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The story of WGSO. What is the story with WGSO?

G

GarretBreedlove

Uh...help?

What is going on with this station which if they had any kind of interesting talent would be (could be?) a major player in the New Orleans radio community?

Question # 1-What happened to the former GM Mike Starr? This was his baby, his creation, his dream, so what happened to him not being there any more?

Question # 2-Beyond Crourer, who has a little talent, why is the rest of the lineup do dreadful?

Question # 3-Does Bernie Cyrus, who hosts possibly the worst ever radio show in the history of talk radio at anytime, anywhere, does this jag off have pictures of someone over there than enables him to keep the highly lucrative revenue driving afternoon show?

Question # 4-It's hard for me to tell, are they accruing any substantive numbers in arbitron and are they driving stead sales across the lake?

Question # 5-Isn't it time to cut out the entire north shore thingie they have going on and become a station that covers all shores including whats going on inside Ray's big city?

Request: Any news or possible theories are more than welcomed, and if you are a WGSO insider, please do tell of what the hallways are filled with over at location north shore headquarters.

Thank you!
 
Here's my answers.

1. Smart move for him.

2. Because the talent pool here is very, very shallow.

3. See answer above. This is why the whole "only local people can host talk shows in this town" argument makes no sense to me.

4. Nope.

5. They pretty much talk about Southshore stuff all the time anyways. The "Voice of the Northshore" was a horrible idea for a talk gimmick, especially when they basically hired a bunch of people who would talk about anything but.

And with signal...forget it. I'm amazed it has made it this long without going all syndicated talk. Maybe they're just hoping Salem will buy it and put their talk format on it 24/7.
 
I'll tell you the story from what i've heard...The new GM, who is nicknamed the albino a-hole, is now the 4th (count 'em!) GM they've had in less than a year.

He ran off or got rid of most of the decent weekend shows (Movie talk, Buster Ambrosia's show, the Wine show...more to follow). He began selling off blocks of time to any tom dick or harry (haha) who has a wallet and a voice to come do radio. You should hear some of those shows! And you thought Cyrus was bad! Wait til you hear the Optometry Hour at 12 noon...whoa nelly.

I hear they're allegedly looking for someone to replace Ed Clancy who's a fossil...Cyrus is fortunate that his attorney is also one of the owners. But you're right, he is perhaps the worst talk show host in the history of new orleans radio.

If you go searching for Arbitron ratings, out of 26 stations in New orleans metro area, WGSO doesn't show up; the worst bottom feeder station has a 0.4 rating so they're not even pulling that in.

Word has it that more people are looking to bail out of that titanic of a radio station...Voice of the Northshore!! What a joke, you can't even hear it on the north shore! Amateurs never learn...

THey are just trying to make a buck any way they can...wait until the poor saps who are buying air time at WGSO realize that they can get the same deal at WIST and can actually be on a station that can be heard and even has ratings (even if they're low).
 
1). Mike Starr got sick. I don't believe he's involved in the day-to-day anymore, and hasn't been for some time.

2). Including Crouere, no one except Trahan (and why are they doing a 1 hour sports show at 11am? Crouere's show has no energy.

3). Bernie Cyrus is NOT the worst show in radio. Maybe 2nd or 3rd worst. The worst show on local radio is the Errol Laborde show. Kiss My Gumbo, Kaare Johnson, Ed Clancy, Bernie, and anything with Mitchell or Deke is tied for 2nd.

4). No ratings.

5). "The Voice Of The Northshore" could have worked if you could actually hear them on the Northshore. But, when Ed Clancy's talking about the puppet show at Kenner's Rivertown, you kind of throw any hope of getting a Northshore audience, or any audience, out the window.

I don't know how they sell it, but they do have advertisers, although you can scrape together the change in your pocket and get a spot on 990.

By the way, heard the Wine Show is moving to 690. Can't wait for that. Weekends on 690 are the BLACK HOLE of New Orleans Radio. A bad sports show that no one calls in to, running Errol Laborde 3 times,the husband/wife from Tales of the Cocktail, and now Kiss My Gumbo (where the host talks to her neighbors and the groom who has her husband in the wedding party). I'm all for LOCAL, but LOCAL doesn't mean just the block you live on!
 
What? Cyrus' lawyer is one of the owners? No wonder this clown gets to keep coming back one day after the next.

How can you be on your 4th GM in less than a year?

Who is the gsm?

How much are they selling spots for?

Their website far outdistances anything they actually have on the radio.

I could go on and on about this new and not improved morning team over at WRNO, but that will have to wait for another day.

By the way, the "team" in the morning at WRNO isn't very good. They're bad. REALLY bad.
 
I forgot about the RNO Morning and Afternoon Shows. Although I would say that Cyrus is worse than Osterlind, but not by much.

4 GM's because their are too many owners.

I've heard from several businesses that you can get spots on WGSO for single-digits. Ken Trahan probably bills 1/2 of what goes on the air (at WIST, Kaare and Eric bill as much as the station's now single salesperson).

The GSM at WGSO is Harry Finch. I haven't heard anything bad about him. I think he does the best he can with what he has. If you look at their advertisers, they have a better list than WIST and more people in the field. Whether those investments pay off or not, time will tell. How long can WGSO or WIST (or WRNO) keep selling a bad product, and get away with it? Sooner or later, when you're not delivering results, it doesn't matter what the spots cost.

WIST doesn't have a GSM.
 
Nolaradiobuff,

Trust me, there's plenty of bad things to say about finch...he's the new GM, the albino a-hole. I've heard everybody over there HATES him and are looking to bail on the station...

I heard Trahan is going to work for neworleans.com and is not going to be the PD anymore. Most of the advertisers they have they got at $5 a spot...anyone can advertise for that. Trahan is keeping that station alive between UNO sports, his prep show and his own show. Better not pi** him off or else the value of GSO will be worth even less than nothing.

I'm guessing they are so desperate for money they will whore out the station to anyone with some extra $$$. If they ever get to a break even situation, they'll likely sell the station immediately and get out of the business. That is if they're smart. Then again, they have cyrus on the radio in the drive time afternoon...how smart is that?

Errol Laborde I haven't heard, but at least he can write and that in my mind says he has talent. I've heard Cyrus and trust me, he's awful...a no-talent who thinks he has talent. If it wasn't for his buddies calling into his show, he'd have no callers.

I haven't heard the shows on WIST on the weekend, but they are probably paying for their air time so they don't care if they sound horrible.
 
Remember, some of the owners of WGSO also own WASO 730am....So we wonder what will become of that as they have until August to put the station back on the air
 
The only thing that I can confirm about 730 by driving along 190 is the building and property is for sale. The station, or stations, I don't know.
 
I follow the happenings of virtually all Gulf Coast area radio stations. This one (much more than WIST) puzzles me more than any other. I see more potential here than a lot of other people I guess.
 
If I remember correctly, WASO is licensed for 250 watts. It, like WGSO, will be a non-factor.

The only hope would be to simulcast to fill-in some of the Northshore that WGSO is weak in. But, why waste the money and effort?
 
Good grief. This station is great. Bernie is perhaps the best talk show host in the city. I mean, “What’s your favorite hamburger”? Now, THAT’S a great topic. I hear he is planning a show next week - which New Orleans band has done the best cover of “Louie, Louie”?

As for Clancy, well, let’s just call him “The Dean.” He is as pithy, snappy, “on the ball,” insightful, and topical as he has ever been. In fact, his current work is some of the best since he and Marconi invented radio.

Let’s see, what else. Oh, yeah, Anne Dale. Why in the world didn’t anyone put her on the radio before this? I mean, the Jewelry Hour - what can I say? Brilliant. Wonder if she is in line to replace Couric? Or, maybe Fox and Friends?

As for the owners. Wow. Bash Entercom and CC all you want, but these guys are the best. I hear that Microsoft is wanting to take over the station, since nobody around does it better. But, Microsoft offered $.07, and the owners wouldn’t take a penny less than a dime. Let’s see how this one plays out - should be interesting.

And finally, the only negative is Trahan. I mean, compared to the others, he has no talent, is never on top of anything, can’t sell heaters to eskimos, never has any good ideas, always gets the scores wrong, and basically just screws everything up. Don’t know why they keep him around.

Wait, I’ve got it! Wilkie! That’s the ticket! Bring Wilkie in to replace Trahan, and this station will set records. Yes, that’s it.

Now, where is JR when we need him?
 
Did you ever scratch your head and ask yourself just how was WSGO able to hire Bernie, Clancy, Jeff, Ken and the rest? Easy answer. Entercom, CC and WIST chose first, and got those worth having WGSO got what was left over. We should be kind to the owners...they're saving tax payer money on food stamps and welfare for washed up old has beens and never was's.
 
Ronn said:
Did you ever scratch your head and ask yourself just how was WSGO able to hire Bernie, Clancy, Jeff, Ken and the rest? Easy answer. Entercom, CC and WIST chose first, and got those worth having WGSO got what was left over. We should be kind to the owners...they're saving tax payer money on food stamps and welfare for washed up old has beens and never was's.
Click to expand...

I don't know if truer words were ever spoken on this board.
 
You folks might want to check out the silent KMRL (FM) in Buras-- the principals of WGSO are in on the purchase as "New Orleans Quality Media." They want to move the transmitter, increase power. See the contour map in the attachment to their application in the CDBS.
 
Here is some interesting info on New Orleans' troubles with being able to construct said station...
http://fjallfoss.fcc.gov/cgi-bin/ws...xt=25&appn=101228534&formid=911&fac_num=16378

Here is some interesting info however on their application:
http://fjallfoss.fcc.gov/cgi-bin/ws...xt=25&appn=101211677&formid=314&fac_num=16378
NOQR DESIRES TO USE EDUCATIONAL MEANS TO COMBAT SOCIAL ILLS SUCH AS DRUG ABUSE, TEEN PREGNANCY AND STREET CRIME THAT IT BELIEVES ARE RELATED TO A DECLINE OF THE TRADITIONAL FAMILY UNIT
Click to expand...

But pattern looks a lot a like one of a certain 104.5 pre K however
http://www.fcc.gov/fcc-bin/FMTV-service-area?x=FM1201108.html

Especially since it's listed as going in at WTIX's tower....
 
Some great points through all of the sarcasm and giggles here.

The one thing that isn't in dispute is that the talent is so uninteresting that I cannot understand how they can present this station as something of value to any sponsor who may be willing to bite. The value isn't to be found with a stable of people who have no personality, nothing to say, and no allure to speak of.

Finally some talk about "ownership"? Who exactly calls the shots and owns this station?
 
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