The Buddy Cianci Show

[RadioHead06]

I love talk radio and have been a fan for a long time. Love both local talk with a heavy aim towards local issues but also love the national shows. I can honestly say the Buddy Cianci show is the single most boring radio show I've heard in a long long time. No energy! None at all! Buddy doesn't bring any depth to any topic because he doesn't know the nuts and bolts of the local issues and it's quite apparent he doesn't spend a whole lot of time researching to get up to speed. His interviews are laughable in their lack of basic knowledge of the facts.
A very disappointing product.
And what is up with Ron St. Pierre?? Ron has become nothing more than a human laugh track for Buddy and his not terribly funny wit. Lame!
I'm sure he'll pull better ratings than Rush but I don't think Buddy has the radio sizzle he once did.
He sounds bored and disinterested. The same things I feel when I listen. Or I should say did listen.

 

[Kenny Atkinson]

Thank you. Someone who agrees with me.Speaking of WPRO,What is up with Dan Yorke lately.He turning into a grouch.He keeps me listening but at the same time....What the....

 

[wc3434]

3 out of 4. I enjoy Depetro, Yorke and Allen. I agree Buddy is boring, BUT, there are thousands of
people who will listen to him . One of the reasons why, is the way WPRO markets him.
' Buddy will be here tonight, Buddy will be There tonight!' WPRO is expanding the idea that Buddy
is an Icon! Like Babe Ruth or Frank Sinatra. Brillant. Thing that is really WIERD, is when Buddy talks
about crimes and criminals, just creepy, because he IS one!

One other point, at noon my radio goes to WHJJ and I usually forget to switch back to WPRO at 2.
That doesn't happen until 3.
WHJJ, WAKE UP! Get more local!

 

[Skynet74]

I couldn't care less where Buddy is going to be tonight, tomorrow night or this weekend. Honestly.... Who gives a crap? Is this the show that WPRO envisioned? Talking about where Buddy feeds his face? Geeez... how exciting. Buddy's best days are over. I'm confident that ratings will reflect that. But of course when ratings don't go up, I am sure the station will defend their position by telling people that these things take time. Then in about a year when the excuses run out WPRO will have to face the fact that people don't care to hear about Buddy's meal plans.

 

[RadioHead06]

Sky I agree. After the initial ratings bump with Cianci's return I think we'll see some mediocre numbers. He'll pull in numbers better than Rush but don't believe he'll ever pull numbers that will justify his $$. It's a boring product by a boring host (Buddy only works 3 of the 4 hours) who's too lazy to his homework on he very issues he's discussing because he's out getting free meals in Providence restaurants every night. Has anyone else noticed the deceiving lead-in to the 1 o'clock hour on that show? Coming out of the news they play Buddy's show theme followed by an audio clip of Buddy and St. Pierre framing an issue which is then followed by the theme music again and then St. Pierre comes back on the air solo and talks about it. I guess it's designed to make the audience think Cianci is still there coming off the 1 pm news. Very weird!
If only WHJJ had their act together.

 

[xtreme11678]

i noticed the same thing comming off the 1 pm newscast...... if thats the case.. why does pro keep sayin " the buddy cianci show weekdays 10-2" when its clearly 10-1... ron should be able to do the last hr/ without havin to promote it as the cianci show. does anyone agree

 

[JointChinese]

I have never met Mr. Cianci but was really let down when I started listening. Maybe my expectations were too high. I could care less how many meatballs he ate the night before. I guarentee that weight he lost in the joint, won't be gone for long. The show is way too slow and boring. It's become a big "remember when" session. People that talk that much about the past are headed that way. Most of the callers sound very old.

The guy I feel sorry for is Ron. He is a fish out of water. He is a true radio talent and now has been relegated to Buddy's second bananna. Check that, make it third bananna, he rarely gets a chance to talk. Like an earlier poster this 1:00 hour is totally wierd. Buddy's lips are moving, but Ron's voice comes out. I even heard a caller refer to him one day as Buddy. Total slap in the face to Ron.

The initial book will be good, the problems begin after that.

 

[RadioHead06]

Excellent point xtreme. Matt Allen's 1 hour gig is identified as his show. Why not do the same with St. Pierre's 1 hour gig?

Joint, I get the feeling Ron St. Pierre is a very willing Cianci lapdog.

 

[xtreme11678]

Excellent point xtreme. Matt Allen's 1 hour gig is identified as his show. Why not do the same with St. Pierre's 1 hour gig?

Joint, I get the feeling Ron St. Pierre is a very willing Cianci lapdog.

i have been listining to the show as often as i can..... i know ron and buddy are and have been very good friends and im pritty sure the move for ron was complety his choice.. while i dont think the show is bad.....they need to do something with the 1:00 hr. becaure if ur just tuning in it can be confusing to the listiner, as far as the pace and callers i think mabe thet want to target anolder audince in that time slot.... verses john, dan and matt.... but my ony issue at this point more then anything is the (like i said) confusing 1:00 hr... if anything i said made sence lol

 

[Skynet74]

WPRO can fix the schedule simply by putting Matt on from 9 to Noon, Buddy from Noon to 3 and then Yorke from 3 to 7. It would clean up the schedule and at least make it appear somewhat normal.

 

[Nizam]

WPRO can fix the schedule simply by putting Matt on from 9 to Noon, Buddy from Noon to 3 and then Yorke from 3 to 7. It would clean up the schedule and at least make it appear somewhat normal.

My understanding is that Buddy has obligations to be met somewhere afte 1 o'clock, so it wouldf have to be Buddy then Matt, considering Matt still runs the board during Yorke's show.

 

[xtreme11678]

WPRO can fix the schedule simply by putting Matt on from 9 to Noon, Buddy from Noon to 3 and then Yorke from 3 to 7. It would clean up the schedule and at least make it appear somewhat normal.

My understanding is that Buddy has obligations to be met somewhere afte 1 o'clock, so it wouldf have to be Buddy then Matt, considering Matt still runs the board during Yorke's show.

if thats the case and buddy has obligations after 1.... didnt he know this before he signed with wpro... (or who ever he went to work for) so why have a show from 10-2 when you cant fill the entire slot is all im saying.... i just dont think its fair to ron ( weather he dont mind promoting buddy during that hr or not) it should be buddy cianci 10 -1 if he cant do the last hr..... its deciving to the audiance

 

[RadioHead06]

xtreme, what's not fair to Ron?
Seems to me St.Pierre has very willingly attached himself to Buddy Cianci's coattails and is merrily along for the ride. Why that is I don't know. Ron sounds like Buddy's house boy with his chuckling at every glib Cianci utterance.

 

[Holland Cooke]

Why so down on the 70s?

People that talk that much about the past are headed that way. Most of the callers sound very old.

Now now...

We'll ALL get old.
(Some of us already have!)

And that's if we're lucky!
70's reference: In "Annie Hall," young Alvy Singer's mom took him to the doctor because he said "Why bother?" [with life]
"The universe is expanding!"
We'll-all-die, he figured, so why bother?

So quit smoking, look-both-ways-before-you-cross-the-street, brush your teeth, say your prayers. HOPE that you get old.

After all, Alvy and Annie eventually had their lobster scene, right?

(http://www.amazon.com/dp/6304907729...iveASIN=6304907729&adid=17QCDF11E7BRWTGDJ7QE&)

OK, Buddy's show can sound..."reminiscent."
Some-of-us-who-worked-in-the-building-he-works-in-when-he-was-mayor wish that LOTS of things were like-they-were-back-then.

And what-the-advertising-establishment-is-FINALLY-waking-up-to is the spending clout of aging Baby Boomers. Every day in the USA, TEN THOUSAND people turn 50. 78 million Boomers have a combined spending power of -- grab the arm rest -- $1 TRILLION a year.

About two years ago, the-voice-who-wasn't-told-he-was-keeping-the-seat-warm-for-Buddy, one Dave Barber, did a live audition on WPRO (http://barbercast.podomatic.com/entry/2007-02-25T16_05_50-08_00).

His topic: LOCAL, LOCAL, LOCAL...a measure which had been introduced in the RI legislature, to give handicapped parking permits to senior citizens. Like-THEY-need-a-break, Dave argued, mocking the senior discounts that are so common. Compared to young-adults-with-kids struggling-to-make-ends-meet, "OLDER PEOPLE CONTROL THE WEALTH IN THIS COUNTRY" he plead.

So give Buddy some slack.
He's gathering a crowd.
And on behalf of all aging icons, "thanks for listening."

If you listen carefully, you'll even hear what's NOT coming-out-the-speaker.

Example: For years, legions of garden-variety, predictably-political, Rush-wanna-be talk hosts used to say "THEFAILEDPRESIDENCYOFJIMMYCARTER" like it was all one syllable. We never heard 'em allude to Bush Senior not-winning-a-second-term (after saying, WITH A GOLF CLUB IN HIS HAND, "What recession?"). But "THEFAILEDPRESIDENCYOFJIMMYCARTER" was all one syllable.

Fast-forward to present day, and freeze-frame the scene the present regime gave us.

Notice how we're hearing LOTS less about "THEFAILEDPRESIDENCYOFJIMMYCARTER?"

Sure, we lined-up for gas.
Better than sending lads off to die for it, eh?

HC

PS: Go Sox!

 

[ryanbadrapper]

Ron St has been in the business for decades and he's a radio guy. I guess he's burnt about 20 bridges in the last couple years. I think , in a year or two, Ron will move on to something else. About Cianci, I think he'll do ok, but his show IS strange.. Alot of talk about being in jail. He makes fun of the Feds with his dog 'RICO'.
I feel like I'm easdropping at a Mob resturant.
I happen to like what the 'Feds' are doing and Buddy ofcourse, doesn't. It's like rooting for the Bad Guys.


Ryan

 

[wknd92]

Ah...Holland, good to see you have survived the harsh fall out on the People's Republic of New Shoreham and could help enlighten some pieces that others are missing. Most of them aren't near the demo Pro is looking for...I'm barely within shouting distance at the low end of the demo graduating from the great Purple hope on Westminister St in 1988 (also boasting alumni of Naomi DiClemente, Carolyn Fox, Steve Kass, Norm Jagolinzer and Sam Parisi (RIP)-obviously not in 1988).

What my brethern on this thread fail to latch on to is that while they may be listening to this show, it isn't for them. The premise, marketing and format/issues are not geared toward them and never will be.

I have to disagree about the show...I have been unfortunately sick over the past couple of weeks; but have been able to listen to Buddy and the issues that i have heard him talking about are provacative-The Lt. Governors' trip to study healthcare in the Far East, the Director of Protocol position in the City of Providence, the shots at Buddy himself from the Director of Economic Development and the mayor in Providence about developers shying away from Providence, the Tax Breaks given to Blue Cross....all of these conversations have been very well handled and researched/developed (such as that where the Lt. Governor went to study the health care system, it was patterned after US Healthcare, that there was no proof given to follow up on the statements about developers shying away from Providence, that the extra funding for the Director of Protocol for Cicilline has an annonymous donor contributing the funds thru the RI Foundation) and kept me listening for the whole time...even as some of these conversations were going on during times where I would be listening to WEEI for Patriots Monday or Red Sox talk normally.

 

[Holland Cooke]

RE "I have to disagree about the show..."

Ah...Holland, good to see you have survived the harsh fall out on the People's Republic of New Shoreham...

Lemme tellya 'bout "Peoples' Republic!"
I'm just back from visiting my client station in Madison, Wisconsin.
(Where, if you squint, THEIR statehouse could be mistaken for OURS.)

Any unapologetic Liberal (or half-apologetic "Progressive") visiting there would feel like...like...oh...the-first-time-you-couldn't-finish-a-lobster. Those warm, welcoming Wisconsinites are SO-darn left-of-center that it's Talk Radio heaven. On ANY topic, SOMEONE'S offended. Conservatives lie low. As the news director of ratings-dominant CBS3 there told me, "Dan Rather never lost a book [ratings survey] here."

[most who post here] aren't near the demo Pro is looking for.

Gosh, I get a little wistful just hearing the station referred to as "Pro," now an abandoned image.

Broadcast advertising for cigarettes was outlawed when...1969? 1970?
Yet even today, many Americans can still complete this sentence:
"Winston tastes good..."

"Pro" is like that.
But, to your point, it's become an oldie.
The Rocky Point Movie phenomenon suggests otherwise, eh?

It does SEEM that many participating here are younger-than-Talk Radio's-bulls-eye.
a.) That's Talk Radio's fault; and
b.) I think its GREAT that younger people are interested-enough-in-radio to dialog about it.

While so much of radio has been mailing-it-in post-consolidation, lots-of-the-bottom-half-of the coveted 25-54 demographic now finds less value on AM/FM than do Boomers, to-whom radio was cool. And Boomers remember Providence before Mayor Cianci. So, to them, and the older folks who control so much wealth, Buddy's an icon.

But the disconnect HERE isn't just demographic. Like-much-of the on-air product discussed here, the discussion itself is often self-indulgent. And it's not just here. Travel-around, from-town-to-town, up-and-down-the-dial. You'll hear lots of local Rush wanna-be's who seem to feel purged by talking. Lots of talking AT, rather than WITH, listeners. Similarly, some-who-post-here seem to be tossing lit matches, rather than running-to-ground what-would-make-radio-more-special TO LISTENERS. The anonymity necessary to ensure a free flow of ideas here invites consequence-free sniping...and that's a small price to pay to be able to HAVE this conversation.

What I do find endearing about hearing Buddy is the embrace he gets from callers.
They feel as though they know him.
Because audience measurement is, literally, "a memory test," that's huge.

HC
www.HollandCooke.com

PS: TRUE STORY, and wouldn't you like-to-have-been a-fly-on-the-wall for THIS encounter?
Autumn, 1974.
WPRO's swashbuckling new General Manager Dick Rakovan was new to town.
Just in from Detroit -- yeah, that's right, MICHIGAN -- and still living in a hotel here somewhere.
At the bar in some swank Providence eatery, he gets-to-talking-with someone who introduces himself as "the Mayor of Providence."
Rakets asked "Incoming or outgoing?"
(It was Joe Doorley.)
Rakovan was the GM who named the building after Salty, on the happy day I snapped this photo, as he unveiled the sign he had hung while Salty was upstairs on-air: http://members.aol.com/cookeh/BBCdedication-lite.jpg
LOCAL, LOCAL, LOCAL.

 

[Seekonk Sally]

Holland,

Your nostalgia is lovely. Very much like what I'm hearing on the Buddy Show. Many old war stories like how he fired the garbagemen, hung with Sinatra, etc. For the almost $300,000 that PRO is paying him, he is laughing at them, and his audience. As other posters have acurately reported, Buddy is flying big time by the seat of his pants. He stutters and stumbles his way through THREE hours of old stories, and retreading what DePetro has already covered. His witty reparte would be great for a ten minute interview on someone else's show, but over his shift it gets very old, very fast. He picks on two people for weeks at a time, John Simmons, and the poor Providence employee who will not return his calls. He has yet to show any remorse for what he was sent away for, and passes judgement, and threats to others who are in the spotlight, like he has the track record of the Pope. It is very creepy. I'm sure the first book will relect the curiosity seekers, but unless he actually does some work and brings it to his show, he will bore what's left of his audience except the Federal Hill sicophants. His show in the 80's was red hot talk, with real on the table issues.

 

[Holland Cooke]

THANK YOU.

Holland, Your nostalgia is lovely.

Downright charming, isn't it?
Like hizzoner hisself.
Cue harmonica music.
Heck, I could go on all night, but we've got a baseball game to watch.
But first...

BACK TO THE FUTURE.
And I don't say so casually.
I say so WEARILY, after attending THREE-conventions-in-ONE-week.
Four, if you count the R&R convention which was co-located with the once-bustling NAB Radio Show in Charlotte several weeks ago.

Sobering historical perspective: The first-ever Radio Show was in 1980, the year I left WPRO to become a PD, at a station in New Hampster.
HOW hoppin' was radio then? NO ONE HOTEL in New Orleans could contain all the hospitality suites.
THOUSANDS of programmers converged, to swap ideas, and forge lifelong friendships.
I'm still in touch with folks I networked that year.

Fast-forward to 2007: The only way either-of-the-two conventions that shared the Charlotte Convention Center would be viable was to be there concurrently. And -- other than Charlotte-market folks -- I'm not sure I saw a PD there. It was suits and vendors.

From there, I felt like I was flying INTO-the-future, traveling to California for the 3rd annual Podcast & Portable Media Expo.
(OFFICIAL VERSION: http://www.newmediaexpo.com/)
(HIDDEN CAMERA: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I94vB7Sq6U8)

A couple thousand CHARACTERS, and LOTS mo' mojo than the skittish vibe at the Radio Show.
At the Podcast & New Media Expo, it was the vibe we felt at radio shows back when Buddy was mayor, and radio TRIED HARDER.

Tempering the genuine excitement of being among such passionate content creators was the clear sense that what-podcasters-are-doing is NOT the future. It's the now.

Then -- and these conferences could NOT have unfolded in-a-more-opportune-order -- on to Vegas, for the Electronic Retailers' Association conference. Yep, AN INFOMERCIAL CONVENTION. Although those three words paint a picture of Billy Mays hollering about something-in-a-squeeze-bottle, that's NOT what this event was about; and my humble notes will only begin to outline the relevance of what the leading-edge Direct Marketing community is buzzing about.

As you sense from a couple of posts above, I've got some fond memories of WPRO-of-yesteryore...just like its listeners have a-place-in-their-hearts for The Prince of Providence.

For the almost $300,000 that PRO is paying him, he is laughing at them, and his audience. As other posters have acurately reported, Buddy is flying big time by the seat of his pants. He stutters and stumbles his way through THREE hours of old stories, and retreading what DePetro has already covered. His witty reparte would be great for a ten minute interview on someone else's show, but over his shift it gets very old, very fast. He picks on two people for weeks at a time, John Simmons, and the poor Providence employee who will not return his calls. He has yet to show any remorse for what he was sent away for, and passes judgement, and threats to others who are in the spotlight, like he has the track record of the Pope. It is very creepy. I'm sure the first book will relect the curiosity seekers, but unless he actually does some work and brings it to his show, he will bore what's left of his audience except the Federal Hill sicophants. His show in the 80's was red hot talk, with real on the table issues.

Hey, don't sugar-coat it.
Say how you REALLY feel.


But seriously...

What YOU'RE saying, in-a-more-glass-half-empty-fashion, seems to be the same thing I'm suggesting more gently.

And it SURE won't surprise you to hear a consultant agree with your concern that casting a show is just the beginning.
Technique is what makes-the-most-of ANY on-air talent.

Or as PD Jay Clark would say, straight-faced, as he tore-my-aircheck-apart in 1974: "Every great player has a coach."

Anyway, back-to-BACK-TO-THE-FUTURE: Three-point-five-conventions-in-one-week...

I'm still feverishly transcribing notes I'm fishing-out-of my briefcase and every pocket of the versatile blue blazer (the carry-on-luggage-only consultant's best friend). But what I can already offer you is:

1. Page one of my notes (http://www.mcvaymedia.com/newmedia/07/07November-Page1.pdf) the-bottom-half-of-which attempts to describe...

2. The clarity I felt at that last convention about about:
a.) What's left of radio, still CONSIDERABLE...IF, repeat, IF...casting/technique/etc. are sound;
b.) How "broadcasters-without-transmitters" are already making money and stealing audience;
c.) How broadasters WHO BOTHER can prevail.

"And then there was the time..."

Just kidding.

GO SOX,
HC
www.HollandCooke.com

 

[xtreme11678]

xtreme, what's not fair to Ron?
Seems to me St.Pierre has very willingly attached himself to Buddy Cianci's coattails and is merrily along for the ride. Why that is I don't know. Ron sounds like Buddy's house boy with his chuckling at every glib Cianci utterance.

well like i said in a prievious post.... ron is a good talent (imho) and been there a long time and i know it was his choice to join buddys show... or i have been told and that last hr. i think should be his show..... i just dont get the whole "buddy cianci show weekdays from 10-2" when its not.... other then that i do like the new line up and i like buddys show.... i also like the fact the station is now LOCAL all day