I’ve read online contradictory information My impression is that after 5 decades in SD radio, Mark Larson has retired while Leland Conway is an IHeart national and local fill in host. Does anyone think or know if that’s right?
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Larson and Conway Not on KOGO Website
- Thread starter ILOVERADIO
- Start date
Mark posted to Facebook on Tuesday that he's left KOGO (there was another post about "unexpected events" and being glad that he hasn't finished his book). It's not clear if he was part of the iHeart layoffs this week, but his comments and lack of specifics and the timing make that likely. He says he's "returning with an exciting new venture", so I don't think he intends to retire.
Thanks Michael, To say the obvious. the IHeart layoffs are pretty brutal.
There have been other "under the radar" changes that have happened at KOGO. Host Mike Slater is also gone. Apparently, this happened back in March. Lee Penrose is now solo in PM drive. Syndicated Erick Erickson now airs in the evening.
iHeart has been letting those let go make their own decision as to whether to make it public. I know a handful of people who've been cut in the last two rounds who haven't reached out to Lance or other broadcast media to announce.
No radio group EVER releases a list of who has been laid off... Or will even acknowledge cuts were made publicly.
I personally will not report on anyone that hasn't gone public unless the company announces their permanent replacements. Years ago I and another publication reported on someone before they told their families. Will never allow that to happen again. LEt's just say the public list on RadioInsight is about 1/3 the length of the private list I have and I'm sure there are many, many others I'm not yet aware of.
With last week over with, are we at the end of this particular iHeart bloodbath? Just think we still have the December purge to look forward to... 😲
Correction: It's Lou, not Lee I'm obviously not a KOGO listener.
Slater was an ambiguous goodbye last spring. He said he wanted to spend more time with family. Mike has a 3 hour morning national talk show on Sirius FM’s Patriot Channel and 4 young children.
Mike Slater Hosts 'Breitbart News Daily' Weekday Mornings on SiriusXM Patriot
"Breitbart News Daily" on SiriusXM Patriot features host Mike Slater discussing breaking news with Breitbart correspondents and listeners.
Mark's dropping hints left and right on Facebook (his posts are set to "global", so anyone can see them).
Saturday, at the ballgame with, among other friends, "fearless litigation attorney Bob Ottie", who looks like he's ready to relieve iHeart of some money:
And this (Monday) afternoon at a bistro on Banker's Hill:
Saturday, at the ballgame with, among other friends, "fearless litigation attorney Bob Ottie", who looks like he's ready to relieve iHeart of some money:
And this (Monday) afternoon at a bistro on Banker's Hill:
Lance and Mike,
I’m curious if you have opinions or facts on whether podcasting is replacing broadcasting for many or most laid off broadcasters. I see lots of podcast shows listed and hear some. My impression is that only a tiny percentage of laid off radio personnel make a living as podcasters. Like substack, my guess is that a few Joe Rogans make a lot while most podcasters need to work another job. But your expertise is far greater than my anecdotal impressions.
It's not my field of expertise, but what I've read suggests that 95% of podcasts don't make money.
Even more than radio, podcasting is a numbers game. Advertisers want to see significant and consistent downloads. The big guys like Rogan and content from NPR, The New York Times, etc. have massive reach and an infrastructure to monetize it.
While I'm not crazy about his politics, I've been a big fan of Mark as a talent since his first night on KFMB in the spring of 1976. That said, he's a local personality in Market #19 who makes some regional and national appearances on political talk shows.
KOGO's entire weekly audience last month---not just his listeners---was about 120,000 people. The Daily from the New York Times has 4-5 million uniques a month.
What are uniques? I've seen that on a streaming data display also.
Unique listeners. Doesn't matter how often they listen. It's a measurement that gained traction online decades ago, when someone figured out 3,000 page views could be 300 people looking at ten pages each, which isn't nearly the reach of 3,000 people looking.
Thank you for the explanation. On the streaming data I mentioned, it showed 175 listeners (7 unique). Makes sense.
I agree with this.
Many podcasts are treated as brand extensions. iHeart offers Bill Handel's KFI show as a podcast, but it includes only 40% of the 3 hour show. If a fan of the show happens to be in Boise this week, they can easily catch the podcast, still hear some ads, and still have an incentive to listen on 640 AM when they come back to LA.
Others, outside of radio, run a podcast because it tends to do well in Google and can be a step in "the sales funnel." For those who aren't familiar with social media marketing, the sales funnel is the idea that someone who wants to join a Pilates class might search out a few instructors on Instagram, and eventually hire one of them, with some steps along the way to show increasing interest. Listening to a podcast or downloading an e-book can be one of the steps.
But as far as former radio hosts who transitioned to podcasts, I'm not aware of many success stories, especially on the local level.
Slater was an ambiguous goodbye last spring. He said he wanted to spend more time with family. Mike has a 3 hour morning national talk show on Sirius FM’s Patriot Channel and 4 young children.
Mike Slater Hosts 'Breitbart News Daily' Weekday Mornings on SiriusXM Patriot
"Breitbart News Daily" on SiriusXM Patriot features host Mike Slater discussing breaking news with Breitbart correspondents and listeners.www.siriusxm.com
He also does a conservative-slanted news update on WABC 770 New York after the noon network news, as a lead-in to Bill O'Reilly. And you hear him frequently on those life insurance commercials telling us we're all gonna die someday. He mentions having four kids in that ad.
Wow. The contrast in the the number of listeners s striking. 4-5 million uniques is an impressive number for the NYT.