Two Lineup Changes

[Knisha1]

Buckhead gone from the B...got transferred to Detroit supposedly.

Ellis not on WPGB...not sure what is going on there.

Discuss.

 

[Pratte4Life]

Buckhead moving to Detroit seems to be the case of a DJ moving to a larger market. If that's what he wants, congrats to him.

Ellis' departure, if he is departed, is the shocker. I heard on 104.7 earlier in the day that Savage would be on at 6 p.m. and was curious as to what was going on, checked the website, saw where his show is still listed in the lineup but I don't see his bio on the site.

No mention in the papers as of yet.

All I can think of is it is a cost-cutting move or the show had become difficult to sell as it was the only sports show on a political talk station. Mark Madden brought a name and presumably a younger audience. ESPN 1250 had to have a sales staff that focuses on sports, whereas the sales staff for 104.7 may be more focused on Rush, Beck, Hannitty, etc. I remember when I was a sports talk show host on a music station, and, at the risk of sounding like sour grapes, the sales staff had absolutely no idea how to sell a sports talk show. They'd never had one to sell before and didn't know what the audience was. I kept running ads for funeral homes (and I'll thank you to hold your comments on "how appropriate for your show, P4L!").

Tunch and Wolf had their last show last week, but I assumed it was because Steelers' season was over. Could Clear Channel be cutting back sportscasters instead?

Or could Ellis be moving to WBGG?

If Ellis is out at 104.7, I would be surprised if he was out for too long. You get the idea another station might pick him up.

I don't mean to encourage this, but the way the industry is and depending on contracts, one wonders if ESPN 1250 might not be considering dropping "The Drive" and picking up Ellis in order to pay one salary instead of three if Ellis is available.


Also, what about KDKA? His style would seem to fit in well with them if he's a free agent.

Worst comes to worst, you get the feeling he could go back home to WBVP or the Ambridge AM (whose call letters aren't coming to mind right away). They've always been heavy on sports.

The negative thing about this for 104.7 is they no longer have any real local programming, save for the Pirates. Quinn and Rose deals more with national issues than local, and they are syndicated.

 

[mic on the road]

I just went to the WPGB website and he was not listed when I clicked the on-air tab or on the podcast page.
I would hate to see "The Drive" go away and be replaced with Ellis.
 

 

[Parttimer]

Buckhead moving to Detroit seems to be the case of a DJ moving to a larger market. If that's what he wants, congrats to him.

It's a budget cut. See Snafu's prediction about B94. CBS is dumping salaries in several markets.

Ellis' departure, if he is departed, is the shocker. I heard on 104.7 earlier in the day that Savage would be on at 6 p.m. and was curious as to what was going on, checked the website, saw where his show is still listed in the lineup but I don't see his bio on the site.

No mention in the papers as of yet.

All I can think of is it is a cost-cutting move or the show had become difficult to sell as it was the only sports show on a political talk station. Mark Madden brought a name and presumably a younger audience. ESPN 1250 had to have a sales staff that focuses on sports, whereas the sales staff for 104.7 may be more focused on Rush, Beck, Hannitty, etc. I remember when I was a sports talk show host on a music station, and, at the risk of sounding like sour grapes, the sales staff had absolutely no idea how to sell a sports talk show. They'd never had one to sell before and didn't know what the audience was. I kept running ads for funeral homes (and I'll thank you to hold your comments on "how appropriate for your show, P4L!").

I think his contract was probably up. I would not rule out seeing him end up on an all-sports 105.9, or a new competing FM sports talk station.

Tunch and Wolf had their last show last week, but I assumed it was because Steelers' season was over. Could Clear Channel be cutting back sportscasters instead?

I think Tunch and Wolf bought their time slot the last two seasons.

Worst comes to worst, you get the feeling he could go back home to WBVP or the Ambridge AM (whose call letters aren't coming to mind right away). They've always been heavy on sports.

Somehow I think if it came to working for what they could pay him, he'd pass.

The negative thing about this for 104.7 is they no longer have any real local programming, save for the Pirates. Quinn and Rose deals more with national issues than local, and they are syndicated.

I turned on Quinn when the G20 was here and he was ranting about the health care bill. But he considers himself a national show, period.

 

[CaliRadioGuy]

Would this mean they will be carrying Savage live now since they are looking to move him to 6pm since he is (well, was) broadcasting live from the Bay Area 3-6pm Pacific Time? Anyway, I wonder what FM News Talk will put in that new two hour overlap.

 

[clangham]

Smiziks blog says the axe dropped on Cannon;

http://community.post-gazette.com/blogs/bobsmizik/archive/2010/01/11/ellis-cannon-out-at-104-7.aspx

 

[livingfruitvirus]

Would this mean they will be carrying Savage live now since they are looking to move him to 6pm since he is (well, was) broadcasting live from the Bay Area 3-6pm Pacific Time? Anyway, I wonder what FM News Talk will put in that new two hour overlap.

Yep. Savage will be live 6-9 PM. 9-11 PM is a Glenn Beck rerun.

So this makes WPGB weekdays all syndication now.

 

[Pratte4Life]

Good point on the pay with WBVP and such, but the Cannons have contributed to other Beaver County media entities, such as the Times.

If they could make PSR a financinal success, then I wouldn't bet against Ellis even on a small AM in their hometown being able to make money if they had a hand in sales.

 

[pman44]

Ellis is quite simply the best sports radio talk show host since Myron. Would love to see him move back to 1250 and have them dump cluster-chump Ken Laird from the 6 slot.

I'm also curious as to what happens with the Pirates, since I believe thier contract included having a lead-in show so that they weren't the only sports presence on that station. Not that they have a ton of leverage.

 

[COPANUT]

Ellis is quite simply the best sports radio talk show host since Myron. .

To each his own, I believe him to be the worst there is, I'd rather listen to Thor Tolo.

 

[Knisha1]

They still have Rocco Demarro. I could see some combination of him and Greg Linnelli doing all the pre and post-game Pirates things.

 

[pman44]

Oooh, Thor Tolo? That's pretty low, lol. I'd be hard pressed to name 5 local sports talk people who were less entertaining and less knowledgeable than Thor. Regardless if you like his style or not, you have to admit Ellis at least knows his stuff.

 

[chipper]

Another sad move by Cheap Channel!!!!!!!!!!

 

[Snafu]

Greg and Rocco both work cheap. That is a very good quality at Clear Channel these days.

This is all about $ and cents. Clear Channel is on the verge of default and are slicing every last penny out of underperforming assets.

 

[cingram]

This is all about $ and cents. Clear Channel is on the verge of default and are slicing every last penny out of underperforming assets.

Except, to the best of my knowledge, the Pittsburgh cluster has been considerably overperforming for some time.

C.

 

[FreddyE1977]

Really surprising. I liked E and he seemed to be doing well in the ratings.
Likely a cost-cutting move, or perhaps they are going to try and move 104.7
totally away from sports (in which case, should we look for the Pirates to turn
up on another CC frequency?)

The move I expected them to make was to drop Savage entirely. Seems to me he has
jumped the shark some time ago. Thought they might actually expand the sports talk
and/or pick up Mark Levin or some other syndicated political show.

 

[california]

Would love to see ellis go where the DRIVE is now. That show is still a train wreck to me. Or at least put him on for the HERD....

 

[pman44]

Would love to see ellis go where the DRIVE is now. That show is still a train wreck to me. Or at least put him on for the HERD....

I would listen to Ellis over anyone at 1250. The DRIVE has been listenable during the Steeler season. Cowherd is totally unlistenable. With some of the stupid things he says, you hope he's kidding, but you know he's not.

 

[radiogeek07]

Look for 104.7 to pick up Levin eventually, as basically he and Hannity are now packaged together. Hannity 3-6, Levin 6-9, Savage 9-mid, Coast to Coast mid-...

 

[Parttimer]

Would love to see ellis go where the DRIVE is now. That show is still a train wreck to me. Or at least put him on for the HERD....

I would listen to Ellis over anyone at 1250. The DRIVE has been listenable during the Steeler season. Cowherd is totally unlistenable. With some of the stupid things he says, you hope he's kidding, but you know he's not.

Cowherd is one of my favorite shows, and I know one high-ranking programmer who thinks he is one of the top hosts in the country right now. I'll grant you that there are some gaps in his preparation but in my book he's entertaining enough to make up for it. However, he will never work here because this market only wants to hear old-school Stan and Guy type stuff. (Cowherd is the West Coast morning show for LA, Seattle and Phoenix... he also pulls good numbers in Atlanta).

On the few occasions that I've tried to listen to the Drive, hearing Paulsen trying to break down X's and O's and talking about the Titans' corners in depth might hold the hard-core audience but it means the station will never break out beyond that narrow realm. and that's too bad, beacuse we all know Scott can be entertaining on other levels as well.