Kent said:
You know, the usual complaint I hear about big signaled AM's is that they don't do anything local at night and pipe in some satellite idiot everyone can already hear on their local stations. Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying people aren't entitled to their opinions on Krok or that he does a great show. I'm just saying at least he's something you can't get everywhere else and at least there's somebody in that studio at night besides a board-op making minimum wage babysitting the computer!
I agree that you have a very good point about the nighttime AM stations with big signals carrying the same programing that most people can hear on their local stations. And it is for that reason, I no longer even bother to check out what distant stations I can find when I am driving at night - something I used to enjoy doing.
On the other hand, I think the issue here is a matter of the particular decisions that Cumulus management has chosen to make. Can anybody in all honesty say that, given the number of talk show hosts in smaller markets who would LOVE an opportunity to break into D/FW radio and given the number of former talk show hosts nationwide who have lost their shows and cannot find a home, Chris Krok was the best that they could come up with to fill that slot? When you look at it in that context and in the context of all the potential alternatives that Cumulus had to choose from, his being there is absolutely absurd and mind boggling.
In fact, it was bizarre that he was even brought in from out of town to join the perpetually ratings challenged KLIF. My guess at the time was that they figured he was so bad and would say something so stupid on the air that it would generate some sort of controversy that would attract at least SOME level of attention and visibility - albeit negative - that the station desperately needed. After all, this is the guy who, when in Minneapolis, accused a grieving caller of being
possessed by Satan See:
http://youtu.be/rcRvqR-Cip4 My thought was that they were just waiting for him to trip up - and after everything was all stirred up in the local media KLIF would get an additional round of free publicity by firing the guy.
I cannot conceive that Krok would have even been
considered for a position on WBAP prior to Cumulus taking it over. If it were Hollywood and someone of a similar level of ability was given a major leading role in a big time production with an otherwise all-star cast one would have to suspect that either he had some really serious and nasty dirt on someone or that he was the beneficiary of the casting couch.
The only positive I can say is, based on what I heard one evening when I was driving around and did not flip the volume to "OFF" like I usually do when I hear his teenager sounding voice come on, it appears that someone at WBAP has had the doctor make an adjustment to Krok's meds and prescribe him a sedative or something. At least for the duration I was listening I didn't hear any of his usual yelling and screaming. If what I heard is typical, it is at least an improvement - but that's sure not saying much.
And there is another way to look at bringing Krok to WBAP: According to Mark Davis on his blog, when his contract came up for renewal, he was prepared to take a pay cut given the economy and state of the radio industry. Cumulus made a low ball offer - and Davis said it was unacceptable. That's what you would expect in any such negotiation. But, according to Davis, Cumulus just left it at that and did not even pursue it further. If Cumulus was so desperate for the money, why would they have not considered canning Krok, keeping syndicated programming on at the 8:00 PM time slot and added Krok's salary to the offer for Davis? Maybe that would have been enough to keep Davis - or perhaps not. But it sure seems to me that having Mark Davis in the AM with syndicated programming in the PM would have been better for the station than having Ben Ferguson + Chris Krok. Ferguson is nowhere near as awful as Krok - but he is still a major step down for the station. #
CumulusFail