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Shake up at Curtis Media Winston-Salem/Raleigh

J

jbutckovitz

Word is that WSJS morning host/PD Brian Freeman is being shipped to Raleigh to take over the WPTF morning show. Freeman's last day on SJS will likely be before the first of December. No word on the start date on PTF.

Where's Scott Fitzgerald going? New job?
 
Beware 1st time posters (like the originator of this here thread)
 
OK, call me dense, but I don't see how the blink reference applies here. Who was Curtis squaring off with and were they doing it to see who would move their morning show host first? Explain, please. Inquiring minds want to know.
 
Positioning. If you're the owner of the only dominate News/Talk station in the market and you just lost your cash cow you are now the weaker opponent. You have to position yourself and try to gain momentum before Janurary 1st when the crap hits the fan. Your opponent has Hannity, Beck and Mr. Limbaugh. What do you have? Do your morning and afternoon shows have gravitas? Can they stand up to the competition which they have never had? If not, you need to reload and get ready for war because this is the calm before the storm and the storm's a comin'!
 
I guess I'm a little slow too. When a team or an army or a company is getting ready for battle it seems like a smart move to me to shore up your operation and prepare. Since when is that a sign of capitulation? I don't know if I agree with JimA that Curtis will outfox Clear Channel, but I know the people there are smart enough to do their homework and put together a battle plan that gives them the best chance of success. I think I would be critical of Curtis if they didn't do anything. They sure better get their ducks in a row to get ready for an FM competitor that just took three of their biggest shows. But I really don't get the "blink" comment.
 
When you were a kid did anybody do a staring contest to see which one would blink first. Let me explain myself. Curtis has had, since 1991, WPTF with no news/talk competitor. Now, in a month or so he's got the competition coming. He's losing his heavyweights and WRDu is going to have them. If this new board is correct, the morning guy from Winston S. is coming to Raleigh to do the PTF morning show. What's wrong with Fitzgerald? Doesn't Curtis have any confidence in him? He's new. He was hired to do mornings at PTF. He hasn't gotten a chance to establish himself as the morning guy and now they're taking him off of mornings? What's going on here? If the story is true then, Curtis blinked. In a race you don't look back and see where your competitor is, you keep moving forward to win it.
 
By that logic isn't it WRDU that is doing the blinking? First they blinked when 96ROCK got their act together and bailed from classic rock. Then they blinked when WQDR 94.7 was choking them in the country format. In both those cases Curtis used the competition to max out the sound and marketing of his stations and they won the battles. Isn't that what it's all about?
 
They didn't so much "blink" as they just averted their eyes for a second so they could reload.
CC might claim that as a victory in the staring contest, but the entire Olympics is a much broader set of events.
 
WPTF HAS had some competition. WZTK is news talk and Imus has been on in the market off and on for years. Plus they compete with the Sports stations for Talk, too.

Rush will no doubt help WRDU. But, don't give CC too much credit until they EARN it. They're going to need a decent news department, AM host, and people who know how to sell the format. Will they spend the money to do it?

They've got a horrible track record in Raleigh the last decade.

WRDU = fail
WRVA = modest ratings success and they practically give away commercials
KISS = fail
G105 = success (but it was before CC bought them)
 
Note that the originator of this thread has not contributed anything more to clarify their original comment. Makes me think they were just dropping their turd in the punch bowl then getting off on the reaction.
 
"Note that the originator of this thread has not contributed anything more to clarify their original comment. Makes me think they were just dropping their turd in the punch bowl then getting off on the reaction."


I totally agree dittohead1.
 
Has anybody given thought to the fact that Curtis may be viewing this change as a positive! Rush is very expensive and cost actual cash and not just barter. If Don Cutis and Phil Zackery have blinked I have not seen it. Yes there have been some format wobbles but over all this group has been extremely profitable and that my friends is the name of the game. Moving a morning person from Winston to WPTF is a pretty smart move due to the fact there may be some simulcasting going on here. Curtis has also purchased the NC News Network and is on go for 2010! I think we need to sit back and watch, maybe somebody can say I told you so in a few months.
 
Nobody's calling Uncle Don stupid. I don't think I've seen the word stupid on this particular subject. Has anybody else? I've seen Don over the years do some things you just kinda shake your head about. Getting rid of Wolfpack Sports on the flagship station WPTF. Letting Jerry Agar go. Cutting to the bone the WPTF news staff after taking over in 1991. Not investing in the people and the broadcast equipment he took over in the first 9-10 years at Highwoods. If you really want to talk about the person who has the brains at CMG it's Phil Zachary. He's the one that has built the CMG empire over the last 7 years.
 
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