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WFLA-AM Morning newscast, 8:30am 1/21/2011 -What Happened?

A

aconsultant

Guest
I was listening to WFLA-AM this morning and heard the 8:30am newscast. The news talent (can't recall his name) is always very professional sounding and produces a decent newscast. This morning however, was one of the most disturbing listening experiences I have ever had. It literally sounded like he was having a stroke on the air, not able to pronounce words, complete sentences and more or less, just appeared to be very dazed and confused. If I were programming this station and heard this on the air I would have called 911 immediately.

Did any of you hear this? And what happened? Health issue? Under some "influence?"

I wish him well whatever the case may be.

A Consultant
 
Maratin is a consummate professional and would never be under the "influence" of anything on the air. There is speculation that Martin suffered a stroke.
 
Mike or anyone who know anything about Martin, please post, there are a few folks in Brevard who knew Marty years ago..Thanks.
 
Mike_Hennessy said:
Maratin is a consummate professional and would never be under the "influence" of anything on the air. There is speculation that Martin suffered a stroke.
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Mike,

I totally agree about his professionalism. That's why I was so shocked at what I heard. Not knowing him personally, it was hard to really "guess" what happened, but his work has always been first-class. I was hoping it was not a stroke, but that is exactly what it sounded like on-air.

I wish him well.

A Consultant
 
Eric Deggans of the St. Petersburg Times reports:

Fans listening to WFLA-AM (970)'s AM Tampa Bay show this morning heard a troubling moment. News reader Martin Giles repeatedly stumbled over words in a news break, and he seemed to have trouble speaking.

The problem occurred around 8:30 a.m., when Giles was scheduled to read headlines. He repeatedly stumbled over relatively simple words, then called for a commercial break. After the promotional messages, Giles tried again to read copy on air but his problem seemed worse. He struggled to form words that made sense, eventually giving up and saying "Let's move on."

AM Tampa Bay co-host Tedd Webb began reading another promotional message as listeners could hear voices in the background talking.

Since then, some people who heard the broadcast have e-mailed the St. Petersburg Times asking if Giles had a stroke on air.

Steve Versnick, program director at WFLA, did not return repeated requests for comment. A woman who answered the phone at Giles' home later in the morning said the announcer had a cold and was resting.


http://www.tampabay.com/features/media/wfla-listeners-fret-over-announcers-stumble/1146813
 
Godspeed to Martin Giles and his family.

He's a class act and has been an asset to WFLA; certainly hope that he can return to his normal activities soon.

drt
 
Does anyone have the audio of this? Badjef?

Anyway, Martin is obviously one of the great voices in broadcasting today. I did hear him on FLZ this morning just before 8:30 and he sounded fine. Not sure what happened to him on FLA but I hope he is OK and will be back to work Monday morning.
 
to paraphrase Will Rogers "All I know is what I read on Facebook" and either a) no one knows anything about Martin's condition or b) they're not talking. I think it's "b" simply because I have to believe that management has been checking up on his situation and Clear Channel has always been very discreet (and rightfully so) when it comes to such personal information. I certainly wish Martin the best. I learned a lot from him and feel like being in the same newsroom with him raised my game a lot.
 
Just a quick note to say that I hope Martin is ok. I've heard him mostly on MJ's morning show where he'll discuss the news with MJ or MJ will just interrupt him on occasion. Martin has always been a complete professional in the time I have listened to him even when MJ feels the need to get on his soapbox at inappropriate times (I don't hate MJ but many times he interrupts Martin when he shouldn't).

While many fans I am sure want to know how he is doing, I know the management is bound by HIPAA and couldn't tell the fans even if they wanted to.

Hopefully it's nothing serious. Best wishes to him for a speedy recovery.
 
I rank Marty right up against that TV news anchor from Wisconsin who suffered through not one, but two seizures on the air. Unperturbed and determined.

Stay strong, Mr. Giles.
 
Not to dwell on the whys, as what really matters is his health and hopefully a speedy return to the air...but if he indeed had a cold and was taking even otc cold medicine, some of that stuff can come back on you very quickly. One particular type of dayquil kicked my butt so bad I could barely talk on the phone.

While my schedule allows me to see 8 o clock once a day...and AM isn't it, get well soon, sir!
 
Studio20 said:
Not to dwell on the whys, as what really matters is his health and hopefully a speedy return to the air...but if he indeed had a cold and was taking even otc cold medicine, some of that stuff can come back on you very quickly. One particular type of dayquil kicked my butt so bad I could barely talk on the phone.

While my schedule allows me to see 8 o clock once a day...and AM isn't it, get well soon, sir!
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When it comes to his work, Martin is a finely tuned machine and I can well believe that medication could throw things out of whack. It's certainly good news that we can expect him back on the air.
 
Mike_Hennessy said:
Studio20 said:
When it comes to his work, Martin is a finely tuned machine and I can well believe that medication could throw things out of whack. It's certainly good news that we can expect him back on the air.
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Mike_Hennessy said:
Studio20 said:
When it comes to his work, Martin is a finely tuned machine and I can well believe that medication could throw things out of whack. It's certainly good news that we can expect him back on the air.
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Finely tuned machine is right...
I'd just like to point out, for those that don't know, Martin Giles has been doing morning news on 93.3 and 970 for OVER 20 years (22?).
I can remember hearing him back to 1989, not sure how long before that he was on.

The only guy who's been on the same frequency doin the same job for longer than Martin is Gary McHenry.

Remember The Power Pig? Check out www.thepowerpig.com
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Whatever Martin Gile's had was going around, another example Orlando's WFLA (FLF) Fox new's night talent Bill Vitka during his 1:AM news cast did the same thing, stumbled through the entire newscast and again during his 2:AM cast. He couldn't even remember his own name, it was that bad. Bill is a stellar newscaster.

He was quite ill with the flu and you could tell, still trying to do work load with little success, medication and the flu can reek ill rewards.....We've all been there!
 
Would that be the same Bill Vitka that worked as a newscaster for CBS Radio? A more mellow delivery than most but very easy on the ears.

I go back to my original layman hypothesis that its an ingredient in a medicine they were taking......or Bruce Almighty is back.
 
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