Changes on Oxford St

[decepticon]

Heard a PD was let go....

 

[Skynet74]

Really? I'm just hearing the wind. But you may be right.

 

[aqualung]

George?
Everett?
Laudani?

Someone gonna be taking on added duties?

 

[wknd92]

George?
Everett?
Laudani?

Someone gonna be taking on added duties?

Unless they just took a stripe away from him, Bill George was there today doing Traffic on Coast....guessing not him

 

[decepticon]

It was Rick Everet...What does that mean for coast mornings?

 

[McRadio]

It was Rick Everet...What does that mean for coast mornings?

Gone by Labor Day. Maybe the talk about WHJJ simulcasting on 93.3 will become a reality after all.
Frankly Tad Lemire's decision to move over to Coast was a poor one and I don't really know what was behind his exiting Cat Country shortly after becoming the PD but in radio, like politics, you follow your friends in and you'll follow them out too. The ideal situation would be if he ended up back with Chris mornings on Cat Country because that morning show needs help. Even if numbers are OK it needs cosmetic changes.
Brian Mulhern, on the other hand, probably did make a good decision in going over to Coast a few years ago considering what other local options wouldn't have been there for him. He's a poor fit for the station but hey, if they'll hire him, then why not? It's a job. Would they make room for him at HJY?
Unless the Providence or even Boston job market changes drastically there's nothing else around for these two. I used to think if Coast went talk then Tad would be moved over to B101 but I doubt if that's an option anymore.
Then again Everett has to get another job somewhere and it would probably be in programming. Depending on where, Tad could end up following again.

 

[Moonstruck]

So what's the reason behind this? He hasn't even been there 2 years so it isn't like he's had time to build up to an astronomical salary. B101 is doing OK. Coast may not be but they never have. No one is hired there to program from any kind of a powerhouse creative approach. It's a matter of minding the fort and most of the soldiers are voicetracked anyway. Rick is handling 2 stations so it isn't a matter of not pulling his weight with 2 other PDs handling 1 each. If Coast's performance is the reason that station will never do anything more for the cluster but pull a few females in. If anything I would go with Tad Lemire and a female co-host and stop this nonsense with constantly trying to fill every break with wisecracks. They still might not pull big numbers but they'd at least be in line with the station's image the rest of the day. But I agree that the morning show will be a casualty later this year.

 

[OldRadiopro]

This has little to do with Rick and a lot to do with the GM who thinks he's a programmer and hasn't got a clue. Rick is one of the best programmers around. If the GM would keep his hands off the stations and let the programmers program, the cluster would be far better off. Look what Rick did for Cat Country. He grew it into a player. If a guys got a track record of success then you got to look elsewhere for a reason for this. In my opinion, they fired the wrong guy!

 

[Oxford_Street_Shuffle]

Rick Everett is definately a good PD. Cat Country (although slipping now) was a good example of his ability. He was never allowed to do what he really wanted to do with Coast or B101.

The morning show needs to be next to go on Coast. Throw it away - revamp the station. Call it something else, flip the format, but do something. It's become so confusing that no one understand what the format / image of the station is supposed to be. And a male morning show with yuck yuck jokes and one-liners certainly doesn't help matters. By the looks of the winter numbers, the Coast AM show probably won't last too long anyway.

 

[Dighton Rockhead]

Maybe the talk about WHJJ simulcasting on 93.3 will become a reality after all.

With the Clear Channel deal fianlly going through today, the pressure might intensify to make the whole operation even "leaner".

I still think the easiest way out for CC is flipping to 93.3 WHJJ......dumping as many Coast salaries along the way as possible......not to mention the side benefit of freeing up 920 to be sold off to the right buyer for quick cash.

I could be wrong......but that's kinda how the tea leaves look right now.

 

[BigBluBug]

Not to mention the side benefit of freeing up 920 to be sold off to the right buyer for quick cash.

I don't think they'd sell it off. Here's an idea: they've already got the PawSox and URI sports, so move talk over to one of the FMs and bring on ESPN or Fox Sports to 920. Syndicate it except for games. Pay a few board ops for when a game is on. Overhead on that station is gone.

Talk moves to FM. Here's why it probably won't be 93.3 though: WSNE is licensed to Taunton, arguably in range of Boston. You think WRKO is going to sit by and watch silently while Rush Limbaugh gets put on an FM stick that covers a good chunk of Boston? Not likely. And they'll have a case too. So do you move B over to 93.3 and go 101.5 WHJJ?

 

[wknd92]

Maybe the talk about WHJJ simulcasting on 93.3 will become a reality after all.

With the Clear Channel deal fianlly going through today, the pressure might intensify to make the whole operation even "leaner".
I still think the easiest way out for CC is flipping to 93.3 WHJJ......dumping as many Coast salaries along the way as possible......not to mention the side benefit of freeing up 920 to be sold off to the right buyer for quick cash.
I could be wrong......but that's kinda how the tea leaves look right now.

CC could dump the whole cluster as an option as well as they have divested themselves of some large markets with their restructuring prior to the sale. They have Boston stations, they may not feel they need (or want) the Providence stations.
One other option is they could spin an am/fm combo (920 & 93.3) to someone. I can't remember if all the Providence stations stayed w/ CC directly or got put into one of the trusts and if all the stations got put into the same trust....Help anyone, my memory fails me on that one...

 

[Dighton Rockhead]

Talk moves to FM. Here's why it probably won't be 93.3 though: WSNE is licensed to Taunton, arguably in range of Boston. You think WRKO is going to sit by and watch silently while Rush Limbaugh gets put on an FM stick that covers a good chunk of Boston? Not likely. And they'll have a case too. So do you move B over to 93.3 and go 101.5 WHJJ?

93.3, though licensed to Taunton, has its tower in Rehoboth. Whatever signal that might reach into the south shore Boston suburbs can hardly be considdred 'city-grade'. It doesn't seem likely that folks up there would choose a scratchy fringe FM signal for Rush over the city-grade signal of 680 WRKO.

However, you're probably right in that Entercom would be less than pleased at the prospect of Rush being on FM in an adjacent market.

 

[alfieradioguy]

As long as Corwin runs the show, Oxford st is a loser.

 

[Radio-active]

As long as Corwin runs the show, Oxford st is a loser.

I'll second THAT notion.

 

[OldRadiopro]

What Alfi said..............Corwins the problem!

 

[and.u.r?]

What Alfi said..............Corwins the problem!

The one man responsible for draining the Providence market of its heritage over and over.And yet he keeps his own job.

 

[IdentityProgramming]

No reason for SNE to go FM talk. Providence is already an over-talked market, although very little local personalities.

Seems as though no one's understood what's been on WSNE since its inception.
Doesn't look as if that's going to change anytime soon.

Gary Begin
Identity Programming Consultant
Jackson, TN
www.garybegin.com