KABC's morning disaster show just keeps getting worse

[westfield60]

During the last commercial break on Handle on the News, I was curious to see what Doug and his cirque du soleil cast of clowns and acrobats were doing. I tuned over and they toowere doing their news segment. Babbling Terri Rae was hyperventilating over the story of a Chinese man suing his wife for producing an ugly baby. Nothing would be wrong except this story was covered by all news outlets (including KFI) about 2-3 weeks ago. I guess the pigeon mail just got delivered at KABC and they were reporting on this breaking news story.

I couldn't be making this stuff up even if I tried.

 

[youngsag]

Recently I wrote on this forum on this subject. In pertinent part: ".. it is foolish to think Savage will not be on KABC rather soon. Challenged in every way, KABC may get some kind of bump or save money by replacing the Morning Mess and/or Peter Tilden and/or Larry "Stuck in the 80s" Elder. P.S.: Today's (Monday, 10/29) of the KABC Morning Mess was one of the worst broadcasts I have ever heard on KABC. A total disaster - start to finish. They should be embarrassed. I have challenged Cumulus to listen to the Mess (and then remove it). No one there has taken the challenge."

From beginning to end, the KABC Morning Mess is the disaster of Los Angeles radio. Which is saying a lot, as the state of radio (particularly talk radio) here and elsewhere is pathetic.

But KABC is in a category by itself. Why take what was a great station and throw it to the trash can, one can well ask.

I have written before that Doug McIntyre was excellent doing the Red Eye show nationally. It was, one could easily discern, his show and he surely seemed to like doing it. But then he got the local call to come to KABC mornings. And the very good broadcaster hated the switch. It showed from the first day and does today. Result: What was very good nationally with Red Eye did a 180 here in L.A. And the Morning Mess was born.....

Then they added T-Rae "Always Mumbles" in the non-existent "24/7 news center" and she is either coughing just slightly off mic, giggling for no good reason, and ALWAYS mumbles her news spots. It is absolutely incredible.

And it got worse. You see they had nothing to do with John "Always Insulting and Gross" Phillips to the morning mix. Why? This might simply have to do with a contract that has yet to expire or that they think he has talent. What a thought! Clearly the worst talk radio broadcaster that I have heard since I started in talk radio here in L.A. many years ago, Phillips is just too much for the stomach in the morning (or anytime).

With regard to old news, as Westfield notes, they do it all the time. Putting aside the remarkable clustering of commercials and NEVER taking listener calls (assuming more than a handful are listening to the Titanic of L.A. talk radio), the little time devoted to, um, the PROGRAM is typically made up of new and old gory and gross crime stories that they pick up in the paper (easy habit- read the paper on the air. McIntyre goes one better: he reads old newspapers). Crime stories. I cannot understand why they constantly read and harp on the most gruesome of crime stories. Way to early for crime stories 5 - 9 a.m.

Lest we forget: They have, as I understand it, a long-time executive producer who has been with KABC a long time. If Baker is the driving force of KABC's Morning Mess, well, just look at the ratings since he took the helm. Enough said.

Previously, I have challenged Cumulus to take any section of any hour to listen to aircheck the absolute trash of the KABC Morning Mess. And then take action. Well, my own voice is small, hence the KABC Morning Mess is still there getting the terrible ratings it richly deserves. "Legendary" KABC - as they promote it. It was legendary. It was great. It was a station I and many others strove to beat year on year for many years - and never could.

KABC is legendary the same way the Titanic is. And they both sunk. Thoughts?

 

[westfield60]

KABC is legendary the same way the Titanic is. And they both sunk. Thoughts?

Funniest line I've heard.

 

[rbrown]

I have listened to McIntyre in the Morning podcasts on KABC.com here in Illinois on occasion. What I have heard is a completely jumbled mess of news updates, traffic and weather, and the never-ending mess of old news stories.

Don't feel alone when you think that KABC is bad. Cumulus recently bought out WLS (890) in Chicago. WLS has been a Chicago radio legend for many years, with rock music until 1989 and with talk ever since. Roe and Roeper (2-6 p.m.) is perhaps the most popular radio show in Chicago.

After a few months of ownership, Cumulus added "Traffic and Weather First on the Fives" to all of their local shows. From what I hear about KABC, it is the same problem at WLS. After talking for 10 minutes until :15 and then talking for appr. 5 minutes after that, they break for commercials, news, 2 traffic reports 25 and :35), and then come back on the air at :36. After that, they talk for 9 minutes until traffic at :45, commercials, come back on the air at :52, traffic at :55, commercials, and then the whole cycle starts all over again.

Secondly, Cumulus' shows can get very boring. WLS usually has the same conservative guests on every day, Larry Elder cannot shut up about DC politics, Ronn Owens' show sunk after he praised KGO managament, WABC has no local shows, and their San Francisco and Dallas turnovers didn't turn out as one might have hoped for.

Cumulus flipped KLIF 570 (Dallas) and KGO 810 (San Francisco) to all-news. WHY??? WABC 770 (New York) sucks. They fired Mark Davis from WBAP 820/96.7 (Dallas). Then they added Geraldo and Huckabee. If they want to start their own version of talk, then it hasn't proven effective yet.

 

[wadio]

Connecticut checking in here. I couldn't agree more with every one of these comments. "Jumbled mess" pretty much sums it up.

I was a huge fan of Doug McIntyre's Red Eye Radio. I've been listening to talk radio since the 1970s and I thought it was perhaps the best show I'd ever heard. I went to the trouble of recording the the show in advance of car trips and my wife and I would listen hour after hour in the car, noting that the show was even better when you're wide awake!

So when Cumulus exiled Doug to the Morning Mess and replaced him on Red Eye Radio with the humorless truckers, complete with the commercials for diesel additive and motor oil that are so compatible with Manhattan listeners, I decided to follow him to KABC via the internet stream and podcasts.

At first it was good to hear his voice and the bumper music that was such an important part of Red Eye, but that didn't last long. The show understandably had its glitches, as would any new show, but it was steadily down hill from there. I won't go into detail -- the previous posts have done that and nailed it -- but it's remarkable that the suits at Cumulus don't see it. It's as though they want the show to fail and since Doug McIntyre is a recognized professional they can't be blamed. Not entirely unlike the Imus mess here on the east coast -- the show is horrible but Imus has the name so they're collective arse is covered.

Now I just tune in occasionally and shake my head. The classic definition of a tragedy is when greatness or potential greatness is is dashed. Radio is in a death spiral and this show is an amazing example of why.

 

[youngsag]

Taking the lead microphone that he so dearly covets on a regular basis today (Friday, 11/09) as Doug McIntyre took a day off, KABC’s John Phillips, who, in my opinion, has no business being on the air anywhere, told the sad story of an 18 year old mentally challenged young woman who (he read, not reported, but read) has the mental capacity of a 10 year old child. The young woman was raped while riding on a bus in Los Angeles.

An awful story, and Phillips thrills himself in finding and telling in graphic detail the many stories of abuse and “setting his crotch on fire” (another crime story). (We so enjoy waking up to detailed stories of graphic crime, don’t you?)

On the rape story involving the young woman, Phillips made sure to describe her as “retarded” not once, but twice. To her credit, T-Rae “Always Mumbles” Elmer did not join in by describing the crime victim the same way. Still, to her discredit, she did not stop him after the first or second time or gently correct his horrid use of a generally agreed-to-be derogatory term for mentally challenged people. I give her a pass on this one because Phillips, who enjoys using derogatory language describing people or groups of people, was in full form – he was going to control the show today with McIntyre away no matter what.

The issue clearly is the descriptive word used for this young woman. If this were a one-time event, or a mistake, I would give him a pass. But anyone who has had the misfortune of listening to Phillips for even just one hour will know that between the clustered commercials, he spews offensive, derogatory, demeaning words and describers with the regularity of the ABC hourly newscasts (which, of course, KABC inexplicably cuts off at the 2 minute mark). Give Phillips control of the mic and he is even more disgusting than when he is fighting for airtime with McIntyre.

“Retarded” once and doubled down. Hearing the word makes most of us sick; aghast.

Conclusion and recommendation to Cumulus: FIRE HIM! John Phillips, added to the KABC Morning Mess when Geraldo Rivera brought his “local” Los Angeles but based in New York show to KABC, and they had nothing for him to do (wash cars?), plunked him into KABC “Morning Mess” to see if he could inject the chemistry lacking in the McIntrye and T-Rae “Always Mumbles” ongoing disaster. The mess got messier and worse. Phillips demeans and tears down everything that “legendary” KABC has stood for these many decades. And tears down people. Individuals and groups. That is his thing, along with pushing gruesome crime stories.

Fire John Phillips for cause. Then dump the entire KABC Morning Mess when contracts expire. It has not worked. Clearly has not worked. McIntrye unfortunately won’t reclaim the Red Eye show (for which he was well suited) with those two dumbbells in Dallas holding the trucking show (the commercials for truck tires and fan belts for big rigs are right up my alley in the heart of Los Angeles), but so be it.

But, hey, KABC: Cut your losses. FIRE JOHN PHILLIPS. Let him take his disgraceful game and empty heart (important in talk radio) to Internet radio. No, wait. He might get more listeners than KABC gets now – so forget that. Just fire him and wave good-bye to a “talent” who is contributing mightily to KABC ongoing failures.