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WGAR changes

V

vjm

Beginning 5-31-11, Brian Fowler (of "Brian and Joe" fame) replaces Providence RI import Tim Leary on WGAR's morning show alongside Leeann Sommers and Laurie Hovater.

And before anyone asks, Joe Croauner is busy working as a feature reporter/contibutor on "Good Compnay" over on WKYC TV 3.
 
Jesus! was it necessary to mention Leary wasn't from here? Its Getting to be like Fedors blog around here. NOBODY CAN EVER WORK IN CLEVELAND RADIO UNLESS THEY WERE BORN HERE PERIOD. What a joke.

The man just lost his job, have some respect.
 
John Baylor said:
Jesus! was it necessary to mention Leary wasn't from here? Its Getting to be like Fedors blog around here. NOBODY CAN EVER WORK IN CLEVELAND RADIO UNLESS THEY WERE BORN HERE PERIOD. What a joke.

The man just lost his job, have some respect.
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The only reason I brought it up is because people would be asking, "Who was Tim Leary and where did he come from?"

And DON'T EVER COMPARE ME TO CHRIS FREAKING FEDOR!
 
John Baylor said:
It's Robert Feder, he believes nobody should work in Chicago Radio/TV without being born there.


feder.blogs.chicago.timeout.com/
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Although it was funny to read Robert Feder rip on Rover mercilessly for the cup-of-coffee stint when "Rover's Morning Glory" was relocated to WCKG/Chicago as per CBS Radio's failed "FreeFM" experiment. But large markets like Chicago, Philadelphia and Boston can be territorial at times... Chicago more so than most.

Cleveland has always had the ability to adopt out-of-towners as their own. John Lanigan, Bill Louis, Denny Sanders, Joe Tait, Tom Hamilton, Rover, Bill Wills and Bruce Drennan... just to name a few.
 
Very true.

In Cleveland, just don't suck, and you'll be alright.

Obviously, Tim Leary wasn't doing too well, because he's gone only a year or so into the gig.

Though in his defense, being the guy to follow in Jim Mantel's footsteps was an uphill climb to begin with.

Also to add to the list of imports adopted by Cleveland with open arms--Jim Donovan (Boston), Micheal Reghi (Detroit) and Kenny Roda (Pittsburgh).

Donovan is now the dean of Cleveland sportscasters, as WKYC sports director for nearly 1/4 century and going into his 13th season as "voice of the Browns".

Reghi had become such a beloved figure, that there was real outrage when he was replaced by Fred McLeod (ironically a native Clevelander) as TV voice of the Cavs.

And Roda has been a mainstay at WKNR for 20 years, surviving multiple ownerships (CableVision, Jacor, AMFM, Salem, GKB)
 
[/quote]

Cleveland has always had the ability to adopt out-of-towners as their own. John Lanigan, Bill Louis, Denny Sanders, Joe Tait, Tom Hamilton, Rover, Bill Wills and Bruce Drennan... just to name a few.
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Yes. But these people stuck around and became part of the community. Many people who have worked radio in Cleveland bolted after a couple of years.
 
HHH said:
Cleveland has always had the ability to adopt out-of-towners as their own. John Lanigan, Bill Louis, Denny Sanders, Joe Tait, Tom Hamilton, Rover, Bill Wills and Bruce Drennan... just to name a few.
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Yes. But these people stuck around and became part of the community. Many people who have worked radio in Cleveland bolted after a couple of years.
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That's not just Cleveland...just about every major market has their share of "passers by" who go from town to town, up and down the dial...like Cincinnati for example ;)
 
I'm surprised WGAR made such a move so quickly. They could've given Tim Leary a change to improve. Then again, he might not have had any chemistry with LeeAnn Sommers. However, I'm thrilled to see Brian Fowler return to the airwaves after a two-year hiatus. He was great with Joe on The End, WMMS and Mix. I know he'll be great with LeeAnn.

It's pretty funny that sometimes out-of-towners can succeed and sometimes they don't. The last big out-of-town hire at CC before Leary was Alan Cox. Unlike Leary, Cox succeeded despite an outcry of Maxwell fans upset at WMMS for changing the afternoon show. Of course, WGAR endured an uproar when Jim Mantel was let go.

I think if WGAR wanted to follow Mantel, they should've gone with someone like Fowler instead of bringing in Leary. They were smart to hire LeeAnn. She has a following dating back to her Jammin' years. I do hope they don't change co-hosts on her like at Jammin'.
 
CleveFan said:
I'm surprised WGAR made such a move so quickly. They could've given Tim Leary a change to improve. Then again, he might not have had any chemistry with LeeAnn Sommers. However, I'm thrilled to see Brian Fowler return to the airwaves after a two-year hiatus. He was great with Joe on The End, WMMS and Mix. I know he'll be great with LeeAnn.

It's pretty funny that sometimes out-of-towners can succeed and sometimes they don't. The last big out-of-town hire at CC before Leary was Alan Cox. Unlike Leary, Cox succeeded despite an outcry of Maxwell fans upset at WMMS for changing the afternoon show. Of course, WGAR endured an uproar when Jim Mantel was let go.

I think if WGAR wanted to follow Mantel, they should've gone with someone like Fowler instead of bringing in Leary. They were smart to hire LeeAnn. She has a following dating back to her Jammin' years. I do hope they don't change co-hosts on her like at Jammin'.
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Maybe Leary was a palate cleanser, to make Fowler even more appealing to the Cleveland audience? ;)
 
Well, they all but said that they hired LeeAnn to provide a local Cleveland connection for the show. And the memo about Brian's hire this week does contain at least two references to him being a "hometown boy" and mentions of his long on-air career in Cleveland.

I don't see them dumping LeeAnn and turning it into the latest incarnation of "Brian and Joe".

Besides, as I noted in the blog, Joe appears quite busy and happy as a full-time co-host on WKYC's "Good Company".
 
Now if someone he trusts could just convince Joe to lose that awful toop.
 
It's almost as if they needed a guy a to take the bullet for being the guy to replace Mantel, so they bring in Leary as the sacrificial lamb.

Now Fowler comes in almost as the conquering hero returning home.
 
Both Joe and LeeAnn are fantastic talents. And neither, to my knowledge, have worked country radio before. Being "homers" and having name recognition helps to bring their base to a station that they might not normally listen to. Lanigan is on an "oldies' station but it's not a typical yuk yuk apple pie safe oldies show (like WRQN/Toledo). It's always been a contemporary morning show that just happened to be on an oldies station. Same for WGAR now. Contemporary talents that happen to play country music.
 
VODood said:
Both Joe and LeeAnn are fantastic talents. And neither, to my knowledge, have worked country radio before. Being "homers" and having name recognition helps to bring their base to a station that they might not normally listen to. Lanigan is on an "oldies' station but it's not a typical yuk yuk apple pie safe oldies show (like WRQN/Toledo). It's always been a contemporary morning show that just happened to be on an oldies station. Same for WGAR now. Contemporary talents that happen to play country music.
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Also reminiscent of Danny Wright. WQMX/94.9 hired him in as a country DJ, unique in that he otherwise had been a well-identified contemporary talent in this region at G98. He then went to WGAR in afternoons (the first few years paired with Erin Weber) and took off in the ratings throughout the late 90s.

Maybe for WGAR, lightening can strike twice with Brian and LeeAnn.
 
If I'm not mistaken, Danny Wright went to WQMX in 1991 when it was an Adult Contemporary station. Prior to the move, he was at WKDD 96.5 for two years. Ironically, two years later, Danny was let go when WQMX flipped to Country (It couldn't compete with the Cleveland AC stations in Akron) as the PD there thought he was not suitable for Country. Then, I think, Danny chatted online with the WGAR PD at the time, Denny Nugent, and that's what might have brought Danny in at WGAR, where he would stay until the big layoffs of 2001.
 
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