Ron Kuby Speaks Out

[Julius Leonard Marx]

Ron Kuby comments on his departure from WABC in an op-ed piece in Newsday today:

"At the beginning of last month, the "Curtis and Kuby" morning show signed off WABC radio. We lasted almost eight years - a long run for a wake-up program in New York City, where hosts' longevity can mimic the life span of fruit flies -- We won awards for best this and best that. Our ratings regularly topped Imus when the two shows went head to head. Even in the demographic advertisers prize - listeners aged 25-54 - Imus and our show were close, and we were on the rise. None of this saved us. We were doomed by the confluence of two forces that are dooming local radio. First, there is globalization - Second, programmers increasingly promote ideological consistency by presenting only one side of the political debate - I have lost my show. But radio listeners around the nation are losing far more. And it doesn't look as if they will get it back any time soon. In a country where demonizing the opposition is the staple of public discourse, from street corners to the presidential campaign, talk radio increasingly strives to appeal to the very worst in us"

He also adds some insights from his radio experience that the people at Air America and other other liberal talk shows should really heed. Better yet, WWRL should put Kuby on instead of The Juiceman (aka channel 9's answer to Jerry Springer).

The entire article is worth reading:
http://www.newsday.com/news/opinion/ny-opfocus5493094dec09,0,2935345.story
Actually, Newsday is well worth reading. The best paper in the tri-state. Well-written and well-edited. The closest we have now to the Herald-Tribune.

If Ron Kuby is back on the air before July 25th, his time out will be shorter than Imus'.

 

[Bobby Cann]

But just remember, if he does end up on a radio station in NYC, some other person will have lost a job so that he can get back on the air...oh wait...where have I heard people bemoan about that before???

 

[Julius Leonard Marx]

But just remember, if he does end up on a radio station in NYC, some other person will have lost a job so that he can get back on the air...oh wait...where have I heard people bemoan about that before???

Unless (1) A syndicated host gets dropped or (2) Another station picks up the talk format.

There some under-performing FMs that might do alright with a talk format.

 

[Bobby Cann]

Dream on...you want it both ways and it ain't happening like that. There is no free ride.

 

[Julius Leonard Marx]

Dream on...you want it both ways and it ain't happening like that. There is no free ride.

Sorry, Bob. I don't get your point.

Kuby got screwed. He did everything management asked of him. He delivered an audience. And he got fired. Why? It's not clear. Because Citadel management has a political agenda and he doesn't fit it (and Imus does)? Because Boyce has this idea that programming news/talk requires political consistency?

If talent doesn't deliver the goods, they get replaced. It may not be nice but radio is a competitive business. Any body who goes into radio has to accept that. Kuby did deliver the goods.

Not only did Curtis and Kuby get better numbers, they got better demos. Imus may not be history but he is the past. Replacing C+K was a bad business decision. I doubt that Boyce made it. It appears his boss did.

Citadel is a company with its stock and revenues in free fall. Buying ABC was pure ego and hubris on the part of CEO Farid Suleman. And Suleman has a political agenda consistent with the I-man's rants.

People are losing their jobs; Citadel employees. Lots of Citadel employees. All to pay for Imus.

 

[Bobby Cann]

#1 - Imus was hired to make money for Citadel. #2 - Ratings are nice, but money is more important to business and radio is a business. #3 - Citadel replaced C&K with Imus in the hope that he will make more money for WABC and the company. #4 - Believe if you wish that it had to do with political agenda but it had to do only with billing and that billing will make or break Citadel!

You may hate Imus and love C&K but if Imus can deliver close to what he delivered before, than Citadel will survive. If Imus fails, Citadel will not be around in a couple of years. This is not about ego or politics or anything but money.

 

[Julius Leonard Marx]

#1 - Imus was hired to make money for Citadel. #2 - Ratings are nice, but money is more important to business and radio is a business. #3 - Citadel replaced C&K with Imus in the hope that he will make more money for WABC and the company. #4 - Believe if you wish that it had to do with political agenda but it had to do only with billing and that billing will make or break Citadel!

You may hate Imus and love C&K but if Imus can deliver close to what he delivered before, than Citadel will survive. If Imus fails, Citadel will not be around in a couple of years. This is not about ego or politics or anything but money.

How do you know what it's about? I realize "it's all about money" is the standard industry line. My experience in the industry tells me other factors are often at work. Like ego. Like politics.

You are wrong about how I feel about Imus. Maybe you are wrong about Suleman's motivations, too. You seem to be waving the flag for Imus with posts all over this site. Maybe you're not being completely objective here. You like him, I get that. Maybe there's more to all this than what you like.

If radio management does make decisions based on money, then they are pretty poor decision makers because the industry keeps sinking deeper into red ink.

 

[Bobby Cann]

The problem is that managers of public companies make decisions all too often based on Wall Street. I think this is a pure business decision based on a need to make the company stock perform. Perhaps in a pure world that doesn't happen but in the world we live in, public companies make decisions many times to make the street happy.

Oh, and I am not waving the flag for Imus. I just hope the man succeeds or a lot more folks at Citadel will lose jobs..indeed the entire company will be up for grabs and in the times we live in, that won't be good for anyone!

 

[Julius Leonard Marx]

The problem is that managers of public companies make decisions all too often based on Wall Street. I think this is a pure business decision based on a need to make the company stock perform. Perhaps in a pure world that doesn't happen but in the world we live in, public companies make decisions many times to make the street happy.

Oh, and I am not waving the flag for Imus. I just hope the man succeeds or a lot more folks at Citadel will lose jobs..indeed the entire company will be up for grabs and in the times we live in, that won't be good for anyone!

I hear what you are saying. I don't think anybody (except radio station corporate owners) is in favor of cutting jobs. I wouldn't assume a Citadel break-up (or Clear Channel break-up) means fewer jobs. We've probably seen the last of broadcast mega mergers resulting in mega group owners. We are also likely to see the return of lower ownership caps. Smaller companies with fewer stations likely mean more jobs, not fewer.

Even so, Citadel has a lot of stations and operates them in a lot of formats. I don't think the company's future rests on what happens Imus. If Citadel management needs something to worry about they should look at the under-under-performing WPLJ.

Maybe radio managers think their decisions are based on money but I still say it doesn't fit. For example, the barbarians at the gate who own Citadel and the main street Babbits who manage their stations are deeply ingrained Republicans. Everybody they know is a Republican. They don't think they have opinions, they think their are productive, patriotic Americans speaking The Truth. So they program right wing talk because they know everybody will listen and avoid liberal talk because they know nobody will listen. (For the record, the same kind of mind-set can happen on the left but they don't own companies like Citadel.)

 

[Bobby Cann]

You are right when you say smaller ownership rules mean more jobs, but what I'd be afraid of is that if the folks who financially back Citadel feel the parts are worth more than the whole, they may demand the selling off of properties. The ABC stations are the crown jewels of Citadel and I would assume that they would be first to go. Based on the market conditions that you mentioned, there is just about no chance that the group could be sold to just one buyer. That might mean WABC to one owner, WPLJ to another, WLS to a third, WJR, to a forth, etc. Some of these buyers might be big owners with several stations in the market. That would mean people losing jobs. Other buyers might be smaller almost Mom and Pop owners...can you say WOR?

I think the best thing for the folks at various Citadel stations around the company is a well performing company with a stock price out of the gutter. I think Farid probably hired Imus as one component of that well performing company. I just fear that if this does not work out, Citadel may be fatally damaged.

Can you say New Coke???

 

[Slant]

WAit..IMUS is a conservative? Since when...now WABC has a liberal show that John Kerry will call into.....give me a break. Sorry Kuby...they can make more money this way...at least for a year! LOL

 

[MarcR]

WAit..IMUS is a conservative? Since when...[/quote]

Imus isn't a conservative or a liberal...he's just a plain 'ole curmudgeon.

 

[BACKnUSSR]

Ron Kuby (a lawyer by trade) and Curtis Sliwa (Im not really sure by trade) are making these cries that Don Imus (a legendary NY radio personality) took their gig????
a) If it weren't for Imus....there never would have been the likes of Sliwa, Kuby or many others on the air at all.
b) Just the word of mouth Imus has created is good for the station's image. Who was talking about WABC 6 months ago?
c) Somebody replaced their show at a radio station??? Is that something new or are they REALLY that naive?

Maybe this is all just NYC's revenge for "Brink & Belzer".

 

[Julius Leonard Marx]

Ron Kuby (a lawyer by trade) and Curtis Sliwa (Im not really sure by trade) are making these cries that Don Imus (a legendary NY radio personality) took their gig????
a) If it weren't for Imus....there never would have been the likes of Sliwa, Kuby or many others on the air at all.
b) Just the word of mouth Imus has created is good for the station's image. Who was talking about WABC 6 months ago?
c) Somebody replaced their show at a radio station??? Is that something new or are they REALLY that naive?

Maybe this is all just NYC's revenge for "Brink & Belzer".

If it weren't for Imus .... ?

Imus didn't invent morning radio. That was the first John Gambling.
Imus didn't invent topical morning radio. Godfrey did.
Imus didn't invent personality morning show . That was also Godfrey.
Imus didn't invent comic morning radio in New York. Gene Rayburn and Dee Finch did.
Imus didn't inspire the current generation of morning shows. That was Howard Stern.
Imus is good but he is a follower. He didn't invent the wheel. He didn't blaze any trails.

Until last spring Imus held the chair previously occupied by people like...
Buffalo Bob.
Johnny Andrews.
Bill Cullen.
Big Wilson.

Other people also got there ahead of the I-man ...
Bob and Ray on WINS
Jack Sterling on WCBS
Willard Scott and Ed Walker in DC.
Frank Harden and Jack Weaver also in DC.
Joe Gentile, Ralph Binge and Toby David in Detroit.
J.P. McCarthy also in Detroit.
Bob Steele in Hartford.
Wally Phillips in Chicago.
Joe Roberts on the Island.
and others.

 

[BACKnUSSR]

Ron Kuby (a lawyer by trade) and Curtis Sliwa (Im not really sure by trade) are making these cries that Don Imus (a legendary NY radio personality) took their gig????
a) If it weren't for Imus....there never would have been the likes of Sliwa, Kuby or many others on the air at all.
b) Just the word of mouth Imus has created is good for the station's image. Who was talking about WABC 6 months ago?
c) Somebody replaced their show at a radio station??? Is that something new or are they REALLY that naive?

Maybe this is all just NYC's revenge for "Brink & Belzer".

If it weren't for Imus .... ?

Imus didn't invent morning radio. That was the first John Gambling.
Imus didn't invent topical morning radio. Godfrey did.
Imus didn't invent personality morning show . That was also Godfrey.
Imus didn't invent comic morning radio in New York. Gene Rayburn and Dee Finch did.
Imus didn't inspire the current generation of morning shows. That was Howard Stern.
Imus is good but he is a follower. He didn't invent the wheel. He didn't blaze any trails.

Until last spring Imus held the chair previously occupied by people like...
Buffalo Bob.
Johnny Andrews.
Bill Cullen.
Big Wilson.

Other people also got there ahead of the I-man ...
Bob and Ray on WINS
Jack Sterling on WCBS
Willard Scott and Ed Walker in DC.
Frank Harden and Jack Weaver also in DC.
Joe Gentile, Ralph Binge and Toby David in Detroit.
J.P. McCarthy also in Detroit.
Bob Steele in Hartford.
Wally Phillips in Chicago.
Joe Roberts on the Island.
and others.

So what's your point? Who ever suggested Imus invented anything? Are you denying that Imus was an important part of the evolution of all of those things you cite? Yes...if there was no Godfrey...or Wolfman Jack for that matter, or Robert W. Morgan, there would be no Imus.... But if there was no Imus, there would have never been a Howard Stern at WNBC. So the "place in history" is what mattered. You can make the same sort of case against Dan Ingram or just about anyone......but to discount his impact (as well as Imus) is foolish.

 

[Julius Leonard Marx]

So what's your point? Who ever suggested Imus invented anything? Are you denying that Imus was an important part of the evolution of all of those things you cite? Yes...if there was no Godfrey...or Wolfman Jack for that matter, or Robert W. Morgan, there would be no Imus.... But if there was no Imus, there would have never been a Howard Stern at WNBC. So the "place in history" is what mattered. You can make the same sort of case against Dan Ingram or just about anyone......but to discount his impact (as well as Imus) is foolish.

Fair question. I was responding to your comment: "If it weren't for Imus....there never would have been the likes of Sliwa, Kuby or many others on the air at all."

My point is Imus was not the first or only. I think Imus is heir to Stern, not the other way around. Imus was doing a fairly traditional Top 40 morning comedy radio show when he first came to New York (not a show like Howard Stern's). Thinking back, I liked that show with "Moby Worm" and the "Rev Billy Sol Hargis" better than Imus' current act, which combines Howard with political talk radio. And I don't see Curtis and Kuby as derivative of Imus either. Imus show in recent years has become an opportunity for him to puff people he likes and slam people he doesn't like. In the political arena, his selection of people he likes and dislikes shows he doesn't know what he's talking about, he's still a disk jockey, uneducated and out of his depth.

 

[BACKnUSSR]

So what's your point? Who ever suggested Imus invented anything? Are you denying that Imus was an important part of the evolution of all of those things you cite? Yes...if there was no Godfrey...or Wolfman Jack for that matter, or Robert W. Morgan, there would be no Imus.... But if there was no Imus, there would have never been a Howard Stern at WNBC. So the "place in history" is what mattered. You can make the same sort of case against Dan Ingram or just about anyone......but to discount his impact (as well as Imus) is foolish.

Fair question. I was responding to your comment: "If it weren't for Imus....there never would have been the likes of Sliwa, Kuby or many others on the air at all."

My point is Imus was not the first or only. I think Imus is heir to Stern, not the other way around. Imus was doing a fairly traditional Top 40 morning comedy radio show when he first came to New York (not a show like Howard Stern's). Thinking back, I liked that show with "Moby Worm" and the "Rev Billy Sol Hargis" better than Imus' current act, which combines Howard with political talk radio. And I don't see Curtis and Kuby as derivative of Imus either. Imus show in recent years has become an opportunity for him to puff people he likes and slam people he doesn't like. In the political arena, his selection of people he likes and dislikes shows he doesn't know what he's talking about, he's still a disk jockey, uneducated and out of his depth.

Understandable. However Imus was certainly edgy (for what was acceptable) long before Howard Stern came along.(remember the Eldridge Cleaver lookalike contest?) As far as politics.....is there a "correct" selection of people to like or dislike? And does being a "disc jockey" mean one is uneducated and would be over their head in political talk? Rush Limbaugh was a "disc jockey" too.....so was Reagan!!

 

[Phil Boyce]

Julius. I appreciate your passioned plea for Curtis and Kuby. I created the show like a mad scientist in the basement growing something in the petri dish. It turned into a pretty damn good morning show and for over 7 years performed well. But I wanted to correct some misstatements, just so there is no misunderstanding:

Because Citadel management has a political agenda and he doesn't fit it (and Imus does)? Because Boyce has this idea that programming news/talk requires political consistency?

Citadel has no political agenda. Citadel has a financial agenda...and this decision was all about making more money in morning drive. As for my idea about programming, keep in mind that I created Curtis and Kuby and WABC did really well with them. To suggest that I got rid of the show because I wanted political consistency across the board is laughable. If that was the case, I would have just gotten rid of Kuby and left Curtis in there alone, and saved all that money.

If talent doesn't deliver the goods, they get replaced. It may not be nice but radio is a competitive business. Any body who goes into radio has to accept that. Kuby did deliver the goods.

I agree that anybody entering radio has to accept the fact that the microphone can be taken away at any time for whatever reason the owner thinks it should. This was a financial decision.

People are losing their jobs; Citadel employees. Lots of Citadel employees. All to pay for Imus.

Did you get some memo that I did not get? Nobody lost their job except for Ron Kuby. If Imus brings in more ad revenue, then those Citadel employees you are worried about will be more than OK.

pb

 

[Julius Leonard Marx]

Fair question. I was responding to your comment: "If it weren't for Imus....there never would have been the likes of Sliwa, Kuby or many others on the air at all."

My point is Imus was not the first or only. I think Imus is heir to Stern, not the other way around. Imus was doing a fairly traditional Top 40 morning comedy radio show when he first came to New York (not a show like Howard Stern's). Thinking back, I liked that show with "Moby Worm" and the "Rev Billy Sol Hargis" better than Imus' current act, which combines Howard with political talk radio. And I don't see Curtis and Kuby as derivative of Imus either. Imus show in recent years has become an opportunity for him to puff people he likes and slam people he doesn't like. In the political arena, his selection of people he likes and dislikes shows he doesn't know what he's talking about, he's still a disk jockey, uneducated and out of his depth.

Understandable. However Imus was certainly edgy (for what was acceptable) long before Howard Stern came along.(remember the Eldridge Cleaver lookalike contest?) As far as politics.....is there a "correct" selection of people to like or dislike? And does being a "disc jockey" mean one is uneducated and would be over their head in political talk? Rush Limbaugh was a "disc jockey" too.....so was Reagan!!
[/quote]

CCCP: Reagan was a sports announcer, not a disk jockey. He was in radio before DJs became common. His job was reading sports reports and doing "re-created" play by play broadcasts off the Western Union sports ticker. Reagan had a BA in economics.

Limbaugh flunked out of college during his freshman year.

Imus dropped out of high school and joined the Marines.

DJs do time, temperature, call letters, name of the recording and the recording artist, current position on the weekly "count-down," the occasional liner-note, and promos. It's not intellectually demanding work and doing it for four hours a day is not likely to prove intellectually satisfying to anybody with intellectual depth. Being a DJ certainly doesn't qualify anyone as an expert of current political and social issues.

I can't see any basis in Imus' choice of people to praise and people to attack. He likes Santorum, Liebermann, Ford (Tennessee congressman), Hackensack Medical Center, his brother's salsa and his wife's organic kitchen cleaner. He hates most anyone and anything else. Go figure.

 

[Julius Leonard Marx]

Julius. I appreciate your passioned plea for Curtis and Kuby. I created the show like a mad scientist in the basement growing something in the petri dish. It turned into a pretty damn good morning show and for over 7 years performed well. But I wanted to correct some misstatements, just so there is no misunderstanding:

Because Citadel management has a political agenda and he doesn't fit it (and Imus does)? Because Boyce has this idea that programming news/talk requires political consistency?

Citadel has no political agenda. Citadel has a financial agenda...and this decision was all about making more money in morning drive. As for my idea about programming, keep in mind that I created Curtis and Kuby and WABC did really well with them. To suggest that I got rid of the show because I wanted political consistency across the board is laughable. If that was the case, I would have just gotten rid of Kuby and left Curtis in there alone, and saved all that money.

If talent doesn't deliver the goods, they get replaced. It may not be nice but radio is a competitive business. Any body who goes into radio has to accept that. Kuby did deliver the goods.

I agree that anybody entering radio has to accept the fact that the microphone can be taken away at any time for whatever reason the owner thinks it should. This was a financial decision.

People are losing their jobs; Citadel employees. Lots of Citadel employees. All to pay for Imus.

Did you get some memo that I did not get? Nobody lost their job except for Ron Kuby. If Imus brings in more ad revenue, then those Citadel employees you are worried about will be more than OK.

pb

If Citadel has no political agenda, as you say, why is it news/talk programming decisions are always in the direction of more neo-conservative, GOP party line political talk radio?

If it's only about money, why does this consistent programming move rightward keep resulting in declining revenues and Citadel's stock price going down?

If no political agenda, why was the token liberal the only person let go?

Citadel is controlled by Wall Street investment bankers (Frostmann Little - see "Barbarians at the Gate"), Wall Street investment players have been the dominant force in the Republican Party since the days of the robber barons. At least the Green Brothers admit they have an agenda (like it or not). If the people you work for are not making programming decisions based on an "agenda," at the very least their political predispositions seem to be clouding their judgment.

And whether Imus brings in more revenue or not, the trend to more syndication, automation and voice tracking will continue (a trend you've expressed approval of in other posts). I doubt whether anybody doing a morning show on one of your talk stations feels much job security right now, waiting to see if the I-man takes his job, too.