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Scott Ferrall to Pittsburgh?

Here's an idea. Don't know if it has a chance, but who knows?

In recent weeks Mt. Lebanon's Scott Ferrall has been doing some work for Clear Channel. He pinch-hit for two FOX Sports Talk shows and will fill in in Houston this week.

For those of you who don't know- Ferrall was at one time the hottest sports talk host in America. In the mid-90s he hosted a nationwide talk show just four years after being the sports director at KQV with rock music in the background, hockey talk left and right, and a fast-paced style. For awhile he was carried on WTAE.

Then Westwood One dumped him when he wanted to call play-by-play for the Atlanta Thrashers. When the Trashers gig ended, he bounced around- from morning man to WNEW, the all-sports station in Miami, and back to Atlanta to host a general talk show.

My thought is do you think that Clear Channel could bring him back to Pittsburgh?

The way I look at it-

I personally don't think much of Ellis Cannon. When you're winning your time slot by having John Duffy come on and read the Pirates' lineup you're doing it on the wings of the station, not your talent. Certainly Farrell is a vastly superior personality and broadcaster- it would be like replacing an Oldsmobile with a Cadilliac.

Farrell on WDVE would be the shot of life that station needs to put KDKA in the dust. You create a roll for him on there- having him host a talk show following the Steelers games in the mold of Cope's Cabana, doing commentaries, perhaps a daily show with music and talk. You're talking a major shake-up, replacing an established talent with Farrell, but why not? I mean, if you had Farrell do mornings Jim and Randy would easily be picked up by WRRK or you could move them into Paulsen's slot, then move him to the X or a different time slot.

Finally, if Savran goes on to Congress (or even if he doesn't) they could fill some of the horrible mid-day programming WBGG has (The Morning Extravaganza and Jim Rome just aren't cutting it for Pittsburgh tastes), or have him go up against Mark Madden one-on-one (that would be Madden's worst nightmare), moving to mornings and then having Tunch and Wolf move to the mid-day, or any number of possibilties. Again, here you'd have a guy that could also have a role on the Steelers, Panthers, or Penguins broadcasts- doing interviews, talk show hosting, perhaps even pinch-hitting with play-by-play when Bill Hillgrove has a conflict.

I don't know the contractual situations- but what are your thoughts, if any? Personally- I think he'd be a great shot of life in a market that desperately needs it.

Shall we bring the prodigal son home?
 
Unlikely, if only because of Ferrall's long-standing history of flaming out and burning out of every job he's had. His act has a short shelf life.

How would he draw listeners away from Madden? They're both hockey-obsessed Mario worshippers. They're preaching to the same choir.

BTW, Tunch and Wolfley broker their time. Not sure they would want to move out of mornings because of that.
 
> BTW, Tunch and Wolfley broker their time. Not sure they
> would want to move out of mornings because of that.

I would also expect that the logical replacements for Cope's Cabana would be "Tunch's <INSERT WORD HERE THAT FITS LIKE MAYBE "TENT" OR "TRAILER">.
 
Granted, this is all speculation, but . . .

I think you're selling Ferrall short by saying he's flamed out everywhere. He left Atlanta in the mid-90s to host his own national show- that's not burning out. He made a poor career decision by going to the Trashers- and that's what cost him the national show- but otherwise he may very well still be on coast to coast.

His departure from WNEW was not his fault. Opie and Anthony were canned after their St. Patrick's Cathedral stunt and WNEW got rid of their ENTIRE staff- he was pretty much an innocent bystander.

When you're talking about the guy who had the WNEW morning show you're talking about a guy that played ball with Imus and Stern. If you could get him in Pittsburgh it would be quite a coup, and with all the stations Clear Channel has I think if they want to make WBGG compete with WEAE more, if you wanted WDVE or 104.7 to take the No. 1 spot away from KDKA or get more attention for the X in some capacity, he might be able to do it.
 
If he was worth keeping after the O & A epsiode, they would have kept him. You notice he didn't get a national show back after the Thrashers' fiasco? He HAS burned out everywhere he's been. He's a train wreck personally and that's why he's blown every big chance he's gotten. The guy is pushing 50 now and he's still pretending he's a degenerate frat boy.

A guy who does a completely phony act like his doesn't wear well. He made some noise at first, but it usually doesn't last. That's why you're talking about a guy going from a national show and "playing ball with Imus and Stern" (which is not true) to possibly doing a show on a signal-impaired, ratings-poor AM station in the No. 23 radio market. If he's that hot a property, what the hell is he doing at WBGG? All the sports networks out there and he's going to do a local show in Pittsburgh? You're touting his star power and turning him into Eddy Crowe at the same time.

WBGG isn't designed to compete with 1250. If it does, great. If not, it's slotted in the budget to carry all the spillover programming that comes from having pbp rights on the FMs. It's a handy dumping ground and Savran's show does enough business to be viable. They wouldn't have a local morning show if Tunch and Wolfley weren't buying the time. They don't care. They won't even hire sub hosts when Savran is away.

Ferrall on WDVE wouldn't work. He might draw some people but he'd turn off more. Where would you put him? Mornings? They're doing killer business with the show as is. It's a franchise. Aside from Paulsen, there's no other spot for him, and they'd rather stick with Paulsen.
 
Obviously, you don't like Scott Ferrall. I do and stand by my points.

But I just want to correct you on one thing. He is in his 30s, not pushing 50.




> If he was worth keeping after the O & A epsiode, they would
> have kept him. You notice he didn't get a national show back
> after the Thrashers' fiasco? He HAS burned out everywhere
> he's been. He's a train wreck personally and that's why he's
> blown every big chance he's gotten. The guy is pushing 50
> now and he's still pretending he's a degenerate frat boy.
>
> A guy who does a completely phony act like his doesn't wear
> well. He made some noise at first, but it usually doesn't
> last. That's why you're talking about a guy going from a
> national show and "playing ball with Imus and Stern" (which
> is not true) to possibly doing a show on a signal-impaired,
> ratings-poor AM station in the No. 23 radio market. If he's
> that hot a property, what the hell is he doing at WBGG? All
> the sports networks out there and he's going to do a local
> show in Pittsburgh? You're touting his star power and
> turning him into Eddy Crowe at the same time.
>
> WBGG isn't designed to compete with 1250. If it does, great.
> If not, it's slotted in the budget to carry all the
> spillover programming that comes from having pbp rights on
> the FMs. It's a handy dumping ground and Savran's show does
> enough business to be viable. They wouldn't have a local
> morning show if Tunch and Wolfley weren't buying the time.
> They don't care. They won't even hire sub hosts when Savran
> is away.
>
> Ferrall on WDVE wouldn't work. He might draw some people but
> he'd turn off more. Where would you put him? Mornings?
> They're doing killer business with the show as is. It's a
> franchise. Aside from Paulsen, there's no other spot for
> him, and they'd rather stick with Paulsen.
>
 
Re: Scott Ferrall in Houston...

Not to get off on a tangent, but someone on the Sports forum reported that Ferrall would be subbing this Thursday afternoon starting at 4 PM local time on ESPN 790 in Houston - which, by the way, just happens to be another Clear Channel station... Now he's getting some localized tryouts following a couple of national stints. Interesting...<P ID="signature">______________


New York City Radio and TV</P>
 
> But I just want to correct you on one thing. He is in his
> 30s, not pushing 50.


I know. I just wanted to see if you'd jump on that. He's actually 39, a 1983 Mt. Lebanon graduate.
 
That's why I'm thinking

How well he'd go off here.

Aw, man, you'd be talking about having an actual home-grown STAR here in Pittsburgh.

Come on Clear Channel- bring our boy home! He'd be GREAT!


> Not to get off on a tangent, but someone on the Sports forum
> reported that Ferrall would be subbing this Thursday
> afternoon starting at 4 PM local time on ESPN 790 in Houston
> - which, by the way, just happens to be another Clear
> Channel station... Now he's getting some localized tryouts
> following a couple of national stints. Interesting...
>
 
First of all, Ellis Cannon combines the high-octane personality of Madden (though I wish he'd tone it down once in a while) with a rare intelligence for a sports talk show host. His background is law (he's been an analyst on national sports talk shows) and he publishes a very good monthly paper out of Duquesne about Pittsburgh sports.

Ferrall did not seem interested in Pittsburgh sports when working at KQV.
Would he really be interested in coming back?

Cannon is not a homer, but isn't hanging up every other caller for lack of intelligence as it seems Madden does.

Clear Channel is doing well with what it has between 6 and 8 p.m. I'm not betting it's ready to rock the boat by throwing Cannon overboard.
 
> > But I just want to correct you on one thing. He is in his
> > 30s, not pushing 50.
>
>
> I know. I just wanted to see if you'd jump on that. He's
> actually 39, a 1983 Mt. Lebanon graduate.
>

If there is a station in the market that would benefit possibly from Ferrall, it would be KDKA. Before you laugh, there was actually a rumor that local manangement wanted to put Stern on KD rather than blow up the B. Of course, the hospitals couldn't have hadled all the heart attacks that would have ensued, but I digress...

Not sure he'd be a great lead-in during baseball season, but KD constantly laments how hard it's been to turn around their demos (right up there with stations like WDUV in Tampa Bay... #1 12+ and a non-factor 25-54...).

Maybe later at night.

And despite Rome's ratings on BGG, he's got a bigger following than you think. Becuase of BGG's signal limitations, Pittsburgh is one of his biggest internet-listening markets.

But CC's got absolutely no room for Ferrall in this market.

Only other scenario I could see is replacing the current Fox Morning Extravaganza with Scott as the national host. That show has fallen off the radar screen in a lot of markets since Tony Bruno's departure.<P ID="signature">______________
"With God as my witness, I could have sworn turkeys could fly."</P><P ID="edit"><FONT class="small">Edited by Part-timer on 07/11/05 08:43 PM.</FONT></P>
 
KDKA

Well, I think it's much more likely that

IF he was to return to Pittsburgh and

IF there was a place for him

It would be a Clear Channel station as he is under contract by them, and I think that Clear Channel is perhaps one personality away from total market domination.

Stern to KDKA, huh? Well, he's a better fit on K-Rock, obviously, but is McIntyre any less snotty than Stern?

But KDKA needs personality. I mean Bob Louge is looking real good to them right now compared to what they have on now.

I've made the point that I feel Cullen and Hoerth are past their prime on WPTT- but who doesn't think that Honz and Pintak are also past their prime on KDKA?

By comparison, I honestly think Rob Pratte seems fresh and lively compared to them!

Marky





> > > But I just want to correct you on one thing. He is in
> his
> > > 30s, not pushing 50.
> >
> >
> > I know. I just wanted to see if you'd jump on that. He's
> > actually 39, a 1983 Mt. Lebanon graduate.
> >
>
> If there is a station in the market that would benefit
> possibly from Ferrall, it would be KDKA. Before you laugh,
> there was actually a rumor that local manangement wanted to
> put Stern on KD rather than blow up the B. Of course, the
> hospitals couldn't have hadled all the heart attacks that
> would have ensued, but I digress...
>
> Not sure he'd be a great lead-in during baseball season, but
> KD constantly laments how hard it's been to turn around
> their demos (right up there with stations like WDUV in Tampa
> Bay... #1 12+ and a non-factor 25-54...).
>
> Maybe later at night.
>
> And despite Rome's ratings on BGG, he's got a bigger
> following than you think. Becuase of BGG's signal
> limitations, Pittsburgh is one of his biggest
> internet-listening markets.
>
> But CC's got absolutely no room for Ferrall in this market.
>
>
> Only other scenario I could see is replacing the current Fox
> Morning Extravaganza with Scott as the national host. That
> show has fallen off the radar screen in a lot of markets
> since Tony Bruno's departure.
>
 
WBGG Streaming

> And despite Rome's ratings on BGG, he's got a bigger
> following than you think. Becuase of BGG's signal
> limitations, Pittsburgh is one of his biggest
> internet-listening markets.

WBGG does not stream Rome's show, they just replace it with silence most of the time.

Speaking of, I've been experiencing problems with their stream lately. Sometimes it doesn't work, other times, just silence.<P ID="signature">______________


New York City Radio and TV</P>
 
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