Ex-KPHX CEO/GM Manzo sues Nova M/Drobnys

[amfmxm]

Radio has always been a--how shall we say it--well, less-than-stable industry (Exciting!), but this may take the cake. Gotta read it...

http://media.phoenixnewtimes.com/3036025.0.pdf (if this isn't linking go to www.phoenixnewtimes.com and click the Feathered Bastard blog).

And you thought YOU'VE worked at dysfunctional radio stations! Whew!

So the questions are:

a) Did the Drobny's get ambushed by Randi & her pals after coming to her rescue when her mouth got her axed from Air America? Was there an attempted coup, gone awry?
b) Are Sheldon & Anita nuts? Or is this an incompetent guy trying to cover his ass?
c) All of the above
d) None of the above, so there's a whole 'nother story!

Sure, all this happened (or didn't happen) at a station with an audience small enough to fit into a Starbucks, but it's radio. More like WKRP than real radio, but...

 

[Legend City]

Yeah, too bad that the blogger in question "Feathered Bastard" is about as reliable as a 20 year old Russian condom.

Liberal radio, why even try to compete against it, when you know it will kill itself?

 

[oldiesfan6479]

Two words: soap opera.

Closed circuit for CBS-TV: go ahead and cancel Guiding Light,
here's your replacement!

Or how about a sitcom treatment--a dysfunctional radio station,
sort of like WKRP. (Although...while this crowd is curious...it's
certainly not well-behaved. ;D) And since it's a talker, no music
clearances to worry about, now or later in syndication.

 

[DrAkbar]

Sure, all this happened (or didn't happen) at a station with an audience small enough to fit into a Starbucks, but it's radio. More like WKRP than real radio, but...

Most Starbucks have room for twice the audience size of Nova M! Wonder how much they still owe KPHX for leased airtime? Nurse Jeff and I predict one thing: only the lawyer is gonna make money off this lawsuit!

 

[Bill Drake]

Some of the more infamous and nefarious people who populate this board should read their ratings before they speculate on Nova M's ratings. Or perhaps they are too obsessed with "lamp timers."

The only people who will "win" anything in this lawsuit are the ambulance chasing attorneys who filed this ludicrous and simplistic pleading. Then again, I wouldn't even bet on that. I have seen some weak lawsuits before (like First Amendment Freddie Weber's against Tom Leykis) but this one really must take first place.

 

[Legend City]

I don't care about their anemic ratings, I just laugh at how utterly inept liberal talk radio is.

Its like the LA Clippers of radio.

 

[catfish]

Instead of slamming liberal radio which is being slammed by the economy just like every other station is, support your local station and the advertisers that are on the radio. Companies that own stations are close to chapter 11, big ones and Nova M lost a lot of money trying to make a go at it. Liberal talk is important to our country just as Conservative talk is. And that is another topic on this.

http://insidemusicmedia.blogspot.com/2009/02/radios-next-round-of-firings.html

1. Some big groups will file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy to avoid paying the bills they cannot afford. There is no other way. The recession will get deeper and local radio revenues are flirting with 35-40% off in some markets. You can't run a debt-ridden radio group with no cash flow.

2. One of the "benefits" to radio groups in filing for bankruptcy will be not having to fulfill their obligation to pay severance, honor buyout agreements or fulfill employee contracts. This lightens their load as it does for any Chapter 11 beneficiary because in essence they can just walk from their obligations -- even to their loyal employees. (You can take this one to the bank, I'm afraid).

3. Guess what's happening to all those local advertisers who are being faxed dollar rates for spots? Or who is not being called on by their sales rep (because their sales rep has been fired)? A recession is a great time to offer solutions to retailers who could still be radio advertisers. The radio industry is firing their advertisers along with their salespeople. What a bad move at this time. And they won't be back -- at least not at the previous levels.

4. Cumulus, Clear Channel and Citadel are the three radio groups I think could be among the bankrupt by the end of this year.

5. You've probably sensed that radio unfortunately is no longer about attracting listeners. It's about cost cutting to pay debt service. So what is next is selling off assets. But there's one problem. No one wants to buy radio stations. Have you noticed how few are being sold? You can say money isn't readily available -- and to some extent that is true -- but when it becomes available again, stations will be selling for closer to their streaming cash flow value -- not a multiple even as high as 5 times. In other words, a fire sale.


By Jerry Del Colliano (part of this was taken from his email)


[Link added by Radio-Info as a courtesy]

 

[amfmxm]

No doubt that Del Colliano will hit the mark on some of his forecasting, but his take may be a toke or two over the line.

Catfish, I agree with your observation that all forms of political discourse, whether liberal or conservative, are good for small-d-democracy. And yes, logically, the recession has likely hit lib-talk stations harder than most, since they have been running smaller margins all along.

But these guys were a special case.

Nova M's operation was handicapped from the start by their choice to run their net/sydication as part of a local radio station (actually an LMA-based company that successively leased three non-competitive sticks in four years) in a very conservative market that subsequently became America's Unemployment Capital. It appears as though they have a local lefty medical doctor/politician/talker to thank for that winning combination.

And according to Tom Taylor's column today, the Doc has now created a new company to syndicate Mike Malloy and presumably Randi Rhodes & himself.

And the station has just been a revolving door, spinning even faster than most radio revolving doors. Is it still on the air? Is anybody left? Somebody try to tune-in 1190 and file a report!

 

[oldiesfan6479]

And the station has just been a revolving door, spinning even faster than most radio revolving doors. Is it still on the air? Is anybody left? Somebody try to tune-in 1190 and file a report!

But tune in before monthly sunset!

Yup, still on the air with its usual combination of monetary begging
and Messiah praising. Just like PBS.

Two seconds is too long...to listen to NovaM or whatever they're
called this week. We now return you to El Rushbo.

 

[piggy]

I'm inclined to side with Manzo on this.

As for the liberal talk format, I think there are some really good liberal talk shows out there. Stephanie Miller and Thom Hartmann come to mind.

The shows carried by Nova M are way out there on the fringe. I liked Randi's and Malloy's shows at first on XM, but over time they just seemed too out there for my tastes. Newcomb's show is just weak.

There's two types of liberal talk radio stations... those that are run as radio stations and those that are run for true believers. Those who treat it like a radio station will survive. Leave the true believer stuff to the Pacifica foundation. Nobody can run a soap opera quite like Pacifica.

 

[TheRadioVortex]

I'm inclined to side with Manzo on this.

As for the liberal talk format, I think there are some really good liberal talk shows out there. Stephanie Miller and Thom Hartmann come to mind.

The shows carried by Nova M are way out there on the fringe. I liked Randi's and Malloy's shows at first on XM, but over time they just seemed too out there for my tastes. Newcomb's show is just weak.

There's two types of liberal talk radio stations... those that are run as radio stations and those that are run for true believers. Those who treat it like a radio station will survive. Leave the true believer stuff to the Pacifica foundation. Nobody can run a soap opera quite like Pacifica.

Manzo is absolutely correct. He is owed $116,000 (or something close) from the time he was fired (Sept. 2008) until June 2009 when his contract expires. And his reputation has been damaged by the Drobnys who filed complaints with the FBI. Sheldon would be best served to just apologize, pay, and settle out of court. This is casual laid back Arizona. Everyone wants the Chicago guy to just pay and get out of the state and never ever come back.

Yes, I Agree with you, leave the true believer stuff to Pacifica, NPR, community, LPAM, and LPFM stations that operate on donations, not commercials. It is much cheaper to run a 100W LPFM community station than a 5,000 watt AM station.

Phoenix is just too conservative for true believer stuff on AM, unless it's mixed in with centerist/Libertarian/moderately liberal hosts like Lou Dobbs, Alan Colmes, Charles, Goyette, and Rollye James.

Did Malloy even get any ratings in Phoenix? Why didn't the Drobnys hire Goyette after he left KFNX 1100? He's anti-war and Libertarian and would be perfect for progressives AND conservatives who are BOTH against the war.

 

[mred]

Progressive stations need bail out money like the banks and auto makers.

 

[The Progressive One]

Seems Manzo filed his lawsuit before the Drobny's could file on him, seems Manzo did not make sure Randi had E & O or is it O & E Insurance before she went on the air last April as her Contract calls for. When the "Goddess of Talk Radio" started bad mouthing Al Franken the fact that this insurance was not in place and she could not be insured cause of her mouth and issues with her mouth at AAR she pulled herself off the Air, and when that happened, Bye Bye Nova M. So it was Manzo that seems to be the deceptive one letting Randi think she was covered. Looks like Manzo dropped a big ball and should have been fired for non perfomance.

 

[TalkHead]

Seems Manzo filed his lawsuit before the Drobny's could file on him, seems Manzo did not make sure Randi had E & O or is it O & E Insurance before she went on the air last April as her Contract calls for. When the "Goddess of Talk Radio" started bad mouthing Al Franken the fact that this insurance was not in place and she could not be insured cause of her mouth and issues with her mouth at AAR she pulled herself off the Air, and when that happened, Bye Bye Nova M. So it was Manzo that seems to be the deceptive one letting Randi think she was covered. Looks like Manzo dropped a big ball and should have been fired for non perfomance.

what a load of crap. nova m was in business long before manzo. it's hard to believe that any radio network--even such a ratty one--would open its doors without e&o coverage for its talent.
this is the like the tenth conspiratorial line of shit that's been written about why manzo got dumped--and apparently screwed--by these chicago weirdos. i guess your also saying that malloy, skinner and newcomb are uninsured....good to know for anyone looking to take them down. IF rhodes walked because of this, my first guess would be that they just stopped paying the premiums.

 

[The Progressive One]

i guess your also saying that malloy, skinner and newcomb are uninsured....
[/quote]

I would not know about Skinner who is now using a different phone number than the Mally phone number, but I'd bet Malloy and Newcomb are Uninsured!

 

[TalkHead]

i guess your also saying that malloy, skinner and newcomb are uninsured....

I would not know about Skinner who is now using a different phone number than the Mally phone number, but I'd bet Malloy and Newcomb are Uninsured!
[/quote]
if that's true all of them are one lawsuit away from ruin--but would anyone even notice? well, maybe a few die-hard malloyiacs....maybe. it also puts the insurance matter and many other serious questions on drobny or i guess now on newcomb. if no one was/is insured then manzo--who's been gone for months according to his lawsuit--is not likely the culprit. what progressive talk didn't do in AQH, it more than made up for in DRAMA.

 

[jackandcoke]

As a longtime radio GM it has occurred to me frequently over the past decade or so how arrogant it is when folks who have made their fortunes doing something else plunk down some cash to become "broadcasters" and hire friends or relatives to run their stations. Frankly, I've made a hell of a living competing with such idiots.

IIRC, Manzo was Rhodes' producer at WJNO in WPB, so at least he was a radio guy. I won't insult him by calling him a board-op, but spending years as a producer of talk shows may not be the very best preparation to handle the range of financial, legal, sales, marketing, programming & personnel issues that constitute general management jobs. Manzo had never been responsible for everything before. (BTW, that's what GMs get paid for--being responsible for everything). Yeah, E & O (errors & omissions) insurance is basic stuff--but it is very likely he had never had to buy it before. Somebody else always did that. He thought the gig was about attending cocktail parties and giving orders.

At least the medical doctor running the place now should know about insurance!

 

[TalkHead]

As a longtime radio GM it has occurred to me frequently over the past decade or so how arrogant it is when folks who have made their fortunes doing something else plunk down some cash to become "broadcasters" and hire friends or relatives to run their stations. Frankly, I've made a hell of a living competing with such idiots.

IIRC, Manzo was Rhodes' producer at WJNO in WPB, so at least he was a radio guy. I won't insult him by calling him a board-op, but spending years as a producer of talk shows may not be the very best preparation to handle the range of financial, legal, sales, marketing, programming & personnel issues that constitute general management jobs. Manzo had never been responsible for everything before. (BTW, that's what GMs get paid for--being responsible for everything). Yeah, E & O (errors & omissions) insurance is basic stuff--but it is very likely he had never had to buy it before. Somebody else always did that. He thought the gig was about attending cocktail parties and giving orders.

At least the medical doctor running the place now should know about insurance!

manzo was rhodes' pd in florida and a vp at air america. he was also in management at wfla back in their mostly live&local days. i'm sure he knew the basics and beyond. full disclosure: i've met manzo and know several other former nova m'ers--not a big fan of progressive talk--but they are good people and did a lot with very little.
as far as the good doctor is concerned, the people i know say he didn't even give them health insurance when he first ran nova.