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Seibel out at Fan?
- Thread starter pman44
- Start date
Siebel is definitely gone. They are now calling the afternoon show Starkey and Miller. I wonder if the Fan will go after Mark Madden for afternoon drive when his contract is up with the X? I also found it interesting at the end of the fan morning show before the 10 o clock update, Greg Gionatti got on and said I will talk to you tomorrow. No mention of Paul Alexander. Could Alexander be gone next?
How could they hire Madden when he can't be trusted to take calls live? Clear Channel has a full time babysitter assigned to review what he says. They tape the calls, and when he's live, the producer is assigned to listen and push the dump button at the first hint of anything questionable.
Why even bring Madden into the topic, not like he rules Pittsburgh radio, this is obviously about all the changes that are long over due at 93.7.
I have to disagree on a number of points with Smizik's column, most obviously that Starkey is capable of being the lead host of the show, he definitely is not, no matter how much Bob shills for his newspaper friends.
Smizik brings up Starkey's old weekend gig on 1250 as proof, IMO Starkey was serviceable as a weekend fill-in host, but this everyday show brings out his flaws. He is OK for sure, just not lead dog material.
I was wondering why Mueller sounded motivated all of the sudden, the chopping block will do that to a man. Hopefully for his sake he can bring this renewed level of energy every show. Doubt it.
If it was me I would can him and simply air whatever CBSSR has to offer. People in Pittsburgh will listen to Ferrall, they always did. Has to be better than Mueller and his Facebook pals inside jokes all night. At least Ferrall gives a damn about having a radio job and brings energy every night. Mueller has a dream job and just does not care.
Vinnie and Cook? They have no real competition, not with 970's weak signal, plus all the old men love them and they are good fodder for Giannotti gags.
I don't see the morning show changing, Alexander is the perfect apologist for their biggest client (Pirates).
Filliponni? Either air CBS national content or let him continue to do "list radio" every night, doesn't really matter with baseball taking 3/4ths of the year. Better yet try someone new, this guy has had three years and nothing has improved (other than the annoying lemon mouth thing)
Miller can stay if he works for free. Maybe.
Did I miss anyone?
I have to disagree on a number of points with Smizik's column, most obviously that Starkey is capable of being the lead host of the show, he definitely is not, no matter how much Bob shills for his newspaper friends.
Smizik brings up Starkey's old weekend gig on 1250 as proof, IMO Starkey was serviceable as a weekend fill-in host, but this everyday show brings out his flaws. He is OK for sure, just not lead dog material.
I was wondering why Mueller sounded motivated all of the sudden, the chopping block will do that to a man. Hopefully for his sake he can bring this renewed level of energy every show. Doubt it.
If it was me I would can him and simply air whatever CBSSR has to offer. People in Pittsburgh will listen to Ferrall, they always did. Has to be better than Mueller and his Facebook pals inside jokes all night. At least Ferrall gives a damn about having a radio job and brings energy every night. Mueller has a dream job and just does not care.
Vinnie and Cook? They have no real competition, not with 970's weak signal, plus all the old men love them and they are good fodder for Giannotti gags.
I don't see the morning show changing, Alexander is the perfect apologist for their biggest client (Pirates).
Filliponni? Either air CBS national content or let him continue to do "list radio" every night, doesn't really matter with baseball taking 3/4ths of the year. Better yet try someone new, this guy has had three years and nothing has improved (other than the annoying lemon mouth thing)
Miller can stay if he works for free. Maybe.
Did I miss anyone?
Stearns said:
Like him or not, Madden is by far the most successful sports talk personality in this market since Cope was in his prime.
Re: Madden
The question is would CBS give him more leeway than either ESPN or Clear Channel have? Since the new PD has come on board, there has been a gradual increase in arguments and confrontations, especially on the Vinnie and Cook show and with Alexander on the morning show.
I don't see Madden moving, though, and I'm sure he has a non-com.
The question is would CBS give him more leeway than either ESPN or Clear Channel have? Since the new PD has come on board, there has been a gradual increase in arguments and confrontations, especially on the Vinnie and Cook show and with Alexander on the morning show.
I don't see Madden moving, though, and I'm sure he has a non-com.
pman44 said:
He was fishing around maybe a year ago - so was The Fan - but (as far as I know) nothing ever came of it and he probably re-upped with CC.
Also wonder if Ellis Cannon could be in the mix. Others on the board have heard stories totally opposite to what I've heard, but I was told the station was essentially supposed to be built around Ellis the first time. Things didn't work out and CBS moved on.
That bridge may have been nuked, but you never know.
That bridge may have been nuked, but you never know.
There was a general assumption that Ellis would be an automatic hire at The Fan. Ellis may have made that assumption himself. Whatever happened, the people at CBS came away with a very negative impression of him and have to this point shown no interest in hiring him.
It wouldn't make sense for CBS to hire Ellis after getting rid of Seibel. One reason is that Ellis probably won't talk to them unless they quote a salary that will grab his attention, that's something that's not even on management's radar. Plus, the biggest reason is that it looks like the suits are looking to cut expenses. They don't want to justify the cost of bringing in new talent. The likely scenario is that the bigwigs at Black Rock in New York called CBS management in Pittsburgh and told them to look where they can cut costs and make them by the end of the year.
My gut reaction is that Seibel won't be the only victim, and I predict that you will see more cuts after next Tuesday. I hate to say it and it's sad to think about, but it's happened before between Christmas and New Year's. Remember what happened in Gateway Center about 6 or 7 years ago? 3 talk show hosts and a reporter were sent home with boxes, and they weren't presents.
Methinks that when the new shows pop up from CBS Sports in January, it will be another reason that some of the herd will be thinned too.
My gut reaction is that Seibel won't be the only victim, and I predict that you will see more cuts after next Tuesday. I hate to say it and it's sad to think about, but it's happened before between Christmas and New Year's. Remember what happened in Gateway Center about 6 or 7 years ago? 3 talk show hosts and a reporter were sent home with boxes, and they weren't presents.
Methinks that when the new shows pop up from CBS Sports in January, it will be another reason that some of the herd will be thinned too.
F.M.Hertz said:
You think Ellis is cleaning up financially working for PCNC?
He has no leverage.
Of course he doesn't.
But Ellis is a lawyer, and would do what's in the best interest for Ellis. It seems that for much of the time that Ellis has been on the radio his opinion of himself is higher than what others might have.
Again, CBS management in Pittsburgh won't go after him. They're looking at the bottom line, and by doing that it means cutting costs and dropping salaries. They won't hire a full time talk show host to replace one that they just let go.
But Ellis is a lawyer, and would do what's in the best interest for Ellis. It seems that for much of the time that Ellis has been on the radio his opinion of himself is higher than what others might have.
Again, CBS management in Pittsburgh won't go after him. They're looking at the bottom line, and by doing that it means cutting costs and dropping salaries. They won't hire a full time talk show host to replace one that they just let go.
F.M.Hertz said:
What makes you think Ellis would make a dime more than anyone else at the station? It's not like he's a hot free agent with multiple offers.
People generally do what's in their best personal interest, whether they're lawyers or not.
They don't want afternoons to be a three-man show, but there will be other changes to the lineup in the coming weeks.
Does anybody know who else is on the hot
seat on the fan?
seat on the fan?
KDKA-FM touts itself as an all-local sports talk station. For now, at least. Methinks Rome may be burning there before long, especially if Seibel is only the start of the bloodletting. CBS isn't going to get anyone else in Pittsburgh to carry its national shows -- and I doubt even with all the football it has carried that KDKA-AM suddenly is going to get sports talk, local or national, to mix with its general news/talk lineup.
By the way, is anyone going to wind up with NBC Sports in this market? Birach only has so much room even with his automation at WWCS-540 and Fox Sports has it all now. Triblive.com could go 24/7 adding NBC when it isn't airing local talk, but that's an online station and we're not quite to the stage where car radios generally can get webcasts.
By the way, is anyone going to wind up with NBC Sports in this market? Birach only has so much room even with his automation at WWCS-540 and Fox Sports has it all now. Triblive.com could go 24/7 adding NBC when it isn't airing local talk, but that's an online station and we're not quite to the stage where car radios generally can get webcasts.
KeyTimes950 said:
Rome would be ratings and billing suicide vs ANY local content, no matter how bad. You could get away with running him at night, but the new network will already have Scott Ferrall late nights.
The national shows, for the most part, are not for the CBS FM stations, they are for 3rd-party syndication. Cumulus is the syndicator and is going to run the network on about 60 of their stations. CBS also has 2 sports stations in a couple of markets like Baltimore and Tampa, and the network wil run 24/7 there.
But no way do they replace anything 6A-6P with a national show.
KeyTimes950 said:
I am still of the opinion that Clear Channel is quietly LMA-ing 540 to clear the Fox Sports content. There is no local content, no local sales (there isn't even any local contact info on their website). They don't sound like they are even running at full power. Birach is just collecting a check for clearing the network, and Clear Channel is basically tying up ESPN and FSR so it doesn't have to compete against them.
Bottom line is that there are opportunities here for stations like 1360 or KQV. 620 or 770 could also do well with one of these if they wanted to, but they're happy with the way they make money now. Keymarket is content to waste 103.5 and sell it as a Steubenville station, and they just shut off most of their small AM's. Beyond that you're down to the WEDO's and 1550's of the world.
Odds are neither CBS or NBC shows up here.
The morning show could be ripe for some changes. They're not sold on Colony being part of things going forward.
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