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Greggo/Hardline Divorce Article

quite... QUITE a read. Although every article and column has a slant, I feel the truth of the whole matter is probably closer to this than anything that may come out of The Ticket. I was there from day one and even though I am not in town now, I listen as much as I can and I heard all of the breakdown from after he was gone last October. It really looks to me like Mike and Corby have turned thier backs on him. And for Corby not to even participate in the article says a lot about him. He didn't pull off an old-fashioned back-stabbing, but he jumped in as soon as he smelled some higher-paying blood. I have to deal with depression in my family and its just not something you can shut out. I know its different with friends, but these guys were closer than that. The shut out that Mike has done shows the "old grey wolf" persona that we in the subculture knew about since 1994. With a co-worker, there has to be a point of no return, and maybe they hit it. I wasn't in the studios, but even if that line was crossed, there is no reason to poo-poo away 14 great years. I hope Greggo gets on ESPN with RJ. I know and have worked with Choppy and he's a great guy, I think they could come up with something good.
Dallas needs its Hammer and I am most glad that he is geeting his personal demons squashed and moving forward, with or without Mike.
Rest well, Hambonita, rest well

Pittsburgh Dave
 
Yes, damn interesting article and I think a pretty fair one from all perspectives.


I've only been listening to "The Hardline" since 2000 so I missed their first 6 years but I've got to say that in my time with The Hardline that I never thought Williams added just a heck of a lot to the program and especially over the last 2-3 years. Aloof....out of the loop....disengaged.....unable to follow along.......that's the Greg Williams I know.

Was he friggin' high when he interviewed the Dallas Police Chief...??? Knowing the backstory, one has to wonder now. Maybe that would explain his asking a question, having it answered, and then "That's not the question"-ing the bit.


I don't have a lot of sympathy for a guy making $500K who can't make it to work on time or follow along in show-prep. Cry me a river. It's not hard to NOT do cocaine. I do it everyday without any problem. So, apparently, does just about everyone else at the "Ticket."

Williams complains about being slowly shouldered out of the program...............but maybe it was quite obvious to those around him that he wasn't providing the same input and content that he use to and they were trying to compensate for it in other ways with other people? If someone could help me pull my weight at my job I'd consider that a favor..........not jealousy or contempt. If Corby was able to come in and do a little extra that the old Rhyner-Williams confab was no longer able to...............good for him and shame on Williams for not living up to his end of the deal.


Greggo is an obvious OCD victim and he has a dangerous obsessive/addictive personality. All the sympathy in the world cannot fortify him, fix him, or make him someone you want to depend upon for your paycheck. The "Ticket" decided, no matter what he'd done in the past, that his destructive behavior was a negative now and that the show had to go on without him or face further consequences. Good move.


I do wish the Williams my blessings on the loss of their father.
 
As someone at the Mothership during this time, I can tell you that Corby and Danny "taking up the slack" is exactly what happened. Greg was not pushed out. That is Greg's perception. Greg did this to himself.

The article is very, very near the truth of what happened. I think Corby not participating in the article was more about "if you can't say something nice, don't say anything at all." I applaud Corby for keeping his thoughts to himself. Perhaps he wants a future relationship and is still sorting out the details in his head. We won't know unless Corby speaks.

As far as "full disclosure from The Ticket," it has been said one thousand times ... in today's sue happy society, it is best not to say anything at all. I know everyone is dying for the dirty details, but we'll have to survive on what Greggo chooses to say.

The only other point I take issue with is comparing this to athletes that get a second chance. I will say, this was not Greg's first chance, and he includes the details in the article about his first absence. How many "chances" is enough? Understand that the on-air product effects every employee. Not just the on-air guys. Had Greg's problems affected the on-air product greatly, you have full and part time people, with families, that risk losing their jobs to cut costs. Being an on-air personality is a huge responsibility - "it begins and ends with the product."

Shoot, thought of one more point - I do regret that more employees ("friends") didn't reach out to him. However, with all the laws and HIPPA, I, personally, didn't really know if I could and if I did if it would come back to haunt me. You just never know how things will end and that is sad.

I wish him the best and I hope the peace he is experiencing now stays with him.
 
As far as Greggo being shouldered out for Corby-
He (Corby) was the one doing the bits- going out and interviewing Shaq, overcussing this guy, "repetitive question man"-ning that guy, etc. If Greggo thought he was losing time to Corby, was he doing anythingto get it back, or was he just resting on his laurels? From the comments I've read here and at the Observer website, sounds like a lot of people thought Greg has slowly lost relevance to the show-

to the point that the co-host of the top rated men's show (25-54) in the market leaves, and the shows ratings don't really suffer. I do believe they're still #1 3-7p. And since the latest trend is M-A-M, this is WELL after Greg's departure.

And I'll agree with the last poster- I bet people were told to be careful what they said-if there's lawyers in the water, you never know when that innocent off hand remark "hey greg, I wish you were still working here' gets turned into lawsuit material- "Mr Davidson, you claim the remaining Hardline people decided to "move on" with the show,, but isn't it true in a phone conversation on such and such a date you said 'i wish you were still here" how can you wish him back AND want to move on? At that point, is better safe than sorry a bad personal move?
 
Heres my take on the issue: Greg, like alot of OCD people, overindulged in his life. He went down some dark paths and got cut down by a so-called friend (Read: Mike Rhyner) whos only concern is and has always been his personal self-image and self-sustainment. Im glad Ritchie Witt got this article in the press, as it shows in alot of ways the kind of business that the susquehanna/cumulus empires engage in with their employees. Im rooting for Big Greg in this case, as he's someone whos truly human. He has his flaws, but he's making a real attempt to get straight. I will be definatly listening to him on ESPN during training camp and hope this goes full-time as well.
 
Slambang - [EDIT] Did you work there? Have you ever? How the article shows how Susquehanna/Cumulus treats its employees is not any different than any other company. They all cover their collective arses! To draw the conclusion that radio companies are any different than any other company is wrong.

Little1 - as far as Corby saying he still wished Greg worked here - many of us did when this thing was blowing up. We had to move on though. We couldn't change the fact that Greg was gone. Certainly not how anyone, that I know of, envisioned this ending up, but that doesn't make Corby a liar or a disloyal friend. And certainly not a back-stabber. Remember - Greg takes full responsibility for his actions. I would have liked for him to accept that he was lacking on-air (i.e. - show prep, showing up for meetings and air shift on time) and it landed on Corby/Danny to step up. One can only get away with being Robot Greggo for so long.

What none of you that didn't live through this understand - WE SUFFERED A LOSS. There is a grieving period. He was an enormous part of the mothership. To have that just gone after so long, is healing process some are still going through.

Unless you hear it from Corby - DON'T act like you know what Corby's motives are or you know how he feels. Hell, he probably doesn't even know.

Don't try to read more into the juicy story than is already there.

Ticket is successful.
Greg was a huge contributor to that success.
Greg screwed up.
Greg got help - twice.
Greg apologized.
According to the article, not many accepted his apology. Certainly within their rights.
Rhyner is still wicked pissed.
Corby hasn't said whether he is or not.
Greg is now happy and living a healthy life with a woman he loves.

That's all. Don't put words in people's mouths.


[EDIT-inflammatory]
 
After this article there is no way that ESPN touches him... I mean ESPN is all about protecting the brand, and you can't do that by hiring a Liar, drug addict, suicidal, and evidently Gun freak...
If you read between the lines you can tell the guy still is in trouble, he hasn’t figured this thing out yet. He is still in denial, not realizing that what he did hurt everyone involved at the station, not just himself as he alleges, proves that he still hasn’t got it figured out. The word I hear is when he went to ESPN for his try out, some of the people there thought he was high then! I can promise you this story is headed for a sad ending, he can say I'm fine all he wants, but that dude is still unstable.
 
That's why I always thought the supposed GW/Nate Newton combo was never going to happen.

Putting an admitted drug user and a convicted dope trafficker on an ESPN station is an 's***' storm waiting to happen...
 
Listening, Actually yes I did in 2001. I saw how that place has chewed up people and spat them out with a total lack of respect. Not just on-air personalities, but people who actually worked behind the scenes and didnt coast through their jobs. All in all, its one of the MANY reasons I decided to never work in "proper radio" again.
 
ISaidSo said:
... I mean ESPN is all about protecting the brand, and you can't do that by hiring a Liar, drug addict...
Click to expand...

Which is exactly why Michael Irvin will never get a job at ESPN in their TV or radio endeavors.
 
Slambang-
Okay I just called a contact who works there. Who have they chewed up and spat out? Most of the hosts have been there either since day one or close to a decade. Same for the producers. 2 of the last 3 ticker guys they lost -one left to go to Austin, the other left to do Mavs play by play. (Jim Christopher did get blown out when cumulus cut staff in the takeover). All of there production and imaging guys have been there, again, since day 1 or close to a decade and their board ops have both been there for a coupel of years minimum.

Maybe you got chewed up and spat out, but from all appearences, they've been remarkably stable. I don't know what the 'average' turnover is at a station, but it sure looks like there's a lot less turnover there than in your typical station.

(And that might be a fun game- name a station and let's try to figure out what staff changes have happened in the last 10-15 years)

If you worked there in 2001, (and from the way you framed that, it doesn't sound like you were there for a while and left in 2001, but rather just worked there in 2001) is it possible that the problem isn't with that company chewing people up and spitting them out, but the problem was with you?

In other words, do they chew up and spit out people left and right, or just chew up and spit out the ones who can't cut it (for whatever reason)?
 
Im not even going to get in a ree-ree fight on here with anyone, I have other things to do than mess with people with agendas. All I'll say is this: I think cumulus, as well as most of big corporate radio, have become a joke when it comes to product and employment. I lost respect for these guys quite a few years ago and have gotten on with my life. In fact, I have said quite a few times that it was the best thing that happened to me to get out of the day to day idiocracy that is modern radio. Little, perhaps if you read my notes, I wasnt talking just about the little ticket, but the whole dang cluster. It seems to me when you keep the same yes men in managment, you get the same results. Anywho, lets steer this away from me and back to the topic at hand.
 
I won't argue with you that radio groups in general are all about the bottom line, and less about the people. (Which is why I keep saying I'm looking out for Number 1 first)
But I'm just seeing a disconnect between your statement that Susquhana/Cumulus chew people up and the long tenure of the majority of the KTCK employyes (not just on-air). And if you're talking whole cluster, didn't Billy Hayes go from talk show host on KLIF to imaging for wolf to on-air for Bone? All without being fired...
 
huh? WHat does Billy Hayes have to do with anything other than your reference to him illustrates Slam's point, that corporate radio is in the crapper.....
 
No, Slam's point was that corporate radio chews people up and spits them out.

My point was that Billy Hayes, for an example, went from being on air at KLIF to doing Imaging for KPLX to mornings at the Bone.

Now I don't know the exact details of those transistions, i just remember doing having a WTF moment when he showed up on the Bone (from talk host to rock jock?) - it was only then that I heard he'd never left the company, that they found him a job doing imaging.

An apparent example of a station trying to retain a guy (that by accounts I've heard)who was a good talented employee.

I'm just seeing a disconnect between a company that "chews people up" and one that tried to retain somebody like Hayes and has little turnover on KTCK. perception doesn't seem to me meshing with reality.

Additionally, hasn't Smokey Rivers been there like 20 years? Wasn't Cody Alan there everywhere from nights to days to mornings back to PM drive? Again, if a company 'chews people up and spits them out' do they really keep someone around in that many different spots? or retain someone like Smokey for that long?

Maybe they're the exception- like I said, Slam's perception/charecterization just doesn't seem to be meshing with reality...
 
little1 said:
No, Slam's point was that corporate radio chews people up and spits them out.

My point was that Billy Hayes, for an example, went from being on air at KLIF to doing Imaging for KPLX to mornings at the Bone.

Now I don't know the exact details of those transistions, i just remember doing having a WTF moment when he showed up on the Bone (from talk host to rock jock?) - it was only then that I heard he'd never left the company, that they found him a job doing imaging.

An apparent example of a station trying to retain a guy (that by accounts I've heard)who was a good talented employee.

I'm just seeing a disconnect between a company that "chews people up" and one that tried to retain somebody like Hayes and has little turnover on KTCK. perception doesn't seem to me meshing with reality.

Additionally, hasn't Smokey Rivers been there like 20 years? Wasn't Cody Alan there everywhere from nights to days to mornings back to PM drive? Again, if a company 'chews people up and spits them out' do they really keep someone around in that many different spots? or retain someone like Smokey for that long?

Maybe they're the exception- like I said, Slam's perception/charecterization just doesn't seem to be meshing with reality...
Click to expand...
Billy Hays had prior Imaging experience and both Morning Rock and Syndication talk experience. Cody Alan was hired to do mornings after Johnathan Wild left, moved to Afternoons when Wolf signed on and eventually went into mornings when Cumulus Fired Bobby Mitchell. Smokey is a company man who has been there since KPLX. He hasn't exactly been treated with the greatest of Love from the guys at Cumulus. The reason that the Ticket and for some time the Wolf had low turnover is because... most importantly they have had continued Ratings Success and Susquehanna was a great company to work for. They offered Employee Stock options, good vacation and benefits. Now that Cumulus has taken over it's more about collecting the paycheck and let me tell you... If the Ticket takes a dive in a daypart for a couple of books you can bet your rear those hosts will be out or the daypart will be retooled. It's when certain Yes men who are the highest ranking in DFW start to put their hands in the station is when the station heads south... (See KLIF, Bone, and now Wolf).
 
As someone at the Mothership during this time, I can tell you that Corby and Danny "taking up the slack" is exactly what happened. Greg was not pushed out. That is Greg's perception. Greg did this to himself.


Listening to Mike, Corby, and Eddy talk about it right now and they are really reiterating this point. It's not like they're just making something up-I as a listener could tell the same thing over the years of listening to them.

Greggo became further and further withdrawn, disinterested, and even spiteful as the years passed. He had every opportunity to contribute, just as he had in the past, but wouldn't do so many days.


He's an admitted compulsive liar.....a proven addict.....and he can't hold up a radio show to save his life. Why would any director take this guy on? He might be able to do something.....but a show? By himself or even with a partner (or two)?

Not to bash Williams, but he did bring this all upon himself and he is now trying to mine any sympathy for himself that he can.
 
Richie did a great job. I thought it was a great article. Very powerful and very sad. I am sure the truth is some place in between the article and The Hardline.

Don't know if I would blame anyone in this situation. Greggo had his problems and the other guys had to figure out how to deal with them. I truly feel sorry for everyone involved. I don't know how it feels to be betrayed, or how it feels to be reaching out for help, but reading that article, I know I don't want to be there.

I think the Ticket is the best station in DFW and I wish the would give Greg one more chance, but that is just me.
 
Being a gun freak is a bad thing? :mad:



What happened with the heckler in the crowd at the end of the segment?


Seems like this whole thing opened up some old wounds that were starting to heal. Got to give them credit for addressing this as quickly as they did. To ignore it and not address it would have been a huge mistake IMHO.
 
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