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JOHN TESH TO MORNINGS AT WYXB

It was surprising to read that WYXB brought in Tesh for mornings. His program is well done, has decent ratings most places it's cleared, and Scotty Meyers is a class act. That being said, for Emmis to add syndication to mornings at this station, moving a long term AM talent to PM is unusual to say the least.

Thoughts. Comments. Does it matter?
 
So Bernie goes to afternoons? That was the shift he held at WENS 97.1 in it's heyday.
 
RDO said:
Thanks. Saw it on AllAccess.
What did it say about current morning man Bernie Eagan?
 
MikeStandardsFromIndiana said:
since someone earlier in this thread said Bernie would be headed from AM to PM Drive
"moving a long term AM talent to PM is unusual to say the least". That's how I interpreted it, but all the person said was that such a move was unusual, not that it was actually going to play out that way. Bernie's been a good friend for going on 30 years now...just looking for confirmation that this is a good thing for him.
 
I haven't seen any written confirmation, but according to a couple of people in the building Bernie is moving to afternoons on Monday. They have had several people rotating in afternoons since Wheeler has been gone.
 
John Tesh...well okay. I have to say this is a lesser choice than Bernie who knows the area. This may be more of the Cumulus mindset. Bring in big names for drive and move real people out for lesser positions. Bernie has been in radio since the WERK days at Muncie. Heritage jock, great guy, too bad. I still haven't heard the positive annunciation of his continued employment. Long timers don't have a stable position even if they are good talent and positive minded.
 
The only people that a "heritage" jock means less to than corporate muck-aty-mucks is the audience. "Heritage" jocks are meaningful only to people like us on the boards because we know them or have listened to them for years. Bernie is an ok jock, but meaningless in the realm of morning personalities in this market. The only ones that make a difference are B & T and MAYBE the WFMS morning show and REMOTELY Smiley. Every other person that occupies the morning slot in this market is disposable. They are disposable because they are not terribly important to the general audience. My prediction is that Tesh will perform at least as well if not better than Bernie. If I am wrong a year from now...point it out and I will happily admit I was wrong.
 
Jim Scott, Gary Burbank, and Bernie Eagan are all Heritage jocks. Not "Heritage" jocks. It's easy for all the radio wannabes, hangers on, lurkers, and idiots to diminish someone's personal value. In the words of Earl Pitts, Pitts Off (with less emphasis on the T sound). I guess this is what I hear from radio station owners and operators who avoid this forum because of the posts here.

I digress because it's wasy for a nameless poster to say John Tesh is a better jock... and that the Heritage value of being in a market for years and dedication to the community is meaningless.

Bernie is a great guy. I worked with him and know his dedication. I don't hang out with him or talk with him regularly.
 
John Tesh is a fine alternative for a station....at night. To put your most important daypart in the hands of a syndicated personality is a very wreckless decision by station management. Perhaps the microscope needs to be put on the person who thought this was a great idea.
In my view, this station has decided it will no longer compete in morning drive.
 
I've listened to Jim Scott. I knew Gary Burbank. They we friends of mine. Bernie Eagan is no Jim Scott or Gary Burbank. I mean no disrespect to Bernie's value as a human being. He could well be the second coming of Mother Theresa. If so, that is great. I am only talking about the value he brings to the radio station via the rating response he generates. In that case, he is not in the same league of Jim Scott, Gary Burbank, Bill Cunninghan, Bob & Tom, and Jim Denny.

He may be well liked, a hard worker and on the air for a long time...it doesn't mean that he is bringing great value to the programming of the radio station. That being said, he must bring enough value that the station wants to keep him. They are simply moving to him to a shift they believe better matches his talent. That seems like a pretty satisfactory ending for everyone. Nobody dies. Bernie's move to mornings years ago is similar to Leno's move to 10p. Both were a complete disaster that were easily fixed by moving back to the original time. It only took NBC 4 months.

My only other point is that Tesh might work. I think it is a good match to the format...just like Glenn Beck or Rush Limbaugh are successful talents for their format. I contend that this station decided they were not going to contend in mornings when they put Bernie Eagan in mornings 10 years ago!If Tesh does not perform as well as Bernie with in one year, I will acknowledge in this forum that I was wrong.
 
My thought at the beginning of this thread wasn't to question Bernie as a heritage talent, morning talent, afternoon talent or anythng else. It simply struck me as odd that this station would opt for a move to displace a tenured morning talent to go with Tesh. As Seltzer said, Tesh is an alternative at night, overnight, etc.

It would appear that Emmis has, in fact, conceded a competitive position in AM with this move. I don't agree that mornings on mainstream AC is the most important daypart. It's actually second behind the big block of at work listening. That said, it's imperative that a mainstream AC have a compatible strong lead in to that long workday block. Tesh is OK, but not in that daypart. His content, while offensive to no one is global in nature. Indianapolis is a competitive market with many choices for entertainment and information in morning drive. Most of those talents are visible in the community where they can shake hands, kiss babies and meet listeners. Tesh can do that, but not nearly as regularly as the competition.

Let's see if Charlie, David, Rick and Jeff are making the right move. It is fortunate that no one is joining the ranks of the unemployed in this move which speaks well for Emmis.
 
I will go back to the fact that the highest rated hours on most talk stations are occupied by syndicated talent. That is a format where the talent is the star of the show. On a music station, the music is the star of the show. Why wouldn't a syndicated talent work as well when the talent isn't even the primary reason people tune into the show?

Honestly how much compelling local content has been generated in the B morning show that is going to so greatly missed? People listen to interesting content first. If they had a great personal experience meeting someone that is a bonus, but it doesn't mean anything if the talent isn't doing anything interesting. On the other hand my brother has never met Bob, Tom, Chick, Kristi, et al, but he has listened to them everyday for the last 20 years.

I don't want to see people lose jobs to syndication from a personal standpoint. (Fortunately no one has in this case). But from a professional standpoint to it seems illogical to assume that a syndicated show does not have a chance to out perform a week local one.
 
At Emmis right now the only Stations mornings they havent shaken up is over on 1070 where they cant go and take one half of its morning show and move him to another day part only ESPN Can LOL
 
If you don't put Bernie in the company of Burbank, how can any ethical mind consider John Tesh over Bernie? I think Tesh has been in radio 6 years? He can read a card but dear glory don't let him sing. Radio was his fallback from the singing career.

Ann and Scott, Scott and Ann, The Big Dumb Show, The Smash. Wait...Emmis Morning Shows that lots of cash was spent on then thrown away.

Stern. Did I mention how much money Emmis spent on Stern? Clearly enough to BUY a good Class B in this town.

And Radio One is outperforming everyone with Class As. Why keep 1070 on? 6k a month in power bills. Enough land to speculate to a developer and retire on. All 20 listeners would be mad. Someone blew ESPN smoke somewhere and it hasn't performed.

Unfortunately people can find better programming on their ipod. Garrison and Rush are fine but what else in this market evokes emotion, connects, is relevant, and has some support from the ownership?

Randy Michaels sends a memo with his list of stupid things not to say on the radio. They're mad he doesn't want them to say "It's 5am in the morning on WGN?" A man cares enough to try to teach common sense and Feder is by all accounts an Idiot. Years ago his comeback to stupid talk was a pinch. Where you can imagine.

Randy is a genius. Most everyone else that owns stations or runs them is a genius only by luck not by sheer intelligence, me included. Some are flat out stupid or just don't care.

Bernie could make the connection. Bernie knows the market, a lot better than Tesh. What a shame. Getting beaten by several Class A's is a shame but this is a management issue that Tesh won't fix.
 
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