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Morning Joe 2.0: Scarborough "On Hiatus", To Return With 3-Hour Show

DToTheJ

DToTheJ

I used to watch their TV show and I thought it was pretty entertaining - but it didn't really translate well onto radio. The radio show is kinda bland, in my opinion.
 
Its very bland, particularly when sandwiched between Imus and Rush.
 
Macker said:
I used to watch their TV show and I thought it was pretty entertaining - but it didn't really translate well onto radio...
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How about the possibility that when the show returns on the radio, it'll be a simulcast of the MSNBC "Morning Joe" program? Kinda like the deal that the current WABC host (Don Imus) had set up with WW1, and right now with Citadel and Fox News 2 Fox Business. I am not sure what radio network would take over the radio portion of the Imus simulcast, though... TRN-FM, maybe?

Or the possibility that Joe & Mika could resurface in the noon-3 PM slot if Rush is whisked away to new "Rush Radio" stations at the iron hand of Clear Channel? Not as likely, but remember, it is a "three hour show"...
 
I gave Mark Simone a listen this morning. Frankly, I wouldn't mind if they kept him on in that time slot and ditched Joe and Mika.
 
jhguthlac said:
I gave Mark Simone a listen this morning. Frankly, I wouldn't mind if they kept him on in that time slot and ditched Joe and Mika.
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That's why WABC ditched Joe and Mika. Mark Simone is a far better listen and he is cheaper for the bankrupt Citadel.

I am beginning to think that Joe Scarborough wants to bring Morning Joe to radio just as a simulcast (but why would Citadel have him compete with Imus?), but I think that a new three-hour show will end up launching from 12pm-3pm without WABC as an affiliate. The reason Joe and Mika are taking a "hiatus" is because WABC cancelled them because the show is awful. And they do not fit in the 10-Rush timeslot.

Maybe Citadel will bring back Laura Ingraham and air her from 10-Noon? It would be cheap and she already has recognition in New York and on the station. She would definitely do better than whatever Joe and Mika were doing.
 
Remember when that show was used to be on from 9 AM until 11:45 AM to make way for 15-minutes of Paul Harvey? Paul Harvey has been on WABC and other stations for a long time where he did "The Rest of the Story" segment right up until his death a year and a half ago.
 
jhguthlac said:
I gave Mark Simone a listen this morning. Frankly, I wouldn't mind if they kept him on in that time slot and ditched Joe and Mika.
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Mark has come a long way and deserves his shot on weekdays. He has been busy long enough on the weekends. That was a B---H of a shift! I used to really dislike his "Simone phones" on WPIX, years ago.

Mika had insights on the Carter Presidency that listeners of my generation remember. Joe was a member of Congress from here in Florida.

Given the choice of the two, I would take Mark.

Jeff in Sa-ra-so-ta!
 
disney fanatic said:
If Citadel goes chapter 11, I heard that they should sell off all of the Citadel stations and bring Disney back. That would be good.
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We don't know specifics of the terms of the Disney/ABC deal with Citadel. It is a possiblity that there may have been "owner/financing" in which case if Citadel defaults, the ownership could revert back to Disney/ABC.

All that was reported was a sale to Citadel. No other details were provided.

"Oil spills, Nashville flooding, Stock Market plunge, idiots in D.C.. We need to talk"

Jeff in Sa-ra-so-ta!
 
Getting back to the topic...we probably won't hear the radio version of "Morning Joe" for some time, at least. The folks at Citadel may instead be putting them, and the program, on some kind of retainer--keeping Joe and Mika in the bullpen like the Yankees keep Sergio Mitre in case they need to bring them into the starting rotation, to plug a hole in the schedule.

How might that hole open up? First, Rush's recent history indicates he's had various health issues in the past that could sideline him for an extended period.

But that may be the least of their concerns. Things are happening elsewhere that show programs like Rush and Hannity may not be as securely tied to WABC as they used to be. Citadel must have seen what happened when Clear Channel's Premiere Networks pulled Rush (and Hannity as well) off long time affiliates, and CC put together all-new company-owned "Rush Radio" right wing talkers in markets like Boston, Minneapolis and Raleigh-Durham, among others. The company's long term strategy is to put all these shows on captive big signal stations wherever possible (as they've already done in places from LA to Cleveland to Cincinnati to Rochester) to assure wide coverage. Currently Clear Channel doesn't have a logical place to put a Rush Radio format in New York, since none of their music FMs is hurting. But that doesn't mean they might not buy an AM for their cluster. WABC isn't on the block now and probably won't be--but what about WOR? The Buckleys have been divesting other properties (most recently their Syracuse cluster) and now may be the time to sell WOR while the estate taxes remain virtually nil, before the Bush tax cuts expire at year's end. It'd be a natural landing spot for all these shows if Clear Channel is the next owner. And if WOR is NOT sold? Suppose Emmis dumps one of its FMs (probably WRXP) in New York, as Jeff Smulyan says it will? Well, Clear Channel's over its limit for FM signals in the market so it won't be a buyer for 101.9, but since WRXP is widely believed to be the next home of ESPN in New York, that would free up 1050 AM for sale to Clear Channel as a hub for the new Rush Radio. The station has a good enough signal to be a viable home for Rush, Hannity and others of like mind, and Disney (which no longer owns WABC) really doesn't care what happens to the 770 signal now, so it would be happy to sell WEPN to anyone who wants it and meets their price. They'd have to bring in a new morning show for 1050 (a problem they wouldn't have if they bought WOR) but I'm sure they could pull Curtis Sliwa away from Salem for that.

Any way you slice it, Rush's and Hannity's presence on WABC are not guaranteed. What's more, Don Imus is turning 70 this year, has battled health problems of his own, and it's anyone's guess how long he wants to stay on the air in New York at this stage of his life.

All this adds up to a need to have people on the bench ready to come in at almost a moment's notice in case any of these dominoes start to fall late this year or early next. Stations that had a backup plan when they lost Rush (like WBAL in Baltimore) took the hit easily. Stations that didn't got hurt. The jury's out on how WRKO or WPTF will fare. But WABC would be crazy not to be developing a backup plan for the day when some of their signature syndicated fare, even those hosts they originally launched in the 90s, moves on or goes on the DL. Joe and Mika could be part of that backup.
 
Question for you, Bob (doubling as a buffer post to try and prevent someone from quoting that entire post of yours, despite it being the last one on the thread... but very legitimate points, nonetheless):

You used the Yankees example earlier, and with possible stations on the block being speculated to go to potential owners, what do you think are the chances of a three-way sale? Kinda like multi-team trades in sports, only in this case, you would have Buckley selling 710 to - no, not Clear Channel (as much as I so think that is the ultimate sale that will be made in due time) - but to ESPN. ESPN already has an "ESPN 710 AM" in Los Angeles. Just think about all of the coast-to-coast cross-promotion (or potential "tracking" possibilities... yes, I know you can't voice track sports talk radio, but there has to be a few aspects where they can reuse "710 ESPN" for two markets that they'd have to take advantage of)... Then, in turn, ESPN sells 1050 to Clear Channel. 1050's signal is pretty good during the day, but at the moment, is weak in many areas where in matters most - at night, during sports play-by-play. I'm sure Clear Channel would rather have 710 than 1050, but if it's a good deal for all parties involved, I'm sure Clear Channel will be satisfied with the 1050 stick, since it'll be the most powerful when it matters most... during the day, when a "Rush Radio 1050" will be running Limbaugh, Beck and Hannity. And the most ironic thing about all this will be that the venerable Johnny Donovan, who does commercial reads for 1050 ESPN, might still be heard on that frequency through Rush's show during bits Rush plays.

Or am I just crazy?
 
IMHO, there is no way CC will put Rush Radio on 1050! It seems stations start on 1050 then move. WFAN started on 1050, then moved to 50 kW blaster 660. ESPN has been trying to get off that stick for years. CC/Premiere isn't going to put its star talkers on a stick that reaches half of their present audience, especially in the NY market. :)
 
radioguy39nj said:
IMHO, there is no way CC will put Rush Radio on 1050!... CC/Premiere isn't going to put its star talkers on a stick that reaches half of their present audience, especially in the NY market. :)
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I will say something that I neglected to include in my previous post in this thread: Note that while most of their "Rush Radio" stations are on FM, their station in the current largest market of those with "Rush Radio" outlets, Boston, is on AM 1200. Not a 50,000-watt blowtorch by any means. Again, I would agree that CC would take 710 over 1050 in a heartbeat... but as also previously stated, CC is a little too cash-strapped to make radio station purchases, so if they can get a little help from another radio company in a three-way deal, it just might work. But as witness in Boston, it wouldn't be unheard of for CC to flip an AM station with some signal issues to "Rush Radio."
 
DToTheJ said:
radioguy39nj said:
IMHO, there is no way CC will put Rush Radio on 1050!... CC/Premiere isn't going to put its star talkers on a stick that reaches half of their present audience, especially in the NY market. :)
Click to expand...

I will say something that I neglected to include in my previous post in this thread: Note that while most of their "Rush Radio" stations are on FM, their station in the current largest market of those with "Rush Radio" outlets, Boston, is on AM 1200. Not a 50,000-watt blowtorch by any means. Again, I would agree that CC would take 710 over 1050 in a heartbeat... but as also previously stated, CC is a little too cash-strapped to make radio station purchases, so if they can get a little help from another radio company in a three-way deal, it just might work. But as witness in Boston, it wouldn't be unheard of for CC to flip an AM station with some signal issues to "Rush Radio."
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Agreed on all points, especially CCs cash issues regarding a station purchase. However, because this is the NY market, the stakes are simply too high. CCs options regarding Rush Radio in NY are limited, but putting it on 1050 will likely create more issues than it solves. It's a Catch-22 for both involved parties, CC and Citadel. :)
 
To continue the speculation about a possible Rush Radio outlet in NYC (an opportunity that even CC won't pass up if it comes to them), picking up the 1050 signal really is analogous to what they did in Boston with 1200. In each case we'd be talking about a 50,000 watt directional signal that saturates the COL and a lot of the core market to the east but has issues in the western burbs. It would be a relatively quick move if the dominoes fall as many expect, with 101.9 on the block and falling to Disney's ESPN.
 
And so, once again, it's technically a matter of who sells first: Buckley and 710, or Emmis and 1050 in a three-way deal with ESPN (remember, CC can't own six FM stations in one market, so they can't get 101.9). Who's to say CC won't pull the trigger on buying 1050, as opposed to being steadfast and waiting for 710 to be on the block?
 
DToTheJ said:
And so, once again, it's technically a matter of who sells first: Buckley and 710, or Emmis and 1050 in a three-way deal with ESPN (remember, CC can't own six FM stations in one market, so they can't get 101.9). Who's to say CC won't pull the trigger on buying 1050, as opposed to being steadfast and waiting for 710 to be on the block?
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Right now, everything regarding Rush Radio on 710 or 1050 or ESPN on 101.9 is strictly speculation at present. Buckley isn't openly shopping WOR. Emmis is rumored to be selling one NY station and possibly two in Chicago.

Regarding 101.9, in Dec 08 there were published reports that Emmis was about to lease the station to ESPN. Emmis quickly refuted them, saying that the rock format that replaced smooth jazz on 101.9 needed time to grow. It was then the lowest rated full-signal FM in the NY market. The ratings have improved some, but not enough to sustain the rock format long-term.
Until ESPN has a place to go, Disney isn't selling 1050 to anybody.

IMHO, CC and Citadel may have no choice but to make a deal to keep Rush and Sean on WABC, continuing a marriage by necessity. Or CC could possibly move Rush and Sean to WOR without puchasing the station. That would wreak havoc with WOR's programming, but it would be a nice paycheck for Buckley. Beck and C2C are already on WOR, so it isn't far-fetched. :)
 
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