Official Talk Radio Rookie of the Year Award!

[IMATALKRADIOJUNKIE]

Without any doubt its the new Morning Show on 1510am Monday - Friday 6am-10am

The Jeff Santos Show


He tackles all the important issues and you hear the discussion from both sides of the fence which is exactly what you don't hear on the right wing, Hate Speaking RKO's & TKK's of the world! And he single handely brought Stephanie Miller, Ed Schultz and Thom Hartmann into the market!


Congradulations Jeff!!!

 

[raccoonradio]

Kudos to him for the effort in getting libtalk back by using supply and demand and the free market without
government mandate. Some of the early reviews of his show aren't all that positive but who knows; one person's
"exciting compelling talk" could be someone else's "like listening to paint drying". Similarly some could say hate
comes from either side (Randi Rhodes' "comedy" sketches arguing for Pres. Bush's assassination come to mind).

Ironic that on the AM dial at least "the Right is on the left (side of the dial; WRKO) while the Left is on the
right (side of the dial)". I don't know if WBZ is thus the middle of the road, in the middle of your dial; Dan Rea is conservative, Steve
Leveille liberal, but opinions from all sides are welcome on either show. And on the FM dial, WTKK is either
"RINO (Republican in Name Only)" or "far right wing wacko" talk depending on who one asks. And the latest
PPMs have been fairly good news for WRKO and WBZ, not as good for WTKK.

Severin has now been off air for one whole month. Given the fact that he was off air for many weeks
during the summer (and late spring?) months in past years, people are used to "Vay Cay Jay". The fact
that WTKK hasn't outright given his slot to someone else (Smerconish is temp. at least for now) suggests
he could be back, at a lower pay scale--and he might, horrors, have to actually drive from Manchester-
by-the-Millions to Morrissey Blvd. instead of doing the show from home...

 

[DanStrassberg]

And he single handely brought Stephanie Miller, Ed Schultz and Thom Hartmann into the market!

That part is true. I wish I could be as congratulatory as you were about the rest, however. I don't enjoy listening to his show. I find it dull and, although I think mass transit is an important topic, it is just one of many that he should be talking about. Devoting one show a week to mass transit shows lack of balance and lack of a sense of what matters to listeners. One show a month on mass transit would be appropriate, I think.

 

[Uncle Kaimbridge]

Ironic that on the AM dial at least "the Right is on the left (side of the dial; WRKO) while the Left is on the right (side of the dial)".

Well, actually it depends on how you measure it.
Cycles/Hertz ascends left to right, but meters ascends right to left:

   530,000.0 Hz = 530.0000 kHz = 0.5300000 MHz ≈ 566.0377 m
   547,722.5 Hz = 547.7225 kHz = 0.5477225 MHz ≈ 547.7225 m
  1,700,000.0 Hz = 1700.0000 kHz = 1.7000000 MHz ≈ 176.4706 m

So, measuring by meter, 'RKO is on the right and WWZN is on the left! P=) ;D P=)

 

[FPB]

> although I think mass transit is an important topic, it is just one of many that he should be talking about. >Devoting one show a week to mass transit shows lack of balance and lack of a sense of what matters to >listeners. One show a month on mass transit would be appropriate, I think.
>
I'm not so sure. As important as it is, it easily gets swept under the carpet (just look at the state of rail transit as proof enough). Santos clearly wants to drive this effort and, I'm sure, in his mind every day wouldn't be enough (in fact he mentions it every day). I can't imagine him being comfortable with once a month, and I think, rightly so.

As to how "good" a talk host is; he may not be the smoothest, although he holds his own among the other locals. And at least he's not likely to get kicked off the air for being a loudmouthed borish racist like his conservative competition.

 

[TSBench]

The fact that WTKK hasn't outright given his slot to someone else (Smerconish is temp. at least for now) suggests he could be back, at a lower pay scale--and he might, horrors, have to actually drive from Manchester-
by-the-Millions to Morrissey Blvd. instead of doing the show from home...

Jes' wunnering, but on what grounds do you see 'TKK being able to vacate the terms of Severin's contract? Other than buying him out, that is.

Thanks in advance.

Regards,
TSB

 

[SonicOverload]

And he single handely brought Stephanie Miller, Ed Schultz and Thom Hartmann into the market!

That part is true. I wish I could be as congratulatory as you were about the rest, however. I don't enjoy listening to his show. I find it dull and, although I think mass transit is an important topic, it is just one of many that he should be talking about. Devoting one show a week to mass transit shows lack of balance and lack of a sense of what matters to listeners. One show a month on mass transit would be appropriate, I think.

once a month or even a few times a month would be more than enough time for train talk. There are other issues going on right now, both locally and nationally.

 

[Blackroc]

what

grounds do you see 'TKK being able to vacate the terms

There are usually competing clauses in talent contracts. On one hand someone like Severin is expected to be inflammatory and controversial and that will be acknowledged in writing. On the other hand, TKK will have an additional clause for dismissal for cause.(whatever they determine that to mean)?

If he's forced to sue, Jay will likely show precedent where he's made similar remarks and nothing was said. He'd also say the station has the ability to blip out any objectionable language(and chose not to). He likely has a strong case. TKK would probably settle, if they dump him.

 

[raccoonradio]

>>but meters ascends right to left:

ah that's right; I used to have a shortwave radio and I noticed the meter numbers would go down while
the frequencies would go up or something like that.

 

[DanStrassberg]

As to how "good" a talk host is; he may not be the smoothest, although he holds his own among the other locals. And at least he's not likely to get kicked off the air for being a loudmouthed borish racist like his conservative competition.

Like so many others, you have missed the point! Santos's show and all of the rest of the Progressive talk on WWZN is LEASED TIME. Listen to the disclaimor at the start of the show. The station's ownership and management completely disclaim responsibility for anything that airs during Santos's program and everything that follows until 7:00PM. Whether that disclaimor would stand up in court should some obscene material sneak though, I can't say. But unless the FCC levies a fine against the station, Santos and the Dial-Global lineup will be there for the rest of one year (from the date of the start of the 13-hour-a-day lineup) unless 1) Santos or his backers run out of money, 2) WWZN is sold, 3) WWZN goes off the air for technical reasons, 4) Santos becomes physically unable to fulfill his contractual obligation. I've probably missed a few possibilities, but you should get the point. Santos doesn't work for the station; he is BUYING THE TIME. Unless some act is committed that breaches his contract, the station can't take him off the air.

 

[DToTheJ]

Like so many others, you have missed the point! Santos's show and all of the rest of the Progressive talk on WWZN is LEASED TIME. Listen to the disclaimor at the start of the show. The station's ownership and management completely disclaim responsibility for anything that airs during Santos's program and everything that follows until 7:00PM. Whether that disclaimor would stand up in court should some obscene material sneak though, I can't say. But unless the FCC levies a fine against the station, Santos and the Dial-Global lineup will be there for the rest of one year (from the date of the start of the 13-hour-a-day lineup) unless 1) Santos or his backers run out of money, 2) WWZN is sold, 3) WWZN goes off the air for technical reasons, 4) Santos becomes physically unable to fulfill his contractual obligation. I've probably missed a few possibilities, but you should get the point. Santos doesn't work for the station; he is BUYING THE TIME. Unless some act is committed that breaches his contract, the station can't take him off the air.

I certainly hope WWZN doesn't end up another WVKO/Columbus.

(For more information and background, go to the R-I Columbus board and look for the huge thread titled "Is WVKO In Trouble?")

 

[SonicOverload]

"and we'll be back after this brief 60 second [i.e. 5 minute] "time out" with former governor Mike Dukakis

[click]

by the way.... never mind Marj... maybe he can bring back Ted O'Brien!!

I'll stop now...

 

[JIBGUY]

Ironic that on the AM dial at least "the Right is on the left (side of the dial; WRKO) while the Left is on the
right (side of the dial

Well, not always.... those newer radios where the marked dial spins, its backwards. So if one sees the progression of the dial movement in a clockwise direction, 1700 is the start and 540 is the end; in other words, 1700 is on the left and 540 on the right. Add to that those older radios where 1600 was on the top and 540 at the bottom. 1500 WTOP in Washington DC was at the TOP of the dial. I know that because they said so! Therefore, liberal talk in Boston is tops and conservative talk in Boston is bottoms? - Geeez, I just wasted 5 minutes on this..... :-\

 

[raccoonradio]

When it was a talk station, WMRE 1510 used to have the slogan "Stay on top"

Dan is right about Santos buying the time; he's not a part of WWZN ownership or management. His RevolutionBoston website is for the time he's buying while 1510thezone.com has more than a few
errors; unless he's decided to come back and nobody told me, they list Peter B. Collins several times,
list "Time out For Trivia" as being Mondays 2-3 pm, and mis-spell the name of the dollar-a-holler
preacher as "Brother Stiars". On the left side of the page the only mention of the prog talk is
"Jeff Santos" though the schedule page is accurate--other than what I said above.

The WWZN background image is still the Celtics' parquet floor (Butter? No, Par-kay ) even though
they haven't had Celtics rights for several years.

 

[FPB]

>>As to how "good" a talk host is; he may not be the smoothest, although he holds his own among the other >>locals. And at least he's not likely to get kicked off the air for being a loudmouthed borish racist like his >>conservative competition.
>
>Like so many others, you have missed the point! Santos's show and all of the rest of the Progressive talk on >WWZN is LEASED TIME. Listen to the disclaimor at the start of the show. The station's ownership and >management completely disclaim responsibility for anything that airs during Santos's program and everything >that follows until 7:00PM.
>
No. YOU missed MY point. I know it's leased time. Please don't insult people's intelligence.

Your rant about leased time has nothing to do with what I said. I was talking about SANTOS - not the station. I was talking about how Santos presents himself on the air, NOT whatever contractual agreements he has with the station, or whatever liabilities the station might or might not have.

Anyway, yes it is leased time. But Santos has suggested/implied that he and the station do have a long term plan to bring prog. talk to the station 24 hours. (This is just from hearing him talk on the air. I don't have any inside info.) So, I think it's a safe be that it's not a usual contract (And by the way I'VE been a signatory to such a contract at one time, so please don't presume to explain to me the fundementals of how to brush your teeth!).

 

[DanStrassberg]

Anyway, yes it is leased time. But Santos has suggested/implied that he and the station do have a long term plan to bring prog. talk to the station 24 hours. (This is just from hearing him talk on the air. I don't have any inside info.) So, I think it's a safe be that it's not a usual contract (And by the way I'VE been a signatory to such a contract at one time, so please don't presume to explain to me the fundementals of how to brush your teeth!).

Well, when Santos's program first appeared on WWZN late last year, I gave him 90 days before he ran out of funds and went off the air. Indeed, he must have run out of funds after just a little less than 90 days, because that's how long his program lasted in its initial go-around at WWZN. Santos must have found a rich uncle within the next two or three weeks, however, because that's how long it took him to get back on the air. I conjecture that his rich uncle is Dial-Global, the syndicator or the other Progressive talk programs that are now heard on WWZN. However, Dial-Global may be paying only part of the freight. Santos and his chum Alan Frankel apparently found some other people with money. I suspect it is those people (Gov. Dukakis may be one of them), who may be imposing the requirement that he cover mass transit until every one else in the audience is screaming--and tuning out. I would say tuning out en masse, but so far, so few people have tuned in that "en masse" would be hyperbole in the extreme. I would like to enjoy the Progressive talk programming but Santos's show is so weak and is such a horrible lead in to the rest of the day that I am repelled, rather than attracted. The whole arrangement, with no promotion and no news in the TOH breaks, has the strong aroma of death all over it, which is really depressing.

 

[SonicOverload]

... and as I have might have noted before, Dan and everyone, no callers. I did hear a few during the week but I wonder if it's due to a paucity of callers or the endless parade of "good friend" guests he has?

 

[raccoonradio]

Maybe the folks at the save prog radio Boston yahoo group can call in to get the ball rolling.

Talk show with no callers: reminds me of the Sat Night Live sketch where Buck Henry is a talk show host
who gives out 10 different numbers but has no calls on any of the phones. He starts off by asking for
calls on "tax free municipal bonds" but later gets more red-meat subjects: "Forced busing! What'dya think
about that? Give me a call." Still no calls. Even though he tells listeners/viewers "those numbers are
toll free. Totally toll free. You pay nothing here. We pay for the call!"

http://snltranscripts.jt.org/75/75utalkback.phtml

Henry gets frustrated because nobody wants to call in...and his topics get even more outlandish:
"Adolf Hitler, boy do we need him now!"... "Killing puppies!" Finally, the host's wife (Gilda Radner)
appears and coaxes him off the set.

 

[FPB]

>I would say tuning out en masse, but so far, so few people have tuned in
>
And how exactly has that been measured?

 

[FPB]

>Well, when Santos's program first appeared on WWZN late last year, I gave him 90 days before he ran out of >funds and went off the air. Indeed, he must have run out of funds after just a little less than 90 days, >because that's how long his program lasted in its initial go-around at WWZN. Santos must have found a rich >uncle within the next two or three weeks, however, because that's how long it took him to get back on the >air.
>
Nice conjecture on your part. However the fact is that he went off the air due to changes in the contract and lawyers on both sides advised he go off while these were hammered out.


>Santos and his chum Alan Frankel apparently found some other people with money. I suspect it is those >people (Gov. Dukakis may be one of them), who may be imposing
>
>I would say tuning out en masse, but so far, so few people have tuned in that "en masse" would be >hyperbole in the extreme.
>
Basically, what you're describing are the trials and tribulations of ANY start-up enterprise in any other business. New businesses need business backers; often with the stipulation that they play some managerial role. And, yes, businesses almost never get off the ground running; if they do it winds up only for a short time.

As is well known; Limbaugh went for YEARS before he turned any profit. And his sugar daddy; the Republican Party. Obviously, they didn't do that because Rush has a cute face. They did it so they could get their issues articulated on the airwaves.

So please; cut Santos the same break that you would like to get for yourself in that situation.