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Dream Lineups

with all of your "dream lineups", it sure is obvious women would love your stations...but who needs half of the population listening anyway...instead of dream lineups, lets actually try and come up with a lineup that could be successful and make money...who would you put on if your job depended on it?
 
It's my belief that talent is not that important in music radio. The listener tunes in for the songs, not the mouth "spinning some hot wax!"

Marty Glickman used to tell sportscasters the only one listening to the game to hear them are their mothers. I know I'm going to insult a lot of people here, but the same concept goes for DJs.

If tomorrow WDVE fired all their DJs and instead went to automation- I still think they'd be the No. 1 station in town as long as they played Classic Rock.

Talk is different. You listen for the talent. And we've been talking sports talk radio- so let me select my dream lineup of all time hosts- preferrably in their prime.

I'm not limiting myself to just Pittsburgh.

Mornings 6-10- Scott Ferrall- currently the sports guy for Howard Stern. I think of sports talk show hosts who have that attack style- Pete Franklin, Mark Madden, Rocco Pendola- and the thing about Ferrall is that he is in that league but somehow doesn't come off as angry like the other hosts do. He'd be able to get the entertainment and music guests- and nobody ever sold hockey better to a national audience.

10-12- Myron Cope. You know his record. Loveable doesn't apply to a sportscaster much- but Myron Cope is loveable.

Early Afternoon- 12-4 Mike Trivisonno of WTAM in Cleveland. The best blue-collar, everyman host of all time. His enthusiasm is such that he often would go overtime and cut into syndicated programming because he was enjoying talking about a topic so much.

4-7- Tony Bruno. He got ESPN Radio off the ground from weekend programming to what it is today. He then got FOX off the ground and without him the network has been a sickly lot. Now he's literally saving Sporting News.

I'll pair him with myself- since he always has a co-host.

7-9- A Game. If not a game- then I will hire the hilarious if not sometimes overly aggressive Harry and Spike of WMVP in Chicago. The Dino Cicarelli song cracks me up every time.

9-1 Ken Beatrice. WMAL The only sports talk show host I ever think could be accurately called charming. And so charming, and so compelling and so intelligent- that you could listen to him talk at length about the failures of the I formation, or for that matter his dislike of Ranch Sauce, for entire segments at a time. And nobody could handle the tough stories better- his interview with George Allen the night Jerry Smith died of AIDS would have turned even the most ardent homophobe into someone who would have felt the tragic loss of a brave man.

1-6- Steve Somers of WFAN. There is a reason why he's incredibly been with WFAN since its inception. It's because his wit is incredible and he knows how to handle the zany callers of overnight. He INVENTED overnight sports talk radio.

Weekends I'd look at Joe Beningo of WFAN, and Jon Chelesnik of Sporting News and "Papa Joe" Chavalier- just because he's from Pittsburgh- and Bob Valvano of ESPN. I'd also look to bring Dennis and Holley of WEEI (they break a TON of stuff- Michael Holley is a Point Park grad) and Chris Russo of WFAN- but not Mike Francessa (who I lost all respect for when he ceased being a journalist and started being a flack for Bill Parcells in 1997).

I might team up Stan and Guy again. And I'd dig up Pie Traynor- simply because although I know absolutely next to nothing about his broadcasting career, if people are still saying "Who Can? American!" 35 years after his death and long after the company has changed to Amoco- then that tells me he touched a lot of people.

And, if I can get Scotty to get the transporter to malfunction the way it did in "The Enemy Within" and split Captain Kirk up into a Jeckle and Hyde, then I might consider hiring Mark Madden's Jeckle side and putting the Hyde in the brig.

Pie would get him into walking- he'd slim down- the temper would be gone- I'm telling ya he'd be a new man.


And I'd hire George Von Benko as my PD- simply because he's earned a break- he knows the field- and I want his rolodex.
 
6-10 Quinn and Rose 10-Noon Lynn Cullen Noon-3 Neal Boortz 3-6 Sean Hannity 6-9 Doug Hoerth 9-mid Michael Savage Mid-2 Bill O'Reilly 2-6 George Noory
 
Pie Traynor's "Who Can American" did not refer to Amoco. It was American Heating Company. They sold Rheem hot water heaters and air conditioning. While Pie was a Hall of Fame baseball player, he was not a tremendous broadcaster. He was well loved though. You can read John Rook's story about Pie Traynor here... http://johnrook.com/johnrook.pie.htm
 
Well, Pie Traynor was a little before my time. I figured American Heating would sell American Heating Oil- hence American Oil.

Thanks for the correction.

But the point remains. "Who Can? American!" was popular long before I was born. Yet I know about it.

I would say it ranks as the greatest advertising campaign in the history of Pittsburgh. People still know about it in 2007!
 
Speaking of Pie Traynor-

http://youtube.com/watch?v=6Jk8HO4FNhk

I think this is just great, as interested as I am in the history of broadcasting, especially Pittsburgh broadcasting. I'd never heard Traynor speak before and I find myself drawn to play this over and over.

The thought occurs- was Pie Traynor the model for Larry "Bud" Melman? They have the same delivery as he struggles to read the cue cards!

But also, in the case of Pie Traynor- here's a guy who peaked in 1925 when the Pirates won the World Series- yet still this seems contemporary with the presence of WJAS's Bill Cardille.

The You Tube member who posted this- WIICTVFAN- has PRICELESS material for old Pittsburghers. A plethora of Cardille stuff. All of the Steelers Super Bowls from the '70s. The Penguins winning the Stanley Cup in '92.

I've been going through all his stuff for days now.

Through it, I'm convinced that "Chilly Billy" was/is the smoothest broadcaster I have ever heard in any market.

Just look at how Cardille handles this commercial. Straight out of Broadcasting 101- Cardille saves Traynor from embarassment by carrying the commerical with short, direct questions.

Yet they allow Traynor to show his charm- and you understand why Traynor is considered the most popular Pirate of all time.

I'm watching this thinking "Gee, this guy was universally considered the greatest third baseman of all time when this commercial was shot, and yet he's humble. He comes off as a friendly old man you'd chat with at a coffeeshop, not a big baseball star."

Back to Cardille, I want to say that again- I think he's the smoothest broadcaster I've ever seen/heard. I tried to think of others who would be a rival to that. I came up with Vin Scully.

Yet if Scully was the co-host of this commercial, his style would be to ask longer questions or perhaps embarass Traynor by cutting in when he stumbled.

The way Cardille handles himself- and Pie- turns what could have been absolute and total slop into a classic gem.

I know a lot of people will think I'm OVERANALYZING this 2:15 clip, but I feel an awful lot can be learned from it.
 
Just look at how Cardille handles this commercial. Straight out of Broadcasting 101- Cardille saves Traynor from embarassment by carrying the commerical with short, direct questions....Yet if Scully was the co-host of this commercial, his style would be to ask longer questions or perhaps embarass Traynor by cutting in when he stumbled.


Every word of that spot is scripted. You can't tell Pie is reading everything from the PrompTer?
 
I knew you were going to say that, Boss.

Way to miss the line that followed the Larry "Bud" Melman line.

What's your point? Mine is that the delivery of Cardille's lines was not only what saved Traynor, but really made him come off kind of well for all the stumbling.

When you look at it again, you see the soft, easy chuckle, the raising of an eyebrow, even the final, affectionate hug Cardille gives Traynor at the end.

And of course there is Cardille's smile, which warms your heart every time you see it.

He's comfortable with Traynor, so YOU'RE comfortable with Traynor.

That is the sign of a master broadcast personality.
 
Pratte4Life said:
Through it, I'm convinced that "Chilly Billy" was/is the smoothest broadcaster I have ever heard in any market.

Just look at how Cardille handles this commercial. Straight out of Broadcasting 101- Cardille saves Traynor from embarassment by carrying the commerical with short, direct questions.

Back to Cardille, I want to say that again- I think he's the smoothest broadcaster I've ever seen/heard. I tried to think of others who would be a rival to that. I came up with Vin Scully.

The way Cardille handles himself- and Pie- turns what could have been absolute and total slop into a classic gem.

I know a lot of people will think I'm OVERANALYZING this 2:15 clip, but I feel an awful lot can be learned from it.
Click to expand...

I've met "Chilly Billy" twice, and I have to say I agree with you. He's very good at what he does, and what's really great about the guy is that he's not at all snobbish or stuck up. Even during his Chiller Theater days he was a class act all the way.

He could have retired a long time ago, but still works because he enjoys it and that's a key to his success. He's a very positive and likeable guy who loves his job and it comes through as such when he's on the air.

You don't find that much these days!
 
Pratte4Life said:
I knew you were going to say that, Boss.

Way to miss the line that followed the Larry "Bud" Melman line.

What's your point? Mine is that the delivery of Cardille's lines was not only what saved Traynor, but really made him come off kind of well for all the stumbling.

When you look at it again, you see the soft, easy chuckle, the raising of an eyebrow, even the final, affectionate hug Cardille gives Traynor at the end.

And of course there is Cardille's smile, which warms your heart every time you see it.

He's comfortable with Traynor, so YOU'RE comfortable with Traynor.

That is the sign of a master broadcast personality.
Click to expand...


And once again you change the criteria. As far as making Traynor look good -- that's what he's supposed to do. That's why he's being paid to do the spot.

The fact that Cardille has been on the air for 50 years speaks to his skill as a broadcaster who wears well.

When you're not making silly assumptions about how Vin Scully would have handled the job, you're belaboring the obvious.
 
I haven't changed the criteria.

The fact we have more people responding to this thread about a man who has been dead since 1972 than yours on Clear Channel and the Pirates speaks volumes.

NOW I am changing the criteria! See?

Seriously, what is it with you? I offer praise of Cardille- saying his delievery is the smoothest I've ever seen.

I even go and explain my logic WHY with a comparison of a broadcaster nationally reknown for being smooth.

Your response is "That's what he's paid to do?"

Really, I'm happy you did.

Because saying "That's what he's paid to do" in response to praise of another broadcaster's talent is a glaring example of everything that is wrong with Pittsburgh radio.
 
5-9a: Alan Cox
9-12p: Lynn Cullen
12-3p: Tony Norman
3-6p: Phil Musick
6-10p: Mike Romigh
10-1a: Doug Hoerth
1-5a: Fred Honsberger
 
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