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Talking Tough

E

Element9

According to WBEN talk show hosts, right wing water carrier Sean Hannity, long part of the daytime line-up on WLVL Lockport, will be moving to WBEN where he'll fit right in with the bumper-sticker patriots.

Just as with WHLD, it appears WBEN management is taking no chances when it comes to out-maneuvering WECK and WLVL and crushing the competition.

And in other news...

It was surprising to hear the WGR sports drones talk about John Gurtler, Bills PA announcer who was charged with alledgedly allowing minors to consume alcohol at his home during his son's graduation party. WGR talk show hosts mentioned that Gurtler was/is an account executive at Entercom. WBEN, although reporting this story, made no mention of Mr. Gurtler being an employee of Entercom.

To be fair, if Joe Doe of Cheektowaga was charged with the same misdemeanor, it may not have made the news, but as they say in Journalism 101, "pretext, context, subtext."

Interesting, if not peculiar.

-9-
 
Do we know when Hannity will run? I can't imagine they'd drop any of their local content to run Hannity. I wonder if they'll insert his show at 10pm? Or perhaps the weekend like they do Laura Ingraham. I guess we'll see.

Secondly, if John Gurtler is an Entercom employee, then that should have been noted in the WBEN coverage. Full disclosure is required in this case.

Finally, speaking of WGR talk show hosts, I was listening the other night when one of the kids playing radio starting criticizing the FDA about the tomato controversy. Hello! You're a sports show. If I want perspective on hard news topics, I'll tune in a reputable news/talk operation, thank you very much. Here's this punk kid in his 20s criticizing scientists with advanced degrees. I couldn't change the station fast enough. I wasn't going to vent about this. But when you mentioned the 'GR sports hosts, Niner, I just couldn't resist.

If Entercom wants to blunt WECK, then 'GR management better send a message to their kids to stay on topic. Afterall, Brad Riter beckons just down the dial.
 
Element9 said:
According to WBEN talk show hosts, right wing water carrier Sean Hannity, long part of the daytime line-up on WLVL Lockport, will be moving to WBEN where he'll fit right in with the bumper-sticker patriots.
Click to expand...

It's on WBEN's schedule now--10pm weeknights.

I'd up the ante---move Brad Riter to afternoon drive.
 
Element9 said:
Just as with WHLD, it appears WBEN management is taking no chances when it comes to out-maneuvering WECK and WLVL and crushing the competition.
Click to expand...

Sorry to hear this. The last thing people need to hear is more of the same nonsense, shamelessly espoused ad nauseum.

You would think 'BEN would have more faith in it's own product than to engage in these knee-jerk pre-emptive moves, especially against inferior signals whose talk formats have the lifespan of a housefly--no matter what they put on.

Just when you thought talk listeners were being given a breather...
 
Hannity is a "name" from his presence on Fox News Network---but judging by his national numbers and his home-market demos on WABC, he's really passed his "best sold by" date at this stage. Defending an unpopular President and his agenda can get you a certain distance with the true believers in towns like Dallas. But those true believers are in a lot shorter supply in a town that's hurting from Bushonomics, that has embraced Hillary Clinton every time she asked for its votes, and hasn't voted for a Republican Presidential candidate since Reagan's second election in '84 (and only that once since Eisenhower).

He may be coming cheaper to Entercom Buffalo than Ingraham, who other boards have reported is having a little contretemps with her syndicator and has been in reruns lately anyway. And I suppose Hannity keeps the tone of the daypart the same. But given that he hasn't turned in exactly stellar Arbitron AQH numbers outside his home market lately, one presumes Entercom's expectations for him in Buffalo are modest. And WLVL will probably be able to replace him with another host without too much impact on its numbers and its revenue.

It'll be interesting to see how much of Ron Dobson's evening audience he holds.
 
Bob1370 said:
He may be coming cheaper to Entercom Buffalo than Ingraham, who other boards have reported is having a little contretemps with her syndicator and has been in reruns lately anyway. And I suppose Hannity keeps the tone of the daypart the same.
Click to expand...


But he's not replacing Ingraham, he's replacing Joy Browne---and I cannot imagine anyone used to listening to her show staying around for Hannity.

WBEN shouldn't be buying into the Hannity hype. He is extremely average, and that's just when measured against the right-wing talking point loyalists. Limbaugh is far more believable in his propaganda. Anyone with a 4th grade education can see right through Hannity.

Talent and style-wise, he is easily interchangeable with many other syndicated hosts of his ilk, but there has been so much more industry hype about him, I guess we shouldn't be too surprised at what's happening.
 
We have issues...

Hannity will probably have about the same number of listeners on 'BEN at 10PM as he had on Hometown Radio. He does get to say that he's on a top-rated station, so it does give him more bragging rights, I guess.

I don't see it as a significant loss. Moving Riter to PM drive is an interesting idea, but I'm not sure that he's ready to go up against Beach at this point.

It would be very interesting to see WECK go after somebody like Kevin Hardwick to fill the daily 12:30-1:00PM block. A local round-table or interview show could be done a day in advance when there's a scheduling conflict, or live when a story is breaking. Or maybe block-program it with one day for the Buffalo Mayor, one day for the County Executive, one day for a county legislator, one day for a city councilman, and one day for rotating town supervisors.

The channel 2 news simulcast should already have delivered the pertinent news of the day. Use that 12:30-1:00PM block to add depth and perspective. If it goes well, extend it until 1:30 or 2:00. We have issues. Let's talk about them.
 
Re: We have issues...

SirRoxalot said:
Moving Riter to PM drive is an interesting idea, but I'm not sure that he's ready to go up against Beach at this point.
Click to expand...

I would see it as going up against Schopp & Bulldog on WGR.
 
Speaking of the hypocrisy that is Sean Hannity:

Sean was gushing over with descriptions of what a fair and reasoned interviewer Tim Russert was, immeidately followed by a tease for an upcomming Hannity show, replete with a myriad of double standard-style, right is great, left is bad tease lines..

The irony was pathetic.

I realize their jobs are different, but the problem is, so many people DON'T REALIZE THAT! They think Hannity is also a newsman devoted to truth, which is laughable.

We need a lot more Russert's and a lot less Hannity's. That's not to say a host shouldn't have an opinion, they should; but some semblence of FAIRNESS would be nice. Consistantly applying a double standard to suit the needs of your party's agenda, is incredibly dishonest.

Are hosts like Hannity so insecure that they need to suck up to one side or the other? Same is true for the other side. I always enjoy those courageous enough to stand on their own 2 feet and risk offending those on both sides, depending on the issue.
 
Steven21 said:
Speaking of the hypocrisy that is Sean Hannity:

Sean was gushing over with descriptions of what a fair and reasoned interviewer Tim Russert was, immeidately followed by a tease for an upcomming Hannity show, replete with a myriad of double standard-style, right is great, left is bad tease lines..

The irony was pathetic.

I realize their jobs are different, but the problem is, so many people DON'T REALIZE THAT! They think Hannity is also a newsman devoted to truth, which is laughable.

We need a lot more Russert's and a lot less Hannity's. That's not to say a host shouldn't have an opinion, they should; but some semblence of FAIRNESS would be nice. Consistantly applying a double standard to suit the needs of your party's agenda, is incredibly dishonest.

Are hosts like Hannity so insecure that they need to suck up to one side or the other? Same is true for the other side. I always enjoy those courageous enough to stand on their own 2 feet and risk offending those on both sides, depending on the issue.
Click to expand...

I agree. While I don't share the same political views as Russert I always appreciated the fact he was willing to do some honest muckraking and ask the tough questions regardless of whom he was interviewing. He did not play favorites. Hannity is nothing more than a shill for the current administration.
 
Philip_Airtime said:
'GR management better send a message to their kids to stay on topic. Afterall, Brad Riter beckons just down the dial.
Click to expand...

My goodness Sir, you must be quite ancient if you think Schopp and the Bulldog, or even night host Dennis Williams (Who does quite a good job if you ask me...) are even close to their 20s... Maybe in their dreams... I would even venture to say your man Brad Riter is YOUNGER than the GR lot... It's too bad Entercom couldn't pay Mr. Riter enough for an alarm clock, or else he wouldn't be down the dial...
 
[/quote]

My goodness Sir, you must be quite ancient if you think Schopp and the Bulldog, or even night host Dennis Williams (Who does quite a good job if you ask me...) are even close to their 20s... Maybe in their dreams... I would even venture to say your man Brad Riter is YOUNGER than the GR lot... It's too bad Entercom couldn't pay Mr. Riter enough for an alarm clock, or else he wouldn't be down the dial...
[/quote]

I wasn't referring to Schopp, Bulldog or Dennis Williams. I'm talking about the "kids" who fill in at night when Williams isn't available and who pepper WGR's weekend schedule. They should just talk sports. They're not qualified to address weightier news issues. That's all I was saying. In fact, since my original post, it sickened me to hear these kids address the Marshaw Lynch legal issues a week or two ago. They were clearly out of their league. I had to shut it off! You thought they had law degrees the way they were pontificating. I just think 'GR needs to exert a little quality control when it comes to the topics the "kids" are allowed to address. Let 'em talk sports. But when the topics transcend sports into general news, those topics should be left to more experienced hosts.

Perhaps 'GR management is seeing the light here. I saw in the paper the other day that Jim Brinson has been hired for a Sunday morning spot. Brinson brings strong credentials to his role as talk show host. Good hire.
 
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