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Dennis Miller

Well, Legend, Penn's show is over.

But, as was pointed out, Dennis Miller's show is NOT on 7-10am ET, but PT. That's middays, against Boortz, Beck, and the like, as was pointed out. So, no, he won't be on in the early morning on the west coast.

As to who will pick him up... uuummm? 50 affiliates at launch? I'll put money up against that and give you odds. Maybe a few stations with no programming savvy who take whatever the network rep tells them about (how do you think Lars Larson gets on anywhere?), but nowhere else.

Sure, Steph Miller is basically the default show for her daypart, but she didn't start out that way. She has to prove her talent, listenability, and numbers. Programmers are bandwagon types. So as far as the argument re: Dennis, his track record on TV may suck, but his track record on radio is worse. He doesn't have one. Whoopi or Adam or whomever else can get decent clearances by having the mothership forcefeed him down o&o's throats, but that doesn't mean they've proved anything in radio, hence, why few or no stations not owned by their syndicators carry them.

Jay Severin, who actually had numbers in a major (now large) market, got NO, repeat, not one, substantial non-CBS clearance. I think he topped out at around 25 markets, including biggies like KVTA/Pt. Hueneme, CA. The only ones with anyone listening were the CBS stations. Maybe WW1 does that with Miller, but I think even they're smarter than that.

Oh, as to Beck, Miller might be funnier than the dreadful Mike Gallagher, but Beck (and Ingraham) have built up over time and are consistently building their brands. I don't think you're just going to see them upped and outed for a flash in the pan like Miller.

Oh, and right on with the line about the war! Joe Scarborough - another great example.
 
Dennis Miller is a flash in the pan? A little dramatic wouldn't you say? I guess you didn't see him on the view or any of the other major shows last week promoting the new radio show. As far as Larsen, in my home town of Dallas, he does very well on KRLD so I wouldn't lump him into the category of a rep telling a PD what he should have on the air...I'm sure Gavin Spittle could put on whatever show he wants in that slot. Don't do a diservice to the PDs that have to make the decision of what syndicatd show to run. Unfortuantly, not every station, major markets included can run live and local 24/7.

I can't wait to hear Dennis' show and I will continue to listen to Lars 'cause I like the show.
 
>>Jay Severin, who actually had numbers in a major (now large) market, got NO, repeat, not one, substantial non-CBS clearance.

Severin's short-lived Westwood One show was carried by Greater Media's WTKK in Boston, the station which had
him before the show and the one which took him back. Westwood One I believe has some kind of tie in to
CBS (as you say) but WTKK is definitely a Greater Media property. There was a great buildup to Severin's
national show but it lasted all of 9 months (Jan-Sep '06) and Severin tried to make it sound like he wanted to get back on Boston-radio-only...but apparently W1 felt the show wasn't working and was in cost-cutting mode too. (To be honest in some places like
Philly he was often pre-empted by baseball.)
 
Fine Raccoon, I admit, although WTKK was one of the charter affiliates, it almost seemed like a CBS station.

As to Lars Larson on KRLD, that station is a shadow of what is was or could be, and again, Larsen from WW1 on a CBS station. Hmm. For Dennis Miller, he can be a guest as much as he wants... that's why most guests don't have their own shows. You'd laugh your a** off if one of 95% of Oprah/The View/etcs. guests got a show, it would be so bad.
 
Just went to www.dennismillerradio.com and listened to his 'pitch.' I don't consider myself a fan of his but he did make me laugh out loud a couple of times. I will be very interested to hear his show and to see the response he gets out of the gate. I don't anticipate this show having much staying power though. WW1 will parade this around the Radio and Records convention later this week and hype him as the next best thing but will he even be here in 18 months? That is the real question and I think I know the way most of us will lean in response...no.
 
Slant said:
Dennis Miller is a flash in the pan? A little dramatic wouldn't you say?
Click to expand...

Not really. I'd say it's based on evidence. Look at all the other Hollywood people that have "tried" radio. They come, then realize it's actual work, and they go.

The only question is how long he'll last.
 
You bring up a good point. When are the networks going to go back and try to develope talent that are successful in a given market and grow the show nationally. Is that approach gone and dead?
 
When are the networks going to go back and try to develope talent that are successful in a given market and grow the show nationally. Is that approach gone and dead?

That approach is as dead as scripted radio comedies and dramas. Which is to say that it's not totally stone cold dead, just so old, sick, and weak to be as good as dead. You can thank the vast majority of hired-gun consultants who have convinced the majority of station owners who ran the kind of operations that served as the minor leagues for new talk-radio talent to switch over to running syndication 24/7.

If you look really, really hard, you might find a scant handful of small market stations serving as entry level opportunities for new talent. Considering that maybe one out of ten individuals has the talent to move from a small market to a medium market, and one oout of ten of those has the talent to move up to a major market or national syndication, you need 100 small market stations feeding the industry with raw, new talent to be groomed for advancement. You'll be lucky to find ten small market stations with live and local hosts nowadays.

I wonder how long it will take for someone to mention one single small market station as "proof" to refute my assertion that there aren't 100 small market stations with live and local news/talk talent.
 
Radio_Realist said:
When are the networks going to go back and try to develope talent that are successful in a given market and grow the show nationally. Is that approach gone and dead?

That approach is as dead as scripted radio comedies and dramas. Which is to say that it's not totally stone cold dead, just so old, sick, and weak to be as good as dead. You can thank the vast majority of hired-gun consultants who have convinced the majority of station owners who ran the kind of operations that served as the minor leagues for new talk-radio talent to switch over to running syndication 24/7.

If you look really, really hard, you might find a scant handful of small market stations serving as entry level opportunities for new talent. Considering that maybe one out of ten individuals has the talent to move from a small market to a medium market, and one oout of ten of those has the talent to move up to a major market or national syndication, you need 100 small market stations feeding the industry with raw, new talent to be groomed for advancement. You'll be lucky to find ten small market stations with live and local hosts nowadays.

I wonder how long it will take for someone to mention one single small market station as "proof" to refute my assertion that there aren't 100 small market stations with live and local news/talk talent.
Click to expand...

Before national syndication took hold, there were not small market news-talk stations. News-talk was local-live and it was too expensive for all but major market stations. Not to mention, only major market stations could offer a large enough population of potential callers to keep shows interesting. Before Rush, small market stations were doing block programming. Maybe a Swap Shop. Maybe an Ask Your Neighbor. Maybe a Partyline (with a neutral host - thanks for your opinion). Most of the day was music.

When small market stations are successful with local live programming it's not because they function as a minor league farm club to give newbies a chance to get experience before they move on. Successful small market stations have people who have been there forever and don't want to leave. They may not sound great but they know the community and the community knows them.

"Networks" have never developed talent. Somebody is doing a show in a major market that is doing well and a syndication company sees an opportunity to sell it. And a lot of those people came from outside radio to a major market gig. If they were in radio before, they were probably jocks.

The minor league analogy never fit radio.
 
Mr. Miller has picked up at least two stations before his launch.

Clear Channel's KNEW/910 San Francisco will run him, per AllAccess today, bouncing TRN's Laura Ingraham out of 10 AM-noon (PT).

And in an OMW exclusive, NextMedia's WHBC/1480 Canton will run Dennis Miller noon-3 PM starting April 2nd, when they officially flip to talk. (They're oldies now, but are adding Miller to a new local afternoon drive host, and a new mid-morning local host will take 10-noon after incumbent the morning drive news/information show.)

Any others out there?
 
Before Rush, small market stations were doing block programming. Maybe a Swap Shop. Maybe an Ask Your Neighbor. Maybe a Partyline (with a neutral host - thanks for your opinion). Most of the day was music.

The minor league analogy never fit radio.

And, included in amongst those blocks, in some markets, were phone-in talk shows. Considering the huge number of small markets in America, and the number of small market stations, any attempt to accurately enumerate in one single paragraph what every last one of them carried is futile.

What's more, there aren't just small-market stations. There are very small market stations, small market stations, medium market stations, slightly bigger than medium but not quite large market stations, fringe stations that serve small markets that are adjacent to large markets, small scale stations located within larger markets, stations that served what used to be a small market but the nearby market grew bigger and now they're serving the big market's "bedroom", and others.

Are you trying to tell me that of all those stations, none of them ever had anyone working for them who later moved on to a gig that had a larger audience? Are you telling me that of all the news/talk hosts on the air today, none of them started on a station in a market smaller than the one they're currently in? Are you saying that there are no "entry-level" on-air jobs in the entire broadcasting industry at stations in smaller markets?
 
Answering my earlier question, WXNT/1430 Indianapolis has already put up a page for Mr. Miller's upcoming show...they're running it in afternoon drive, replacing Sean Hannity:

http://wxnt-am.fimc.net/Article.asp?id=40248

I believe Hannity moved to a new Cumulus FM talk outlet there at 93.9 FM.

There are also rumors that CBS Radio's WRKZ/93.7 in Pittsburgh will air DM from noon-3 in a new all-talk format.
 
Dennis Miller will air on a delay basis on WKRK detroit since they dont want to can "Motor City Middays" or their newest hire "Johnny D"
 
All Access reports today that the Miller show has some 80 clearances for his debut next Monday, 9 of which are from the Salem Communications group (including Chicago, KRLA in L.A., WDTK in Detroit as well as CC talkers KTRH in Houston & KNEW in S.F.) I guess with a Motor City clearance signed, WKRK`s not in play. Surprised to see Salem throw their hat into Miller's ring like they have, what effect could this have on their syndicated talk stable (Prager, Medved, Gallagher mainly) ?
 
On the Philly Salem station, Miller will air from 9 PM to midnight. He displaces Savage show aired during that slot on WNTP.

WNTP's ratings are small. I wonder if Miller likes the idea of being placed on nine second-rate Salem talk stations around the country. Salem's conservative talk stations in every case lag in ratings behind the dominant news/talker in the market. For example, in Philly the N/T station with the highest 12+ is WPHT which carries Beck, Rush and Hannity. Currently during the evening, WPHT is live and local.
 
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