• Get involved.
    We want your input!
    Apply for Membership and join the conversations about everything related to broadcasting.

    After we receive your registration, a moderator will review it. After your registration is approved, you will be permitted to post.
    If you use a disposable or false email address, your registration will be rejected.

    After your membership is approved, please take a minute to tell us a little bit about yourself.
    https://www.radiodiscussions.com/forums/introduce-yourself.1088/

    Thanks in advance and have fun!
    RadioDiscussions Administrators

Josh Binswanger Gone from WBZ

N

nowradioguy

I can't believe I had to learn of Josh's departure from the other message board. :(

What, nobody here thought it important enough to post and comment on? :mad:
 
well the story just hit the Globe today, where I found out about it . He was let go yesterday....

The guy has been there 2 years, it isn't like he is an institution around these parts,but even if he was it would not matter, people withlonger tenures and bigger names have been shown the door under the previous ownership and the new owners.

This is radio folks, people come and go, there is no job security, never put in a swimming pool.

https://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/2...r-part-ways/qt2p6ZmHCDRefSu3qjBTxI/story.html
 
inorm99 said:
How does this prove that IHeart is better?
Click to expand...

Not my view that iHeart is better. Just that the same cuts would have happened regardless.

This is an industry issue, not a company issue.

As TV companies leave radio ownership, it becomes harder to justify the older staffing.
 
MRBIboredop said:
The guy has been there 2 years; it isn't like he is an institution around these parts, but even if he was it would not matter. People with longer tenures and bigger names have been shown the door under the previous ownership and the new owners.
Click to expand...

Right, but when was the last time WBZ ever moved an anchor out of AM drive into PM drive and eventually showed him the door? Gary L. and Ed Walsh both retired; Joe Matthieu left of his own accord, perhaps sensing that the future there didn't look promising post-CBS. In retrospect, a smart move on his part.

Nope: too easy to let this go by just because Josh was a short-timer. As I said before, I really worry about WBZ knowing they're in iHeart's hands. Would they have fared better had Entercom could've found a way to keep them? Nah, I'm not liking what's going on at the other (former) CBS O&O newsradio stations, either.
 
I'm not surprised at this and thought there may be some change at the new year. Josh has been around the 'BZ brand for longer than 2 years with his TV experience and his former agent "Ruth" used to talk about him on radio all the time.

I think there's almost an inherent concern on new ownership's part when someone isn't their guy, in the sense the they didn't make the hire. Kind of stupid if he's a good talent.
 
Kemosabe said:
Would Hubbard have been better?
Click to expand...

Not really. At the end of 2018, they cut staff in Seattle, St. Louis, and Cincinnati after spending $80 million to buy a group of stations in West Palm Beach.

As someone else said, staff cuts are a way of life. Not just in radio.
 
QED said:
I'm not surprised at this and thought there may be some change at the new year. Josh has been around the 'BZ brand for longer than 2 years with his TV experience and his former agent "Ruth" used to talk about him on radio all the time.

I think there's almost an inherent concern on new ownership's part when someone isn't their guy, in the sense the they didn't make the hire. Kind of stupid if he's a good talent.
Click to expand...

Usually the new owners have good talents of their own that they know and trust and may even think superior to the old management's good talent, so it's out with the old and in with the new. Happens a lot in the communications business, where quality, especially, of voice talent and/or writers, is a subjective thing. What may be an excellent news reader in one general manager's eyes may be too shrill, too regional-sounding, too smarmy, too Tex Baxter-ish, too too-cool-for-the-room for another.
 
CTListener said:
Usually the new owners have good talents of their own that they know and trust and may even think superior to the old management's good talent, so it's out with the old and in with the new. Happens a lot in the communications business, where quality, especially, of voice talent and/or writers, is a subjective thing. What may be an excellent news reader in one general manager's eyes may be too shrill, too regional-sounding, too smarmy, too Tex Baxter-ish, too too-cool-for-the-room for another.
Click to expand...

Alright, this really sums things up quite nicely, unfortunate though the situation may be.

It also points to what bother me and probably a few others about the exiting of the radio business by CBS. New owners for their stations were inevitable when CBS wanted out. And while we should not expect Entercom or Beasley or Hubbard or iHeart to feel the same towards the personnel at the former CBS O&O's, it serves to highlight the fact that I wish CBS had never exited the business for this very reason. Not all change is good.
 
CBS just looked at the math. Every year radio was loosing audience, market share and revenue. Why would any one want to hold onto something like that until it was worth nothing. They have TV and motion picture divisions that are still making more money every year. So they decided to drop the whole radio division. iHeart bought nothing they traded markets for what Entercom decided they didn't want. Now you can think that was a DOJ thing but my guess was they realized that the AM's where not worth hanging onto with the expenses and overhead. They dumped RKO and BZ in a heartbeat. Kept all the FM's they could and called it a day.
 
johnster said:
CBS just looked at the math. Every year radio was loosing audience, market share and revenue. Why would any one want to hold onto something like that until it was worth nothing. They have TV and motion picture divisions that are still making more money every year. So they decided to drop the whole radio division. iHeart bought nothing they traded markets for what Entercom decided they didn't want. Now you can think that was a DOJ thing but my guess was they realized that the AM's where not worth hanging onto with the expenses and overhead. They dumped RKO and BZ in a heartbeat. Kept all the FM's they could and called it a day.
Click to expand...

But there was absolutely a monopolistic situation and a definite mandate from the DoJ to divest something in the Sports area, as the combo would have had essentially all the teams and revenue; the full cluster would have exceeded the FCC 40% of revenue guideline and the DoJ would have concurred there.

One of the AMs does not have a fully competitive signal, and the other had too much revenue with a lower margin. So, to get through the FCC and DoJ, they looked at cash flow as well as ratings and gross revenue.
 
DavidZ said:
No more Morgan White Saturday night 10P-to 12M after tonight 3/9/1”
Click to expand...

How many people do you imagine use AM radio Saturday from 10PM to midnight? Anyone?

It's really impractical. WLW runs repeats of weekday talk shows. KDKA runs CBS News Roundup.
 
Morgan also mentioned he had seniority. I don't think that word applies in radio. Nor does the wishes of the previous host. Dean is apparently out joining Bruce Stevens who hasn't been around in a while?
 
He also said he kept his mouth shut.
 
Status
This thread has been closed due to inactivity. You can create a new thread to discuss this topic.


Back
Top Bottom