6:09 pm
I don’t agree about the fill-ins. If the Fat Bastard™ is out, I’d rather hear his show hosted by someone like VB, Avi or maybe even Sandy, than to have some stale rerun of a ‘best of’. I never sit through a ‘best of’ talk show. I happened to tune into 96.9 over the holidays to hear O’Reilly talking about the upcoming November election.
6. Cap'n Spackle | January 15th, 2009 at 6:12 pm
To add to previous comments about Jay…
Anybody who holds Alvin Lee and Grand Funk in such high regard should just STFU about music.
7. The Mole | January 15th, 2009 at 7:14 pm
So was Entercom smart or stupid to keep Howie? I’m not sure where we stand now.
8. Celtic Frost | January 15th, 2009 at 7:24 pm
Psst. Don’t you get it? Every single bit of snarky Jimmy Severino III is shtick, pure put-on: he knows nothing about music, but pretends he does; he knows nothing about politics and political campaigns, but pretends he does; he pretends he went to law school; he pretends he has a graduate degree; he pretends he is a lady’s man; he pretends he is well read; he pretends he welcomes callers who disagree with him.
Well, you get the idea. The guy is pathetic– Scott Lehigh has Jimmy’s number, and it goads Jimmy to no end that Scott has his number!
9. WRKO Staffer | January 15th, 2009 at 7:26 pm
Cap’n Spackle - Regarding fill in hosts for Howie, I’d rather have my ears poked with thousands of needles than hear the Colonel’s voice again.
Mike - you may be right, Howie’s segments Max talking (TV Guide style) about TV might be popular. The fact that it is scares me. Pass the Gold Bond.
10. Joe from Brighton | January 15th, 2009 at 8:31 pm
Jay needs to come out of the closet-in MA, what more does one need to drive up ratings?
11. Save WRKO » WRKO Pl&hellip | January 16th, 2009 at 1:28 am
[...] Howie Wins Afternoon Drive Wars, Vay Cay Jay Loses [...]
12. Bullwinkle J. Moose | January 16th, 2009 at 5:32 am
How long da ya think it will take Jay’s
“Best and Brightest Knuckle Draggers”
will figure out they been had… not to mention all the commercials to pay fa him…
13. BostonVernon | January 16th, 2009 at 7:08 am
RKO was “always” smart to keep Howie and Rush.
The highlight of there stupidity is still on the air in the AM. I have not listened to the Felon on the air once! I heard him as a guest once and that was enough for me.
Reese was another dumb move that they corrected to allow him to get Felon degree…when will he return?
14. Larry | January 16th, 2009 at 8:52 am
I can not listen it Severin’s juvenile boasting that fills his shows. However this post says that Howie has stopped doing crappy shows…since when. He and his groupies get all excited when a celeb dies so they can have the dumb death pool. He has more regular callers now than the BZ overnight show. Does anyone think that Steve from Montreal is interesting or that Officer Mark deserves his prominence on the show? His show is now predominantly topics that webpages list as “off-beat news.” The other day most of his show was meaningless talk about adult off spring returning home to live with their parents… the program is still “crappy” to me.
15. raccoonradio | January 16th, 2009 at 11:34 am
Once again, you have a show that’s very popular getting some folks grumbling about how bad/boring it is. Certainly entitled to your opinion but you are in the minority. This could be some of Howie’s best numbers ever. Some of us, like me,
do enjoy the death pool, “losers” segment, and so on. Steve from M can be annoying at times but he’s not bad, and neither is the Officer, etc.
16. tvoh | January 16th, 2009 at 2:21 pm
“knows nothing about music, but pretends he does; he knows nothing about politics and political campaigns, but pretends he does; he pretends he went to law school; he pretends he has a graduate degree; he pretends he is a lady’s man; he pretends he is well read; he pretends he welcomes callers who disagree with him.”
C’mon, have faith. Don’t forget the 50 arrests for civil rights or how he stood shoulder to shoulder with Abbie Hoffman and was in the thick of it during the Battle of Grant Park during the Dem Convention in ‘68.
Stop being a cynic. It’s all true.
17. Al Bowlly | January 16th, 2009 at 6:25 pm
Let me get this straight. A guy negotiates time off and that’s laziness? His performance while he’s on the job seems about the same as it’s always been. You may not like it but the laziness claim isn’t very strong.
18. Brighton Boris | January 16th, 2009 at 10:41 pm
Howie needs to work harder because he needs to meet all the bonus points in his contract.
Maybe next time Howie wants to do a deal he should spend a few bucks hire a professional agent like George Tobia.
19. susan mcbride | January 19th, 2009 at 5:12 pm
poor Jimmy…….he is getting so old. LOL
doesnt he make you cringe when he pretends to be a …………………..oh, i dont know…………….a guy……….LOLLOLLOLLOL.
20. JTK8800 | February 18th, 2009 at 2:56 am
Since Jay’s return to Boston, it seems as though many things have gotten worse for listeners. Rants, absences, and repeats are just the start. I’ve seen him at live broadcasts and really enjoyed the show ten years ago, but now….I would be very surprised if TKK renews his contract. As for Howie, I’m glad that he stayed on RKO and didn’t jump over to 96.9. While some of Howie’s topics and callers are grating on the ears, he can be funny, insightful, and especially proficient in discussing politics in Boston, which Severin seems simply unable to do.
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