RIP: Mike O'Meara Show On KHTK?

[BossRadioDJ]

From the KCJJ Page on Facebook:

We received notice from Westwood One that the Mike O'Meara will be rerun for the next thirty days and then will be no more. KCJJ is hopeful the show will be able to find a new home soon and be available to us again. A special goodbye segment that was taped earlier may be run this Friday. We will carry the show until the network stops sending it. CBS Radio sucks. And they can go to hell. And they suck!

If it's true, it's a shame.

 

[djj]

A format change at flagship WJFK led to O'Meara's cancellation...

I did not listen to the show much after Don Geronimo left, but when I did
hear it, the interaction seemed good on-air, and hearing more of Buzz wuz
a good thing...

However, some comments of the show on this website thread were less
than kind:
http://www.radioratingz.com/ShowRatings.jsp?tcvid=11560

Now the watch is on to see if Don and Mike will reunite, as reportedly
Don's anti-compete clause expires in August 2010 (per another thread in
the Sacto page)...

Meantime, what is to become of KHTK 1140 between Noon and 4, where
they once ruled the roost?... ???
Thoughts?...
--jay

 

[BossRadioDJ]

A format change at flagship WJFK led to O'Meara's cancellation...

The 'JFK flip to all sports isn't until next Monday. Having heard the rumors over the past month or so, you couldn't help but notice the greater emphasis on sports-related guests on Mike's show: lots of Washington Capitals talk (players and broadcasters), Redskins, NASCAR, MMA, even Nats bashing.

Was there a thought (on his part) that more sports-related content would help save the show under the new format?

Unfortunately for Mike, he doesn't have the incredible depth of knowledge required to be a pure sportstalk host -- he's as good (if not better) than anyone on the air, but I'd cringe sometimes at his lack of basic trivial sports knowledge. And Buzz and Robbay have no sports knowledge at all (and are proud of it).

But it obviously worked on KHTK -- an all-sports station, with the exception of this one terrific four-hour block each weekday.

 

[BossRadioDJ]

For anyone wondering what the immediate plans are regarding the Mike O'Meara Show, I received this message from Dennis Green, who repped the show for Westwood One:

The Mike O'Meara Show is no longer going to be distributed by Westwood One. The show was canceled by CBS as Westwood One was not an owner of the show.

There are no further syndication plans at this time.

 

[BossRadioDJ]

From dcrtv.com:

DCRTV gets confirmation that Mike O'Meara did tape a short farewell message that will air on his final WJFK (106.7 FM) show on Friday (July 17). It'll run at the start of the 3 PM show (noon PDT), at 5 PM (2 PDT), and again at 7 PM (4 PDT), at the end of the show.

 

[blackdj]

From the KCJJ Page on Facebook:

We received notice from Westwood One that the Mike O'Meara will be rerun for the next thirty days and then will be no more. KCJJ is hopeful the show will be able to find a new home soon and be available to us again. A special goodbye segment that was taped earlier may be run this Friday. We will carry the show until the network stops sending it. CBS Radio sucks. And they can go to hell. And they suck!

If it's true, it's a shame.

Without O'Meara, and especially Don and Mike, KHTK will take a big ratings hit in the afternoons.  But it's great news
for The Eagle, 98 Rock, ESPN and KNBR.  Don and Mike was a wonderful non sports show on a sports station and they
led the ratings on the station and in that time period for many years.  They will be missed.
I understand the show will be replaced by Jim Kozimor and former Bee writer Mark Kriedler.  Not a bad choice but not the
draw of a Don and Mike.  Lets hope only day they team up again with a company other than CBS.

 

[BossRadioDJ]

Without O'Meara, and especially Don and Mike, KHTK will take a big ratings hit in the afternoons.... I understand the show will be replaced by Jim Kozimor and former Bee writer Mark Kriedler. Not a bad choice but not the draw of a Don and Mike. Lets hope only day they team up again with a company other than CBS.

KHTK has been promoing Kozimor today, saying he'll start Monday (July 20) in the noon-to-three slot. I've been a fan of Koz since his days as voice of the CBA San Jose Jammers, but -- no disrespect to Jim -- I'll be looking for something else to listen to beginning Monday.

O'Meara, and before that Don & Mike, is/are/were an oasis of odd in the afternoon. An acquired taste, perhaps, but once you started getting the in-jokes, the characters, the quirks and what-not, it became a welcomed addiction. I'll miss it a lot.

 

[onairb]

I listened to Don & Mike semi-religiously after discovering them on KHTK in the mid-90s(apparently, only a few months after the station added them, and less than a year after they were syndicated).
Some of the fun went out of the show in the middle of this decade, as the off-air infighting increasingly spilled onto the air. I don't think the show ever recovered from the combination of Freda's death, the post-'Janet Jackson's nipples' crackdown on show content, the long stretch when the show moved to NY in the mornings (resulting in a tape-delayed show on KHTK, and other stations that kept the afternoon slot), the walkout to protest much of the above, and Don's increasing bitterness, that apparently only subsided when he left the show last year.
Mike tried hard, but I just never warmed up to his version of the show. An overabundance of 'Buzz's pothead news', Robbay being Robbay, the not-so-funny onair feud between Mike and Beth Ann, and, as mentioned above, the 'ignorant about sports and proud of it, but still attempting to interview these silly sports people' attitude, helped drive me away from the show late last year(when I was getting a sense it was becoming 'All Obama, All the Time'). Last time I listened was the first hour the day after Michael Jackson died. It was good to catch up, but I realized I no longer felt like I HAD to listen any more.

 

[studiofart]

i wonder why mcmurray kept the omeara show until it's demise. heck i wonder about half of the decisions cbs has made.

 

[blackdj]

i wonder why mcmurray kept the omeara show until it's demise. heck i wonder about half of the decisions cbs has made.

The ratings for KHTK have never been lower, 1.8 12+ in today's Spring book, they're now 11th in men 25-54. They were
always a top 3 station for men up until a year ago and now they lose Mike O Meara which was still one of their highest
rated show. Kozimor will not see O Meara's numbers with his new show and Grant and Mike are already losing to
ESPN Radio at KCTC...oooch. CBS better hope the Kings come back from their slump or else KHTK will drop below a one share. What ever happened to "America's Top Rated Sports Station." Shame. Mcmurray is an idiot. What is he
doing running a sports station. He doesn't have a clue...just like his days at Entercom. At least we have KNBR.

 

[Sam The Record Man]

Even though O'Meara's show wasn't as good as the old Don & Mike, it was always fun to tune in when I was in the Big Sac. I'll miss it. The phrase "oasis of odd" is quite accurate.

 

[AlGarcia]

TMOS and D&M always led the ratings in Portland Maine for years on WZAN. I listened almost every day for 15 plus years. Saw pretty much the entire transition of the show. I was worried when Mike took the show as the lead guy but enjoyed it without Don's bitterness for the last couple years. Don was somewhat of a downer and I felt brought down everyone else on the show. In the final few months, it was moved locally to a smaller station that was difficult to come. I will miss the group of Mike, Robb, Buzz, Joe, BethAnn, Joe and Katie along with the regular callers. I hope to see then back someday in some form.