Could it be true....

[IslandRadio]

Rumor has it that K.T. Mills is no longer at WALK FM. The WALK FM website does not list her in the on air and when you click on her icon it says the page does not exist.

She has been an icon at WALK FM. Can anyone corroborate whether she has been let go from WALK.

 

[wgliradio]

Nick Parker (Z-100) is the new PM Drive at WALK. It's the new 3-10pm afternoon drive. No repeat voice tracks.........

 

[Isles22]

As someone who worked with KT when she first started there, she was a great person, and was always professional on the air. I am sorry to see her go.

 

[JoeyBagODonuts]

Story here on Radio-Info.com:

http://www.radio-info.com/news/after-20-years-kt-mills-is-cut-loose-by-long-islands-ac-walk-fm-975

 

[FrankF]

Hmmmmm..... let's see, longtime personality, great ratings, lame excuse is station going in a different direction with the same format and............i'm missing something here.............. oh yea, station owned by cheap channel. Doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out why she's gone. Does it?

 

[NickFM]

Nick Parker (Z-100) is the new PM Drive at WALK. It's the new 3-10pm afternoon drive. No repeat voice tracks.........

You just had to throw in a passive-aggressive cheap shot didn't you? Do you feel better? Do you feel witty and accomplished? Did you chuckle to yourself after hitting "post" while sitting all alone making yet another uninformed quip?

Fact is, WALK PM Drive was LIVE, not tracked, until the very end. Yes, FACT. When talk time is limited, let's see how many different ways you can talk up the same songs day after day before it sounds repetitive. People like you continue to take jabs, meanwhile one would think you're obviously listening long enough to make such an educated comment, right? Doubtful. So lesson learned, when you make a comment as such, make sure its accurate so i dont have to take time out of my morning while getting ready to go to my still-relevant radio job and publicly embarrass you.

 

[wgliradio]

You just had to throw in a passive-aggressive cheap shot didn't you? Do you feel better? Do you feel witty and accomplished? Did you chuckle to yourself after hitting "post" while sitting all alone making yet another uninformed quip?

Fact is, WALK PM Drive was LIVE, not tracked, until the very end. Yes, FACT. When talk time is limited, let's see how many different ways you can talk up the same songs day after day before it sounds repetitive. People like you continue to take jabs, meanwhile one would think you're obviously listening long enough to make such an educated comment, right? Doubtful. So lesson learned, when you make a comment as such, make sure its accurate so i dont have to take time out of my morning while getting ready to go to my still-relevant radio job and publicly embarrass you.

1) I haven't been a regular listener to WALK for years. Since they tossed out most of the relevent programming over the last 15 years, the station has become yet another bland, boring, predictable AC station that Clear Channel can't wait to dump.

2) WALK PM drive was live... and I knew thatbecause I know people who worked and some who still work there, people I have worked with in my 20+ years working in Long Island radio with some of the best professionals I have ever met who are stuck working in situations like WALK...

And I'm sure you'll be live 7 hours daily, right? The voice track comment was directed at you.

3) K.T. Mills' shoes are huge for you to fill. What WALK did was make the entire station so irrelevent over the lastr 15 years it went from a companion to an appliance... one where you could pick and chose who you wanted to keep and dump those who dared to make a living.

And I think it's funny you don't know who I am.... you should educate yourself first before you try and "bring it". And if your time slot were still relevent, they would have kept the jock who's been there for 19 years and had excellent ratings.... Talk to me in 19 years and see where you are.

 

[lngislradio]

I have to agree. This is yet another example of a seasoned pro (Mills) being dumped for cheaper and inferior talent (Parker). With the ratings and popularity Mills had, it makes you wonder if WALK management knows what they are doing.

 

[NickFM]

1) I haven't been a regular listener to WALK for years. Since they tossed out most of the relevent programming over the last 15 years, the station has become yet another bland, boring, predictable AC station that Clear Channel can't wait to dump.

If you havent been a regular listener, what's your reference point for making such an idiotic and inaccurate comment?

2) WALK PM drive was live... and I knew thatbecause I know people who worked and some who still work there, people I have worked with in my 20+ years working in Long Island radio with some of the best professionals I have ever met who are stuck working in situations like WALK...

It's sad that a 20+ year radio veteran has fallen so far that you're forced to speak ill about such a dominant station that you clearly have personal issues with. If you feel WALK is irrelevant, that's your opinion and you're entitled to it. Stop bringing your personal issues to the msg board. No one wants to hear it and you sound like an uninformed fool.

And I'm sure you'll be live 7 hours daily, right? The voice track comment was directed at you.

I'm not a jock, nor do i ever intend to be. After scrolling the FM dial the last few years, it's clear talent is obviously not a neccessity to be on air anymore as long as you "know someone." I dont care if the comment was directed at me or not. It was inaccurate, therefore you've been corrected.

3) K.T. Mills' shoes are huge for you to fill. What WALK did was make the entire station so irrelevent over the lastr 15 years it went from a companion to an appliance... one where you could pick and chose who you wanted to keep and dump those who dared to make a living.

Again, Mr 20+ years, if you've been in radio this long and you've failed to see how WALK's playlist and programming (like many other stations) has evolved overtime in order to stay relevant, you're truly an embarrassment to radio.

And I think it's funny you don't know who I am.... you should educate yourself first before you try and "bring it". And if your time slot were still relevent, they would have kept the jock who's been there for 19 years and had excellent ratings.... Talk to me in 19 years and see where you are.

First of all, stop talking like The Rock. [EDIT*] What other logical reason could you have for going out of your way to bash a radio station on a message board? I had no problem with your post up until the quip. You reported a fact but then just couldnt resist the jab. Therefore, your identity means nothing to me and your credibility as a legitimate voice on this board as decreased even more. The stupidity you've displayed in your posts makes me glad to not know you.[EDIT*] Have a nice day

[EDIT*-disruption]

 

[wgliradio]

If you havent been a regular listener, what's your reference point for making such an idiotic and inaccurate comment?

The fact I know LI radio better than most. The fact that the occasional jock I hear on there that can't put two sentences together and sound like the just walked out of CSB.

It's sad that a 20+ year radio veteran has fallen so far that you're forced to speak ill about such a dominant station that you clearly have personal issues with. If you feel WALK is irrelevant, that's your opinion and you're entitled to it. Stop bringing your personal issues to the msg board. No one wants to hear it and you sound like an uninformed fool.

It's dominant as an applicance. It WAS dominant as a companion to listeners for many years. But since consolidation, it's been stripped down to the point where it's used as background music and nothing more. It's no longer the place that wins awards for newscasts or the place where people turn when news breaks. It's detached, on-air, from it's community.

I'm not a jock, nor do i ever intend to be. After scrolling the FM dial the last few years, it's clear talent is obviously not a neccessity to be on air anymore as long as you "know someone." I dont care if the comment was directed at me or not. It was inaccurate, therefore you've been corrected.

You have a relevent radio job, eh? Must be carrying a knife around waiting to plunge it in the back of someone. And obviously, your comment about talent leads me to believe you're responsible for what little talent is on the station you work for.

Again, Mr 20+ years, if you've been in radio this long and you've failed to see how WALK's playlist and programming (like many other stations) has evolved overtime in order to stay relevant, you're truly an embarrassment to radio.

No, what's embarrassing is calling in a 19 year employee and shoving her out the door. But I'm sure you get your rocks off doing things like that.

First of all, stop talking like The Rock. You're not a charismatic entertainer and movie star, you're obviously an old, bitter radio guy that the business has forgotten about. What other logical reason could you have for going out of your way to bash a radio station on a message board? I had no problem with your post up until the quip. You reported a fact but then just couldnt resist the jab. Therefore, your identity means nothing to me and your credibility as a legitimate voice on this board as decreased even more. The stupidity you've displayed in your posts makes me glad to not know you. And if you continue with the uninformed and inaccurate cheap jabs toward a station and people that mean something to me, you will continue to get your teeth kicked in on a message board. Have a nice day

Figures, a wrestling fan... WALK is an appliance and those that sign your paycheck have made it that way. What was once a cohesive unit is now just a bunch of cheap interchangeable parts.

I remember what it used to be like to want to work there, where the talent and production and presentation was of a higher caliber than other LI stations. Then it started to be stripped away, down to what's left. You.

Fortunatly my full time work on LI was short lived, as I've spent the last 15 years in NYC Radio. Even there, the holes in the fabric are starting to show, holes that first turned up on LI 15 years ago.

If WALK means so much to you, (if you even WORK there and aren't some intern), do something about it. I've obviously struck a nerve here with your delicate psyche, in the truth in what I say. Your denial only makes it more difficult for you to come to terms with it, but I'm sure you can work on that.

 

[wgliradio]

I have to agree. This is yet another example of a seasoned pro (Mills) being dumped for cheaper and inferior talent (Parker). With the ratings and popularity Mills had, it makes you wonder if WALK management knows what they are doing.

What's sad is that they do. The idea is for stations like WALK to have interchangeable parts, so that one jock leaves and is quietly replaced with another... most listeners don't notice or care. WALK is an appliance... as long as Katy Perry is in power all is well.

Look at LITE FM... JJ Kennedy, Bill Buchner, Steve Roy, Al Bernstein... gone... and they haven't missed a beat. It won't matter for WALK either. 20 years ago it would have... in fact, 20 years ago there was a huge promotion that KT Mills was COMING to WALK.

WALK is #1 because it's been #1... just like Z-100. It's on anywhere, usually the only thing you can get anywhere (like WBLI). And maybe that's the measure of success. Radio has evolved in the past and it is again. I'm sure there were actors in the late 40's who scoffed at what radio was becoming.

 

[IslandRadio]

I agree wgliradio and FrankF. It does not take a rocket scientist to figure out what happened here. A consummate professional with consistently superior ratings replaced with by an inexperienced jock that was still in diapers when KT started at WALk is a tragic reminder of what has happened to this industry.

To be in denial NICKFM is to only perpetuate the degradation of what radio has become.

Lets call it what it is. An industry that is quite content with no name / no identity air personalities that make minimum wage while rate cards continue to increase.

 

[ryan1342]

You are all entitled to your feelings and opinions, Its easy to sit back as a monday morning quarter back and say the reasoning behind the stations choice to make a change, To say that a station is number one "because it always has been" ...is ...a ridiculous comment. The Station has evolved through new media, music changes and so much more. They have increased their news department been nominated and one the Marconi award, several folio awards and they have even built a backup studio incase of a emergency. They added news staff, built a news website and increased the PSA commitment. Yes it is always very hard to see great talent lose their jobs, but if im a betting man or woman I would always bet on the side of the choices the radio station has made. I would challenge you to tell me what choice they made was a bad one, everytime they made a change in a daypart they grew ratings, they are even back to all live jocks i hear, not something you see many stations doing these days. Sad to see talent go but exciting to watch new talent grow and be given the support they need to become the future of the industry, this guy Nick is good, cant wait to hear who "the friends" are.........

 

[Manic_Monkey]

What are the chances of some other station picking her up? WBAZ sounds a lot like what WALK used to be in the 90s so that would be awesome if they could hire her or something. : )

 

[wgliradio]

You are all entitled to your feelings and opinions, Its easy to sit back as a monday morning quarter back and say the reasoning behind the stations choice to make a change, To say that a station is number one "because it always has been" ...is ...a ridiculous comment. The Station has evolved through new media, music changes and so much more. They have increased their news department been nominated and one the Marconi award, several folio awards and they have even built a backup studio incase of a emergency. They added news staff, built a news website and increased the PSA commitment. Yes it is always very hard to see great talent lose their jobs, but if im a betting man or woman I would always bet on the side of the choices the radio station has made. I would challenge you to tell me what choice they made was a bad one, everytime they made a change in a daypart they grew ratings, they are even back to all live jocks i hear, not something you see many stations doing these days. Sad to see talent go but exciting to watch new talent grow and be given the support they need to become the future of the industry, this guy Nick is good, cant wait to hear who "the friends" are.........

First, they (last I heard) were outsourcing news to Newsday/News 12

Second, unless Nick is pulling 7 hours straight, he's not "live" most likely after 7pm

Mark and Cindy and the Breakfast club are the last outpost from "Classic WALK'

WALK's numbers are up because of the signal and the heritage. And they are probably doing the right thing in sticking to music... It's living off its past. It is Jorge Posada, still gets the standing ovation even if what's going on isn't great.

As an owner, it's win win... you have alot of listeners who use the station as an appliance... it's background noise an nothing else... and WALK can live with that... the sum is greater than its parts. They want everyone to be expendable at a moment's notice so they don't have to be able to afford them, they can yank and replace.

I would have to say the moment WALK, in my book, "lost it" was when TWA 800 went down. I remembering seeing a movie that night and coming out of the theatre and hearing about where it crashed. So I figured WALK would have something right? Nope... I can't remember if it was still PillowTalk or that dreadful show Glenn Hollis thing that replaced it, but here was WALK with the biggest story of the year almost literally outside its back door and nothing.... not even a WORD about it (so it must have been Glenn Hollis).

It wasn't long after that David Weiss was gone... and then Gene Michaels... and the station started to really get worse. It's a shell of its former self and that's because that's what radio HAS to be to compete with other media (back to basics... the music) and most of their listener connections are online (which was inevidable).

While I understand why this is gone

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/14394975/WALK Election Promo 1989.mp3

It doesn't mean I like it....

 

[NickFM]

I agree wgliradio and FrankF. It does not take a rocket scientist to figure out what happened here. A consummate professional with consistently superior ratings replaced with by an inexperienced jock that was still in diapers when KT started at WALk is a tragic reminder of what has happened to this industry.

To be in denial NICKFM is to only perpetuate the degradation of what radio has become.

Lets call it what it is. An industry that is quite content with no name / no identity air personalities that make minimum wage while rate cards continue to increase.

Let's get one thing straight, I am in no way in agreement of what happened to KT, i do not have hiring/firing power, and i assure you, this is not Nick Parker. I think its sad that this kind of thing has to happen to such an incredible talent, plus i was in no way defending how the business has changed. I agree and have taken notice how things have changed... but guess what, it's been happening everywhere for many years. Virtually no field in entertainment is the same as it once was. Just like thousands of other unrelated industries. The economy has taken its toll everywhere. Period. We get it. Radio has changed. Movies has changed. TV has changed. The way my favorite pizzeria makes their pizza has changed. We don't need to be reminded how an individual station like WALK has changed while just about every other station on Long Island and for that matter, in radio itself has taken a hit due to the economy. Do you really think if money wasnt an issue, a talent such as KT would be gone from WALK? No.
My whole argument started when wgliradio starting spewing his nonsensical opinions and speaking out of turn. He's been corrected and embarrassed just like the other couple of bitter dopes that need straightening out on this board every so often. I dont need nor do i want to play umpire to you people to tell you what you should and shouldnt say. It's your every right. But, if i don't agree or i feel you're cutting someone down who doesnt deserve it, I will let you know about it (as you seen) So, if wgliradio is angry and bitter that the business spit him out into obscurity or to an 'under the radar' position long ago and a younger guy like me is succeeding in the business, he's completely entitled to feel that way. Its sad, but he's entitled. BUT, when that's the sole purpose for ridiculous comments and cheap shots, it just makes you look terrible. And wgliradio....WALK outsourcing news to News 12?? Are you insane? Please share with everyone where you get this garbage from. Stop trying to be a mouthpiece for your generation. NO ONE CARES. And if you weren't so out of touch, you'd get that you dont have to be a wrestling fan in 2011 to know who Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson is, old man. His latest movie just made half a billion worldwide. WALK's news comes in house from Donna Vaughan in the morning as well as PM drive sponsored reports. I'm actually embarrassed for you at this point. And unlike yourself, i guarantee several stations will be jumping at the chance to hire a talent such as KT, not the other way around. This is the last bit of attention I will give to this thread, as even i've learned in my time in radio, trying to talk sense into those who are bitter, stubborn, out of touch, or on their way down is like trying to shine sh*t. So when your stress and anger leads to high blood pressure and a triple bypass and you're laying there immobile, i'm sure it will all have been worth it. Thanks for listening.

 

[Manic_Monkey]

Stop trying to be a mouthpiece for your generation. NO ONE CARES.

You seem to care a lot if you are getting really defensive over his post. :-\

 

[radioray]

"Let's get one thing straight, I am in no way in agreement of what happened to KT, i do not have hiring/firing power, and i assure you, this is not Nick Parker. I think its sad that this kind of thing has to happen to such an incredible talent, plus i was in no way defending how the business has changed. I agree and have taken notice how things have changed... but guess what, it's been happening everywhere for many years. Virtually no field in entertainment is the same as it once was. Just like thousands of other unrelated industries. The economy has taken its toll everywhere. Period. We get it. Radio has changed. Movies has changed. TV has changed. The way my favorite pizzeria makes their pizza has changed. We don't need to be reminded how an individual station like WALK has changed while just about every other station on Long Island and for that matter, in radio itself has taken a hit due to the economy. Do you really think if money wasnt an issue, a talent such as KT would be gone from WALK? No."


Jerry Lee's B101 in Philadelphia has not changed. Still live and local, solid news staff, etc.

 

[ryan1342]

While I think that all this talk is good to get out there, I do not believe WALK's moe was done over money.
They appear to be spending money marketing, on additional on air staff and in general. I think that people find comfort in blamming change on the economy and while I agree the ecomomy is bad, I dont believe that smart operators like WALK would make choices based on saving a few pennies, WALK takes a third of every ad dollar spent on LI radio stations.
You spoke about David Weiss, gene micheals and a few others, do you really honestly believe that these guys would fit on what WALK has evolved into? and do you really believe that listeners would stay with a station just because they always have? thats nonsense, radio must become more relevent in the fight for a place in a listeners mind, they way that is done has changed. I think the move was made to assure that WALK is able to continue to dominate and not because of money, they use research for everything they do.
tell me about a business any business that doesnt need to evolve every industry is changing and if you dont change you die a slow death, I applaud WALK for having the guts to take a chance on an up and comer, sucks that that came at the expense of a true talent but it is what it is. you cant say they are not fostering the growth of future stars.

 

[lngislradio]

I find the idea that they made the move to become more relevent a bit ridiculous. When your show is top-rated and you have the popularity she had, that MAKES you relevent. This was my earlier point about the current management-this move doesn't seem very well thought out. BTW, what is WALK evolving into? College radio? It's bracing to listen to Parker-he sounds like he doesn't know what he's doing.