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Glenn Ordway's salary cut in half thanks to lower ratings
- Thread starter EnterCommunicator
- Start date
I do know some hosts have clauses in their salaries for bonuses if certain goals are met; here, we see
the opposite. When Howie Carr tried to jump to WTKK he found WRKO had the right to match Greater's
offer, and he wound up with performance incentives that would kick in if he finished first in his time
slot, second, etc. (and a couple times he did). (He also managed to get more vacation time, a la what Greater was giving Severin at the time. "I'm going to take every teacher's holiday there is," Howie
boasted.) In his case while he bellyaches about finishing his "prison term"
at Entercom, you wonder if he'd get offers any better at Greater or Clear Channel when his contract
is up in a year..he may have to stick with RKO, and at a salary that gets low-balled. Especially if
CC and Greater have offers that are even worse.
Ordway signed a contract in January of 09. EEI may have been flying high then. 8 months later, they
suddenly had a competitor---one that wasn't a weak scratchy AM signal, but one on a powerful FM
frequency complete with rights for the B's, Pats, and Revs, and the money of CBS behind it. Even
if ratings didn't nosedive all that much, Entercom now had competition for ad dollars (just as, in Cleveland,
Good Karma's WKNR 850 now has CBS' WKRK 92.3 to contend with for those ad dollars and Cle. may not be able to sustain two full time sports stations). The move to FM was inevitable even if some didn't believe it would happen; if Mike hadn't done well with billings and ratings it may have happened sooner
but Entercom had to do it. Now even with Sports Hub and EEI on equal footing as it were it comes
down to talent, to show presentation, and to what audiences prefer.
the opposite. When Howie Carr tried to jump to WTKK he found WRKO had the right to match Greater's
offer, and he wound up with performance incentives that would kick in if he finished first in his time
slot, second, etc. (and a couple times he did). (He also managed to get more vacation time, a la what Greater was giving Severin at the time. "I'm going to take every teacher's holiday there is," Howie
boasted.) In his case while he bellyaches about finishing his "prison term"
at Entercom, you wonder if he'd get offers any better at Greater or Clear Channel when his contract
is up in a year..he may have to stick with RKO, and at a salary that gets low-balled. Especially if
CC and Greater have offers that are even worse.
Ordway signed a contract in January of 09. EEI may have been flying high then. 8 months later, they
suddenly had a competitor---one that wasn't a weak scratchy AM signal, but one on a powerful FM
frequency complete with rights for the B's, Pats, and Revs, and the money of CBS behind it. Even
if ratings didn't nosedive all that much, Entercom now had competition for ad dollars (just as, in Cleveland,
Good Karma's WKNR 850 now has CBS' WKRK 92.3 to contend with for those ad dollars and Cle. may not be able to sustain two full time sports stations). The move to FM was inevitable even if some didn't believe it would happen; if Mike hadn't done well with billings and ratings it may have happened sooner
but Entercom had to do it. Now even with Sports Hub and EEI on equal footing as it were it comes
down to talent, to show presentation, and to what audiences prefer.
>>Ordway was approached in early September and given what amounted to an ultimatum, according to sources: agree to have his salary significantly cut, or his job may be in jeopardy.
Gulp!
Gulp!
K Vahey posted on boston-radio-interest that acc to a good friend, Disney has made a deal with
Ent. to put ESPN on 850 24/7 in about a month (like, after baseball playoffs?)
http://lists.bostonradio.org/pipermail/boston-radio-interest/2011-September/027004.html
Ent. to put ESPN on 850 24/7 in about a month (like, after baseball playoffs?)
http://lists.bostonradio.org/pipermail/boston-radio-interest/2011-September/027004.html
A
ArtSpooner
Guest
Does anyone know what Ordway's ratings were before 98.5 vs. what they are now? The show-by-show ratings weren't posted anywhere until 98.5 started winning. I wonder if his salary was based on a certain number of listeners or being first in his time slot.
I read that Dale Arnold is taking an in-studio job with NESN for the Bruins' games. His contract with WEEI ends March 1. Once the Red Sox season is over I can't see anyone listening to the mid-day show. If they're smart they'll re-up Dale and put Muttnansky on weekends. They're getting beaten by Zolak and Gresh. It doesn't get any worse than that.
I read that Dale Arnold is taking an in-studio job with NESN for the Bruins' games. His contract with WEEI ends March 1. Once the Red Sox season is over I can't see anyone listening to the mid-day show. If they're smart they'll re-up Dale and put Muttnansky on weekends. They're getting beaten by Zolak and Gresh. It doesn't get any worse than that.
We'll see if that ESPN rumor proves true; in Eng.? Spanish? If the latter, perhaps it would be the new
Spanish flagship for Sox etc. Would it be wiser for Ent. to keep WEEI's local talk, etc. on the AM 850
or go to ESPN...oldies?..foreign?
For all its limitations due to interference and the pattern change the 850 signal can be pretty decent.
But AM is also-ran these days. They need to see what they can do with it to make at least some money,
while most concentrate on the FM dial.
Spanish flagship for Sox etc. Would it be wiser for Ent. to keep WEEI's local talk, etc. on the AM 850
or go to ESPN...oldies?..foreign?
For all its limitations due to interference and the pattern change the 850 signal can be pretty decent.
But AM is also-ran these days. They need to see what they can do with it to make at least some money,
while most concentrate on the FM dial.
L
Laurence Glavin
Guest
It would be fine with me if the Spanish-language Major League, I mean Red Sox games migrated to 850. It's annoying to try to listen to "Ring of Fire" on Sundays on WWZN only to have it interrupted by sports en Espagnol.
raccoonradio said:
I suspect English. I also suspect that the impetus for 850's format flip to ESPN came from Bristol and not from Bala Cynwyd or wherever it is that Entercom's HQ are located. (Pretty sure it's in the Philadelphia area; Bala is a Philly suburb, but it may not be the suburb where Entercom's HQ are.) ESPN has wanted a big-signal full-time outlet for their English-language sports talk in Boston since before they hooked up with WAMG (whose signal turned out not to be big enough). Although many ESPN affiliates pay Disney for the programming, I believe that ESPN is known to sometimes pay stations to carry its programming and my hunch is that that is the case with WEEI (AM). I think Entercom would have stuck with the simulcast if ESPN had not made the format flip worthwhile. However, if ESPN in EE doesn't work out, there is always ESPN Deportes. And if that doesn't work out, Disney might flip 1260 to some flavor of ethnic programming and flip 850 to Radio Disney. Disney owns many of the larger market Radio Disney affils. Would Entercom sell 850 to Disney? I think the issue there is whether the mouse would pay an amount that Entercom didn't consider, umm, cheesy
Without any direct knowledge, you would have to say the contract clause was a real blunder for Glen's agent. It's both too high a percentage and the lousy--850-- signal presented too much of a variable.
The money was too good to worry about the poison-clause at the time, but the powerhouse was never as rock-solid as the ratings made it look and a lot of people said so. A well run FM threatened things and it happened. Maybe D&C's deal was more talent-friendly (they better hope)?
The money was too good to worry about the poison-clause at the time, but the powerhouse was never as rock-solid as the ratings made it look and a lot of people said so. A well run FM threatened things and it happened. Maybe D&C's deal was more talent-friendly (they better hope)?
Good thoughts Dan...Entercom's site lists 401 City Ave in Bala Cynwyd as their HQ. My cartoon convention used to be based at the Adams Mark on City Ave., with Ch 6, Ch 10, and several radio stations nearby, and Entercom HQ. (The Adams Mark was later bulldozed to make room for a shopping center) City Ave is also US 1 and a map search shows the Entercom HQ are basically across the street from the now-Target shopping center. Entercom has no stations in Phil. though
WEEI AM and FM both carry ESPN overnight. Maybe they could put ESPN in English on the 850 but switch to ESPN Deportes
overnight on the 850, since the 93.7 would have the EE ESPN during those hours...?
WEEI AM and FM both carry ESPN overnight. Maybe they could put ESPN in English on the 850 but switch to ESPN Deportes
overnight on the 850, since the 93.7 would have the EE ESPN during those hours...?
raccoonradio said:
Wasn’t 0.890 supposed to switch to ESPN Deportes?
Blackroc said:
The 850 signal is FAR from lousy. Depending on whom you ask, it's Boston's second- or third-best AM signal. Although my vote is for third-best (with WBZ (AM) first and WRKO second), I find it very tedious to see radio signals so often maligned by people who haven't a clue about what they are writing about. The worst offender, I guess, is Howie Carr, who, despite working for WRKO, has repeatedly denigrated the station's generally superb signal.
And despite the current wave of enthusuasm nationwide for FM vs AM, AM reception does have advantages over FM in some situations. Avoiding multipath distortion of FM signals--even within the 60 dBu contour--can be both annoying and frustrating. I live in what should be a GREAT FM-reception location. Nevertheless, on several decent FM receivers, WGBH (FM), the most powerful FM signal in the market, can require repeated tweaks of the receiving antenna to keep multipath distirtion from badly trashing the listening experience.
Pete.
A
ArtSpooner
Guest
Remember all those weeks when Larry Johnson would be on two or even three times? Remember Smerlas interrupting everyone? Remember Butch Stearns just being a moron? These things have all come back to bite the big O on his ample toosh.
so instead of a $1,000 an hour he now makes about $500 an hour...oof
Never mind.
There was nothing sudden about the switch and it didn't happen 8 months later. The switch was announced in July and was part of a national shift by CBS. Even if dropping O&A didn't mean anything to Glen and his agent, they should have had some knowledge that CBS was going to make big changes in just a matter of months.
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