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Gene Burns let go in S.F., so...

Gene coming back would make all the other hosts look so inferior I wonder if it would happen.
Plus speaking positively about Ron Paul is not allowed by MSM or RJC, among others.
 
raccoonradio said:
Do come home Gene...we'd love ya. "We have transited the meridian and entered the afternoon incarnation of the broadcast)
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Seems to me that WRKO could use Burns big time--probably in his old mid-day slot. And, of course, in today's world, he wouldn't have to move back to Boston. No reason he couldn't do the show from San Francisco. If it turned into a bidding war between GM and Entercom, though, I suspect that GM would win. GM, being privately held, is probably in a better position to withstand a short-term big hit to its bottom line as the result of taking on a highly paid talent.
 
I would be very pleased to hear Gene Burns back on the radio: he would be a dramatic improvement over most of the drivel that passes for talk programming these days. But at the age of 71, I wonder if stations might think he is too old to make the investment. I hope not.
 
Gene would indeed make all other hosts inferior. HIs command of English, his knowledge, ability to debate , factual presentations.

Oh, well, we an dream
 
After his WRKO gig I believe Gene turned up at "WMEX 1060" a brief reunion of RKO talent including
Marjorie Clapprood, Burns, and even Jerry Williams, whose health problems made his stay short (Jerry
also would go to WROL 950 very briefly--before the "final show" he did one Saturday for WRKO,
a month or so before he passed).

Agreed on Burns' knowledge, diction, etc.

Nothing against Doug Meehan, but 10-2 at 96.9 would be a good slot for him, if he wanted to do a daily
show. Or he could have a weekend slot with the occasional weekday fill in, like RKO does with Avi Nelson.

A couple times Morgan White had Burns on as a guest as he filled in late night on WBZ.
 
I hope Gene hasn't heard about the earthquake up in Woburn. HE'D NEVER COME BACK!
 
I have read of a number of people who have been dismissed from their radio shows, some who seem to have a good deal of seniority. Have they done something worthy of discharge, or is this an economic circumstance?
 
raccoonradio said:
The latter.
WBZ "let's put Tom Snyder on in place of Brudnoy...Jon Grayson in place of Leveille..."
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The firings at KGO are the result of Cumulus's acquisition of Citadel. A few years back, Citadel had, itself, acquired all of the ABC Radio O&O's except for ESPN and Radio Disney affiliates. The scuttlebut is that Cumulus makes Clear Channel (often referred to on radio boards as Cheap Channel) look like Santa Claus incarnate. There is every indication that money was the ONLY factor in the dismissals at KGO and other Cumulus properties. (WLS has been rumored to be next on the chopping block.) It appears that money is pretty much the only factor in ANY decision that Cumulus makes. That is particularly true at the moment because Cumulus took on an extraordinarily high debt load to acquire Citadel. Some have called Cumulus's debt unmanageable--even among the major radio groups, most of which are, themselves, very highly leveraged. It would be nice if someone could flesh out my amorphous terminology (debt load, highly leveraged, unmanageable, et al) with some actual numbers from relevant quarterly financial reports.
 
I'd love for this to happen, but in this day and age I just don't believe there are any PDs with the testicular fortitude to take a chance on him.
 
Rich Lieberman's 415 Media blog had the following insight into Gene's current health status which might mitigate against any return to Boston radio, even in a ISDN situation:

"A source told me, (and it's confirmed), that Burns, who's been in fragile health the past few years, was literally holding on to a desk and had to be helped up a few times."

http://richliebermanreport.blogspot.com/2011/12/kgo-radio-day-shit-hit-fan-bloodbath-at.html

I've listened to a couple of recent "Dining Around" episodes and he didn't quite sound like his old self. He was actually off the air for a couple of months earlier this year.

Plus, his KGO tenure has documented a distinct turn away from his old conservative-libertarian stance (one memorable WRKO-era piece of advice to welfare mothers was to "keep your legs shut") to a more liberal perspective on social issues. I'm not sure how that would go over on "THEE Talk Station."
 
You have to wonder how long it will be before the change the KGO call letters and flip 810 with 680, wouldn't surprise me at all
 
chrish said:
You have to wonder how long it will be before the change the KGO call letters and flip 810 with 680, wouldn't surprise me at all
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I don't believe that Cumulus owns KNBR. Or did Cumulus acquire the former Susquehanna stations (of which KNBR was one)?
 
DanStrassberg said:
chrish said:
You have to wonder how long it will be before the change the KGO call letters and flip 810 with 680, wouldn't surprise me at all
Click to expand...

I don't believe that Cumulus owns KNBR. Or did Cumulus acquire the former Susquehanna stations (of which KNBR was one)?
Click to expand...

I believe they did.
 
I'd be surprised if Gene comes back to Boston. He seemed to love San Francisco. My guess is that he semi-retires. I wouldn't be shocked if he ended up doing some work for KQED.
 
A note from the Dining Around site:

Needless to say we were stunned at the news of the cancelation of the Gene Burns Program and Dining Around. We deeply appreciate the many good wishes we have received from listeners and sponsors alike. While at the moment personal replies are impossible, we do want you to know that there are great things to come for both programs.
Click to expand...
 
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