Mitch Albom follow-up

[nate81]

There may have been more to the loss of Mitch Albom's apparent last affiliate, WEOL/930 - Elyria. (WJR's signal easily covers WEOL's coverage area - like a bug on a windshield.)

WEOL picked up Hannity live on Tuesday. And WJR's going on a similar route.

From WJR's website:
"Beginning Monday, January 9th, our afternoon programming line up will alter slightly as we strive to keep you Michigan’s best informed radio audience. We are pleased to announce that the Mitch Albom Show will continue to anchor afternoon drive from a new time 5-7 p.m. This enables WJR to continue the 10 year tradition of bringing the Mitch Albom Show to you LIVE in the afternoon. This also will allow Mitch the time to address other demands of his career while continuing a show that we at WJR and Mitch are both proud of. In addition, Mitch will also continue to bring you “The Monday Sports Albom” each Monday from 7-8 p.m.

As a result of this change, we look forward to Sean Hannity covering the 3-5 p.m. time slot on WJR. This will give our listeners the opportunity to receive their daily dose of national and international news at an earlier time and also the chance to listen and interact with Sean Hannity LIVE.

Following the Mitch Albom Show Tuesday thru Friday, WJR’s award winning news department will bring you “The Big Story”. Hosted by WJR’s Lloyd Jackson from 7-8 p.m., this hour long segment will recap top stories from the day as well as important interviews heard on WJR."

I haven't been able to do the searching, but I bet KJCB was right. On his syndicated effort, Mitch was likely down to two stations: WJR and WEOL. It's possible that Mitch - and not WEOL - cancelled his contract in light of this change.

Plus, WJR's adding of Mark Levin is indicative of WABC PD's Phil Boyce's control of the Detroit outlet. Same with WMAL-DC, who is adding Mark in a few days.

- Nathan Obral

 

[OldAkronite]

> I haven't been able to do the searching, but I bet KJCB was
> right. On his syndicated effort, Mitch was likely down to
> two stations: WJR and WEOL. It's possible that Mitch - and
> not WEOL - cancelled his contract in light of this change.

Quite possible, if you've only got one affiliate and you're no longer going to be doing your main show in the time slot that affiliate runs it in.

Was WEOL the show's last over-air affiliate outside of Detroit? Another factor would likely be that WJR wants to keep Albom local, even in his new slot, and it's silly not to do a local show because you have a single affiliate in Elyria, Ohio listening in. Remember, whenever Albom went on vacation, WJR always offered a local sub...where the syndication ran "Best of Albom".

Add to this the fact that Albom was competing with ABC's own Hannity in getting affiliates, and that's the end of this syndicated show.

-OA<P ID="signature">______________
Ohio Media Watch - <a target="_blank" href=http://ohiomedia.blogspot.com>http://ohiomedia.blogspot.com</a></P>

 

[bierkenstock]

Part of a pattern at WJR

Several weeks ago "The Great Voice of the Great Lakes" made cuts in its news staff. Now, they've cancelled the station's evening news block.

"The tri-state area" gets two hours of Hannity live and then gets a LOCAL show in late PM drive show with Albom (not the neither fish nor fowl - sort of syndicated show he has been doing).

Posts on The Michigan Buzzboard indicate ABC has been tightening the leash and the purse strings at 'JR and the once legendary station is moving toward becoming just another cookie-cutter news-talker without the distinct Detroit flavor it once had. Making Mitch local again may help reverse the pattern, for now.



> > I haven't been able to do the searching, but I bet KJCB
> was
> > right. On his syndicated effort, Mitch was likely down to
> > two stations: WJR and WEOL. It's possible that Mitch - and
>
> > not WEOL - cancelled his contract in light of this change.
>
>
> Quite possible, if you've only got one affiliate and you're
> no longer going to be doing your main show in the time slot
> that affiliate runs it in.
>
> Was WEOL the show's last over-air affiliate outside of
> Detroit? Another factor would likely be that WJR wants to
> keep Albom local, even in his new slot, and it's silly not
> to do a local show because you have a single affiliate in
> Elyria, Ohio listening in. Remember, whenever Albom went on
> vacation, WJR always offered a local sub...where the
> syndication ran "Best of Albom".
>
> Add to this the fact that Albom was competing with ABC's own
> Hannity in getting affiliates, and that's the end of this
> syndicated show.
>
> -OA
>