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What do you think of the new WGST?

L

louisNatl

Guest
I wanted to know what listeners thought of the new WGST 640. I know that all of the Kimmer fans are going to start flaming and criticizing Randall Bloomquist and Clear Channel for the changes. I want to know what you think about the new shows GST has given us and if you think they are worthy of lasting. What's done is done so let's not continue to kick a dead horse.

Here's my take...

I have listened to the Wall Street Journal in the morning and find it to be a watered-down consumer finance show where most of their material is common sense to the affluent listener. I find it to be boring and it has many unusually long commercial breaks (probably to keep the listener awake). It sounds like they are trying to be a dumbed down version of Marketplace (on Public Radio). Also, isn't the show just an hour long and GST broadcast it in a loop between 5 and 9 AM? I don't see how this will attract any decent ratings for GST in the morning and anybody that enjoys this type of program is probably listening to Business Radio 1160 anyway. This would be an excellent place for a local morning show (possibly the Kimmer with Tom Hughes doing local news bits). An old saying in the radio industry: So goes the morning show, so goes the station!

Mike McConnell seems to run a good show and keep the conversation interesting. I have not had a chance to listen to him much but he seems like a tremendous improvement over Schaffer.

Dave Ramsey's move to afternoon drive seems like the smartest decision by GST. His advice and show content is relevant to a large segment of the population and this could be GST's savior if marketed properly. Obviously, he is targeting a different audience than the Kimmer so Kimmer fans will probably disagree with me. I think the Kimmer show was good but I was never able to get into it. I never got all of the inside jokes. I know that the Kimmer has his loyal base of diehard fans, but do you honestly think Dave in drivetime will be a better programming decision? I remember when WSB decided to reduce 2 hours of Clark Howard in drive time and replace it with Sean Hannity. I was outraged at the time but apparently it has paid off well for them.

I have listened to Mark Levin occasionally and he also sounded interesting. But, I still miss Phil Hendrie :(

I would like to know some of your interesting thoughts on the new programs.
 
Wish I could give a summary/opinion, but I gave up on WGST. Hopefully, you'll find some who have made the transition, and can give some input.
 
The station is a total failure, and I believe that was Bloomquist's intent when he started. This current lineup has to be temporary. Bloomquist was brought in to get rid of the current local talent, both weekdays and weekends, but not to re-program it. That will be up to the next PD. Think David Paul in the early 90's at WSB.

Here's a prediction: Brian Wilson of WSPD/Toledo is the next PD of WGST. That way, Denny is back in Toledo where he was tops and Wilson takes over the slot occupied by The Kimmer. Since Denny is still under contract, no costs for new talent are expended. As for The King's old slot, Art "Mad Man" Mehring. Don't expect major changes. If WGST could get another local station to carry Rush, then CC would probably program 640 as Spanish News/Talk.

??? :eek: :mad: :( :-[
 
I don't really like the new WGST. I find the morning show very boring. I never listened to Denny that much I didn't mind him but I guess I didn't listen enough to him for him to annoy me like he did others. I hqave only heard McConnel once not that interested. Dave Ramsey I have listened to a couple of times but I didn't like him. for me it is common sense stuff from what I heard I am sure some people find it useful but not me. To me it is not a great competitor to Clark Howard. Clark seems more entertaining and covers more broader subjects.
 
RTibbs said:
I don't really like the new WGST. I find the morning show very boring. I never listened to Denny that much I didn't mind him but I guess I didn't listen enough to him for him to annoy me like he did others. I hqave only heard McConnel once not that interested. Dave Ramsey I have listened to a couple of times but I didn't like him. for me it is common sense stuff from what I heard I am sure some people find it useful but not me. To me it is not a great competitor to Clark Howard. Clark seems more entertaining and covers more broader subjects.
Click to expand...

I do agree with you that Clark covers much broader subjects. For me, it's a toss up between him and Dave Ramsey. This week, Dave has been hosting a conference at Vanderbilt for small business owners and entrepreneurs and discussing such topics as funding a startup, being your own boss and managing yourself, managing business debt, etc. His show can get really boring when repeatedly tells the typical caller to stop using their credit card so they can get out of debt.

However, Clark can also get kinda goofy sometimes. Yesterday, he spent some time talking about you can get free dialup internet from some company if you are willing to view ads and popups (also known as spyware) on your computer screen. He kept explaining how this will save you a lot of money and (in typical Clark fashion) went off on a tangent about how Americans pay more for high speed internet than other countries and our connections are slower. It is true that this will save you money. But, most people have internet access because we use it for entertainment, communicating, research, business, etc. Why would someone want to drop down to the almost unusable speed of dialup?!?! And, to make it worse you would install spyware on your computer so now you can't use the dialup for anything because it is constantly downloading popups. I actually find it very amusing that he will spend time going through all this trouble just to save some money. It's similar to how he will park far from his destination and risk getting his car stolen just so he doesn't have to pay for parking. This kind of stuff definitely adds color to the show. I think Dave and Clark compliment each other very well and the Atlanta audience will benefit from both. Fortunately, they are not broadcasts at the same time and never will be thanks to Rush (the only good side to having him on the radio IMO).
 
I can't believe a city the size and quality of Atlanta, has a news/talk station so small-market sounding. Between them and 'RKA, not a single local talent, or at least someone broadcasting from Atlanta. How embarassing is that?
 
louisNatl said:
What's done is done so let's not continue to kick a dead horse.

I seem to recall they let Tom Hughes go once before.

The Kimmer had an entertaining show a decade ago, but the
last few years it seems like he was battling with every third
caller.

The Wall Street Report is quite possible the worst thing I've
ever heard and Dave Ramsey is a close second.

I've heard McConnell a few times on weekends and he seemed
okay.

It seems that WGST decided to commit hari kari instead of
tweaking a few things.
Click to expand...
 
ScooterB said:
I can't believe a city the size and quality of Atlanta, has a news/talk station so small-market sounding. Between them and 'RKA, not a single local talent, or at least someone broadcasting from Atlanta. How embarassing is that?
Click to expand...

You mean WGKA.
 
I'm generally disappointed with the new WGST.

The WSJ show is incredibly uninspiring, but luckily, the New Morning X has been entertaining me well since the departure of TRG.

I don't really listen mid-mornings, but I wasn't very inspired by McConnel's weekend show the times that I have tuned in.

As far as Dave Ramsey goes, he's the most listenable (easier to listen to than Hannity, who's just abrasive to my ears), however, he is vastly inferior to Clark Howard. I don't like Ramsey's inflexible approach to the advice he gives, the constant advertising and plugging of sponsors (to the extent that the solution to everyone's problems is to buy products from his sponsers, to pay to attend one of his "total money make overs", etc), his consistant holy rolling, and the 5 minutes of self-plugging for his podcast at the top of each hour (sure, Clark usually opens each segment with a 5-7 minute monologue, but it actually has content rather than the same "subscribe to my podca$t" theme). I also do not like Ramsey bringing in the religious element with the few comments that the only way to fix your finances is to do the whole christian thing.

I also miss the consistancy of the "on the 5's" traffic with Art "Madman" Mehring, the only saving grace for this radio station. Art also sounds like he's been ordered to tone down the humor in the traffic reporting, as the only fun term I've heard in the past few weeks has been "blue fog". I havn't heard "two car insurance seminar", "tango uniform", "RPS", "carbbq", etc in quite a while.

I have found myself listening to 1160 more as a result of this change.

I'm hoping its a short term change and they bring on local and relevant talkers in the very near future. I'd love to hear Jimmy Baron on the afternoon drive home.
 
Yes, I meant 'GKA. Tells you how much I listen to them. Also, I left out WSB in my previous message, didn't I? Boortz is probably their best talent, as long as he's not talking about his plane, home on the beach, etc. Chris Krok has potential, and I'l give him credit for being local and not sounding like an old fart. But we're talking 10p to 2a. Back to my original contention, Atlanta deserves better.
 
I agree that Clark Howard can get goofy. Sometimes when I see him on TV with all his hand gestures and such, it looks like he's talking to a 5 year old. I have given Ramsey a listen on the way home, and I must say I like him a lot. Yes, most of it his show to get out of debt, but we Americans are in debt up to our eyeballs, so it's useful information. If you want to hear how find the airline deal of the week, or how to save money by shopping at Costco, Clark's your man. If you are so much in debt that digging yourself out seems impossible, the Dave is the way to go. It's also interesting to here how much debt people have, it boggles the mind. Dave seems more serious than Clark, realizing that peoples financial lives are at stake, and in some cases it may take years to recover. Clark will save you a few hundred here or there on good deals. Both have their strengths and weaknesses. Although I personally miss The Kimmer, I think it was a good move by WGST to put him on from 3-7. I also think this was there plan since he moved over from WGKA.
 
louisNatl said:
I wanted to know what listeners thought of the new WGST 640. I know that all of the Kimmer fans are going to start flaming and criticizing Randall Bloomquist and Clear Channel for the changes. I want to know what you think about the new shows GST has given us and if you think they are worthy of lasting. What's done is done so let's not continue to kick a dead horse.
Click to expand...


Personally, with the exception of about four minutes, I've made a successful effort to completely ignore WGST since November 21. I was/am a Tom Huges fan, and am finding it remarkably easy to oversleep through WSB's Scott Slade in the morning. Consequently, my anger and disappointment over the loss of a clever talent such as Tom isn't really abating. Further, I would not want to inadvertently end up supporting a sponsor who's wasting ad dollars spent at the station. All in all, I'm not a happy camper, but appreciate very much hearing about the alternatives the rest of you have found and will continue to test them for myself~ and for the record, I have no problem kicking the dead horse that is Bloomquist, et al. :-\
 
I am/was a big Tom Hughes fan myself. I'm giving Scott Slade a try, but geez, talk about bland......I know his numbers are off the charts, but we (Atlanta) can do better.
 
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