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Audacy Layoffs
- Thread starter Kent
- Start date
At least they're giving him a farewell show.
I never did care much for KQRC; then again, I was one of the apparently few people who liked its predecessor, "The River". Still, Dare became kind of an institution in Kansas City, like Randy Miller without the baggage, and it is sad to see that go.
I think if you're a long-tenured morning host, making at least some portion of what morning hosts used to make, you've got a target on your back due to the expense involved.
SnottyNose799
Banned
It's really too bad about Johnny Dare, one of the last funny/good shows left.
Here's more information about the STL property that dismissed its entire airstaff this morning: Entire Airstaff Exits Hot 104.1 St. Louis Ahead Of Expected Flip.
A KMOX FM simulcast is long overdue. Slightly unfortunate that it won't be on what used to be KMOX-FM, but 104.1 isn't going to move back to Jerseyville, Illinois anytime soon, either.
From everything I've heard, while Dare was always well-liked in the community, his reputation in the broadcasting community is a lot more divided and polarizing. Still, if I'm Cumulus, I'd be calling him to see if he'd be interested in working again. Now would be a good time to think about doing something different with 107.3. Johnny Dare would also immediately give credibility to KCMO Talk Radio. Numbers have gone up since it added the FM, but the cume is still anemic.
In Dare's case, I'm sure it came down to his paycheck. At one point, he was making roughly $3,000/show, and he was making roughly 15 times what his co-host was getting. If he's handled his money well, he doesn't have to work anymore unless that's what he wants to do. I understand he agreed to at least one pay cut since working for Entercom/Audacy, but he should already be a multimillionaire.
While KMOX-FM won't go back to 103.3 anytime soon, I've been told it might not end up at 104.1. Within Audacy, some apparently think 96.3 would be a better fit for KMOX while 104.1, which has an audience that's more than 80% African-American, would cover everywhere it needs for WFUN's programming. It will almost certainly end up at one or the other, but we'll have to wait and see which.
96.3 would certainly have better coverage, particularly out northwest where much of the population growth has been in recent years. It's not a C0, due to a decision by then-KADI decades ago not to go on the Kenrick Seminary tower (when it easily could have), but a C1 still beats a C2 any day.
They are out in KC too. Will Audacy and Cumulus merge here?
Nikki Vivas was well-liked in the Audacy cluster as was Nycki Pace. I met Nycki multiple times when I lived in KC when she was at 102.1 The Zone and Mix 93.3, and she was cool. Nikki V's dad is one of my beer drinking buddies. I was told those two layoffs hit the staff at Audacy in KC the hardest, though Johnny Dare caused jaws to drop.
As for whether Audacy and Cumulus merge, you probably need Karnak to tell you that at this point. Manoj Bhargava has seemed pretty clear he wants that, or at least he’s doing what you'd expect him to do if he wanted that.
Should Audacy and Cumulus merge, I expect you'd see the resulting company keep the Audacy stations and spin the Cumulus cluster in KC. I'd only expect a piecemeal separation in DFW.
Why on earth did they get rid of Johnny Dare? What will become of 98.9?
$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$
Probably will be much as it is now. No one person is larger than the station that person works for.
One of the lessons that I learned as an executive was that no one is indispensable. People find a way to make things work. Yes, it's unsettling and there is an adjustment. But that's business.
At my first full-time job, the station's star DJ somehow got crosswise with the owner. The owner demoted him to nights. The star DJ left and went, literally, across the street. Didn't hurt the station I was working at one bit.
What about 99.7? They've lagged behind Mix for a while now.
Most likely, Dare's salary was too big. Plus, his show had five or six cast members. All of them are out now.
As for what happens next, we'll wait and see. Doesn't look like a format change is coming anytime soon, but, if The Rock struggles without Dare, it could happen.
It's also going to hang around for now. I suspect Brett Mega will be doing mornings on the Point and Y98 in STL.
The only format change I hear is almost certainly happening is in STL.
Which STL station? And what about Lazlo?
Hot 104.1 let its staff go, apparently to set up a format change.
Far as I know, he's still there.
SnottyNose799
Banned
I know this is crazy wishful thinking, but Johnny Dare or some of his friends can get together and just buy The Rock. Or maybe there's another underperforming local station they can flip to their musical style when the non-compete's over...
Very recently in Maine, some *local* folks bought a rock station that was about to go under and saved it. Stephen King radio station gets 11th-hour reprieve
But that being said this isn't Maine.
Very recently in Maine, some *local* folks bought a rock station that was about to go under and saved it. Stephen King radio station gets 11th-hour reprieve
But that being said this isn't Maine.
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