Did Howie Want Veto Power?

[D. R. Tucker]

Although I consider myself a Howie Carr fan, I can’t help wondering if the real reason he wanted to bolt WRKO had to do with his inability to prevent the station from bringing Tom Finneran on board.


I suspect that Howie really wanted some sort of veto power over the decision to make Finneran the AM drive host; obviously, Howie thinks that making Finneran the morning host was a disastrous decision, and I assume he felt frustrated that, after all the years he spent making money for “Boston’s Talk Station,” he still didn’t have enough behind-the-scenes pull to prevent Entercom management from making Finneran a part of the ‘RKO team.

Does anybody doubt that Carr went to Entercom management and warned them that it would be a mistake to put Finneran in AM drive? And does anybody doubt that Entercom’s execs were so convinced of Finneran’s main-event potential as a host that they politely dismissed Carr’s criticisms?

I take no position on whether it would be proper to have a host, even one as popular and lucrative as Carr, having veto power over such decisions. However, I think it’s evident that Howie wanted Entercom management to walk his way, so to speak—and when Entercom decided not to listen to him, he decided to hit the road (and made a few legal mistakes in doing so, according to the courts).

If Howie had his way, Finneran would not be the morning host. Is this really the core of this dispute—that Entercom management “dissed” him when it came to the decision to bring Finneran in?

 

[jane grant]

You could be half right, D.R. Howie knows that if you have a strong morning host, say Howard Stern, you get greeeeeat afternoon numbers by default. Conversely, if you have a moron like Jeff Katz or a bore like Tom Finneran, you are going against the grain.

Howie Carr cares only about the green. He has absolutely no scruples and it is clear he'd put his ego aside for numbers and cash. The problem with RKO is that they double back-stabbed Carr by cutting into his show with the Red Sox, and surrounding him with Finneran, Feinburg & Foolishness, LLC.

Eye Say, they couldn't have done it to a nastier talk show host.

Looks like John Lennon was right, Instant Karma got Howie Carr. (add Ted Knight laugh here)

 

[Infidel]

Entercom obviously does not want any criticism, constructive or not.

Do you think they listen to the advice on their own message board?

 

[radiodouble]

Entercom obviously does not want any criticism, constructive or not.

Do you think they listen to the advice on their own message board?

please. some lady called into feinbore on friday and told him how much she loved listening to him since she discovered his show *six* months ago. she sounded too clueless to be a plant caller which proves a point about wrko's audience - welcome to the wonderful world of morons, psychopaths, and mental defectives. most of them don't even realize howie's gone.

 

[Dark Knight]

As someone who knows someone told me (so take it with some grains of salt), despite Howie's personal animosity for Finneran, he was more interested in WRKO becoming relevent than he was in his personal grudges. He felt that Finneran would do more for WRKO than Scott did (in terms of publicity, guests and relevence) and since he didn't want to work in mornings, did not have the problem with the Finneran hire that some would believe. Of course he could have felt differently privately, but he never shared the reservations some assume he had with management. In fact, he was close to signing a renewal last summer before bolting for WTKK and making a Scott Boras-like announcement through his mouthpiece in The Herald without notifying Entercom.