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PLR PD Let Go

C

caliv

It seems that PLR let PD Ed Sabitino go today...
I think he was there for 10 or more years.
Anybody know the story?
 
WHat exactly does a WPLR program director do? THey have been doing the same classic rock for 20 years!
 
jiminCT said:
WHat exactly does a WPLR program director do? THey have been doing the same classic rock for 20 years!
Click to expand...
True
I would assume that the "pd" stays on top of the morning show and dj's
I heard that the morning show wanted him out.
cant confirm....can anybody else?
 
I don't know how many of you on this board are in radio, but a PD these days in radio has to sit in a lot of meetings, many of which they would rather not have to be in. They have to be in them because they are "ASKED" to be in by a higher person in management or they are in them so there is not one more lame ass sales promotion that gets on the air. There are already enough on anyone's air. They also have to be on many company conference calls, some of which get nothing done. They also have morning show meetings, consultant meetings, aircheck sessions with the other air staff, sit with the promotions and/or marketing director regarding the Spring or Fall Promotion. Add two more promotion meetings if they are rated Summer and Winter. Some still do the music log, some have an APD/MD. If they are a current based music station, they have to meet and talk to record people. Some are not as accessible so the APD/MD meets with them and then he/she meets with the PD. There are also client meetings they are sometimes asked to be in on when they are trying to get a new client on, do a big buy/promotion with a big client, etc. There are research meetings, especially if they are testing their library and it's a hug one, they've got to spend time deciding which songs they need to test. If you only get to test 400, which 400? If they are serious about their HD2/HD3 channels, they are also working on the programming for them. Somewhere in there they eat lunch. I used to be a PD and in this day and age, I am glad I am only an air talent/APD. My former PD was in so many meetings he was frustrated. He felt in many ways it got in the way of him programming the station he gets paid to program. So, unless you walk a mile in someone else's shoes, don't belittle what their responsibilities are. You may not agree with their vision for the station and how the station sounds, but they have a job to do and not a lot of time to do it in. I would hope that if they were to critique you on your job, you would feel the same way.
 
PLR still feels that playing the Doobie Brother "China Grove" a couple times a day with Marshall Tucker's "Cant You See" is keeping on top of the market....

The moment they strayed from being one of the best small market progressive stations in the 1980's to Lapatino's Foghat forum...the station went into the tank.
 
Sally's Pizza thank you for an intelligent post. Nice change of pace from the usual sarcastic trashing of the wanna be's.
 
Sally's
I understand the whole PD thing you wrote about.....However, my original thought was that the morning show wanted him out.
THAT'S what I wanted to know about.
I heard that the morning guys spent a lot of time on AND off the air talking junk about him.
Can anyome confirm???
 
caliv-sorry, I wasn't strictly referring to you. It's the overall attitude that PD's don't do anything. As to how the station directs itself, it's no longer in the hands of the PD alone. Usually, it's set by committee, so don't go blaming this on just him. I don't know this for a fact in HIS situation as I do not know him, but I know that my last PD "fell on the company sword" for decisions THEY made that were not good for the station. He got the blame and lost his gig. Now, if you're an a--hole as a PD or you are too soft and ineffective, then the staff is going to sense that and want you gone. They'll blame you before anyone else does. If this morning show was dogging him on the air, he had NO control over them and his bosses were not backing him up.

I remember listening to PLR when I was younger and they played INXS before any mainstream AOR would ever play them. It was cool things like that that made WPLR cool to listen to. I always liked them better than 'CCC and 'HCN. They would play pop/alternative crossovers as well as progressive AOR.
 
Finally.

What goes around, comes around.

Now, "Big" Ed see what it feels like.

Did he think he could work in Southern CT forever?

Make Griffin, aka "Wiggy Wigmaster" PD.
 
Hey Jack why don't you pitch the job since you know so much about how it should be done?
 
Yeah, Wiggy was the pre-PD.

It's about time this happened.

Clean house - Landry, Lapitino & Prodoti.

Revamp the music programming, & the lame, boring, predictable presentation.
 
SallysPizza said:
I don't know how many of you on this board are in radio, but a PD these days in radio has to sit in a lot of meetings, many of which they would rather not have to be in. They have to be in them because they are "ASKED" to be in by a higher person in management or they are in them so there is not one more lame ass sales promotion that gets on the air. There are already enough on anyone's air. They also have to be on many company conference calls, some of which get nothing done. They also have morning show meetings, consultant meetings, aircheck sessions with the other air staff, sit with the promotions and/or marketing director regarding the Spring or Fall Promotion. Add two more promotion meetings if they are rated Summer and Winter. Some still do the music log, some have an APD/MD. If they are a current based music station, they have to meet and talk to record people. Some are not as accessible so the APD/MD meets with them and then he/she meets with the PD. There are also client meetings they are sometimes asked to be in on when they are trying to get a new client on, do a big buy/promotion with a big client, etc. There are research meetings, especially if they are testing their library and it's a hug one, they've got to spend time deciding which songs they need to test. If you only get to test 400, which 400? If they are serious about their HD2/HD3 channels, they are also working on the programming for them. Somewhere in there they eat lunch. I used to be a PD and in this day and age, I am glad I am only an air talent/APD. My former PD was in so many meetings he was frustrated. He felt in many ways it got in the way of him programming the station he gets paid to program. So, unless you walk a mile in someone else's shoes, don't belittle what their responsibilities are. You may not agree with their vision for the station and how the station sounds, but they have a job to do and not a lot of time to do it in. I would hope that if they were to critique you on your job, you would feel the same way.
Click to expand...

Eloquent essay! Most PD's are off air because they couldn't concentrate on the quality of content of their show with fifty billion fires to put out. Every quarter hour having to deal with yet another stupid question from another department. That's usually the case in smaller markets where one person wears fifty hats.
Cheap Channel is a prime example. It's not worth going pre-mature gray or having your hair fall out in clumps over subordinate idiocy. :eek: ::) :eek: ::)
 
amfmradio1 said:
Finally.

What goes around, comes around.

Now, "Big" Ed see what it feels like.

Did he think he could work in Southern CT forever?

Make Griffin, aka "Wiggy Wigmaster" PD.
Click to expand...

PLR figured they are the only game in town. He underestimated the disloyal listeners who are fed up with the same tunes, day in and day out. The listener just has to exert a little extra effort to change the dial to 95.1, 106.9, 102.1, 104.1 etc
They better figure it out soon cause not all listeners come back.
 
Ed Sab got screwed. True, PLR has been slipping as of late, but Arb #'s in NH are iffy at best. They still have had quite a few dominant years under his leadership - to boot him out is a shame.
 
bigmax said:
Ed Sab got screwed. True, PLR has been slipping as of late, but Arb #'s in NH are iffy at best. They still have had quite a few dominant years under his leadership - to boot him out is a shame.
Click to expand...
He was probably making too much money and as usual corporate comes along and has to cut costs. Payroll almost always gets the first hack.
PLR needs to expand their playlist. Bring back some good classic rock!
 
videokilledtheradiostar said:
bigmax said:
Ed Sab got screwed. True, PLR has been slipping as of late, but Arb #'s in NH are iffy at best. They still have had quite a few dominant years under his leadership - to boot him out is a shame.
Click to expand...
He was probably making too much money and as usual corporate comes along and has to cut costs. Payroll almost always gets the first hack.
PLR needs to expand their playlist. Bring back some good classic rock!
Click to expand...

Tell me how an expanded playlist will make the station more attractive to advertisers. Will it draw a younger, more gullible/impulse-buying demographic? Will it double the station's ratings in that most advertiser-friendly demo overnight while driving away all the 50-plus baby boomers Madison Avenue doesn't even want to try to sell to anymore? Remember, in modern radio, the music is just something safe and ultra-familiar to fill time between the ads, so let's not hear about playing six more Skynyrd cuts or a half dozen more Genesis tracks.
 
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