Rolleye James

[WTUX]

Rolleye James has had a rather checkered successs rate as a talk show host. She was doing well for awhile, on strong signals in a couple of major markets. Now, according to her web site, she is down to just a few smaller stations.

Recently, she was added to the weekend line-up on Coast-to-Coast AM. Now, she has even been dropped from that. Any idea what the problem is with her? Difficult to work with? Lack of general appeal? Personally, I did not care for her on C2CAM, but I didn't turn off the radio just because she was on.

 

[livingfruitvirus]

She syndicates her own show, which is why she's only on a handful of stations. She also doesn't charge for carriage. Rollye lost a lot of the big stations to cramdowns from the owner or syndicators who forced show B onto the station to keep show A. As for Coast to Coast, she claimed she "wasn't happy with it" this time, but she's too used to being her own boss as to what she's allowed to talk about, so she probably didn't like Premiere controlling it.

 

[raccoonradio]

A tape trader sent me some of her Fri Night trivia which was entertaining

 

[ajhenderson]

A friend of mine talks to her rather frequently, and without getting into too much nitty gritty, she was indeed pretty unhappy with the folks in Sherman Oaks. It was pretty funny hearing her comments on them.

She may not be a huge name in the business, and the operation seems kind of small potatoes, but few, and I mean few, people know more trivia about radio and the radio business than she does.

 

[gr8oldies]

I enjoyed her the few times I did get to hear her. She'd be a nice alternative to UFO or trucker talk.

 

[Don62]

I enjoyed her the few times I did get to hear her. She'd be a nice alternative to UFO or trucker talk.

I haven't heard her in years. I do recall her show on KOA-Denver.
I remember reading about some trouble she got into for comments regarding Bill Clinton at KLBJ in Austin.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rollye_James

She syndicates her own show, which is why she's only on a handful of stations. She also doesn't charge for carriage. [size=10pt]Rollye lost a lot of the big stations to cramdowns from the owner or syndicators who forced show B onto the station to keep show A. [/size]As for Coast to Coast, she claimed she "wasn't happy with it" this time, but she's too used to being her own boss as to what she's allowed to talk about, so she probably didn't like Premiere controlling it.

Hmm. I seem to recall some big-wig PD at a major market claiming up and down that kind of "cramdown" doesn't happen.

Yet others like the above post claim it happens.

Tell us, PD, now how no station is forced to carry certain shows.

 

[DaleGriffin]

I enjoyed her the few times I did get to hear her. She'd be a nice alternative to UFO or trucker talk.

I haven't heard her in years. I do recall her show on KOA-Denver.
I remember reading about some trouble she got into for comments regarding Bill Clinton at KLBJ in Austin.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rollye_James

She syndicates her own show, which is why she's only on a handful of stations. She also doesn't charge for carriage. [size=10pt]Rollye lost a lot of the big stations to cramdowns from the owner or syndicators who forced show B onto the station to keep show A. [/size]As for Coast to Coast, she claimed she "wasn't happy with it" this time, but she's too used to being her own boss as to what she's allowed to talk about, so she probably didn't like Premiere controlling it.

Hmm. I seem to recall some big-wig PD at a major market claiming up and down that kind of "cramdown" doesn't happen.

Yet others like the above post claim it happens.

Tell us, PD, now how no station is forced to carry certain shows.

I think all we need to do is look at the fact that the guy who says it does not happen can be quoted, those who say it does are always "some PD" or a "PD I know." I don't hear alot of "it was crammed down on me." Just saying.

 

[livingfruitvirus]

Tell us, PD, now how no station is forced to carry certain shows.

Well I remember when I lived in Florida and The Buzz fired their morning show because Infinity/CBS made them carry Howard Stern and his successors. When Dan Mason came in and they were able to bring back a local show, they basically explained it in their show intro.

And while the other tactic isn't really forcing, although sometimes it feels like it, it has pushed Rollye off some of her big sticks. I remember her last night on WGY in Albany when the station was going to replace her with TRN's Phil Hendrie. `GY callers were all over the phones, and Rollye simply said "Well they want to keep (Michael) Savage."

 

[Don62]

Tell us, PD, now how no station is forced to carry certain shows.

Well I remember when I lived in Florida and The Buzz fired their morning show because Infinity/CBS made them carry Howard Stern and his successors. When Dan Mason came in and they were able to bring back a local show, they basically explained it in their show intro.

And while the other tactic isn't really forcing, although sometimes it feels like it, it has pushed Rollye off some of her big sticks. I remember her last night on WGY in Albany when the station was going to replace her with TRN's Phil Hendrie. `GY callers were all over the phones, and Rollye simply said "Well they want to keep (Michael) Savage."

What a waste and an abandonment of air time for that P=O=S Stern. Anyone here want to call him a talk radio host?

Re: cramming. Didn't El Rushbo several years ago refer to the practice of cramming on his show?

I remember him saying something about how if a station wanted to run program A, it had to carry some show like Dennis Pragar. Then he said he wasn't saying anything demeaning about Pragar, as if he didn't have a good show. Rush said he used Pragar's name because it was the first host he thought of.

Come to think of it, I think Rush's syndicators required, for a time, its affiliates to air Dr. Dean Edel. That's why that show ran on those affiliates over the weekend, if I recall correctly.

 

[DaleGriffin]

What a waste and an abandonment of air time for that P=O=S Stern. Anyone here want to call him a talk radio host?

Re: cramming. Didn't El Rushbo several years ago refer to the practice of cramming on his show?

I remember him saying something about how if a station wanted to run program A, it had to carry some show like Dennis Pragar. Then he said he wasn't saying anything demeaning about Pragar, as if he didn't have a good show. Rush said he used Pragar's name because it was the first host he thought of.

Come to think of it, I think Rush's syndicators required, for a time, its affiliates to air Dr. Dean Edel. That's why that show ran on those affiliates over the weekend, if I recall correctly.

Stern was a CBS property at the time, that is not the same thing.

We are talking about is requiring show A to clear show B.

Again,

Didn't El Rushbo several years ago refer to the practice of cramming on his show?

I remember him saying something

and

I think Rush's syndicators required

If this is happening someone step up and lets get some call letters and names.

 

[Board Editor]

MOVED: TIO: Rolleye James

Some posts in this topic have been moved to Take It Outside.

[iurl=http://www.radio-info.com/smf/index.php?topic=93129.0]http://www.radio-info.com/smf/index.php?topic=93129.0[/iurl]

 

[ajhenderson]

I don't know how Savage (who's on WGY 6-10pm) affects Rollye's clear. The correct response is that they wanted to keep Coast (a Premiere show and ratings leader), so Hendrie had to get slotted into his old 10-1 time, which means his show is now heard 21 hours old.

As for Dr. Dean Edell, I don't think Premiere force feeds anything much any more. Certainly, once you do business with a network, they're always pitching new stuff to you and a lot of PDs, especially in small markets, just take their shows. I do recall that then-3WE in Cleveland ran Dr. Dean Edell from 3-4pm after Rush, until the syndicator loosened up on them, and the afternoon show took that extra hour.

 

[livingfruitvirus]

I think what she meant by that comment was they were picking up Phil's show so they could continue running Savage from TRN. Hendrie's part of TRN now. He used to be part of Premiere.

A lot of Edell's affiliates run him on weekends. His timeslot is one that is hard to accommodate, and that's 4-5 PM Eastern/1-2 PM Pacific. A one hour show in the middle of a daypart. So they take the 5 (or less) shows and run them back to back on the weekend to create one big show. I think less than ten stations actually run him live. XM 158 runs him on weekday afternoons but it's at 3 PM eastern.

Anyway, I came back here because Rollye posted this on her website:

March 1, 2008

You have two fine choices right now...

The first one will cost you a subscription fee, but it might be worth it.

I'm live on XM Satellite Radio weeknights, Monday through Friday evenings, from 7 to 10 PM (Pacific Time) on Talk Radio, XM Channel 165. And I'm replayed all night every night on America's Talk, XM Channel 158. That 's weeknights from 10P-3A (PT) and weekedns from 8P-3A (PT). So if it's after dark, there's a good chance you can hear me live or replayed on XM. Here's their website.

Your other option is absolutely free-- listen online! All you need is a broadband connection to the internet and you're good to go. You can hear the show live, and when we're not live, the previous show will replay continuously until another live show begins. Click here for all the details!

And don't forget that many of the interview shows are available online here.

So why no more terrestrial affiliates? I'll answer that later this year with something I think you'll like. I'm excited about it. For now, check me out online or on XM. Thanks!