790 Shaking Up the Lineup

[FakeFlam]

Heard this morning driving in. New lineup starting in January to accomodate the Stews's new syndication deal:

• 6A-11A: Mayhem w/ Steak, Nick, and Chris
• 11A-1P: Jeff Wolverton and Brandon Adams
• 1P-4P: 2 Live Stews (nationally syndicated on The Sporting News Network)
• 4P-79: Afternoon Saloon w/ Mike Bell, Chuck Oliver, and Brandon 'Hometeam' Leak
• (Matt Chernoff moves on)

I'm looking forward to having an alternative to Buck & Kinkaid for the drive home. It will be interesting to see if this lineup can better compete ratings-wise in the afternoons. Reactions to the new lineup?

 

[jimbo722]

With Buck & Kincade having an hour lead in on the new Zone line-up in afternoon drive, my guess it won't make any difference. B&K will still be the ratings winner. They have great chemistry together. Not sure how the Stews keep getting syndication deals though.

 

[RTibbs]

I like the new line-up except the lunch shift. Completely Wretched. Woolverton grates on me. I dread listening to him when he is on Monsters on Fridays. Brandon Adams tell the guy to get the extra tongue out of his mouth. Every time I hear on the radio I figure he must have food spitting out of his mouth and drool on the side of his mouth.

I find the afternoon show interesting. Good for Hometeam and I can only imagine where Chuck and Bell are going to go with it.

Chernoff good luck. One of the best on the station.

 

[zoneguy]

Taking Bell out of Mayhem could make the show insufferable. While I enjoyed Nick and Chris' old afternoon show, it isn't morning drive to me. Dimino is sleep inducing and taking Bell out takes most of the fun out of the show. At least Bell counterbalanced Steak, who is still there and taking up too much air time.

Woolverton and Adams are fill in guys at best.

The Stews are much better suited to mid day. I am interested to see what Sporting News does to the show.

Afternoon Saloon. Oliver and Bell are both big talents and Home Team is solid enough. How they mix and what there approach will be is anyone's guess. It has potential, but they will need a strong hand producing the show and will have to check their egos at the door.

 

[atlsportsnut]

and somewhere the Dickey brothers continue to chuckle.
790 changes their lineup again and shoots themsleves in the foot.
Why call a show Mayhem in the AM, when the mayhem part of the equation has been shipped to afternoon drive?
Dimino and Cellini are both good, strong and opinionated sports talkers, but they offer no fun to the equation. Steak is as self promoting as they come and does not seem to mix well with those two. Subtract Bell and I am listening less.
I've said it before, Jeff Woolverton sounds like Peter Brady during his voice change. He has the worst voice I have ever heard put on air in a major market. Brandon Adams is insuffrable on the weekends, how do they think these two wannabees are going to hang with a talent like Cowherd?
The Stews will continue to be the best thing the station has going for it.
The Afternoon Saloon? Are they serious?
Have they learned nothing from getting their hind quarters kicked by Buck and Kincade?
Simple formula, strong and diverse opinions and less of the pop culture and guy talk have made Buck and Kincade the consistent top show in the market. Sopranos and strip bar talk don't get people bellying up to the bar (or the saloon).
For that matter either does barking and race baiting.
I asked this before, could 790 be positioning themselves to make a run at Buck and Kincade for their afternoon drive show? It would make sense because they appear to be cutting costs and can't actually believe this lineup will work.

 

[Insideradio]

and somewhere the Dickey brothers continue to chuckle.
790 changes their lineup again and shoots themsleves in the foot.
Why call a show Mayhem in the AM, when the mayhem part of the equation has been shipped to afternoon drive?
Dimino and Cellini are both good, strong and opinionated sports talkers, but they offer no fun to the equation. Steak is as self promoting as they come and does not seem to mix well with those two. Subtract Bell and I am listening less.
I've said it before, Jeff Woolverton sounds like Peter Brady during his voice change. He has the worst voice I have ever heard put on air in a major market. Brandon Adams is insuffrable on the weekends, how do they think these two wannabees are going to hang with a talent like Cowherd?
The Stews will continue to be the best thing the station has going for it.
The Afternoon Saloon? Are they serious?

Have they learned nothing from getting their hind quarters kicked by Buck and Kincade?
Simple formula, strong and diverse opinions and less of the pop culture and guy talk have made Buck and Kincade the consistent top show in the market. Sopranos and strip bar talk don't get people bellying up to the bar (or the saloon).
For that matter either does barking and race baiting.
I asked this before, could 790 be positioning themselves to make a run at Buck and Kincade for their afternoon drive show? It would make sense because they appear to be cutting costs and can't actually believe this lineup will work.

Why wouldn't they just move Chris and Nick back to afternoons? Let Steak, Mike, and Oliver do mornings...
Stews in Middays

 

[zoneguy]

Whatever they are doing, they are once again shuffling the lineup with essentially the same players. They just don't seem to get it, they are not going to garner much more of an audience than they have. What is the definition of doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result. Insanity...

Honestly, the sales number continue to rise and I am sure the Stew's new syndication deal is also lucrative for the station. However, they must be worried that the sales numbers can't hold forever if they keep losing books to 680 who also sells there spots for less. So they are scratching and clawing and trying to find a way to get back to the top (meaning in front of 680)

But come on, it's been how long now for this crew and Buck and Kincaid for that matter. The Stews were a breath of fresh air for awhile, but that act is now stale and has always had limited appeal. If the Zone is every going to have a real audience impact they need new talent...And Woolverton and Adams are not it.

 

[RTibbs]

Somebody told me Chernoff was getting a divorce are already is? I have heard them make veiled references about it but nothing specific. One time Chernoff was talking about how people have to work multiple jobs to pay for getting divorced seemed like an inside joke and Oliver was always talking about going to BonJovi and them bringing dates and told Chernoff he knew someone who really wanted to go with him. If so is that what happens there when you get divorced you are removed from your shift. Same deal with Cellini and Oliverwhen they had divorces.

 

[Yail Bloor]

Whatever they are doing, they are once again shuffling the lineup with essentially the same players. They just don't seem to get it, they are not going to garner much more of an audience than they have. What is the definition of doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result. Insanity...

Honestly, the sales number continue to rise and I am sure the Stew's new syndication deal is also lucrative for the station. However, they must be worried that the sales numbers can't hold forever if they keep losing books to 680 who also sells there spots for less. So they are scratching and clawing and trying to find a way to get back to the top (meaning in front of 680)

I'm not even sure they care about 680 or anybody else's numbers (meaning ratings); the bottom line is that they bill a lot and have carved out a fine niche for themselves in Atlanta.

I've got no problem with the new lineup because I was a huge fan of The Bottom Line and with Steak devoting more of his time to his off air pursuits that it is largely what this new version of Mayhem will be. I'm not sure who the poster who said that Nick and Chris aren't funny has been listening to for the past ten years--they both have always made me laugh much more than Bell who, while talented, is a hack with a tired act.

 

[TheRealOtherNeil]

I think Brisket had a problem with Bell. Bell is funny, creative and talented; Brisket isn't. Anyway you package it, The Zone is in a downward spiral with Brisket at the head of the table. Me thinks this is another temporary thing. I see The Stews moving on in 2008.

 

[Yail Bloor]

I see The Stews moving on in 2008.

Really? Even though they just signed a new deal?

Maybe you can get them over at Dave when you take over.

 

[TheRealOtherNeil]

Yep, you got me, signing a new deal means they are staying put for sure. Just ask Bobby Petrino!

 

[LarryWachs]

Better radio would've been Bell staying on mornings and just going after Dimino. It was obvious they hated each other: Bell because he was dealing with the Rain Man with a mic in front of him and Dimino because he was resented a guy who ACTUALLY had wit, intelligence, and a flair for broadcasting. If they could've taken the gloves off that would've been compelling radio.

The Saloon will be great, I have no doubt. Bell is a top notch point man and Oliver is as sharp as anyone on the air in town.

I agree Wolverton is a disaster on air. His voice make Von Haessler sound like soothing and he stammers on top of that. Apparently he's going to be the point?? Good luck with that! At least he is clever and knows his stuff when it comes to sports.

Anyone know where Chernoff is headed?

As an aside, I head Steak today say: "we're funny guys". I ask simply: when was the last time someone actually funny felt compelled to say such a thing? Answer: never. Shapiro is the epitome of a coat tail rider and possibly the luckiest man ever to try broadcasting. Reminds me of the hack in high school who was in the rock band only because he owned the PA.

 

[TheRealOtherNeil]

Reminds me of the hack in high school who was in the rock band only because he owned the PA.

Why didn't I think of that? Sir I bow to your brilliant observation.

 

[Yail Bloor]

Yep, you got me, signing a new deal means they are staying put for sure. Just ask Bobby Petrino!

Great analogy since the Stews switch stations every other year... :


Anybody know if this Stews deal means that 790 will switch from Fox to Sporting News for its weekend and overnights?

 

[LarryWachs]

Let's keep in mind the same idiot who is making those ridiculous, pseudo-dramatic news promos ("Bobby Petrino resigns", "Micheal Vick sentenced") also has a voice in the programming decisions. That tells us all we need to know.

And why on earth David Hubbard can't get a sniff of a show is beyond me. He seems like a pretty bright guy and actually has a voice for radio.

 

[knowsnews1]

I've been in Atlanta for more than a decade and I still cannot fathom why anyone would listen to 790.

Steak Shapiro is the most irritating, egocentric, unfunny person on radio, Mike Bell's act grows stale after about, oh, 45 minutes, and the Stews? They sound like they're auditioning for the high school talent show.

Chris and Nick had a good show in the afternoons, when they could actually talk sports, instead of schtick. But, as a morning team, with Steak trying to be as funny as he thinks he is, their strengths are lost.

Bottom line; anyone who thinks 790 is a top tier sports station obviously has never listened to a good sportstalk station.

 

[LarryWachs]

"Why didn't I think of that? Sir I bow to your brilliant observation."

Thanks Millman. Back atcha regarding the "Brisket" nickname.

 

[atlsportsnut]

The Bottom Line was the best thing that 790 ever had on the air. It was a solid ratings performer for them in that mid-day slot and was one of my all time favorite shows to listen to. At some point, the magic was lost. It started when they moved them up against Buck and Kincade in the afternoons and most in the radio industry thought they would win out. They did not. They got more bitter sounding over the years and have lost their edge. Dimino thinks that reading from internet printouts is entertaining for the guy in their car during the morning commute. Awful. Cellini still has a charm and self-effacing humor, but we need to hear more of it. The fact that Dimino and Cellini are having to deal with Steak and his constant ME talk is just poor decision making at the top. Dimino and Cellini could compete with a guy like Cowherd locally in Atlanta. Instead they put two guys who sound like an amateur hour broadcast on a college campus and expect to win?
When 790 was the top sports station in town, I used to hear them trumpetting ratings. Now that they can't beat Rude in the mornings consistently and have been handed their lunch over and over by B&K they come into the offices of people like me and talk about how much they bill. I never understand this and shut this stuff down fast.
The only people in radio that don't want to talk ratings are the stations that don't have them.
790 has obviously waved a white flag in the afternoons and gone cheap and talentless in the 11-1pm slot.
790 needs to realize that the 11-1pm slot is not a place for people to learn on the job.
It is terrible to see and hear what has happened to what was once a great success story.

 

[RTibbs]

Steak really is the problem and the lack of any new talent coming on to the station. Bell, Dimino and Cellini would have been much better but when you own the station you can stay there forever I guess.

Losing Chernoff doesn't make sense and I still do not understand that. I understand you can't move him to afternoons because of his CSS gig but you could have cut Mayhem back to 10:00 a.m. and had Chernoff from 10 - 1 like he used to do. Get rid of Chernoff and brijng in these two hacks. That mid-day show is going to be horrible. I have heard them on the weekends and alone they are not good. Together it just screams turn me off. Congrats to Colin Cowherd on all his new listeners. What a horrible lead-in to the Stews.