CBS Firings?

[Oldbones]

So Dana, why don't you buy a station (or better yet a chain of them) and show us how it's done.

These stupid, idiot, moron upper mangers have yet to realize something: THEY ARE THE REASON THAT RADIO IS DYING, AND BY CONTINUING THEIR MORONIC WAY OF MANAGING (IE: CUTTING PAST THE BONE TO THE MARROW), THEY ARE KILLING THE BUSINESS EVEN FASTER!!!!

Also, the business enviroment is cyclical, and I'll bet it's never occurred to these turds that eventually they will NEED THEM BACK-but guess what?- just like me, they will be OUT OF THE BUSINESS, BECAUSE THEY GOT SICK AND TIRED OF BEING TREATED LIKE $**T!

See that GUN in your hand, management turds? See the bleeding hole in your foot?

You have shot yourself in the foot!

Of course, none of you have taken a reduction in salary to keep staff!

It's too bad that what you are doing wasn't legally criminal (as opposed to being morally criminal, which it is)-a few months alone in a cell with 'Bubba' would help your management skills!

Merry Christmas CBS radio people-once again you've gotten one HELL of a Christmas bonus form the YAG (formerly known as diamond tiffany) network!

 

[jlehmann]

The Oldies website has been changed again. Mike Finegan is gone and Patrick Callahan is now shown for 7-Midnight.

 

[zillasound]

Patrick Callahan is now on into what is usually Mike Finegan's shift with no mention of filling in for him. He was also on past 10 last night as well with no mention of filling in for him at all. Now, you add this to June Knight being bumped from the website and the fact that the WBZ newsroom did the updates on the news this morning and we may have solved the mystery of the two on air people who CBS let go. If this is true, this is shocking because Mike Finegan has been at 103 even before they became Oldies in 1987. As Oldies 103.3's world turns continues....

Was Oldies 103 something else before it was WODS -I mean I know it was once WEEI-FM and that became WHHT "Hot Hit Radio" in the early to mid 80's. It was like an interim station. Had nothing much but a mix of oldies and slower recent hits(no hard rock) and no prominent DJ chit-chat. I wanna say this was about...oh late 1986, and it became Oldies 103 in 1987. I know WHTT kind of tried to change format in 1986...slowly with many of the same DJs(Doug Alling for one) still on but pimping the new softer AC format. That failed and it became, overnight an Oldies format? But I don't think the call letters were WODS at first. I seem to recall "WKKT"?

 

[NHRadio]

The short-lived WKKT "Boston's Cat" was on 100.7 approx. 1985ish just before it became WZLX. I think it was owned by Cook-Inlet then but not positive.

But I don't think the call letters were WODS at first. I seem to recall "WKKT"?

 

[zillasound]

The short-lived WKKT "Boston's Cat" was on 100.7 approx. 1985ish just before it became WZLX. I think it was owned by Cook-Inlet then but not positive.

AHHH. That's it. Thanks!!! Wow ZLX did come on about mid-80's. I also remember it played hard and softer/progressive rock as well, AND Barry Scott's Lost 45's before, and I think this was around the early 90's, it became more solidly "Classic" rock as it is now as the 90's wore on. WZLX is interesting, didn't their ratings go up vastly in the last two years? The K&M morning show pretty much has been the same for awhile and I have to admit they do some funny stuff.

Yeah, Oldies 103 morphed out of the old WHTT then. They had huge hype for that HTT station then-billboards,TV Ads, stickers and all that. But, as I'd read, it tried to compete with KISS 108 and while it performed well, it wasn't as well as KISS 108, so it closed down and change format.

 

[jhnkill]

Tom Kent seems to have disappeared off the website as well.

 

[NHRadio]

I remember listening to WHTT about age 18 or 19. I thought at the time it was OK...the rotations were a bit too tight for my taste and I seem to remember the jocks as all scream-into-the-mic types...but it was a lot of years and many pounds ago.

Yeah, Oldies 103 morphed out of the old WHTT then. They had huge hype for that HTT station then-billboards,TV Ads, stickers and all that. But, as I'd read, it tried to compete with KISS 108 and while it performed well, it wasn't as well as KISS 108, so it closed down and change format.

 

[Bakers_Bookstore]

I find it interesting that none of you are concerned that a national radio chain, CBS, is cutting major market staff jobs. We aren't talking regional companies or Cheap Channel, which BTW is desolving.

Let me spell it out to those of you who actually are trying to earn a living (or hope to earn a living) in this business.

You have already achieved the height of your career! Where are you going to go next and who do you think will you work for? If CBS is cutting...duh...

As for the call letters of WODS between WEEI-FM and the present day, If you can't do that basic research you don't belong in radio. Full Stop

 

[NHRadio]

Au Contraire.
I'm extremely concerned about both the state of broadcasting, my job and my future...but I don't wish to discuss it on a message board constantly. It will solve nothing. Nor will bitching about it. We've all heard it.
Clear Channel isn't "dissolving"...where did you get that idea?
Last-just because someone forgets a 25-year-old set of calls doesn't mean they shouldn't be in Radio...on the other hand people who whine and belittle others....

I find it interesting that none of you are concerned that a national radio chain, CBS, is cutting major market staff jobs. We aren't talking regional companies or Cheap Channel, which BTW is desolving.

Let me spell it out to those of you who actually are trying to earn a living (or hope to earn a living) in this business.

You have already achieved the height of your career! Where are you going to go next and who do you think will you work for? If CBS is cutting...duh...

As for the call letters of WODS between WEEI-FM and the present day, If you can't do that basic research you don't belong in radio. Full Stop

 

[oldiesfan6479]

Tom Kent seems to have disappeared off the website as well.

Well, that's a huge blow to the radio industry.

You realize it's only due to the temporary flip to "holiday favorites"
(where McCartney's Christmas song gets more spins-per-day than
Brown Eyed Girl ever has) and TK TK TK will be back afterwards,
and with the latest Boston bloodbath will likely be on 7-midnight.

 

[Eli Polonsky]

Was Oldies 103 something else before it was WODS -I mean I know it was once WEEI-FM and that became WHHT "Hot Hit Radio" in the early to mid 80's. It was like an interim station. Had nothing much but a mix of oldies and slower recent hits (no hard rock) and no prominent DJ chit-chat. I wanna say this was about...oh late 1986, and it became Oldies 103 in 1987. I know WHTT kind of tried to change format in 1986...slowly with many of the same DJs (Doug Alling for one) still on but pimping the new softer AC format. That failed and it became, overnight an Oldies format? But I don't think the call letters were WODS at first.

The station on 103.3 that you (and a lot of other people) have forgotten between WHTT and WODS was WMRQ, "Quality Rock". It was an eclectic soft adult rock mix, a predecessor to what became known as the "Triple-A" (Adult Album Alternative) format. Mike Finegan was on it.

The format didn't work on 103.3. The next station in the market to go "Triple-A" after 103.3 flipped to WODS was WBOS, which flipped from Country in 1989 by stunting with a whole day of playing Johnny Paycheck's "Take This Job And Shove It".

A few years later, Soft AC WLYT in Haverhill also flipped to "Triple-A" as WXRV "The River", and with WBOS' change to automated "classic alternative" last spring, "The River" is now the market's only remaining commercial "Triple-A".

 

[zillasound]

[q
The station on 103.3 that you (and a lot of other people) have forgotten between WHTT and WODS was WMRQ, "Quality Rock". It was an eclectic soft adult rock mix, a predecessor to what became known as the "Triple-A" (Adult Album Alternative) format. Mike Finegan was on it.

The format didn't work on 103.3. The next station in the market to go "Triple-A" after 103.3 flipped to WODS was WBOS, which flipped from Country in 1989 by stunting with a whole day of playing Johnny Paycheck's "Take This Job And Shove It".

A few years later, Soft AC WLYT in Haverhill also flipped to "Triple-A" as WXRV "The River", and with WBOS' change to automated "classic alternative" last spring, "The River" is now the market's only remaining commercial "Triple-A".
[/quote]

AHHH. I knew it was something! WMRQ sounds very familiar. I know it didn't even last a year. WHTT went into a mild format AC change, with some of the same personalities with a new slant. Then overnite, around late summer '86 or Fall, it became RMQ, which became WODS in 1987. That fills the gap in. Thanks!

 

[SonicOverload]

just read this thread all the way through... I also just found out that a long-time acquaintance, Scot Cooper, who worked at WBZ for quite awhile as a producer got canned. I'm sure Bob Nelson knows him from WMWM...

 

[Eli Polonsky]

AHHH. I knew it was something! WMRQ sounds very familiar. I know it didn't even last a year.

I also remember that around the WMRQ period was when 103.3 was running a CBS-sponsored noise reduction system called "FMX" that a number of their FM stations were testing in different markets. You could only get the benefits of the noise reduction on a new "FMX" specially equipped receiver.

One of the reasons "FMX" didn't make it was that it increased multipath distortion in regular receivers, especially multipath "picket-fencing" in car receivers (though CBS kept trying to deny it at the time). I remember WMRQ sounded like crap in the car when I was driving around Boston.

 

[dhoule]

Mike Finegan

Mike has been and will continue to be an incredible talent. I remember him from 14Q/WFTQ in Worcester as well as WZLK, WMRQ (Boston's Quality Rock in 1986--103.3), and of course Oldies 103.3 I particularly enjoyed him on Lunchtime Golden Oldies on 14WFTQ and enjoyed years ago when he was on 12-4 in the afternoon at Oldies. Best of luck to you Mike, if you read this.

 

[mgpt6]

Eli, didnt MBR try FMX with money from Bose Corp.?

 

[RickyF]

Too bad the program directors of this 24/7 'Holiday' music in early November don't feel the axe.How 'bout putting out a better product,so your listeners don't turn to Ipods and XM/Sirius to hear some interesting refreshing music ? Overnight and weekend DJ's are not the problem,only the scapegoats.

 

[Eli Polonsky]

Eli, didnt MBR try FMX with money from Bose Corp.?

Yes, briefly. The manufacturers (Broadcast Technology Partners, former employees of CBS Technology Systems when they invented the system) ended up trying to blame WMBR's engineering and equipment for the shortcomings (increased multipath distortion, etc...) of the system, while they were also trying to deny reception complaints from listeners to major-market CBS stations testing it nationally.

Dr. Bose, then an MIT professor who was originally interested in having his company possibly manufacture FMX receivers, did a study of it and turned it down when he found that FMX did indeed degrade reception, and used WMBR for a field study of the system to prove his analysis. (I don't know what kind of financial consideration, if any, was exchanged between Bose and the MIT station). Threatening legal action against Dr. Bose, the president of BTP and co-inventor of FMX compared the WMBR study to doing laboratory experiments using a "contaminated petri dish".

Needless to say, the system didn't catch on. More about what happened with FMX is in this 1989 New York Times article here and this 1989 article from MIT's newspaper "The Tech" here.

 

[MassMusicMan]

Too bad the program directors of this 24/7 'Holiday' music in early November don't feel the axe.How 'bout putting out a better product,so your listeners don't turn to Ipods and XM/Sirius to hear some interesting refreshing music ? Overnight and weekend DJ's are not the problem,only the scapegoats.

1) The PD's don't pick the format.

2) The product is fine. The demand obviously exists for all-Christmas. They don't keep doing it because it fails.

 

[LA_Guy]

So Dana, why don't you buy a station (or better yet a chain of them) and show us how it's done.

These stupid, idiot, moron upper mangers have yet to realize something: THEY ARE THE REASON THAT RADIO IS DYING, AND BY CONTINUING THEIR MORONIC WAY OF MANAGING (IE: CUTTING PAST THE BONE TO THE MARROW), THEY ARE KILLING THE BUSINESS EVEN FASTER!!!!

Also, the business enviroment is cyclical, and I'll bet it's never occurred to these turds that eventually they will NEED THEM BACK-but guess what?- just like me, they will be OUT OF THE BUSINESS, BECAUSE THEY GOT SICK AND TIRED OF BEING TREATED LIKE $**T!

See that GUN in your hand, management turds? See the bleeding hole in your foot?

You have shot yourself in the foot!

Of course, none of you have taken a reduction in salary to keep staff!

It's too bad that what you are doing wasn't legally criminal (as opposed to being morally criminal, which it is)-a few months alone in a cell with 'Bubba' would help your management skills!

Merry Christmas CBS radio people-once again you've gotten one HELL of a Christmas bonus form the YAG (formerly known as diamond tiffany) network!

The only station I ever owned (KYBD, Dodge City/Garden City, KS) was #1 in its market and profitable 4 months after sign on! How...LOCAL! I employed (back in 1994) what could have been called FEDEX voicetracking. We were running the Unistar Hot Country format with oud own DJs that we hired from Houston, Dallas and Kansas City.
The music sheets came out a week in advance-enough time for the jocks to cut their breaks and FEDEX them to us where they were plugged into the Audiovault.

We also had the #2 signal there (the best signal was 80 feet above us on the tower), 100 kW, and we put money into lots of local news and local promotion.

What can make you successful is be LOCAL, LOCAL, LOCAL!! KNOW your market and super serve it. Look at KISS-108 in the '80s under Richie Balsbaugh! They KNEW the market and they made KISS 100% Boston! The generic 'cookie cutter' Kiss of today bears scant resemblance to that KISS! It's also a much harder local sell.

I have a saying-if a salesman walks into a store and they are playing his station then that sale is a done deal. That store doesn't have to be sold-they already are.
How many stores play CBS stations these days?

The sad thing is that Dan Mason understands this-look at what he did in NYC bringing WCBS-FM back. He revived a MONSTER that was slain by JACK! He understands it but can't DO IT! It must be so frustrating for him!