PD's -Who is the best?

[louiemanno]

Mr Manno, point taken about playing nice in the sandbox but isn't this person yourre boss? [/quot



Well technically I guess he his my boss though I work independently… But boss, brother or stranger … I make it my duty to call people on their catty, snipes. And Fells, and everyone else has there right to an opinion. If someone was being unfair to you... I'd have your back… So bro don’t question my cred or motivation. I have credibility in spades because I don’t only talk it… I walk it. You dig?

Besides this is a “who’s the best PD” string… not a crap on JJ string,.

Play nice!

Manno

 

[cooper]

Erie,
Timtron? From the Skowhegan area? Drives around in that ham radio(along with SW, etc) equipped Cadillac hearse? great guy!

 

[Erie_Lackawanna]

Erie,
Timtron? From the Skowhegan area? Drives around in that ham radio(along with SW, etc) equipped Cadillac hearse? great guy!

one and the same. back in the day, it was conventional sedan with the huge whip antennae. and it wasn't just ham radio back then, either. the only thing missing from that home-made broadcast mobile was the Jolly Roger flag, if you get my drift.

 

[ILMSH]

The PD of WOKO is Steve Pelkey and yes, he is a VERY good PD. Great people skills.

 

[Zeb Norris]

Charming bunch of posts. Just the sort of people I look for when hiring.

JJ Not a PD? Get real, he took the signal from zero to hero. And MP103 IS one of the best stations of it's type in the country.

JJ came from nowhere? Well, sort of... last stop was Bakersfield CA which may be a hell hole, but at #77 is a bigger market than Burlington (#137).

JJ doesn't deal with BS? Hmmm... I'd say keeping the station on-track after your GM flees to sell the Yellow Pages and takes most of the sales staff with him qualifies as dealing with BS. Plus, JJ oversees a bunch of other properties.

As to his personal life... it should go without saying, that's his PERSONAL life. I don't know about you, but if someone wants to diss my relationship with my wife they're asking for a crowbar upside the head.

Full disclosure; MP103 is a cousin station to The Point, which I program. Fuller disclosure; that fact that JJ does a damn good job actually makes my life harder. But competition is a good thing in general... although losers don't always appreciate that. If you think when I say loser I'm referring to you, I probably am.

Zeb Norris

 

[louiemanno]

Full disclosure; MP103 is a cousin station to The Point, which I program. Zeb Norris

Mr. Zeb

We haven’t met… but as Dennis Miller says “I like the cut of your jib”. I forge local radio down at Dorset Street as well. I agree with you on JJ across the board. And I say that because I calls ‘em as I sees ‘em

Hope to knock knuckles down the road.

Louie Manno
WLFE and US93.7’s
Brooklyn Buckaroo

 

[MassMusicMan]

Manno, are you really from Brooklyn? Bensonhurst?

 

[louiemanno]

South Brooklyn my mellow... 15th Street and 3rd Ave.

 

[MassMusicMan]

South Brooklyn my mellow... 15th Street and 3rd Ave.

I was visiting one of my clients over at 3rd and 89th a couple of weeks ago...nice 'hood.

 

[JHO]

well - let's see -

1) Which Market? and which Decade?

Portland (now) - Randi Kirshbaum is easy going and knowledgeable; Stan Manning gets lots of glowing reviews from folks who work with him; Tim Moore is more than a survivor, especially handling multiple stations and riding out the whole who-owns-who-this-week thing. All three get props from me. Apologies for any omissions, as there are a few

Portland (90's) - That Jon Holiday guy earned his paycheck at a CHR Flamethrower, as did Tom Hennessey at the Country Giant. Dean Rogers was driving the bus for TWO stations in the early part of that decade; and Herb Ivy not only programmed a kick-azz station, but managed to survive the Persky Experience (not a negative, by the way).

Portland (80's) - A certain loco-poster who is on occasion known to chug down his own tracks ran a couple of very lean & mean, full-service operations in the 80's (okay - it's ME, all right?); Peter Falconi assumed control of the the ever-safe full-service AM signal in town (remember those? music - news - weather - and (gasp) personality?), but also had the honor of turning off the elevator and crankin' out the hits! Peter had assumed the full-service helm from a then up&coming Cary Pahigian (who made the "leap of the week" - from programming in Portland to programming in Philadelphia); Tom Hennessey was the undefeated, reigning champeen of Country; Dean Rogers was the man with two stations, although he assumed the helm of the 2nd one about midway through the decade; Dave Dean was the laid-back man-in-charge for a magical signal; and in the fringe-but-in category, Mike Lawrence not only handled WLAM expertly, but took the FM side from a Wave machine to a Kissing Booth.

Burlington VT (now and then): I hear lots of good things about "gentle Ben" (as we used to call him in Augusta). I hear little from Ben as he seemingly can't be bothered with answering emails from old workin' mates who actually aren't looking for a damn thing. i stopped trying a few years ago.

Great Ben story (which would warm the hearts of any GOOD PD!):
at WABK, Ben would begin each shift by removing the box from the studio's compression unit and cranking the settings until the fillings would be sucked out of his teeth (through his headphones), thereby giving him (at least) the impression that he had a "voice of God." Tim Smith (TimTron) took to placing the studio's mic compression/EQ unit into a "sealed" box which bore the label: Do Not Open Unless You ARE TimTron. Well, when you opened the "sealed box," and found the electronic's unit, the label on top of the box said :

"BEN: I SAID DO NOT OPEN THIS THIS - signed: TimTron"

true story.

Thanks for the memories! It was a great group of people and we had a good run at G-98! "That Jon Holiday guy"

 

[murphy66]

Wow...I mean, what else can I say but WOW!!! Finally a thread that had the opportunity to grow teeth only to develop into another senior citizen night at the "all you can eat" steak house. My pappy once told me..."if you want to learn how to do your job well, keep your eyes and ears open and your mouth shut..." and even after years on air that philosophy still works well for me. In a business filled with people who speak only to hear the sounds of their own voices...I managed to "listen" at station after station as my co-workers consistently cut down, criticized and just out right bad mouthed almost every single person listed on this thread. Granted, when these people were not talking about their competition they were complaining about and cutting down those they were working for at the time...at least when they were not in the room. I am sure they had more than their share of things to say about me...when I wasn't in the room...but I have nothing negative to say about any of the PD's listed on this thread because unlike many of my past co-workers 1) I have either never worked with them, 2) I have never met them, or 3) It has always been more important about the product "I" was expected to bring to the table day after day and not what someone else was or wasn't doing to "my" specifications. My 2 cents, PD's who are inconsistent, up and down, questionable decision makers, unable to be depended on to "call the ball" EVERYDAY not just when it suits them...all equal "bad" PD's. Those that know how to do the job well are consistent...even if they fluctuate a little in the ratings they figure out how to adjust and keep working their hardest to improve the product to both impress and satisfy their client base and their listeners. How do you like your steak?

 

[splicer38]

OK... Got a list that might spark a lot of feelings both ways...

Best of all time... Oedipus. BCN defined the rock genre in New England

Honorable mentions:
George Taylor Morris
Don Kelley at WMJX
Tom Kallechey when he was at WZID
Jon Eardal at WGIR
Dave Simmons at WEZF in Burlington back in the 90's
Clark Schmidt... everything he's touched has done well