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The latest Mark Madden controversy-

P

Pratte4Life

For those of you who haven't heard about it-

http://post-gazette.com/pg/08144/884238-13.stm

However, today I tuned into ESPN 1250 and he was not on the air. His show was hosted by Joe DeStio and Ken Laird, I believe.

I do not know if that was by design- if Madden had a scheduled day off- or if it is a result of this latest controversy.

I will say the UFO intro and regular bumpers were a part of the show, and the hosts were saying they were in for Madden. His commercial announcements are still running.

So it appears he is still a part of the station at this point.

Madden's comments on Sen. Kennedy are nothing new for him. This is the day before the first Stanley Cup appearance of the Penguins since Madden has become popular and to a lot of people this is akin to Myron Cope not doing a talk show before a Steelers' Super Bowl appearance.

So on this day, the day we would want to hear him speak more than ever, it is now decided he's not worthy of being on the air?

I'm not defending his comments. But how is it that for 10 years Madden was embraced by all parties considered and now he is not?
 
What else would you expect from the likes of Mark Madden. I doubt he's been fired and was taking a scheduled day off today. This guy should have been fired long ago for his antics but good ratings mean revenue.
 
Pratte4Life said:
But how is it that for 10 years Madden was embraced by all parties considered and now he is not?
Click to expand...

Because he's now on the radar screen of ESPN corporate management in Bristol, after previous listener complaints.
 
Parttimer said:
Pratte4Life said:
But how is it that for 10 years Madden was embraced by all parties considered and now he is not?
Click to expand...

Because he's now on the radar screen of ESPN corporate management in Bristol, after previous listener complaints.
Click to expand...

If ESPN Radio were to fire Mark Madden, would they have to pay out the remaining 4 years on his contract?
 
Mark Madden is still up on the website, so perhaps those predicting his demise are speaking too soon.

However, a comment on being on ESPN Corporate's radar after listener complaints.

ESPN knew about Madden's content for more than a decade. They sold off on it. They even promoted him briefly to host a Sunday morning national sports talk show.

Nobody- not even Mark himself- would deny a lot of his show is ugly. Was his crack on Sen. Kennedy any uglier than when he signed off on a guest who said Roberto Clemente was actually alive and living as a Latin drug lord?

Even when it is considered the comment was through a trumped-up guest and done tongue-in-cheek, it simply was a bit in equally bad taste.

Where was this complaining listener then? Where was this listener when the show started a decade ago with lots of references to pornography?

ESPN signed off on it for years. They now are surprised to hear that he's risque?

Please.

Mark makes himself out to be a less-than-sympathetic figure at times. Personally I think he should reinvent himself and lose the angry schtick. His knowledge is such he could succeed without trying to shock us.

But I will be sympathetic to him here. A listener calls him out- akin to Dr. Johnny Fever's reference to a listener playing records in a dark room backwards so he can cry out "THERE'S A NAUGHTY WORD!"

If someone was going to call him out, it should have been management and it should have been in the '90s.
 
I didn't realize I said it WAS over, Boss.

"Perhaps" is not a word to use before a definitive declaration.

The website also doesn't feature a list of guests for Mark Madden's Monday show. It still has last Thursday's guests up.

I will make this definitive declaration, however. Whatever happens here, you get the feeling EVENTUALLY this will be the way Madden goes out at ESPN 1250.

That's why he's either got to either reinvent himself or move on.
 
Pratte4Life said:
ESPN signed off on it for years. They now are surprised to hear that he's risque?
Click to expand...

In the recent ownership change the ESPN owned & operated stations came under more direct control of ESPN management in Bristol. Pittsburgh management tolerated Madden's act but this doesn't fly with the suits in CT.
 
The PD at then-WTAE at the time, Bruce Gilbert, went on to run the ESPN Radio network. He knew what was going on.

Ownership change or no, it's just too easy of an excuse.
 
Parttimer said:
Pittsburgh management tolerated Madden's act but this doesn't fly with the suits in CT.
Click to expand...

Uhh... I think I said that Bruce Gilbert knew what was going on...... and whatether it's the answer you wanted to hear or not, the rest of the story is that Bristol is watching the locals much more closely than before.
 
That hasn't been disclosed yet.

My guess, and it's just a guess, is that ESPN corporate is deciding whether he comes back at all. Make him disappear for a week, then get things in place for his replacement.
 
Boss Radio said:
That hasn't been disclosed yet.

My guess, and it's just a guess, is that ESPN corporate is deciding whether he comes back at all. Make him disappear for a week, then get things in place for his replacement.
Click to expand...

I noticed today ESPN had on Chris Mack and Eddie Crow in Madden's slot. Another interested thing I noticed on ESPN radio today was Jim Colony was not doing the news.

If ESPN were to dismiss Mark Madden, how would Junker and Crow fair in the afternoon slot?
 
I think the ratings would be about the same with Junker and Crow, and revenue would probably be better because they could go after the advertisers who won't touch Madden's content.

I'm sure they've had a Plan B in mind since they cracked down on Madden last year.

One possible hold-up is Junker really doesn't want to do a daily talk show since he's been back on TV. He's working a lot of seven day weeks, and that's tough on anybody, especially so for a guy with young kids.
 
If you don't like what Madden said, or, typically says, don't listen to him. I know I wouldn't. When you suspend people for saying something idiotic, you invariably reward them for it. Even if he gets fired for what he said, he'll get another job, write a book, become a martyr for free speech, etc . . . On the other hand, if he gets fired for bad ratings because people tune him out, he pays a price. So if he offended you, here's a thought: Don't listen to his show! Why is this impossible to grasp for some?
 
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