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WGSO 990

Is it true that John Marie has exited the building on his own accord? That says all I need to know about how well the chaps at 990 are doing.
 
Nothing at WGSO would come as a suprise to any reader on this board. Why are they even trying? Are they doing at sales on Northshore? I haven't heard any local commercials. It is a trainwreck. Diane Newman and the folks at WRNO/WIST look like the programmers of the decade compared to the folks who programmed that place. I must say that listening to the board op's who can't read attempt to give traffic/weather is the funniest thing I have ever heard on radio.
 
Actually, deserved or not, I think she (Ms. D Newman) was "Programmer of the Year" last year.
I saw it on "Inside Radio."
But, whatever.
That said, 990am is a sad mess of a station. As I've said before, I know "Cap" is a great guy, but bad radio... past his time. Ome other rant, the website looks pretty dang good, but if I go to that website and see one more story that "Our own Ken Trahan broke," I'll scream like....
How self indulgent.
Two words - "Go Hispanic."
 
John Marie...Class Act

After 3 weeks of not hearing his show on WGSO, and still seeing his bio on the WGSO web-site, I was able to track down his dad to find out what happened. John did leave WGSO. I have to say that I really enjoyed what he brought to local radio, as he gave scoops, scores and info that I would only see days later. His dad told me that John will always be greatful to Kenny Trahan and Ed Daniels for his opportunity and success, but he was spending too much preparation and travel time between Metairie and Slidell. His dad also said that John was never approached about any type of compensation package from the new owners and that people who were fired, before they even worked at the station, were on Northshore billboards and being promoted instead of John. That really pissed him off. I was told that John informed Kenny that he needed a leave of absense for his personal business, and went to the Major League All-Star game in San Francisco two weeks ago. According to his dad, he sent out several resumes and CD's and left this past Saturday for France, to set up international broadcasts for the 2007 Rugby World Cup. John was the class of this market. Like everyone else good, I'm sure he left for better opportunities. Good luck John. If you read this, we will miss you, but hope to hear you in a better market.
 
Re: John Marie...Class Act

Garibaldi said:
After 3 weeks of not hearing his show on WGSO, and still seeing his bio on the WGSO web-site, I was able to track down his dad to find out what happened. John did leave WGSO. I have to say that I really enjoyed what he brought to local radio, as he gave scoops, scores and info that I would only see days later. His dad told me that John will always be greatful to Kenny Trahan and Ed Daniels for his opportunity and success, but he was spending too much preparation and travel time between Metairie and Slidell. His dad also said that John was never approached about any type of compensation package from the new owners and that people who were fired, before they even worked at the station, were on Northshore billboards and being promoted instead of John. That really pissed him off. I was told that John informed Kenny that he needed a leave of absense for his personal business, and went to the Major League All-Star game in San Francisco two weeks ago. According to his dad, he sent out several resumes and CD's and left this past Saturday for France, to set up international broadcasts for the 2007 Rugby World Cup. John was the class of this market. Like everyone else good, I'm sure he left for better opportunities. Good luck John. If you read this, we will miss you, but hope to hear you in a better market.
Click to expand...


any market is better than this one..this is rock bottom!!
 
How was it that Ron Hunter ended his career with a phone call on WSMB? That strikes a familiar tone with me, but I can't remember the details.
 
For Ron Hunter, not so much of a "phone call" as a "gun shot," I think. And Smash, I don't think it was the "market" as much as it was the station. Dude had too much talent to deal with the goof-balls at 990am.
And this market is not "rock bottom." Trust me, there are far, far, worse.
IMHO, if John had his choice, he'd be working in THIS "rock-bottom" market. While he is a bit brash and self promoting... he is very talented.
44
 
Now I remember. Re: Ron Hunter. It was a phone call AND a gun shot. I still miss his presence on the radio. I also miss Ed Butler, that guy used to attract some colorful callers, crank and otherwise. And his brother Pern.
 
Summer book is about to come out, will WGSO show up? I say NO chance. I tried to listen off and on today and noticed very few local advertisers. How long before they close the doors?
 
Hi- I'm Catherine Sumner, former news anchor for WGSO. I was fired from WGSO in late August. I logged on to this board to see if I need to address any rumors regarding my termination. I will gladly do so, comfortably from my home in DC, far removed from the two-faced management of WGSO. If there are no rumors, then that is fabulous. I sincerely doubt anyone other than WGSO staff would even care. I just want to make sure that in such a small market, no speculations morph into something more.

I am making myself available to answer questions regarding my termination from WGSO because I, unlike WGSO management, have nothing to hide. Perhaps that was my problem- I will not bend over to conform to whatever strange ideal management holds. I am not some meek and mild girl that will giggle at stupid jokes. I question people when they are lying to me, and will not tolerate sexism or discrimination in any form, whether it is directed at me or a co-worker not quick-witted enough to understand a back-handed compliment.

I have noticed some of the comments on this board are unnecessarily rude, and obviously, I will not dignify inappropriate comments made so some jackass with a Napoleon-complex can get his rocks off.

Hope all of my friends at WGSO are well and know I sincerely miss some of you.

-Cat

I wear their contempt like a badge of honor.
 
Catherine, shortly after the sale of WGSO, I posted that the station looked like a complete fraud set up so that some sucker investor who would lose lots of money. I still feel the same way and find it very hard to believe that a good Christian man like Kenny Trahan would lay his reputation on what I believe is a big swindle. I can only guess that the con men needed a credible front. Under the former ownership, I only listened to the sports show, as I'm not a big CNN fan. When the station first aired in Slidell, it was like a comedy show. They had board ops reading news copy, excuse me, trying to read news copy and sounded like they dropped out of a New Orleans public school in the 5th grade. Other than sports, there was not much entertainment or substance being passed over the airways. Courere is pretty good on facts, but he doesn't challenge anyone and is not confrontational on his topics. Clancy, The Captain and Bernie have seen better days, as radio has passed them by. Kenny's sports has soured and he doesn't report anything that I can't get in the Picayune or the Clarion Herald. His interviews and Saturday morning show have even seemed generic. The movie show on Saturday is ok, but it could be done in one hour. Yes Cat, I've heard you, and your news was probably as good as the station could handle. I never listened to your Saturday program. I would love to know the inside info on what actually happened with you, John, the Captain and other inside info. I always thought that John was the most knowledgeable sports guy in this market. I once had a friend try to set him up on a way off the wall question and he gave the right answer. We were shocked. I'm sure that you now realize that the GM came with a lot of baggage and was involved in a really shady incident involving Ktib. As far as comedy... there was some guy on this weekend named Ed, who could not complete a sentence without studdering and did some really goofy interview with some Apache guy. That was probably the worst radio that I have ever heard, and thought that I already heard the worst on that station. Good luck with your career. Keep us posted.
 
1. this station actually makes wrno look like WLS! 2. how can you guys even listen long enough to even find out what they are doing or who is stuttering on the air? its awful. after less than a minute i have to turn the dial. God this is awful radio. if clear channel bought wgso they would be doing the northshore a favor! :eek:(i cant believe i even said that--but its true)
 
Miss. Sumner, Please don't take offense to this but no one cares why you left, when you left, or how you left. I am sorry to hear that you were discriminated against. Welcome to radio. It happens daily. I heard you stumble a couple of times through the news. I am sure you have other talents but reading news was not one of them. As for WGSO, the station is an abortion. It is only a matter of time before they pull the plug. I haven't even casually turned on the station in over a month. They have nothing to offer. We are talking about a place that put up billboards and aired commercials with The Twins who never made it on the air. Who would ever hire them to begin with? I guess the Captain Humble billboards will need to come down now. Cap was not good but the man should do everything in his power to get his picture taken off. An affiliation with WGSO will likely be determinal to his business. First impressions are everything and the day 'GSO rolled out the new lineup and format, they were dead. I may turn on the high school football show this Friday. Other than that, they don't have anything that is airable. Maybe you can answer this question for us Mrs. Sumner, do they actually pay people to work at WGSO? If so, it can't be enough to afford a po-boy at Captain Humble's. Good Luck to you....
 
I don't expect alot of people to care, by any means. But I imagine there are a few people who care because I've recv'd personal emails saying they read the previous post. Who knew so many people would read this? I openly admit, I stumbled a great deal while reading the news- mostly because people were walking in and out of the studio, knocking my chair, moving my notes- it was like a zoo in there sometimes. I offered several times to record different news segments and then have the board ops just play them as needed, but management refused to consider that. "We need live news" .... more like you need some news to happen- it's the Northshore. [Here's some news- Billy Bob caught a 12pounder in some oddly-named lake and a soccer mom wrecked her 30,000 ton SUV while carting around her only child to piano lessons after pre-k this morning.]

The news is sooo repetitive- trust me- WGSO isn't breaking anything. Yes, we do in fact get paid, barely. I have no problem saying my salary- $32,000. This is with a degree, four years of experience in the DC market, and after two years of my own syndicated show. I am *NOT* a news person. To be honest, I don't know why they hired me to do news. They regularly said, "we know you're not a news person" .... uh, well, then why did you hire me to do news? My background is sports- and bonus to the person who can figure out my sport of expertise. =) I went back to New Orleans because my family and a very special someone is there. That is why I took that kind of paycut. I should have been hired just to do my Sunday show. In the end, I was told that I was in fact doing the show for free, and I was actually only getting paid to do the news. Well- wait a second- that means WGSO wants me to work five days a week (average 10-12 hours a day) for $32k, and then drive all the way to Slidell for a sixth day ... FOR FREE. I don't think so. I came to my own agreement with them on days, but that is what they expected. I was told repeatedly, I would be presented a contract- that, in three months, never happened.

I simply must share this part with you all- to show an example of what kind of nutcases we're working with here. When I was terminated, I wanted some clips for my reel. I consider this to be pretty standard industry practice. I was told no and to exit the building immediately. {WTF, like I'm some kind of criminal} Then after discussions with their lawyer, I was told I could get a few copies of broadcasts and my shows, *if* I paid them for the clips and for the time it would take someone to put them on disk. (about 10 minutes) I responded to their lawyer by saying that was such an absurd demand, I wouldn't even dignify it. Let it be known, WGSO, to this day, has refused to give me a reason for my termination. If it was because I stumbled too much, then why not just say that? Hell, I could almost understand if *that* was the reason. Rumor has it, the big guy is quoted as saying "it goes beyond the newsroom." Well, my theory is it does indeed go beyond the newsroom- it goes all the way into my bedroom.
 
Ms. Sumner, What's the skinny on Captain's departure? What happened to John Marie? Is that station doing any sales? Do they have a sales staff? Do Croure, Clancy, and Cyrus believe they are good? I hope not!
 
I wasn’t in the loop on a lot of things, but I’ll try to answer your question as honestly as I can.

Cap’s departure- in my opinion, WGSO went back on their contract. Cap can further elaborate on that. Again, my opinion, there was some backroom deal after Jak K came into the picture. Maybe it was an issue of cash, maybe it was an issue of manpower- I don’t know. But a contract is a contract, and whatever WGSO agreed to, should be followed for the time specified in the contract.

Regarding John Marie- let me start by saying, he is a stand-up guy. I’ve heard two reasons for his departure- 1) it was an issue of publicity and pay. 2) “personal reasons” which would indicate something with the girl. I’m sure it’s a combo of both. He was too good for WGSO anyway, and I’m sure we’ll hear “Judge Marie” in some other market. I wouldn’t be surprised if someone was threatened by him as well. John is a good-looking guy, very witty, and very smooth. More importantly, he is sincere and honest, even if not always very nice.

Crouere- don’t know him all that well. Supposedly a Libertarian. If he is, he’s further right than left for damn sure. Strikes me as a reasonable guy. Make no mistake though, it’s not his gig at WGSO that pays the bills- and everyone else knows this too. When a better offer is presented, he will move on.

Clancy- good guy, very hard worker. He spends a lot of time prepping for his shows. How he comes out with that product after all the work he puts into it, I’ll never know. I know he likes New Orleans, but a smaller market back east would be more welcoming to his style. He has a dry wit that translates better on paper. He is a very smart guy, and honestly, that doesn’t always work out so well when you have a call-in talk show.

Cyrus- now he’s a piece of work. I’m sure he has the best of intentions, but he’s an apple polisher. He spends too much time kissing management ass and not enough just observing the goings-on around him. He thinks he is what makes the station- the ‘franchise tag’, but when the time comes, and it will, he’ll be screwed over like everyone else. You’ll hear Mary (business manager) come on his show, “Capt Jak” (an investor without a title), and of course Mike Starr- when you do, notice how he plays up to them. It’s downright pathetic sometimes. I’d rather have my dignity in place. He’s all over the map. He is the most obvious case of adult ADD I’ve ever seen. One day he rushed into the newsroom frantically yelling, “I’ve got news, I’ve got news!!” It was Joe Bruno yapping about what was already on the wires. We re-aired it anyway, but I find it funny that Cyrus immediately called Starr to tell him how this “big story” was aired first on WGSO. Maybe he didn’t get enough attention as a child and really really really needs the gold star now. Too oblivious to be malicious or undercutting though- just incredibly self-absorbed.


On the matter of sales staff- it’s an interesting arrangement. They do make sales. I don’t know specifics on numbers, but I know they are asking too much. Regarding the staff- they have some shady deals. Apparently, some guy is a consultant on national sales, another guy is an actual local sales guy, and then there’s a girl who is there for. … well, I’m not really sure what she does other than spew obscenities all day. She makes sales calls, but she also works for her husband- too odd for me to even speculate on the organization. There is an element of nepotism there, but not entirely sure of the connections. And, that is the entire staff unless they have hired other people since August 17.
 
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