WBEN/TOM BAUERLE NEGOTIATIONS

[GeorgeKramer]

I haven't listened to Tom much over the past few weeks and I know he traditionally takes time off in July and August but I did catch a portion of his show today.

He threw in an interesting line about how he missed the Peter Frampton concert in Buffalo the other night because he was "very busy."

He then paused, snickered, and added, "you know, busy looking for another job."

Then in typical Bauerle fashion, he shrieked "Oh dear, did I say that out loud? Well... yeah.."

So do I sense some sort of a stallmate in his ongong negotiations with WBEN? This isn't the first time he's made that type of crack, and he's alluded to "other offers" in the past with small sippy comments that most of us insiders usually catch but the average listener probably doesn't pick up on.

What say you about this latest on-air stunt by Tom?

 

[SirRoxalot]

Buh-bye. I'm pretty sure that he doesn't have as much leverage as he thinks he does.

 

[Fenway1912]

Buh-bye. I'm pretty sure that he doesn't have as much leverage as he thinks he does.

He should call Howie Carr in Boston and they can both cry about Entercom.

 

[Mike Sheridan]

Buh-bye. I'm pretty sure that he doesn't have as much leverage as he thinks he does.

To have leverage he needs another station to go to that could pay more. I don't see that. Well paid talents the last few years have been shown the door. Radio is a tough business!

 

[GeorgeKramer]

Bauerle is not on the air today. Brad Riter is filling in.

 

[SirRoxalot]

Heh. You don't think that's a calculated move, do you?

 

[GeorgeKramer]

The Townsquare sales rep that I still talk to sent me an e-mail this morning and said the Bauerle negotiations are the buzz in his building and of course over at 500 Corporate Parkway.

Bauerle believes he is worthy of a pay raise. How significant a pay hike? Only Tom and the bean counters at Entercom know that, but clearly something is up if he's making snide comments and has let it be known to certain people in the industry that he is unhappy.

Larry Robb has got to be thrilled to not be involved in this negotiation process in any capacity.

Tim Wenger is a big fan of Bauerle's, at least last I knew, but there may be a limit on what type of increase they can fork over.

 

[SirRoxalot]

Larry Robb would never have been involved in this negotiation. This is strictly Greg Ried territory. Wenger is, at best, the messenger boy between the two - if he's involved at all.

 

[Philip_Airtime]

Well, Tom better be prepared to leave the area if he presses his salary demands. He has zero leverage in this market. I'm thinking Entercom could easily replace him with Ron Dobson or Brad Riter without a significant drop in ratings.

 

[Fenway1912]

Well, Tom better be prepared to leave the area if he presses his salary demands. He has zero leverage in this market. I'm thinking Entercom could easily replace him with Ron Dobson or Brad Riter without a significant drop in ratings.

Entercom has been cutting 'expenses' like crazy everywhere.

Part of the problem is the Red Sox radio contract that they overbid on a few years ago. They also lost a revenue stream a year ago when they killed Mike-FM to simulcast WEEI on FM in Boston.

 

[Element9]

Objectively speaking, Bauerle could work in a larger market, say, a mid-western market that's similar in make-up to Buffalo. Chicago? Milwaukee? St. Louis? If there was a gig open. But there aren't many openings and those that exist are usually filled by market locals. Why? Because there are plenty of out-of-work talkers who are as good or better than Tommy B.

But the fact is, his ratings are the best on the station. He out-performs the station, beats morning drive and carries middays (#3 Adults 35-64, Spring 2012, although down a share from Winter '12) posting better hour-by-hour ratings than Rush. He smokes the WBFO-WNED simulcast (another thread) by a 4:1 margin. Unless he becomes totally unreasonable, he has some leverage. But it could be, as Fenway suggested, WBEN made TB a lowball offer on his contract renewal and said, "Take it or leave it."

The short one probably knows Beach makes 30-50k more than he makes and wants parity because his ratings are better than Beach's and his three hour gasfest might even out-bill PM drive. Might. Plus, he's younger than Beach, who must be around 70-72. TB has more miles left on the odometer, too. As much as I may disagree with his stance and condescending attitude, the-small-one-who-wishes-he-were-the-tall-one does his job well within the context of commercial AM talk as it's done these days.

WBEN listeners are rabid right wingers. They're locked on the station. Dobson could carry the weight in midday with minimal fallout, but he's more a libertarian than a teapartier. Most of WBEN's talk show listeners don't understand the difference. Dobson would occasionally piss them off, but they'd probably stick around. Where are they gonna go? WBFO? CFRB? WYSL? WHAM? Don't think so. Besides, Dobson knows how to work the format. Riter's good, but needs more seasoning. He's not ready yet. Someday.

If this isn't a promotional ploy to get listeners and radio dorks on this board speculating, it's an interesting gamble. Like playing chicken on Maple road. Tommy B! Watch out for that Buick!

 

[Fenway1912]

Entercom's latest financial sheet

Second Quarter Highlights
 Net revenues for the quarter were flat at $104.6 million
 Station expenses decreased 5% to $67.6 million
 Station operating income increased 10% to $37.0 million

http://www.entercom.com/docs/ETM_Q2_12_Earnings_Release.pdf


Entercom doesn't even list Buffalo as one of their major markets.

Entercom Communications Corp., led by President and CEO David Field, is one of the five largest
radio broadcasting companies in the United States, with a nationwide portfolio of 111 stations in 23
markets, including San Francisco, Boston, Seattle, Denver, Portland, Sacramento and Kansas City.

The bean counters in Philly look at Buffalo the same as they go Rochester or Greenville.

Entercom just picked up a 2 year option on Howie Carr at WRKO partly because Clear Channel killed a rival talk station and Rush goes back to RKO.

They won't sell WWKB simply to protect WBEN. Simple fact a WBEN listener will stay put. He has no leverage.

 

[Element9]

Entercom just picked up a 2 year option on Howie Carr at WRKO partly because Clear Channel killed a rival talk station and Rush goes back to RKO.

Word was Howie wanted out of RKO to play his trade at WTKK, not 1200. Entercom blocked that move.

They won't sell WWKB simply to protect WBEN.

Yeah, we get it. We've been here a while. Old news.

Simple fact a WBEN listener will stay put. He has no leverage.

It may be true that Entercom is drawing the line. TB does a number of live spots for clients, which generates revenue. Will the clients stay if TB mans-up and walks? Does it matter? Makes no difference to me, but it's good theater... and sparks this board.

 

[SirRoxalot]

My guess is that Greg Greed will tell Bauerle that the budget doesn't allow the short one to get Beach money until Beach finally hangs up the headphones. Tommy-boy is the likely replacement once Sandy's done, with local management deciding who's ready to do mid-days. In the meantime, expect them to hear more of Riter and Dobson. The truth is, if WBEN wants to get younger demos, Riter and Dobson are more likely to attract those listeners - unless Entercom takes a run at Shredd and Ragan.

And, as Fenway says, where else are typical WBEN listeners going to go?

 

[Fenway1912]

Entercom just picked up a 2 year option on Howie Carr at Word was Howie wanted out of RKO to play his trade at WTKK, not 1200. Entercom blocked that move.

Everybody in Boston thought that Clear Channel was going to simulcast Talk 1200 on 101.7 which they just bought - but instead went to a Jack-FM format called 'The Harbor' similar to 'The Lake' in Cleveland and Charlotte.

What nobody expected was CC killing the talk station for what now appears to be a comedy format. http://www.gaffe1200.com/pages/gaffe/

Howie was hoping to get into a bidding war and Entercom would cut him loose but with getting Rush back they will invest 2 more years with the format.

The Red Sox contract is killing the Entercom Boston cluster. WAAF just fired all the weekend staff to cut costs.

 

[TheBigA]

Talk radio is in desperate need of a make-over. There are several things killing it right now. Start with the switch from AQH to cume as the rating of choice in PPM markets (yes I know Buffalo is still diary). The second thing is the rising age of the talk radio listener. The third thing is the continued fall-out from the advertising reaction to the Rush-female comments. (Yes that's still an issue for national advertisers) The fourth is the decline of AM radio usage by the prime target demo. So in my view, to continue to increase salaries of talk show hosts at a time when ratings and revenue for their shows is falling is like increasing government subsidies to dying industries. We know what those hosts think of that.

 

[Element9]

I am in fundamental agreement with Fenway. And TBA makes valid points regarding the condition of commercial talk radio as it's known these days.

Good lord. Send up a flare. Mark the calendar. Buy a lottery ticket.

But.

Bauerle (who is NOT my bowl of chilli) has both cume and quarter hours going for him. He puts up numbers. His direct in-format competition, the (often compelling and informative) midday NPR talk programming on WNED-WBFO, is not living up to expectations.

Entercom may be bleeding money in Boston, adversely affecting the alignment of the corporate stars, planets and outposts like Buffalo, one of Entercom's smaller markets. I've noticed it rarely gets mentioned when corporate hands out props for revenue production in the quarterlies.

And there's also one very important thing that has yet to be discussed: Buffalo Bills football on WGR. The financial challenges presented by radio rights = Large Millions. This could be the reason the company may be presenting Tommy boy with a take-it-or-leave-it proposition, if this is in fact the case.

We're working on one person's initial post and coming to a number of conclusions, none of which may be correct, although some may fall inside the target zone.

 

[GeorgeKramer]

I like Bauerle and think he should stay and Entercom should reward him with some type of pay hike, but probably not what he is asking for.

With all of that being said, how about the idea of one of these individuals taking Tom's spot if he walks:

Ron Dobson
Larry Hunter
Linda Pellegrino
Mike Schopp
Brad Riter
Kathy Weppner
Allan Harris
Mylous Hairston

 

[jas2525]

I like Bauerle and think he should stay and Entercom should reward him with some type of pay hike, but probably not what he is asking for.

With all of that being said, how about the idea of one of these individuals taking Tom's spot if he walks:

Ron Dobson YES
Larry Hunter NO
Linda Pellegrino WHY?
Mike Schopp TOO MELLOW
Brad Riter MAYBE
Kathy Weppner WOW, REALLY?
Allan Harris WHY?
Mylous Hairston JOKING, RIGHT?

 

[The Voice of Reason]

In today's broadcasting environment it doesn't matter how good someone is. A number of companies have placed a limit on salaries and benefits. Many of these same companies have also replaced people with others who will work for less.

It all comes to the bottom line folks.

Also remember the old addage that once someone is gone from the airwaves for six months or a year most of the viewing or listening public will forget that person.