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Billy Madison vs Red Robin
- Thread starter pokerface
- Start date
pokerface said:
What is there to discuss? The guys got sick and sued a cook who made a stupid comment on a competitor's Facebook. There really isn't anything a cook can do to "give" someone food poisoning. It's a non-story.
ionosphere said:
Really?
Guess you've never spent much time working the line. Drop a half-teaspoon of hydrogen peroxide in your cornflakes and let me know how it works out for you.
And in my experience, in most markets, anything that got a smidgen of the national media attention this got would be discussed ad nauseum.
Even if it got no national media attention, an entire morning crew suing a national restaurant chain after an employee went on a competing morning show's social media page suggesting he was going to slip them a mickey is certainly out of the ordinary. Looking at the much less salacious events that are discussed at length here, "It's a non-story" really doesn't make much sense.
The Tulsa media, whether it's radio/tv/print, rarely cross paths any more, much less have a real feel for the business by talking shop. In the old days this would've been a big deal. Whether the incident happened or not, it's a story.
Today, most tv reporters in Tulsa are more concerned with updating their Facebook status and meeting their friends for drinks. It's like Tri-Delt sorority happy hour. And I don't mean that as any sign of disrespect to that sorority. There's a time and place for socializing. I have never seen reporters so concerned with the perception of their personal lives that their work is secondary like it is in this market. IMO, it's become this way in the last 18-24 months.
I've worked in plenty of stations with co-workers dating, getting s-faced, etc... But, their work was not a reflection of that. In this market it is all about keeping up appearances like you're 20 years old and your job as a reporter is a sideshow.
The inmates run the asylum.
Today, most tv reporters in Tulsa are more concerned with updating their Facebook status and meeting their friends for drinks. It's like Tri-Delt sorority happy hour. And I don't mean that as any sign of disrespect to that sorority. There's a time and place for socializing. I have never seen reporters so concerned with the perception of their personal lives that their work is secondary like it is in this market. IMO, it's become this way in the last 18-24 months.
I've worked in plenty of stations with co-workers dating, getting s-faced, etc... But, their work was not a reflection of that. In this market it is all about keeping up appearances like you're 20 years old and your job as a reporter is a sideshow.
The inmates run the asylum.
pokerface said:
I guess hydrogen peroxide is a staple in the kitchen these days? If we're going to start making a news story out of every empty threat some dummy makes on Facebook, that's all we will be hearing about on the evening news.
I personally think it's a publicity stunt for the show. And yes, they would do something like that. Well, one of them would definitely do something like that.
ionosphere said:
Just my opinion, but I think you're allowing your feelings for the person on that show you obviously don't like to bleed in here.
It's a little silly to insist this sin't a story, or even worthy of discussion. It's run in print media all over the world, including the New York Times, and Entertainment Weekly.
It may well be a publicity stunt. It may well be people looking at a Facebook post and seeing an opportunity to cash in. It might just have happened. Regardless of what it is, it is most certainly, by this point, news, and no amount of dislike and denial will change that.
As far as hydrogen peroxide is concerned; there are these things ... they're called "first aid kits" ....... just about every one of them has hydrogen peroxide in it, and kitchens are full of sharp knives. Health codes require first aid kits. You do the math.
There are also plenty of other ways to give people digestive issues with items common in any restaurant kitchen. Your insistence that could not happen was uninformed and illogical, and in my opinion, fueled by your feelings rather than your intellect.
I don't know whether it happened or not, but as someone who was washing dishes in the kitchen of the family restaurant at 11, and on the line at 13, I can assure you it absolutely could have been done.
pokerface said:
Ha! I'm really not trying to be an a$$, but I saw one of the anchor's at KOTV's station Facebook page today. Among her status updates: a self pic to get feedback on her hair, telling everyone her favorite new Mexican restaurant, and how grossed out she is by a human foot being found in a shoe at a Tulsa park. Wow.
Glenn Quagmire said:
The changing face of local news, brother. One of my best friends is an agent for news talent all over the country. He deals with dozens of news directors every day. According to him, the trend in local news is to put the staff out there as personalities more, and to interject opinion into the news, both personal, and political, A.L.A. FOX News.
Back to the Billy Madison vs. Red robin thing, I don't listen to morning radio anymore, I'm never up before noon. did they make a big deal of this on their show? I looked on their webpage and their blog, and saw nothing.
If they haven't capitalized on it on the air, I'd say that likely rules out the "publicity stunt" motive. When they initiated this, they couldn't have known the story would take off like it has, and locally, it hasn't gotten that much attention. The publicity value is nil if it doesn't encourage current listeners to listen more, and attract more listeners. The potential downside of going after a big company as a publicity stunt, in my opinion, far outweighs any potential payoff unless it becomes heavily integrated with the show's on-air content.
My guess would be it either really happened, or they spotted the post on Facebook and saw $$$$$$.
I think it happened, why go through the process of paying an attorney and trying to prove a case you know is going to be fought tooth and nail? Especially since they haven't said a word about it on-air to my knowledge.pokerface said:
Glenn Quagmire said:
Entirely possible. I think the likelihood of it being a cash-in is directly proportional to the deal they made with the attorney.
A lawyer once told me if an attorney wanted any money from you up front, you have no case.
If the attorney wants a percentage on contingency, but the expenses come off the top, it's a coinflip. The higher above 30% they want after those expenses (which will invariably be massively padded), the weaker they think your case is.
If the attorney will take your case on a 33% contingency, or less, and is willing to eat the expenses, he or she believes you have a slam-dunk, and they want to lock you up before you get a chance to talk to another attorney.
Now this is just a layman's opinion, but assuming that guy was on the clock when he posted that comment on Facebook (and I'm almost positive he was), he did so acting as an agent of Red Robin. Even if their getting sick was shown to psychosomatic, having been caused by anxiety from reading that post, the threat to do harm is the same as actually doing that harm.
It's like assault and battery.
"Assault" is merely the threat of harm.
"Battery" is the actual laying on of hands (or weapons).
"Simple Assault" is, in itself, a crime, and it is merely the threat of doing harm.
I believe Red Robin has clear liability here.
If I was a lawyer with flexible ethics and saw that post, I'd be tempted to call them myself and sign them up. Please understand I am not making that assertion about the attorney in this case, I know absolutely nothing about him, and have no reason to believe he is anything other than a person of unquestionable ethics and character. I'm just saying that I believe the facts as presented in the media so far don't bode well for Red Robin.
On a related note, Billy has left the building at KHITS. All Access has the job posting for a morning show host. Net News has the rumor that Billy and crew are headed to San Antonio.
When I first read this, I thought the RED ROBIN was Jet. Billy is leaving K-Hits because Jet treats the staff poorly. Jon Phillips is a good man, but his PD is a creep. He takes all of the credit for the radio station and leaves his key players on the sideline. I have not heard if the whole show is leaving or is it just Billy? Either way, it is bad news for 106.9
New liner free of charge:
Bob remembers the 1 year when K-Hits had a good morning show with ratings....92.9 Bob FM.
New liner free of charge:
Bob remembers the 1 year when K-Hits had a good morning show with ratings....92.9 Bob FM.
rubberchicken said:
Wow...didn't see that coming. :
Billy is a very predictable person in so many ways.
pokerface said:
That's an opinion not based on fact. I worked in the same building with Billy for a little less than a year. In fact, worked WITH him on a few occasions. Outside of work, Billy is actually a fun guy. A little immature for a man of his age, but someone you can grow to like. The problem in working with him is that he has a large ego...which must be fed very regularly. He has a problem with NOT being in charge...especially if the person he reports to is a man. I guess he feels threatened...not sure. Anyway, he's just not an easy person to work with and he burns every bridge he crosses. So, in summation...I actually like "Bill". I don't like "Billy". There's a difference.
Yet, here I sit...2 miles from 71st and Yale...and I hear about it from a guy on a message board some months after it occurred. And, by the way, EVERYTHING is reported in the NYTimes and EW. It's a quirky little story, which is why is gets that kind of play. It certainly isn't front page material anywhere.
I could care less if it happened or not. I'm just telling you that in my experience with Billy, he has daily phone conversations with his lawyer. He's threateneed legal action for far less than this. And I could tell you one insane story where he almost sued about something that I know did NOT happen the way it was told. But I won't.
Okay, chief. You win. Peroxide in the burger meat it is.
My intellect tells me that you have to be a really stupid individual to risk your job, your freedom and lots of money just so you can give a radio show host the runs. Not saying it didn't happen...I'm sure the guys did get sick. I'm saying that that sort of thing happens all the time at restaurants when there is no ill intent. And I'm insisting that using a random Facebook post as evidence is a little far-reaching.
Got it.
shaneradio said:
Be that as it may, when a significantly larger market comes calling, that generally means a significantly larger paycheck. I'd bet $$$$ has a lot more to do with the decision to leave than Jet.
I don't know anything about Jet as a PD, but the more I think about it, the less likely I think it is that he would be causal here. Even if everything you said is true, no GM with as much money invested in his morning show as John Phillips does is going to let a personality clash with his program director spoil that.
The PD would be told to make nice.
If that didn't work, he'd be told to leave them completely alone.
If that didn't work, I'd expect to see Jet leaving, not Billy. Right and wrong wouldn't be factors nearly as much as market conditions. I'd bet one of the top reasons Top 40 PDs are escorted out the door is the morning show doesn't like them. The sad fact is, good morning shows are a lot harder to find than program directors.
Besides, if you were Jet, and you weighed about a buck-fifty like he does, and your HUGE GM, who has the cojones and presence to back a maniac with a gun down in the hallway right outside your office, said you needed to do something, would you go against him?
No, I don't think this is a Jet issue. I'd bet Billy has an agent, and no matter how happy his current station is making him, that agent is always working on newer, bigger opportunities, and to a radio personality, especially one who has gone to do major market radio, and come back, the allure of that siren's call, and the $$ signs that go with it, is irresistible.
"Bob remembers the 1 year when K-Hits had a good morning show with ratings....92.9 Bob FM." Good one! Funny!!
pokerface said:
You just hit the nail on the head. Billy is driven. His goal is simple: national syndication. He went to Dallas being promised certain things that he felt weren't delivered, so he basically tanked his show and came back to Tulsa. Then, when a guy he didn't like became his boss, he left. He knows what he wants, and he doesn't care what he has to do to get it, and I'm not saying that in a bad way. The guy won't kiss anyone's butt. There's something very rock n roll about it.
Jet isn't a bad guy, and he isn't a bad PD. He and Billy are alot alike in some ways, which may be why they don't like each other. I don't know. I do know this: Jet is a guy who does what is best for his station. He knew that Billy being on K-Hits was good for the station, so I'm sure he put his best foot forward. Billy left because he isn't content doing a morning show in Tulsa, OK. That's why he went to Dallas in the first place. He's trying to climb that ladder. So when he gets to KISS in San Antonio (supposedly), he'll ride that out and do everything he can to make his show better until a better offer comes along. There's nothing wrong with that, it's just his career path.
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