The Edge 103.9 Picks Up Adam Carolla

[starburysun2k3]

This is courtesty of allaccess.com....

RIVIERA BROADCAST GROUP Alternative KEDJ (THE EDGE 103.9)/PHOENIX inks the syndicated ADAM CAROLLA SHOW for mornings effective MAY 5th.

CAROLLA -- previously on crosstown Talk KZON (FREE-FM) -- replaces CHUCK POWELL's MORNING RITUAL.

[EDIT]


[EDIT-post truncated because originating material is copyrighted.]

 

[azenergyfan]

This is awesome news!!!!

Now all The Edge has to do is to put Powell in middays and Leykis pm drive and possibly MIke O'Meara nights

I say its time for someone else in this town to try alternative and let Edge go talk. If only there was a way to get Big O and Dukes in phoenix... hmmmm

 

[lpAZ]

This is awesome news!!!!

Now all The Edge has to do is to put Powell in middays and Leykis pm drive and possibly MIke O'Meara nights

I say its time for someone else in this town to try alternative and let Edge go talk. If only there was a way to get Big O and Dukes in phoenix... hmmmm

Chuck is a good guy and perhaps he can clean up some of their other dayparts, but Leykis is toast. He's been a parody of himself since the early 90's, when he was VERY good.

 

[KMGX]

This is awesome news!!!!

Now all The Edge has to do is to put Powell in middays and Leykis pm drive and possibly MIke O'Meara nights

I say its time for someone else in this town to try alternative and let Edge go talk. If only there was a way to get Big O and Dukes in phoenix... hmmmm

Carolla fits the Edge perfectly: A host no one listens to on a station that no one listens to. Yeah yeah, he does modest in Los Angeles--but even that isn't all too impressive, that show in 2+ years has had more face-lifts than Joan Rivers and Michael Jackson combined.

As for the rest of your fantasy scenario: Chuck Powell really is a talented guy, I think he would have done himself a great favor by keeping some of the other garbage off of his show and being more of a lone talent with support figures rather than letting others dominate his show... in other dayparts he'd be limited by the PD to doing a 30 second break and that's about all.

Tom Leykis... hahaha, as another person noted in this thread, he's toast. His act is as tired as his vocal chords. A toaster-talk version of the Howard Stern show... just what we need on a MUSIC STATION. Although since no one can really hear the Edge anyway, maybe that would be another great place to put Leykis. Thus far he's failed four times by my quick recollection in Phoenix following his exit from KFYI in 1989. He was back on KFYI syndicated and failed, on KHOT (an FM-talker that lasted four months, sound familiar?), on an AM station, can't remember if it was 1310 or 1100--whatever, it failed, on FREE-FM where it failed again.

I have said it before and I will continue to reiterate: If Tom Leykis were this huge ratings mega-star that some of you fanboys say he is, then ANY station in Phoenix would be proud to take him on, especially in the current landscape of the business, but he's not a revenue generator--as strip club ads, time shares with washed up actresses and male potency pills only generate so much money.

Hot talk... yes, let's keep resurrecting that nightmare.

 

[azenergyfan]

The ratings speak for themselves in regards to Leykis. You may not like him, yeah his act is old but if the ratings come in then who the hell cares if his act is old. The Edge ratings are horrible, they need to do something and in Free FM last book they were actually seeing an increase. The Talk format does take awhile to gain legs and CBS did not have the balls to stick with it. Yeah mistakes were made at Free FM but they were making progress with Carolla and Big O and Dukes. Leykis got the ratings and to your point why haven't other stations picked him up, well it would take some programmer with a set and we don't have any I guess.

 

[starburysun2k3]

According to Bruce St. James, he thinks that the Adam Carolla show is what is needed to get the Edge to that next level and bring in those ratings. Sounds to me like this is the final move the Edge will make to boost their ratings, otherwise they will probably give up. Time will tell.

 

[Legend City]

Nothing is more funny than watching Leykis fail in PHX.

The guy is subhuman, a completely talentless hack that aims as low as possible for the mouthbreathers that are out there.

Nothing worse on radio than "combover boy"

 

[ITSB]

If Bruce St. James thinks that Adam Carolla is the answer to get the Edge to the next level, he's on crack. Remember Adam's first foray into the Valley? Yeah, when he was on a station with advertising dollars and a superior stick behind it? Fell flat on his face. Management was all over Chuck for a while to shorten the breaks, to less than 3 minutes. Then they can the morning show, and replace it with a syndicated show with all music. Plain and simple, the Edge is done. Put it out of its misery and just simulcast another disappointing station, Power 98 on 103.9. Riviera management has done nothing right for that radio station. Can anyone think of anything wise they've done in the last 2 1/2 years?

 

[YelloIamJeff]

Man...I actually work at the station and have met Chuck on a few occasions.
He is talented, it's just a terrible way to have the show end.

Rest in Peace

Thanks for the laughs.

 

[hotpatrick2004]

I hate riviera for doing this. more syndicated shows and no more local flavor. it sucks.

Riviera is the worst thing that ever happened to the edge.
Scott please buy the station back!!!

Riviera is getting as bad as clear channel and citadel.

 

[ajhenderson]

He was on both 1100, in PMD, and 1310, IIRC during the week, then WW1's "best of Leykis" Sat/Sun late night.

Nothing is more funny than watching Leykis fail in PHX.

The guy is subhuman, a completely talentless hack that aims as low as possible for the mouthbreathers that are out there.

Nothing worse on radio than "combover boy"

You're right. A guy who's worked at WNWI, WRKO, KFI, and now syndicated for over a decade is a real no-talent loser.

 

[Legend City]

And, my point is that Leykis fails in PHX.

And, because of his ties to the valley, its pretty hilarious every time he fails here.

As for no talent loser....my opinion. I guess if I was 18, had a mullet and treated women like garbage, I'd be a big fan.

 

[Ultimajock]

And, my point is that Leykis fails in PHX.

...gee, that must be why he was #1 in the money demos the last book he was on 101.5? Some failure...

 

[FeeKnixRadio]

Change may be just want Edge needed though. If your a one share station it never hurts to get the other 99% that aren't listening to come back and give it a try again.

 

[Legend City]

And, my point is that Leykis fails in PHX.

...gee, that must be why he was #1 in the money demos the last book he was on 101.5? Some failure...

And, its been several months and no one has picked him up. If he is so great, someone would sign him back in a second.

Doncha think?

 

[Ultimajock]

And, my point is that Leykis fails in PHX.

...gee, that must be why he was #1 in the money demos the last book he was on 101.5? Some failure...

And, its been several months and no one has picked him up. If he is so great, someone would sign him back in a second.

Doncha think?

...not with the pinheads that run the industry right now. The vast majority of them are so clueless that they couldn't find fish at the Shedd Aquarium because they haven't been fried yet...

 

[ajhenderson]

And, my point is that Leykis fails in PHX.

...gee, that must be why he was #1 in the money demos the last book he was on 101.5? Some failure...

And, its been several months and no one has picked him up. If he is so great, someone would sign him back in a second.

Doncha think?

...not with the pinheads that run the industry right now. The vast majority of them are so clueless that they couldn't find fish at the Shedd Aquarium because they haven't been fried yet...

I don't think it's pinheads, it's the fact that the format he belongs on isn't itself a huge deal. Dr. Laura may do great on news/talk stations, but put her with the Satellite Sisters on an "advice talk" format and it won't work. There is no station for Leykis to fit into - KFYI, KTAR, etc. listeners don't want a distraction from red meat politics and newscasts, and FM music listeners don't want a talk show in a prime daypart. That leaves you with having to start another hot talk station, which, considering the talent outside of Leykis and even the marginal success of Carolla, doesn't leave much left. Try winning with only one successful daypart.

UltimaJock is right; Leykis may bomb on the east coast, but was #1 in one or more key demos in SD, Portland, Seattle, and others when he was bounced off. This "18 year mullet head" thing is a typical retort from people who don't like the show, but pick up a demographic report in LA and you'll see his audience is most likely to buy a luxury car. It's a kind of circus routine, where the morons calling in are entertainment for the highly-educated, affluent remaining 97% of the audience. For people like myself who are tired of listening to John and Ken talk about how some socialist candidate wants to tax us to death, or Hugh Hewitt talk about how George Bush is God, the entertainment of listening to 19 year olds who knocked up their girlfriend is a welcome relief.

 

[j henry waugh]

…KFYI, KTAR, etc. listeners don't want a distraction from red meat politics and newscasts, and FM music listeners don't want a talk show in a prime daypart.

What listeners?

They're departing in droves, and in few years, the average listener age is going to skew off the charts…

Meanwhile, terrestrial radio will keep churning the same crap out, as people flock to their .mp3 players and satellite receivers.

 

[ajhenderson]

…KFYI, KTAR, etc. listeners don't want a distraction from red meat politics and newscasts, and FM music listeners don't want a talk show in a prime daypart.

What listeners?

They're departing in droves, and in few years, the average listener age is going to skew off the charts…

Meanwhile, terrestrial radio will keep churning the same crap out, as people flock to their .mp3 players and satellite receivers.

You're right; they have no listeners. Get a grip.

 

[KMGX]

Apparently Legend City and myself (along with a couple other people) are in the minority on this thread. I really hate to belabor the point, because if you're a Leykis fan you wouldn't be able to see it objectively however one needs to come to the realization that simply because you have been in radio for 30 years that doesn't mean you're "talented" or "great". I'll digress momentarily however and mention again that I agree with many people that Chuck Powell is very talented. The "Morning Ritual" was at it's best when Vince was on board with Chuck, their ratings weren't bad--certainly not where they have been lately and the show was fun. With the shuffling of mediocre to substandard people behind Chuck the last year or so, the show has been reduced to a babbling collection of noise that didn't have much of a direction--not so much Chuck himself but the other players on the show.

You may try to spin it all you like, but Leykis fails in Phoenix. It is certainly understandable why he wouldn't work on 1100 or 1310--bad signals (at night especially) and nothing around his show to support it. However, he was on KHOT 100.3 FM where he had Stern to help prop him up and the station still went under, Stern stayed in Phoenix, while Leykis disappeared for quite some time. So, to those of you that said Leykis just wouldn't fit on a music format in a prime daypart, you are correct, but it's not because of the show as much as it is the fact that--once again--it fails in Phoenix and people think it's worthless.

In the above situation, Stern helped the Edge greatly--he had a 10+ share in the morning, while the rest of the station pulled a mighty 2 or so. I don't dispute that Leykis does well in Los Angeles, then again so does JACK-FM and that fails everywhere else, too. LA is a strange market--almost like the Bizarro world of radio; where HotAC doesn't make money, but alternative rock does... where washed up, vocally challenged topic/phony caller hot-talk hosts do well and real talent is shoved to the back-burner.

Phoenicians have spoken and the message should be clear, they don't like hot-talk, if two radio station collapses, numerous experiments with hot-talk shows and the fact that even half-way decent shows can't stay on the air haven't proven this point enough then I don't know what to tell you.