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Cumulus Macon is...

B

Braves1966

Guest
at it again! The lowlife company has just laid-off several long-time employees...some dating back to the U.S. Broadcasting days and before. The firings include Paul McCleland, Laura Starling, Gail Daniels and Zandor. In regards to the first three mentions, WHAT THE HELL WERE YOU DUMBA**ES THINKING. The brains of Cumulus strikes again. Stupidity at it's best. John and Lou Dickey need to grab a shovel, dig faster, then lay down and enjoy! The only place to go from here is up and those idiots and their managers aren't going there anytime soon.
 
Paul joined the 'PEZ staff in late summer of 1990. Of the current on-air talent in Macon, only WDEN's Laura or WDDO's Willie Collins have more tenure in the market. Mr. Elder was on 99.1 for 18 great years (1982-2000) and several other stations in town for a much longer combined time on air. Bill Powell was on 940 from 1958-1982 then he did weather for another 16 years on 13WMAZ. Ben Sandifer created a timely tribute promo loaded with some nice soundbites honoring Bill's election into the GRHOF. Cumulus aired it for at least a month on 940. It was ear candy, pure and simple.

Bottomline, it's a sad day to see more veterans shown the door. It's happening in radio AND television and it's not just the cloud company doing the housecleaning.
 
There may be some misinformation here. Laura Starling is still there (at least as of this morning). Darryl is right. This is just the nature of the business these days. Cumulus layoffs were nationwide, and unfortunately this is happening with most of the corporate radio operations. Please don't interpret this as defending Cumulus, or corporate radio in any way. I think all of us who came up in the glory days of radio will agree that the business is not as good as it used to be. If I tried to name all of the good radio people that Cumulus let slip away, I'd probably overload this server. I don't personally know any of the others who were the latest victims, but I hurt for Paul and Gail, and for the few good radio people left behind to pick up the slack. Paul and Gail are both great voices, veteran broadcasters and terrific human beings. In time, the hurt that goes with this will go away, and Paul and Gail will join the growing list of us who've discovered that there is life after radio. In the end, Paul and Gail be better off without Cumulus. But the same can never be said for Cumulus. Good luck, Paul and Gail.
 
This is awful! It sounds like Cumulus is getting ready to pack it in. Does anyone know if Big Bobby Reed is still at WDEN? He is a great guy and if he made the cut will more than likely be wearing a lot more hats.

Best of Luck to all the folks who lost jobs.

Kris
 
It never ceases to amaze me that the first thing to go is the one thing they can't do without, people. Gail was hired when I was there doing a part time shift at FM 105 while working full time over at channel 13. That was back in '94, I think. I thought Laura had left when Gerry Marshall retired, am I mistaken on that?

On a side note, has there been any news in Rick Knight's arrest a few years ago?
 
Cumulus is not the kind of company you want to work for and bet your career on.
Cumulus is not the kind of company you want to work for and purchase a home.
Cumulus is not the kind of company you want to work for and have a family.
Cumulus is not the kind of company you want to work for and have a stable life.
Cumulus is not the kind of company you want to work for period.
 
Guys:
I am mmmmmmmmmad and so will lots of WDEN fans be when they find out what happened to Laura Starling. I hope Clear Channel will pick her up here in Macon- or one of the low-watt stations with Georgia Eagle might be able to use her. As for Cumulus I hope for their immediate bankruptcy. Their "buy our ads" ads are getting worse. That place is a dump.

I agree; this radio business is rougher and rougher. I don't know of another country station which could use Laura but if she's good with other formats I say she'll be alright. Paul McClellan needs to go to Clear Channel and straighten out Peach. He's too good a guy for Macon to lose and so is Laura. We're talking about people who had David Sarnoff sign their checks personally.
 
Oops I finally read Ben Sandifer's post. Maybe Laura dodged a bullet. Not that she could be working out a notice but that's good news for us and Laura. I don't mean to slight Gail Daniels; I wish her wonderful luck and hope someone picks her up and puts her to work here in the Macon area. Regardless, we are losing good people at Cumulus and not just because of the "way the business is nowadays".
KT
 
Albany has already made changes. I understand the morning show on WKAK is gone and they are going with Moby in the Morning. As it stands now, K-Country only has 1 live person, the new pd/anoon guy. They just canned the Rock pd/anoon host for what I hear was violating company policy. He was there for around 13 years!
 
I know much of the programming is from the Clinton News Network but Lowell Register's closing in fast on Nimbus- er, Cumulus. WNEX-1400 and WPGA's AM are simulcasting Kenny Bee and Charles and putting on Glenn Beck, Lou Dobbs, and Dr. Laura. I hope they load up with more conservatives. I'd love to hear Laura Ingraham, Mark Levin, and whomever else they can come up with. Georgia Eagle's 103.9 carries Laura Ingraham and Levin but their signal requires you to suspend wires from a balloon in order to listen in. So I doubt there will be contractural issues.

I'll admit Chris Krok says some good things but he sounds worse than the teenyboppers hired to do midnight shifts for some radio stations from back in the day.
 
kturnerga said:
I know much of the programming is from the Clinton News Network but Lowell Register's closing in fast on Nimbus- er, Cumulus. WNEX-1400 and WPGA's AM are simulcasting Kenny Bee and Charles and putting on Glenn Beck, Lou Dobbs, and Dr. Laura. I hope they load up with more conservatives. I'd love to hear Laura Ingraham, Mark Levin,
Click to expand...

Levin I don't really care for. His voice is a bit irritating. But I'd follow Ingraham to hell and back...and not just because she's a hot blonde. I thought Lowell was running Radio Disney on 1400 and 900.
 
firecop947 said:
Albany has already made changes. I understand the morning show on WKAK is gone and they are going with Moby in the Morning. As it stands now, K-Country only has 1 live person, the new pd/anoon guy.
Click to expand...


My family travels from Tallahassee to Tennessee a couple of times every year, and we have been listening to
several country stations along the route..K-Country 104, WDEN in Macon and several others.

Last week K-Country was apparently running automated since no one was talking. Then I get home and read
where Gail Daniels (one of our favorites) and several others lost their jobs.

I'm a radio veteran, but this latest round of cuts has done it. We bought a Philips Go-Gear and have
loaded it up with music for future traveling. As far as being listeners, I think we're probably done for a while.

Good luck to all you displaced radio folks..from another radio vet on the beach!
 
Alan McCall said:
I'm a radio veteran, but this latest round of cuts has done it. We bought a Philips Go-Gear and have
loaded it up with music for future traveling. As far as being listeners, I think we're probably done for a while.
Click to expand...

XM has been doing it for me Alan. Both are jockless now, but XM has a broader playlist.
 
Yes. Me too. I listen to Sirrius in my travels. Radio has really shot itself in the foot.

I programmed K-Country and had Rick & Bubba on mornings. They wanted to dump them (they had decent ratings) for a live show, that lasted 6 months until they found someone who would work in the low 20's. Now I understand it's back to automation, Moby in the Morning!

All this took place in a little over 3 years!
 
ALthough I'm 1603 miles away from the Macon area, I'll admit that I haven't listened to a radio, for other than technical reasons, in years. Sounds like most staions are going down the tubes.
 
kenglish said:
ALthough I'm 1603 miles away from the Macon area, I'll admit that I haven't listened to a radio, for other than technical reasons, in years. Sounds like most staions are going down the tubes.
Click to expand...

My thinking is, terresteral radio = jockless jukebox. XM radio =jockless jukebox + bigger playlist. XM wins.
 
Dixon is a great guy. I worked with him at Kix. Sorry to hear that he is gone! Remember, Kix is a Cumulus station, so I'm sure we'll have more BAD news form that market!
 
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