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Fitz Departs The Bull

TheBigA said:
For the second time, Fitz is leaving The Bull. However he continues hosting the weekend countdown show, owned by Hubbard.

radioinsight.com

Fitz To Depart 98.9 The Bull Seattle

After tracking mornings at Hubbard Radio Country "98.9 The Bull" KPNW-FM Seattle since the brand's relaunch in April 2024, Fitz
radioinsight.com radioinsight.com
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Sounds like this is his choosing....moving on to a bigger better opportunity. I didn't realize the morning show was voice tracked.
 
KilowattKat said:
Sounds like this is his choosing....moving on to a bigger better opportunity.
Click to expand...

He's been hosting the syndicated countdown in 2020. Prior to that, he did other syndicated programming.

CT40 was originally hosted by Bob Kingsley. Hubbard bought the show from Kingsley's estate.
 
TheBigA said:
He's been hosting the syndicated countdown in 2020. Prior to that, he did other syndicated programming.

CT40 was originally hosted by Bob Kingsley. Hubbard bought the show from Kingsley's estate.
Click to expand...
Any idea of what this new, planned Fitz show for next year is all about?
 
KilowattKat said:
Any idea of what this new, planned Fitz show for next year is all about?
Click to expand...

My guess is it's a 5 day a week show. There's been a hole since Whitney Allen retired.

www.insideradio.com

Syndicated Country Host Whitney Allen Announces Retirement.

Whitney Allen, host of syndicated country programs “The Big Time” and “The Big Time Saturday Night,” will retire on Dec. 31, ending a 46-year radio career. Starting in 1979, Allen
www.insideradio.com www.insideradio.com

It would be the same deal as the countdown, syndicated by SkyView.
 
TheBigA said:
My guess is it's a 5 day a week show. There's been a hole since Whitney Allen retired.

www.insideradio.com

Syndicated Country Host Whitney Allen Announces Retirement.

Whitney Allen, host of syndicated country programs “The Big Time” and “The Big Time Saturday Night,” will retire on Dec. 31, ending a 46-year radio career. Starting in 1979, Allen
www.insideradio.com www.insideradio.com

It would be the same deal as the countdown, syndicated by SkyView.
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Night shows for Country are the most overloaded product in the syndication marketplace. Skyview has B-Dub and won't add Fitz to compete with itself. Compass has Townsquare's Taste of Country Nights. Westwood One has Country Nights Live with Bev Rainey. Key Networks has Beasley's Backstage Country. Plus there's Premeire's After Midnite and Picklejar's new PickleJar Up All Night and some other smaller shows... Whitney ended due to not having enough affiliates to keep the show going.

Based on what I've been heard and connecting dots, Fitz is simply trying to get ahead of the news that he was being replaced on The Bull and to drum up some attention for himself. Just doing good self-marketing...
 
lanceventa said:
Based on what I've been heard and connecting dots, Fitz is simply trying to get ahead of the news that he was being replaced on The Bull and to drum up some attention for himself. Just doing good self-marketing...
Click to expand...

I agree with everything you say, but I amended my post to say a 5-day a week show, rather than night show, for the reason you state. There are other dayparts who are looking for remote hosts. I doubt he's satisfied with just doing the countdown. Yes, good self-marketing.
 
100.7 has done a very good job with their morning show over the past few years. While there was a time where 100.7 was devoid of local content, local content has really found its way back (and the station sounds very solid). 98.9 has done a good job of keeping pace with 100.7 in some of the more recent books, so hopefully this help them be even more competitive.
 
SeattleNative said:
How long do people think KPNW will continue to try and do the country thing?
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If the thing is making any profit at all at this point, not likely to try to spin the format wheel again any time soon. I have no idea how it is billing. Seems like maybe three country FMs in this market might be one too many, but again totally depends upon the billing. The AAA-lite move was ill-fated, but so have the last ten moves on that frequency. Every city of any size seems to have at least one haunted channel- for the longest time here that one was 96.5 but once they hit on Jack that ceased to be an issue. 98.9 has bounced more than a super ball.
 
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The Seattle market already has a dozen stations that air "Under the Bridge" and "Kashmir." It doesn't need another.

(The death of the AAA-lite version of KPNW was foretold for me when one of the live DJs enthusiastically uptalked "Kashmir" instead of an obscure stiff from Peter Gabriel or Depeche Mode. There was no reason for the station not to flip to country at that point.)

Fitz is based in Seattle, yes? The Wolf version of his show was listenable, so I'm not surprised he's keeping on keeping on.
 
ZooMan7777 said:
They did but it wasn't very well executed. Barely any promotion, it was barely even around for a full calendar year before Bull 1.0
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They did a LOT more promotion for it than they did for either incarnation of The Bull, and got MUCH better results with country music. The Bull instantly got better ratings when it returned. They hired well-known heritage talent, and gave that talent full reign in picking the music. They also did a lot of local outreach in music venues that featured the music they were playing.

I don't think there was another thing they could have done other than go door to door to every home in Seattle and hand out free radios tuned to the station so they could listen.
 
lanceventa said:
Night shows for Country are the most overloaded product in the syndication marketplace. Skyview has B-Dub and won't add Fitz to compete with itself. Compass has Townsquare's Taste of Country Nights. Westwood One has Country Nights Live with Bev Rainey. Key Networks has Beasley's Backstage Country. Plus there's Premeire's After Midnite and Picklejar's new PickleJar Up All Night and some other smaller shows... Whitney ended due to not having enough affiliates to keep the show going.

Based on what I've been heard and connecting dots, Fitz is simply trying to get ahead of the news that he was being replaced on The Bull and to drum up some attention for himself. Just doing good self-marketing...
Click to expand...
Slightly offtopic for this discussion, but I'd argue that CHR mornings is almost as bad. Premier itself has three shows, plus there's Kid Kradick, and I'm not sure who JohnJ and Rich are through. Not to mention the Bert Show having just recently come to an end. Plus, you have shows made for multiple formats that some CHRs are running, like Anna and Raven.
 
AuxRSS said:
The Seattle market already has a dozen stations that air "Under the Bridge" and "Kashmir." It doesn't need another.

(The death of the AAA-lite version of KPNW was foretold for me when one of the live DJs enthusiastically uptalked "Kashmir" instead of an obscure stiff from Peter Gabriel or Depeche Mode. There was no reason for the station not to flip to country at that point.)

Fitz is based in Seattle, yes? The Wolf version of his show was listenable, so I'm not surprised he's keeping on keeping on.
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If his last name is Madrid then no, he's based at KUPD Tempe, or was, and VT'ed the morning show. Both Fitz's' (or the same Fitz) was laid off by Hubbard the same day. Maybe @TheBigA might know if this is one and the same.
 
KilowattKat said:
If his last name is Madrid then no, he's based at KUPD Tempe, or was, and VT'ed the morning show. Both Fitz's' (or the same Fitz) was laid off by Hubbard the same day. Maybe @TheBigA might know if this is one and the same.
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Not the same person. If it was it would've been mentioned in the news story...
 


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