by Brian Maloney, February 16th, 2010 at 11:18pm
Here’s the clearest indication yet that WRKO is about to lose Rush Limbaugh to Clear Channel’s new Boston talk outlet: signs of life at newly-registered “RushRadio1200.com“. I’ve been checking this address for weeks, today was the first indication of any activity.
The question: what does this mean for WRKO’s future?
by Brian Maloney, February 11th, 2010 at 11:48pm
As Patches Kennedy unexpectedly bows out of what would have been a fairly tough re-election bid, one thing is certain: the gods are once again smiling on talk radio. Howie Carr can relax knowing Friday’s show has written itself.
From here, what Democrat in Congress is safe?
by Brian Maloney, February 8th, 2010 at 07:58pm
Entercommies are buzzing about a previously-unexpected visit to Boston by the WRKO-WEEI owner’s CEO scheduled for Wednesday morning. Though David Field does occasionally stop by for rah-rah sessions to put a happy face on his debt-laden operation (repeat after me: “easy comps, easy comps, easy comps”), this one seems rushed and may have a more significant purpose.
Some staffers apparently believe Empress Julie Kahn may finally find her days numbered for a myriad of reasons, both personal and professional. Her replacement may already be in the building, but names will be omitted here as I don’t want to jinx anyone’s chances of being promoted, particularly since this person is said to be a pleasure with which to work.
After the overnight success of rival CBS’s WBZ-FM sports talker, Entercom is now so far behind the curve that the Boston operation may be beyond saving. And with Clear Channel’s new political talker set to arrive on scene shortly, WRKO could become as endangered as WEEI.
Good luck, guys, you’ll need it.
by Brian Maloney, February 6th, 2010 at 06:21pm
Nearly three weeks after Scott Brown’s earth-shattering political triumph over the entrenched political establishment, it’s clear those on the losing end have barely begun to lick their wounds. They never saw this coming and were done in by extreme complacency.
Postmortems from the left have begun to focus on the role of talk radio in Brown’s victory, the importance of which can’t be understated. But in The Phoenix, Adam Reilly manages to omit entirely the key player- Howie Carr:
Talk radio was huge for Brown. Yes, the dearth of exit polling in the Brown-Martha Coakley contest makes it hard to quantify its exact impact. But if you listened to Boston talk radio during the race — commercial talk, as opposed to the sedate stylings of NPR affiliates WBUR and WGBH — you know that this segment of the airwaves was, overwhelmingly, Brown country: a source of hope and good cheer when things looked grim, and a high-volume ally as the Brown juggernaut headed down the home stretch.
Consider, for example, the love lavished on Brown by WEEI, the sports-radio powerhouse that doubles as a source of conservative commentary. On primary day, Gerry Callahan, half of the duo behind its morning drive-time Dennis & Callahan, tossed Brown this softball: “Does it make any sense to you that people follow this far-left agenda, and want another far-left loon like [Senator John] Kerry, like [Congressman Barney] Frank, like [Congressman Edward] Markey, like the rest of them?” And shortly before the election, Glenn Ordway, host of the afternoon drive-time Big Show, and three Big Show associates (Pete Sheppard and former New England Patriots Fred Smerlas and Steve DeOssie) appeared in a video in which they gushingly endorsed the Republican. (Brown “believes in a country that’s sovereign,” Smerlas explained, sort of.)
Yes, WEEI, WTKK-FM, WBZ, WXTK-FM on the Cape, WBSM in New Bedford, WCRN in Worcester and other stations all played a role, but I don’t think Scott would be where he is today without Carr, who is heard statewide on several of those stations.
Carr’s presence alone didn’t put Brown over the top, it was the longtime afternoon host’s change in strategy that made the difference. Until the primary election, Howie’s focus was on saving Scott from the embarrassment of likely defeat by insisting he was merely warming up for a later statewide campaign.
Something clicked, however, once the general election campaign was underway. Howie shed the defeatist attitude and learned to exercise some muscle for a change. The audience was more than receptive and got to work immediately. Once it became clear he truly believed Scott could win, it became a campaign worth an investment of time and money.
New England has always had the benefit of a great deal of local talk versus a national landscape cluttered with (largely unsuccessful) syndicated fare, but the US Senate campaign represented the first time in years hosts really stepped up to the plate and led the way.
From here, anything is possible. Let’s hope defeatism has been abolished for good.
by Brian Maloney, February 4th, 2010 at 11:03am
From a Greater Media press release sent this morning:
*** MEDIA ALERT ***
Mr. Brown Goes to Washington and Michele McPhee Goes Too
McPhee to Attend Senator Scott Brown’s Swearing-In
Live Broadcast from D.C. TONIGHT
WHAT: Following the swearing-in of newly elected Massachusetts GOP Senator Scott Brown, 96.9 FM-WTKK’s Michele McPhee will broadcast live from our Nation’s Capitol TONIGHT. McPhee’s program will be heard loud and clear in Boston and New England from the Heritage Foundation in Washington D.C. from 6 to 10 p.m. She will be talking with special guests and listeners throughout the evening.
96.9 FM-WTKK is Boston and New England’s “Campaign Connection” and has provided the Commonwealth with thorough political insight and perspective for over a decade.
WHO: 96.9 FM-WTKK’s Michele McPhee
WHEN: Thursday February 4, 2010 6:00pm – 10:00pm
WHERE:
The Heritage Foundation
214 Massachusetts Ave NE
Washington DC 20002-4999
ph 202.546.4400
by Brian Maloney, February 3rd, 2010 at 03:21pm
*** UPDATE: DEMS MAY BE BACKING DOWN ***
*** RUSH WEIGHS IN ***
Since the election, the situation has become increasingly inexplicable: with no uncertainty regarding the outcome of January 19’s vote, why is appointed Kennedy family crony Paul Kirk still in the US Senate? And for what reason must Scott Brown wait weeks for his victory to be certified?
Beyond partisan politics, there’s no logical purpose served whatsoever.
For the first few days, it seemed appropriate for Brown to visit Washington and get the lay of the land. If legally dubious, Kirk’s continued presence there could be argued by some as legitimate.
As of two weeks later, however, with more than a week of stall tactics ahead of us, there’s simply no excuse.
But what surprises me most is the extraordinary patience of Brown and so many others as this process drags along for no apparent reason. That patience wore out suddenly today as Brown and supporters wondered why Kirk won’t leave the chamber.
So what changed? Blame WRKO’s Howie Carr- his column in today’s Herald takes it straight to Kirk & Company:
Hey Sen. Paul Kirk - screw!
You don’t have to go home, but you can’t stay here, here being the U.S. Senate.
It’s been 15 days now since a Republican won the special election in Massachusetts, and Kirk is still squatting in Ted Kennedy’s office.
Hey Paul Kirk - how can we miss you if you won’t go away?
What’s it going to take to pry this guy out of office, the Jaws of Life?
From there, something seemed to click and Brown suddenly demanded to be seated immediately. But that led to a instant backlash from the state-run media, which seems to be adopting partisan talking points in accusing him of “breaking the deal” to wait until February 11.
Show me a similar “deal” that has a Republican appointee keeping a seat warm while a Democratic Party victor happily waits patiently for weeks after a special election- good luck in your search.
If Cockroach of the Year Paul Kirk had any decency, he would step down immediately, but clearly has no interest in giving up the seat.
By the way, Howie’s right about something else: the left really is spreading conspiracy theories about the Massachusetts vote being rigged by Diebold machines. It began around the time it became apparent Brown was ahead in the polls.
by Brian Maloney, January 29th, 2010 at 12:32am
If you think Democrats are going overboard spinning Scott Brown’s victory, you ain’t seen nothin’: radio programmers are masters at making excuses for bad ratings. And the fresh monthly release of Boston audience figures will most certainly test their skills.
That’s because for most local news-talkers, the final 2009 ratings period was generally a stinker. Yes, here come the excuses: our hosts were away for their extended vay-cays, etc. How’d that work out for Martha Coakley?
Another classic: we’ve recently changed our line-up and station logo and need at least a year to see how well it works!
Here are news-talk highlights for Arbitron’s Holiday 2009 ratings period (December 10 2009 to January 06 2010):
— WBZ-AM produced flat ratings, good for fourth place with 5.7 share of the overall (6 and older) audience. But it certainly no longer dominates the region. In terms of actual listeners (cume), WBZ takes seventh with 822,400.
Dan Rea, Martha Coakley and Curt Schilling have probably done more for WBZ in recent weeks than any marketing campaign could, so we’ll see if any election benefit shows up in the next trend.
— Sports WEEI continues to suffer after new competitor WBZ-FM carved away a chunk of its audience. But it did tick up a bit this month, to 3.8 from 3.6 share and ninth place overall (its remaining listeners are hard core and stick around longer).
Body count: 444,000, down from 462,000 last month and 642,600 in September, thirteenth place in cume.
— WRKO continues its long slide, falling to 3.6 from 4.0 last month and 5.5 in August. That means tenth place overall. Audience count: 347,800, down from 378,400 previously and 639,000 in August.
Next month, the white-hot Senate race should show up as a boost for January’s numbers. But the upcoming launch of a new Clear Channel talker will hit WRKO hard in the long run.
— It was another up month for upstart sports talker WBZ-FM, rising to 3.5 from 3.1. Tied for twelfth, cume audience: 687,500, more than 200,000 greater than WEEI! CBS is now busy looking to copy its success in other cities.
— WTKK-FM: the struggling FM talker didn’t get any good news this month, either, but with much of its lineup away, how hard did it really try? Falling to 2.6 share from 3.1 (tied for fifteenth place), there was also a cume loss of 50,000 from last month (to 371,900).
‘TKK did push the election hard and hosted a key debate, we’ll see if it enjoys a boost in the next ratings release.
by Brian Maloney, January 26th, 2010 at 11:39am
— WTKK’s Margery Eagan has suddenly re-branded herself as a moderate. Hey, at least somebody got the message last Tuesday, too bad her Washington / state-run media counterparts didn’t.
Of course, Keith Olbermann and Glenn Beck are hard to defend as the media’s spotlight on Scott Brown takes attention away from their own childish antics. Olberbeck is driven primarily by an insatiable appetite for public attention.
As for Margery, where were those supportive words for Brown when he was running for office? That’s right, she went down with the SS Martha.
— Also, Globie Frank Phillips is under fire for his nothing-to-see-here attitude toward the Senate race, to the point of taking a Coakley-esque Vay-Cay just as the race had become a national obsession. His defense? He didn’t think there’d be anything worth covering.
— Scott Brown won’t be seated until February 11? And cockroach Paul Kirk remains a voting senator?
by Brian Maloney, January 22nd, 2010 at 01:52pm
Watching the national media and Internet smear sites try to turn Gail Huff’s 1984 music video performance into a political scandal is truly laughable. Forced to play catch-up after Scott Brown’s senatorial victory caught them by surprise, these clowns would have you believe their “investigative work” and “digging” uncovered Huff’s New Wave time capsule.
From the Huffington Post:
On Tuesday night, Scott Brown’s wife pleaded with her husband to stop advertising his “available” daughters, but a video we’ve dug up reveals that Gail Huff wasn’t always so prim and proper.
The Massachusetts senator-elect’s wife, who now works as a reporter for Boston station WCVB-TV, starred in singer Digney Fingus’ 1984 video for a song called “The Girl With The Curious Hand.”
Here, the legendary investigative team at the Washington Post is also on the case today:
After he got a Boston College law degree, he married Gail Huff, an actress who was known in Boston as the bikini-clad woman in an early-’80s Digney Fignus music video, “The Girl With the Curious Hand.” In the video, Huff’s curious hand poisons a drink and squirts suntan lotion in the air. (”It means different things to different people,” Fignus said in an interview.) Huff is now a well-known newscaster on the Boston ABC affiliate.
If anyone should get credit for the “scoop”, if there’s one to be had, it’s the Track Gals at the Boston Herald, who wrote about this in October!
At today’s Politico, we see this:
I suspect this video of the 1984 Digney Fignus song “The Girl with the Curious Hand,” starring the woman who is now Scott Brown’s wife, would have probably done his campaign more good than harm had it circulated last week rather than this one.
It had. Did it help? Who knows? It’s a music video from 1984!
It’s just another element of the ongoing Palinization of Scott Brown and his family. Hope they are prepared for the spotlight.
by Brian Maloney, January 21st, 2010 at 09:44pm
Catching up:
— The Air America Radio network shutdown actually isn’t the big story it would have been a few years ago: the biggest libtalkers work for other networks.
— Entercom happens, that’s not news either, is it?
— I was wondering how Margery was going to handle this
— The left’s most pressing task: turn Scott Brown into Sarah Palin. Wouldn’t that have been more effective BEFORE election day?
— David Rodham Gergen is a WINNER in the Senate election battle? His boneheaded “Kennedy seat” loaded question gave birth to Scott’s brilliant reply: “it’s the people’s seat.” Only a Globie could come up with crap like this.
— HuffPo morons think they have a scoop in “digging up” Gail Huff’s 1984 music video. That one’s old news in the Bay State, the Herald wrote about it in October.