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Inside Radio: Sources say Hannity leaving ABC

The story in the above link is by (the envelope, please): Brian Maloney (minus the familiar invective).

Additional points:
  • Dissatisfaction is more on Citadel's side; not Hannity's. Maloney speculates Citadel may want to move more to local talk.
  • The market is over-saturated with syndicated talk shows - some not that good. And there are not enough stations to go around.
  • Interest in political talk - and program quality - appear to be waning.

There is no suggestion Hannity would sign with Fox for radio syndication. This is business. His largest group of stations are Clear Channel stations. Almost all his stations also carry Rush from CC's Premiere Radio. Premiere does not currently have a political talk entry for PM drive (following Beck and Rush). Westwood One, which syndicates fellow Fox talker Bill O'Reilly's radio show and lacks a PM drive talk entry, is also a possibility. Fox is really a minor player in radio syndication.
 
I would agree interest in poli-talk is waning on the whole though there should be a spike the next few months before the midterm elections, and in '08 with the Prez race. "Everybody wants to get into da act", as Durante
would say: all sorts of talk shows out there, TOO many. Fragmentation: conservative, liberal, women,
sports, sports with jock interviews, sports with "fan callers" (read: JT The Brick and his "passionate" callers),
black, conspiracy theory (West of the Rockies, you're next) etc.

Waiting for Radio Disney to launch DizTalk, talk radio for kids and teens. (I made that up, but who knows.)

I would have thought Fox would want him--a kind of synergy, since he's on FNC as well. (Doesn't Fox News/Talk
syndie his partner Colmes?) but yes Premiere/CC would def. want him....He can be repetitive and grating at times but he's also passionate (often TOO much so), 180 degrees from soft spoken guys like Franken.
 
raccoonradio said:
I would have thought Fox would want him--a kind of synergy, since he's on FNC as well. (Doesn't Fox News/Talk
syndie his partner Colmes?) but yes Premiere/CC would def. want him.
Click to expand...

Hannity - or his agent - must know he's in a good position. In all likelihood the question of which syndicator he goes with will be decided with ca$h.

And, the related issue, if/when Hannity changes syndicators will station changes follow? Especially, given some recent comments, will station changes follow in New York? And would WOR be interested?
 
Yes who knows what stations will wind up with Hannity (in Boston, could he be moved from WTTT to WRKO?)
Problem though: suppose he jumps early next yr and WRKO opts to tape delay him till 7 pm after their own
Howie Carr. Result: lots of pre-emptions as they pick up Red Sox next year.
 
He just commented before his last commercial break that he's got a big announcement coming up, but that he couldn't make it until next week. Could he be jumping?
 
Hannity just re-upped with ABC for five years/$25mil 18 months or so ago. Doesn't seem like that bad of a deal, considering he was on top then and has dipped slightly since.

While there's no denying his success, some of us here have figured Hannity's two-bit act could only last so long, just like Dr. Laura's two-bit act. Hannity's 420some affils is less than her peak of 470something. Speaking of which, Dr. Laura cleans his clock in LA, where perhaps a local show could at least result in better revenues considering they'd have more inventory and could pay a local yakker rather than ABC for the privelege of carrying his show. Elsewhere, would WOR dump O'Reilly and the check he writes to them in order to pay for Hannity's show? Would everyone in Chicago think Sean joined the witness protection program when WIND picked him up? Or the two people listening to Jerry Doyle on KNEW/SF might be so mad they wouldn't stick around to hear Savage complain about his new lead-in. And in DC, Hannity would move to WTNT where he'd cut out every time it lightened, although no one past five miles from the towers in Bethesda would even know the station existed, or care, sorry to say. The only upside could be in Detroit, where new management would realize Mitch Albom's tired act grew old in 1998, and would gladly give Sean 'til 7pm, 8 on Mondays.

As to Fox, Fred, they are a minor player (Brian and the Judge... put us out of our misery) but Hannity would help them, and seeing that part of Premiere's FNR deal includes a sat channel for FNT shows, it wouldn't be out of the realm of possibilities. If they wanted to be a bigger player, I think they have the cash to do it.

Westwood One? Ha! They're a non-entity with nothing going on. So O'Reilly's on in 100 of the top 100 markets when you count the suburban Class D AM that covers 10% of the market's population and gets a 0.3. Severin is getting nowhere, Leykis/Don and Mike aren't heard past their respective backyards, and I can't find a single top-100 market station clearing Lars Larson live. The only thing I think they have is an eerily coincidental lock on listeners who were alive during WW1, as in the World War... Bohannon, Larry King, Dirk Van, Imus?! Who carries these shows anymore?! Aye!

(BTW... I don't love or hate him, but maybe the reason Brian doesn't get a radio job is that he makes broad statements about how bad entire corporate chains are... "Lastly, the elephant in the room is painted green. It could NOT be said that Citadel has a history of paying top-dollar for air talent")
 
KJCB said:
Elsewhere, would WOR dump O'Reilly and the check he writes to them in order to pay for Hannity's show?
Click to expand...

Will Phil post a demand for proof that O'Reilly (or Westwood One) is paying for play on WOR?
Stay tuned.
 
NY Post: "'CARRY GRANT BACK TO WABC' RADIO"

http://www.nypost.com/php/pfriendly...to_wabc_radio_entertainment_john_mainelli.htm

"IF Sean Hannity has his way, talk-radio titan Bob Grant will return from his WABC "exile" soon....
Hannity himself, who is a syndication powerhouse for the ABC radio network, becomes a free agent when the keys change hands. But no matter who distributes his show after that, he's likely to remain on WABC."

Was the effort to bring back Grant the "big announcement" Hannity was going to make?
 
To replace who? His other "good friend" Mark Levin? Perhaps the new brass at ABCRN will realize his entire career was built on "suggestions" from Hannity to Phil Boyce, and in turn, Boyce to Hannity affiliates, to carry his show.
 
If Dr. Laura is cleaning Hannity's clock in LA, the fact that she's got a superior signal...even in "crippled" form...might have something to do with it.
 
Phil Boyce confirmed Grant is NOT coming back to WABC. Guess Hannity doesn't wield much power huh?
 
TheLaffer said:
Phil Boyce confirmed Grant is NOT coming back to WABC. Guess Hannity doesn't wield much power huh?
Click to expand...

Reread his statement. He didn't exactly rule it out either.
And even if he issued a flat denial, radio people lie.
 
My point on Hannity's power was getting Levin on other ABC O&Os and now on a number of stations nationally. What originally was more of an in-house move has added "The Great One" to the growing pile of syndicrap which, unless I'm crazy, I've been reading the trades admitting has gotten out of control. Levin is a fine local host, but a) WABC needs local talk and b) there's enough national stuff and Levin isn't really that great to be on the stations he's on. Again, however, he's ABC's show du jour, quickly putting recently rewarmed national host Mark Davis into obscurity.

Perhaps if CBS's flailing FreeFM/NYC competed with WABC they could inflict some damage, especially seeing the ever-more-tiring hum-drum talk of off-Broadway shows and cobbler recipes on WOR. Then again, CBS would probably manage to screw that up, too.
 
Citadel (formerly ABC Radio) May Get Howard Back on the Radio

barooosk said:
Didn't ABC sell most of their O & O's to Citadel?
Click to expand...

All of them; all their radio operations except ESPN Radio and Radio Disney.

Citadel may lose Hannity but the NY Post's John Mainelli reports this morning Citadel could pick up Howard (who is reportedly considered an O&A type return to terrestrial radio).
 
As Fred said, radio people lie. I'm a radio person. I lie all the time.

(No, not really. I mean, I am a radio person. I just don't lie. Not all the time, anyway. Some restrictions may apply. Not available in Alaska, Hawaii or Puerto Rico. Member FDIC. Equal housing lender. Consult a physician to determine if Josh C. is right for you.)
 
"If Dr. Laura is cleaning Hannity's clock in LA, the fact that she's got a superior signal...even in "crippled" form...might have something to do with it."

Yes, well her ratings in the IE, Oxnard, or San Diego don't count in the LA market, just LA and Orange counties. KABC covers the market that actually matters pretty well.
 
I didn't have a chance to listen to most of Sean Hannity's show today. He has been mentioning all week that he was going to have a big announcement on Thursday. Did anyone hear the big announcement today?
 
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