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Joe Kelly Leaving Midnight Trucker and being replaced by?!?!

S

Slambang

Yep folks, Joe Kelly is leaving The Midnight Trucker Show on WBAP. He is heading to the greener pastures of morning drive time in tulsa. Normally,this wouldnt be such a big deal...but his replacement is....

wait..




hold yer breath...





GARY MCNAMARA

Apperantly Gary Mac isnt bringing in the post-hanity numbers 820 was hoping for,so he's being shipped to overnights. One speculation is that 'BAP maybe filling his slot with "Conservative Freightrain" David Gold. Not the best choice for talent to fill that slot as a Phil Hendrie or even (better, imho) Kevin McCarthy would bring in better numbers in that daypart.<P ID="edit"><FONT class="small">Edited by Slambang on 07/12/05 07:38 PM.</FONT></P>
 
> Yep folks, Joe Kelly is leaving The Midnight Trucker Show on
> WBAP. He is heading to the greener pastures of morning drive
> time in tulsa. Normally,this wouldnt be such a big
> deal...but his replacement is....
>
> wait..
>
>
>
>
> hold yer breath...
>
>
>
>
>
> GARY MCNAMARA
>
> Apperantly Gary Mac isnt bringing in the post-hanity numbers
> 820 was hoping for,so he's being shipped to overnights. One
> speculation is that 'BAP maybe filling his slot with
> "Conservative Freightrain" David Gold. Not the best choice
> for talent to fill that slot as a Phil Hendrie or even
> (better, imho) Kevin McCarthy would bring in better numbers
> in that daypartWell that doesn't surprise me at all. David Gold doesn't fit WBAP in my opion though. I couldn't picture Kevin doing that particular time slot either. Kevin seems to be more of a home town guy, and I really don't see BAP going in that direction. .
>
 
> > Yep folks, Joe Kelly is leaving The Midnight Trucker Show
> on
> > WBAP. He is heading to the greener pastures of morning
> drive
> > time in tulsa. Normally,this wouldnt be such a big
> > deal...but his replacement is....
> >
> > wait..
> >
> >
> >
> >
> > hold yer breath...
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> > GARY MCNAMARA
> >
> > Apperantly Gary Mac isnt bringing in the post-hanity
> numbers
> > 820 was hoping for,so he's being shipped to overnights.
> One
> > speculation is that 'BAP maybe filling his slot with
> > "Conservative Freightrain" David Gold. Not the best choice
>
> > for talent to fill that slot as a Phil Hendrie or even
> > (better, imho) Kevin McCarthy would bring in better
> numbers
> > in that daypartWell that doesn't surprise me at all. David
> Gold doesn't fit WBAP in my opion though. I couldn't picture
> Kevin doing that particular time slot either. Kevin seems to
> be more of a home town guy, and I really don't see BAP going
> in that direction. .
> >
>
I think K-mac would be a good fit at WBAP...he can carry the local feel but he definitely can go the national route as well. Connie does a great job of securing guests locally and nationally. I feel that in order for stations to survive in a die hard state like Texas and cities like Dallas you have to have some local flare. Listeners in North Texas are passionate about North Texas and don't always care about National news....Kevin can add that.
 
Listeners in
> North Texas are passionate about North Texas and don't
> always care about National news....Kevin can add that.
>

I agree with that, but I think WBAP's (and ultimately ABC's) vision for the station has ONLY to do with keeping solid blocks of conservative talk going, thinking that the listeners have nothing better to do than tune into WBAP for 15 hours a day, straight. And by dumping the noon news and Randy Galloway a couple of years back, they no longer risked alienating the conservative die-hards that perhaps DO listen to them 15 hours a day!! Kevin is not as polarized politically as WBAP would need him to be, but I think his ability to talk about anything, regardless of its importance to conservatives, is his calling card. SOMEONE will pick him up eventually. ABC is convinced that Conservative Talk is the wave of the future, but the ratings since Election Day just don't back that up.

McNamara seems like a nice guy off the mic, but if you've ever watched him do his show live from the fair or elsewhere, you can see the passion and fierceness in his eyes...and yeah, I think he goes over the edge quite often, sometimes yelling at callers and trying to filibuster anyone with a dissenting opinion. But it seems like he's running out of fresh topics, and milques old ones LONG after the topical-ness has worn off. He was still talking about Michael Jackson's case long after the trial was over. He'll egg on arguments about Iraq even when it's a slow news day and there's nothing new to report. I think he relies exclusively on the news to drive his topics, instead of coming up with compelling things on his own. That's where McCarthy has him beat.

But it stands to reason that there's obviously a HUGE dropoff in audience once his drivetime listeners get home, have dinner and turn on the TV. Drawing that core audience back to the radio is no easy task once they leave the car. No matter who takes over, that will be a problem that can't really be fixed. Of course, this past year, Gary hasn't had the benefit of Stars game to pre-empt his show, since those game day ratings aren't separated from HIS ratings, giving him a nice boost that he didn't even earn.

But McNamara can't slip with his temper on the overnight trucking show. Kelly and Harley keep things on an even keel. I don't know that Gary's "passion" will endear himself to the truckers. I'd love to hear Eric Harley do some comedy routines and imitations like he does on Hal Jay's show, or maybe incorporate some of Bill Mack's elements (music???) into the show. We all know the ratings have been abysmal on overnights there since Mack went to XM, and maybe it's time to change the whole overnight APPROACH after 4 not-so-great years in the post-Mack era. But honestly, satellite radio has done the most damage so far to all terrestrial overnight talk shows...why would a cross-country trucker deal with stations dropping out, or even with a 42-state blowtorch like WBAP, if they can get Bill Mack (or whoever else they choose) and with little or no commercials...and no fuzz, and no dropouts, and in digital stereo quality. Seems like an easy choice to me. But gosh darn, ABC and WBAP don't mind selling spots to XM and Sirius providers during overnights!!
 
Eric Harley is a great guy both professionally and personally. In my opinion, I don't think Joe Kelly has endeared himself to his listening audience (he might be a great guy - I don't know). He is great at show prep and coming up with show material. As I see it though, he thinks a little too highly of his own opinion and never allows any opportunity for callers to contribute to the show. If he does ever get around to taking a phone call, he quickly cuts them off and it's right back to his monologue, often times rather abruptly and condescendingly. But the real problem as I see it is that the show is one continuous overnight commercial, breifly interrupted a couple of times each hour for a quick snippet of programming. They might as well call it The (WBAP) Money For Nothin Show. Your argument about satellite radio is a great one except that the show appears to be broadcast on SIRIUS Satellite Radio Channel 138. Hopefully with the upcoming personel changes, they will re-think their strategy and give-up some control of show content to the programming side of the house. Otherwise it will never be successful no matter who is hosting the show.

BrainDeadPrez - I really appreciate your contributions to the board - Great stuff!

> But McNamara can't slip with his temper on the overnight
> trucking show. Kelly and Harley keep things on an even
> keel. I don't know that Gary's "passion" will endear
> himself to the truckers. I'd love to hear Eric Harley do
> some comedy routines and imitations like he does on Hal
> Jay's show, or maybe incorporate some of Bill Mack's
> elements (music???) into the show. We all know the ratings
> have been abysmal on overnights there since Mack went to XM,
> and maybe it's time to change the whole overnight APPROACH
> after 4 not-so-great years in the post-Mack era. But
> honestly, satellite radio has done the most damage so far to
> all terrestrial overnight talk shows...why would a
> cross-country trucker deal with stations dropping out, or
> even with a 42-state blowtorch like WBAP, if they can get
> Bill Mack (or whoever else they choose) and with little or
> no commercials...and no fuzz, and no dropouts, and in
> digital stereo quality. Seems like an easy choice to me.
> But gosh darn, ABC and WBAP don't mind selling spots to XM
> and Sirius providers during overnights!!
>
 
> Listeners in
> > North Texas are passionate about North Texas and don't
> > always care about National news....Kevin can add that.
> >
>
> I agree with that, but I think WBAP's (and ultimately ABC's)
> vision for the station has ONLY to do with keeping solid
> blocks of conservative talk going, thinking that the
> listeners have nothing better to do than tune into WBAP for
> 15 hours a day, straight. And by dumping the noon news and
> Randy Galloway a couple of years back, they no longer risked
> alienating the conservative die-hards that perhaps DO listen
> to them 15 hours a day!! Kevin is not as polarized
> politically as WBAP would need him to be, but I think his
> ability to talk about anything, regardless of its importance
> to conservatives, is his calling card. SOMEONE will pick
> him up eventually. ABC is convinced that Conservative Talk
> is the wave of the future, but the ratings since Election
> Day just don't back that up.
>
> McNamara seems like a nice guy off the mic, but if you've
> ever watched him do his show live from the fair or
> elsewhere, you can see the passion and fierceness in his
> eyes...and yeah, I think he goes over the edge quite often,
> sometimes yelling at callers and trying to filibuster anyone
> with a dissenting opinion. But it seems like he's running
> out of fresh topics, and milques old ones LONG after the
> topical-ness has worn off. He was still talking about
> Michael Jackson's case long after the trial was over. He'll
> egg on arguments about Iraq even when it's a slow news day
> and there's nothing new to report. I think he relies
> exclusively on the news to drive his topics, instead of
> coming up with compelling things on his own. That's where
> McCarthy has him beat.
>
> But it stands to reason that there's obviously a HUGE
> dropoff in audience once his drivetime listeners get home,
> have dinner and turn on the TV. Drawing that core audience
> back to the radio is no easy task once they leave the car.
> No matter who takes over, that will be a problem that can't
> really be fixed. Of course, this past year, Gary hasn't had
> the benefit of Stars game to pre-empt his show, since those
> game day ratings aren't separated from HIS ratings, giving
> him a nice boost that he didn't even earn.
>
> But McNamara can't slip with his temper on the overnight
> trucking show. Kelly and Harley keep things on an even
> keel. I don't know that Gary's "passion" will endear
> himself to the truckers. I'd love to hear Eric Harley do
> some comedy routines and imitations like he does on Hal
> Jay's show, or maybe incorporate some of Bill Mack's
> elements (music???) into the show. We all know the ratings
> have been abysmal on overnights there since Mack went to XM,
> and maybe it's time to change the whole overnight APPROACH
> after 4 not-so-great years in the post-Mack era. But
> honestly, satellite radio has done the most damage so far to
> all terrestrial overnight talk shows...why would a
> cross-country trucker deal with stations dropping out, or
> even with a 42-state blowtorch like WBAP, if they can get
> Bill Mack (or whoever else they choose) and with little or
> no commercials...and no fuzz, and no dropouts, and in
> digital stereo quality. Seems like an easy choice to me.
> But gosh darn, ABC and WBAP don't mind selling spots to XM
> and Sirius providers during overnights!!
>
I have to agree, since Mack went to XM, MTN has become a shell of its former self. Personally, I would like to hear "The Wheel" play some classic(Patsy,Hank Sr.) and new country overnights,mixed in with the information. The trucking bunch is usually also a "right" leaning bloc as well, so im guessing the thought process at WBAP is that Gary may bring in more listeners with his fiery "Piss n Vinegar" rants about everything.
 
I have to concur. Eric is a good guy and talented. Joe I was never impressed with including his stint at KLIF. The show is just saturated with spots,even Bill grumbled in his book calling it "a piece of crap". The show actually if you combine the news segment at the top and bottom of the hour is just shy or a tad over 20 min. 40 minutes of spots,some news and weather. How could one sit through all that interuption? They could scale back on the spots and still make money that would allow the show to be listenable. Gary McNamara is a good person but as a talk host,he is not compelling enough. WBAP hiring Kevin? Nope Bob will either look to see who he can steal from KLIF again or have ABC decide.
 
As an outsider, I'd be interested in some Dallas radio professionals' opinion on this. From my point of view, it appears that ANY local political talker who's not named Mark Davis brings in stinko books. Charlie Jones and Joe Kelly day shows - bombed. Kevin McCarthy (who became MUCH more political from his early '90s days at KLIF) - outta there. David Gold - what's he on, his fourth of fifth station? Gary McNamara, banished to the midnight hour. The sad, pathetic Foxification of KLIF continues to spiral downward, to 1.5 in the winter books compared to a 2.0 a year ago. Bu-bye, Knapp and Ankarlo!

Since nobody builds a substantial or long-term audience outside Davis, how exactly did Dallas radio execs come to believe that local conservative political talk is a goldmine?

How about some shows with guests. Shows that are entertaining. Shows with actual reporting and journalism.

Just a thought.
 
Re: Commercial "Noise"

>How could one sit through all that interuption?

No one is going to. If you saturated Howard Stern's show with that many spots, he would lose listeners. Ok, I take that back. You would start seeing an abundance of "tivo" like equipped radios flood the market.

The point is when the signal-to-noise ratio gets too high, people seek alternatives.

We have pop-up and ad blockers installed in our browsers,
Spam filters on our email,
Caller ID, The "Telezapper" and the do-not-call list to stop telemarketers,
DVR's on our TVs (so now they have started advertising during the show with those annoying ads at the bottom of the screen),
cell phone conversations (annoying) or trips to the restroom for the endless commercials put on before the start of a movie - or the ff button if we are watching the DVD.
Subscription based commercial-free Satellite programming, podcasts, portable mp3 players and other innovative solutions which shift the cost of programming directly to the consumer and the trend continues to spill over into radio.

It's on Billboards and other vehicles as we drive down the roadway, it's in our schools, it's at the ballgame, in newspapers, in those annoyinging thick pages in magazines that keep you from being able to flip through it without stopping to tear it out and throw it away, in restaurants as they try to suggestively sell/upsell everything on the menu, it's in every store, it's in our face as we just take a walk down the street, it's the darn pushy Southwestern Bell employee who won't let you make a simple change to your phone service without trying to sell you everything they offer. It fills up your mailbox. It's everywhere. Everyday, we are bombarded with more advertising messages than anything else we hear or see. It's no wonder consumers are using technology to fight back. If you don't take advantage of some of the things that are available to tone down the noise, I feel sorry for you.

Why? because the "noise level" of commercial advertising in our country has reached a deafing ROAR. I understand that programming costs money. Even if it's poor programming, it costs money. No one is going to do this for free. Charge enough per spot that you don't have to cram so many commercials down the consumers throat. People have been willing to put up with a certain amount of advertising in the past, but I believe we have reached the point at which enough is enough.

And now back to the Midnight Trucking Show...where your favorite commercial is only seconds away...back-to-back-to-back non-stop advertising favorites just for you.<P ID="edit"><FONT class="small">Edited by the80sguy on 07/13/05 11:54 PM.</FONT></P>
 
Re: Commercial "Noise"

Would BAP use a syndicated show to fill that slot from premier, ABC, Westwood One orTRN?

> >How could one sit through all that interuption?
>
> No one is going to. If you saturated Howard Stern's show
> with that many spots, he would lose listeners. Ok, I take
> that back. You would start seeing an abundance of "tivo"
> like equipped radios flood the market.
>
> We have pop-up and ad blockers installed in our browsers,
> Spam filters on our email,
> Caller ID, The "Telezapper" and the do-not-call list to stop
> telemarketers,
> DVR's on our TVs (so now they have started advertising
> during the show with those annoying ads at the bottom of the
> screen),
> cell phone conversations (annoying) or trips to the restroom
> for the endless commercials put on before the start of a
> movie - or the ff button if we are watching the DVD.
> Subscription based commercial-free Satellite programming,
> podcasts, portable mp3 players and other innovative
> solutions which shift the cost of programming directly to
> the consumer and the trend continues to spill over into
> radio.
>
> It's on Billboards and other vehicles as we drive down the
> roadway, it's in our schools, it's at the ballgame, in every
> store, it's in our face as we just take a walk down the
> street, it's the darn pushy Southwestern Bell employee who
> won't let you make a simple change to your phone service
> without trying to sell you everything they offer. It's
> everywhere. Everyday, we are bombarded with more advertising
> messages than anything else we hear or see. It's no wonder
> consumers are using technology to fight back. If you don't
> take advantage of some of the things that are available to
> tone down the noise, I feel sorry for you.
>
> Why? because the "noise level" of commercial advertising in
> our country has reached a deafing ROAR. I understand that
> programming costs money. Even if it's poor programming, it
> costs money. No one is going to do this for free. Charge
> enough per spot that you don't have to cram so many
> commercials down the consumers throat. People have been
> willing to put up with a certain amount of advertising in
> the past, but I believe we have reached the point at which
> enough is enough.
>
> And now back to the Midnight Trucking Show...where your
> favorite commercial is only seconds
> away...back-to-back-to-back non-stop advertising favorites
> just for you.
>
 
Re: Alternatives

If they did, I would hope they would find something else for Eric. I don't think they have to throw the baby out with the bathwater. Losing Joe isn't a big deal. Just give the truckers something interesting to listen to as they sit there stuck in their truck mile after mile, hour after lonely hour. There's not much else they can do, but listen to someone(something) entertaining and it sure as heck isn't commercials.

> Would BAP use a syndicated show to fill that slot from
> premier, ABC, Westwood One orTRN?
 
A blowhard on a blowtorch

> Eric Harley is a great guy both professionally and
> personally. In my opinion, I don't think Joe Kelly has
> endeared himself to his listening audience (he might be a
> great guy - I don't know). He is great at show prep and
> coming up with show material. As I see it though, he thinks
> a little too highly of his own opinion and never allows any
> opportunity for callers to contribute to the show. If he
> does ever get around to taking a phone call, he quickly cuts
> them off and it's right back to his monologue, often times
> rather abruptly and condescendingly.


He is EXACTLY right.

Kelly was always a poor fit for that show. He talks down to the callers, many of whom are truckers.

I've talked to several in the freight and trucking business. They love satellite radio and the diversity it offers.

Not all of them, believe it or not, love conservative talk or classic country.

For many drivers today, classic country is their grandparents' music.

But the big problem was Kelly did not respect his audience.

"24 Hours to Tulsa" by Gene Pitney :)


> BrainDeadPrez - I really appreciate your contributions to
> the board - Great stuff!


If he would just quit using the word "blowtorch" all the time :).

Guess Mike is tickled to be doing traffic on the "blowtorch" for the folks in Wyoming.


>
 
Re: Alternatives

> If they did, I would hope they would find something else for
> Eric. I don't think they have to throw the baby out with the
> bathwater. Losing Joe isn't a big deal. Just give the
> truckers something interesting to listen to as they sit
> there stuck in their truck mile after mile, hour after
> lonely hour. There's not much else they can do, but listen
> to someone(something) entertaining and it sure as heck isn't
> commercials.
>
> > Would BAP use a syndicated show to fill that slot from
> > premier, ABC, Westwood One orTRN?
>
Tape delay of Mark Davis's national show? Or is that why Gary is moving to overnite?
 
Re: Alternatives

> > If they did, I would hope they would find something else
> for
> > Eric. I don't think they have to throw the baby out with
> the
> > bathwater. Losing Joe isn't a big deal. Just give the
> > truckers something interesting to listen to as they sit
> > there stuck in their truck mile after mile, hour after
> > lonely hour. There's not much else they can do, but listen
>
> > to someone(something) entertaining and it sure as heck
> isn't
> > commercials.
> >
> > > Would BAP use a syndicated show to fill that slot from
> > > premier, ABC, Westwood One orTRN?
> >
> Tape delay of Mark Davis's national show? Or is that why
> Gary is moving to overnite?
>
I have a feeling Mark is going to get the block held by rush sooner or later. Gary is moving because he frankly isnt bringing in the numbers,but is under contract.
 
Re: Alternatives

> > > If they did, I would hope they would find something else
>
> > for
> > > Eric. I don't think they have to throw the baby out with
>
> > the
> > > bathwater. Losing Joe isn't a big deal. Just give the
> > > truckers something interesting to listen to as they sit
> > > there stuck in their truck mile after mile, hour after
> > > lonely hour. There's not much else they can do, but
> listen
> >
> > > to someone(something) entertaining and it sure as heck
> > isn't
> > > commercials.
> > >
> > > > Would BAP use a syndicated show to fill that slot from
>
> > > > premier, ABC, Westwood One orTRN?
> > >

> > Tape delay of Mark Davis's national show? Or is that why
> > Gary is moving to overnite?
> >
> I have a feeling Mark is going to get the block held by rush
> sooner or later. Gary is moving because he frankly isnt
> bringing in the numbers,but is under contract.
>
wbap is advertising for a live & local host in the trades and i'm certain that's what shomper plans...

thanks for the kind words in this thread...naturally, i think i could do a good job for wbap in that slot with an end-of-the-day, put aside your cares & woes type of show for late commuters, but i don't think i'm "right for the part"...

wbap kinda reminds me of the old maxim out how much to modify our playlists in the old top 40 days...with the exception of the morning show, whether it was 10am or 10pm, if you rolled your tuner knob into knus, we wanted you to know it was us...for wbap, that means all hard-right politics all the time...
 
Re: Alternatives

.> wbap is advertising for a live & local host in the trades
> and i'm certain that's what shomper plans...
>
> thanks for the kind words in this thread...naturally, i
> think i could do a good job for wbap in that slot with an
> end-of-the-day, put aside your cares & woes type of show for
> late commuters, but i don't think i'm "right for the
> part"...
>
> wbap kinda reminds me of the old maxim out how much to
> modify our playlists in the old top 40 days...with the
> exception of the morning show, whether it was 10am or 10pm,
> if you rolled your tuner knob into knus, we wanted you to
> know it was us...for wbap, that means all hard-right
> politics all the time...
>
The ad Shomper put out is strictly EOE, a few interviews,however the decision has already been made. You have to make it look good for "the search".
 
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