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WBZ-AM Employees must be worried

DavidEduardo said:


KFBK is, on average, 3rd in 35-54 in Sacramento and is overall 3rd in 12+. It is about 50% higher rated than the public station... and that despite being an AM.
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That makes sense, as Sacramento is a pretty conservative area.

Getting back to WBZ, I also can't imagine iHeart ditching the news/traffic/weather a.m. drive to p.m. drive programming for syndicated talk, nor can I see 8-midnight host Dan Rea, a conservative, being shown the door. I do wonder about the overnight host, Bradley Jay, whose show is largely apolitical or even nonpolitical, as the station's overnight shows have nearly always been. Could a push toward right-wing talk be in the offing for the graveyard shift, either locally or through Premiere Networks syndicated conservative talk?
 
CTListener said:
Could a push toward right-wing talk be in the offing for the graveyard shift, either locally or through Premiere Networks syndicated conservative talk?
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One option no one thinks about: Why not syndicate some of the local talk hosts from WBZ or WRKO?

If you look at the talk offerings from Premiere, outside of Limbaugh, Hannity, and Beck, there's not much else. They syndicate Bill Handle from KFI. They syndicate Bill Cunningham from WLW. Clyde Lewis from KXL. Why not some of the hosts from Boston?
 
TheBigA said:
One option no one thinks about: Why not syndicate some of the local talk hosts from WBZ or WRKO?

If you look at the talk offerings from Premiere, outside of Limbaugh, Hannity, and Beck, there's not much else. They syndicate Bill Handle from KFI. They syndicate Bill Cunningham from WLW. Clyde Lewis from KXL. Why not some of the hosts from Boston?
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Howie Carr (WRKO) is on a few other stations around New England, but he is more effective talking about Boston and Massachusetts politics than national politics, IMO. Nationally, he doesn't have the chops of a Limbaugh or a Beck or even -- going off the deep end -- a Michael Savage. I can definitely see Rea, who seems much more comfortable as a big-picture conservative, doing OK as a syndicated host, though.

Speaking of Savage, does his show even run in Boston? Hearing him on BZ would really be a sign-of-the-apocalypse moment for BZ and its longtime listeners.

Funny, I remember listening to BZ in my college dorm room in upstate NY in the mid-'70s and hearing Dan Rea (just starting out, fresh from Young Americans for Freedom) and Robin Young (who was doing a 1-5 a.m. Sunday show, her first commercial radio gig). Kind of mind-boggling that I can still listen to them on the radio today. Who knew?
 
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Armstrong and Getty on WBZ? Well that show is produced by KSTE Sacramento the Iheart owned station in the Valley but then again Iheart will find better talk show hosts that fits with WBZ at non drive hours though. I can see WBZ under Iheart management using the KFBK schedule format where there's drive time news and Non drive time talk hosts.

I don't see A&G fitting with WBZ for now though until proven otherwise.
 
TheBigA said:
Savage works for Cumulus, so I doubt very much you'll hear him on WBZ.
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I don't think he'll end up on WBZ, but not because of ownership, rather fit for the station. Cumulus wouldn't be serving their clients if they didn't air a syndicated program the own they rights to in a major market just because of said station's owner.
 
mistermicrophone said:
Cumulus wouldn't be serving their clients if they didn't air a syndicated program the own they rights to in a major market just because of said station's owner.
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I'm sure Cumulus would LOVE to get Savage on WBZ. But why would iHeart want to help Cumulus make money? Especially when they have so many of their own people available? TTBOMK Savage isn't on ANY iHeart station. They'd rather have their own local host than bring in outside syndication. For that same reason, I don't expect Dave Ramsey to stay on WRKO.
 
Isn't Kuhner on Coast to Coast from 12 to 3p. After all, his ratings are through the roof. It is impossible to get through to his blazing phone lines. Everyone at the State House and the Trump administration, hangs on his every word. I remember two years ago when he announced his was going national and took congratulatory calls for the next two weeks.
 
TheBigA said:
One option no one thinks about: Why not syndicate some of the local talk hosts from WBZ or WRKO?

If you look at the talk offerings from Premiere, outside of Limbaugh, Hannity, and Beck, there's not much else. They syndicate Bill Handle from KFI. They syndicate Bill Cunningham from WLW. Clyde Lewis from KXL. Why not some of the hosts from Boston?
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And they gutted all of the syndicated hosts on WOR
 
I would think IHeart would like to keep Fox Sports Radio in the Boston Market in some form (It currently airs nights and weekend on the soon to be sold Talk 1430). So, something also to consider.
 
I'm fairly sure WBZ will stay All-News from 5am to 7pm weekdays and till 5 or 6 on weekends. David says WBZ has seen its billings drop and its demos rise over the years. But it is still a big billing station in Boston, perhaps the only significant biller on AM. I think I read that it's #3 in morning drive. Those demos may be old because it has no FM simulcast. (BTW, iHeart's KFBK Sacramento has a 20,500 watt FM simulcast now.)

I would imagine iHeart will negotiate with SAG-AFTRA for WBZ's employees. Probably those already working for the station will keep most of their pay and benefits but maybe new hires will not get the same deal. Again, I'm pretty sure nearly all current employees will stay. There may be a few positions where iHeart wants someone already with the company to move in, but only a few.

The cuts to the WRKO staff may be more significant. A few years ago, Entercom didn't want to pay Rush's fees anymore. It put a local host in his time slot, making the station all-local from 6am to 7pm (although it runs paid financial shows in late morning). Evenings are syndicated. WRKO runs Dave Ramsey at 7pm (which will probably be pushed later), Jim Bohannan at 10pm (a Westwood One show... probably not staying), Beyond Reality at 12am (also syndicated...probably not staying) and Coast to Coast AM (a Premiere show...so it will be staying). I'm sure iHeart will run Rush live at noon, it will likely keep its morning show and probably delay Hannity for evenings. I believe Howie Carr is too popular to ax or move to evenings, so it will be Hannity that has to wait till 7pm for airing.

iHeart's WOR in NYC is a similar mix of syndicated and local. Local from 5am to noon and 6pm to 9pm. Syndicated the other weekday hours. And the weekends are nearly non-stop infomercials around the clock. WOR staffs its newsroom 24/7. It runs no network newscasts. Same for KFI LA. But I'd guess WRKO will pick up Fox News, in which iHeart has a financial stake. Fox News is running every hour on 1430 and someone above says iHeart is selling 1430.
 
Gregg. said:
Beyond Reality at 12am (also syndicated...probably not staying) and Coast to Coast AM (a Premiere show...so it will be staying). ]
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My understanding is Beyond Reality is an Entercom syndicated show, meant to compete against iHeart's George Noory. Entercom may have something in the agreement to keep the show for a short time, but I agree that it'll go away at some point.
 
inorm99 said:
And they gutted all of the syndicated hosts on WOR
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Since the station was in the low to mid one-share range, I think that was natural.
 
"....But I'd guess WRKO will pick up Fox News, in which iHeart has a financial stake. ...."

May of the IHeart talk stations have dumped Fox News Radio for NBC News Radio, including WKRC Cincinnati (55KRC)
Not a great choice for programming that often criticizes "Mainstream media" imo.
 
raccoonradio said:
Petition effort underway to #SaveWBZ but Sen Markey has gotten donation$ from iHeart
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Plus one Senator can't change anything in a Senate with 100 votes, and everyone only cares about their home state. That's why nothing gets done. And ultimately, there really isn't anything they can do. The rules are already set out, and if the government attempts to step in, that's when the lawyers go to work. As I've said, people are making a lot of assumptions without knowing the facts, and we all know what happens when you assume.

These petitions are a waste of time. I'm sure there was one to save Feline's Basement too. People don't like change, but ultimately it happens.
 
Usually a waste of time though an effort (petitions and other pressure) got WBZ to bring back Steve Leveille (though he later retired anyway).We'll say the odds are against them. iHeart WBZ, LMA a week from Friday.
There was also a site to energize fans of progressive talk when various stations dropped it.Not successful.
 
raccoonradio said:
There was also a site to energize fans of progressive talk when various stations dropped it.Not successful.
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Everybody likes to feel empowered, but unless someone has a legal reason why the sale shouldn't happen, it will happen. The fact is this is a highly rated station that makes a lot of money. They know if they change a lot of things, they will kill the golden goose, and nobody wants to do that. At some point, even Morning Pro Musica had to end.
 
http://savewbz1030.com/

Apparently there's a website that's attempting to keep Iheart from taking over WBZ radio. I say nothing is going to happen but WBZ having an affiliation change plus the KFBK scheduling model coming to Boston.

Also some of WBZ's former fans will just move to WBUR, WGBH, podcasts plus the live feed of CBS Radio News on tune in app.
I don't see this petition going anywhere.
 
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