What happened to Bob Leonard?

[kenhawk1160]

I've been trying to find out the answer to this since it happened last year. Does anyone remember Bob Leonard, who was half of the Bob and Lori morning show on ABC/SMN's Hits and Favorites AC format, originating out of Dallas? The station I last worked for was an affiliate, and no one would say a word about why he was suddenly yanked. I'm curious if he's found something else within the market or packed up and left. I felt it was kind of a shame after doing wake-ups on Hits and Faves for 22 years.

 

[TheLaffer]

He wore out his welcome at the hands of Peter Stewart and Phil Hall. I know because i've been their several years.

 

[TheLaffer]

He wore out his welcome at the hands of Peter Stewart and Phil Hall. I know because i've been their several years.

 

[kenhawk1160]

He wore out his welcome at the hands of Peter Stewart and Phil Hall. I know because i've been their several years.

That's reallly a shame...the half-baked part-time people they had on there who didn't deserve to be on the air get to keep their jobs and he loses his. I thought Bob was a very relatable personality and he did a stellar job those 23 years he was there. If you're familiar with the format, some of their weekenders were committing the most rookie mistakes I have ever heard. One was slurring on the air and there would be gaps of dead air as long as 2 minutes in length. Even though I skimmed this jock's show and sent it to Dallas with a letter telling Peter that this is not what we were paying for, this announcer was still on the air. Go figure.

 

[bleonard47]

Thanks, Ken. I appreciate your concern. After a year "on the beach", I've found work with a start-up called mn1.com (Market News First). It's a website that streams audio and video and concentrates on the small-cap stock market. I'm doing news and commentary and interviews. It doesn't pay much, but it's steady and keeping the bills paid. They blew me out sort of unceremoniously. Apparently I had reached an age where I was making way too much money. They were not real civil about it and had been trying, unsuccesfully, to get me to go for at least a year prior. I think my resume scared off some of the stations I sent packages to over the past year, but, I've landed on my feet. I really do thank you for your kinfd words. I can be reached at [email protected]

 

[kenhawk1160]

Thanks, Ken. I appreciate your concern. After a year "on the beach", I've found work with a start-up called mn1.com (Market News First). It's a website that streams audio and video and concentrates on the small-cap stock market. I'm doing news and commentary and interviews. It doesn't pay much, but it's steady and keeping the bills paid. They blew me out sort of unceremoniously. Apparently I had reached an age where I was making way too much money. They were not real civil about it and had been trying, unsuccesfully, to get me to go for at least a year prior. I think my resume scared off some of the stations I sent packages to over the past year, but, I've landed on my feet. I really do thank you for your kinfd words. I can be reached at [email protected]

Bob, happy to hear you bounced back. I thought you and Lori had really good chemistry, and you connected really well with your listeners. It's sad that the higher-ups didn't feel this way, but considering the low-grade talent I've heard on there (I won't get into that obvious voice-tracked overnight shift) the last couple years I was with 1160, the phrase "you get what you pay for" rings all too true. Because you had been on our air for so many years, you had a lot of our listeners convinced that you and Lori were in Indiana County. When Lori and Jon were looking for a new house, we had one lady call the station and left us the name and number of her real estate agent, telling us that there were some great properties in Center Township. : Good luck and Godspeed, friend.

 

[TheLaffer]

He wore out his welcome at the hands of Peter Stewart and Phil Hall. I know because i've been their several years.

That's reallly a shame...the half-baked part-time people they had on there who didn't deserve to be on the air get to keep their jobs and he loses his. I thought Bob was a very relatable personality and he did a stellar job those 23 years he was there. If you're familiar with the format, some of their weekenders were committing the most rookie mistakes I have ever heard. One was slurring on the air and there would be gaps of dead air as long as 2 minutes in length. Even though I skimmed this jock's show and sent it to Dallas with a letter telling Peter that this is not what we were paying for, this announcer was still on the air. Go figure.

That's peter for ya. I'm parttime SURVIVOR at ABC. Was Fulltime but Peter and others routinely hire questionable talent at best these days. Peter thought he would get Phil Hall's gig but that would NEVER happen. However Peter should have more security now that Chris Miller is in. Maybe.

 

[kenhawk1160]

That's peter for ya. I'm parttime SURVIVOR at ABC. Was Fulltime but Peter and others routinely hire questionable talent at best these days. Peter thought he would get Phil Hall's gig but that would NEVER happen. However Peter should have more security now that Chris Miller is in. Maybe.

See, Laffer, that's what I don't understand. When these satellite networks came about in the early 80's, stations were asked to sign up under the pretext "Our jocks don't screw up, they have years of experience, and they sound better than anything you can afford...put us on, fire your jocks and let it run." The mistakes I spoke of were just the tip of the iceberg...they started repeating hours of the morning show. What you heard during the 7 o'clock hour you'd hear again during the 9 o'clock hour. Then on September 11th, when the WTC was coming down, ABC TV (which also at the time owned SMN) had wall-to-wall coverage, and Hits and Faves was still playing music. Our GM got on the phone with Peter Stewart and asked him why they didn't stop the music go to the network. The answer he got was that the network wasn't wired into the control room board. Major U.S. catastrophe and they don't have Big Brother wired into the board??? The boss was really steamed over that one, as was I. The format is sold for cash and barter, and yet little Jones Radio (OK not so little any more) charges no cash, only the barter, and they do a far better job. ABC could draw a lesson from their competitors in this regard.

 

[zach_morton]

All of which is amazing, considering that all of the ABC Radio Network studios have SAS routing switchers...which allow any program to be routed to any studio...

 

[TheLaffer]

That's peter for ya. I'm parttime SURVIVOR at ABC. Was Fulltime but Peter and others routinely hire questionable talent at best these days. Peter thought he would get Phil Hall's gig but that would NEVER happen. However Peter should have more security now that Chris Miller is in. Maybe.

See, Laffer, that's what I don't understand. When these satellite networks came about in the early 80's, stations were asked to sign up under the pretext "Our jocks don't screw up, they have years of experience, and they sound better than anything you can afford...put us on, fire your jocks and let it run." The mistakes I spoke of were just the tip of the iceberg...they started repeating hours of the morning show. What you heard during the 7 o'clock hour you'd hear again during the 9 o'clock hour. Then on September 11th, when the WTC was coming down, ABC TV (which also at the time owned SMN) had wall-to-wall coverage, and Hits and Faves was still playing music. Our GM got on the phone with Peter Stewart and asked him why they didn't stop the music go to the network. The answer he got was that the network wasn't wired into the control room board. Major U.S. catastrophe and they don't have Big Brother wired into the board??? The boss was really steamed over that one, as was I. The format is sold for cash and barter, and yet little Jones Radio (OK not so little any more) charges no cash, only the barter, and they do a far better job. ABC could draw a lesson from their competitors in this regard.

Ken,

When i was let go (making too much money) i was told the network was going to voice track many shows and a lot of fulltimers would get let go. Right around 2000-2001 was when the quality really started to suck. David Kanter,Lee Abrams was gone, Robert Hall was gone and a lot of good talent were getting blown out. They passed up a damn good engineer by the name of Clark who was with the network since the days of Satelitte Music Network.. To this day a lot of stuff is still analog and not wired properly. There is still some decent talent left but far fewer than what it was up until 2000.

They even had a PD/OM who had drug/alcohol problems for years until he went into therapy. Affliates complained for years about his attitude.

Unless your name is Doug Banks, Tom Joyner you might as well get out. There was a guy who made his then mistress a PD with no experience at all!!!!

Like i said there are still some good people up there. I'm blown away Chris Miller is the the VP/Programming. Talk about a CRACKHEAD. I think they should have given it to Robin. She runs Disney. She could do a good job with the 24 hour formats.

It was too bad about Leonard. He's right though he was making too much money and the PD was giving him a hard time.

 

[TheLaffer]

All of which is amazing, considering that all of the ABC Radio Network studios have SAS routing switchers...which allow any program to be routed to any studio...

Proving how lazy Peter Stewart and engineering was to set it up.

 

[pro4aa]

He wore out his welcome at the hands of Peter Stewart and Phil Hall. I know because i've been their several years.

You've been their what several years? And since you claim to have been their there as just a part time employee, how do you have all of this inside information?

 

[pro4aa]

All of which is amazing, considering that all of the ABC Radio Network studios have SAS routing switchers...which allow any program to be routed to any studio...

Proving how lazy Peter Stewart and engineering was to set it up.

You really need to make some sense. Do you mean to not set it up?

 

[pro4aa]

When i was let go (making too much money) i was told the network was going to voice track many shows and a lot of fulltimers would get let go.

If you were let go, why are you still there part time as you claim? Do you mean to say that when you were let go, they told you the reason was that you were making too much money? If making lots of money is a reason for being let go, lots of other people would be gone.

They even had a PD/OM who had drug/alcohol problems for years until he went into therapy.

Sounds commendable to me. Too many companies jettison people for the slightest reason. It seems like ABC supported an employee who needed treatment.

...Talk about a CRACKHEAD.

Your IP is being logged. You need to read the definition of libel.

 

[pro4aa]

Bob, happy to hear you bounced back. I thought you and Lori had really good chemistry, and you connected really well with your listeners. It's sad that the higher-ups didn't feel this way, but considering the low-grade talent I've heard on there (I won't get into that obvious voice-tracked overnight shift) the last couple years I was with 1160, the phrase "you get what you pay for" rings all too true. Because you had been on our air for so many years, you had a lot of our listeners convinced that you and Lori were in Indiana County. When Lori and Jon were looking for a new house, we had one lady call the station and left us the name and number of her real estate agent, telling us that there were some great properties in Center Township. : Good luck and Godspeed, friend.

Agreed that Bob Leonard is a top notch talent. I'm not sure what your gripe is with some of the other people, but that's your opinion. I don't know which of the Dallas formats you're referring to, but they're all live around the clock. There are no voice tracks. John Lacy, who does overnights on Starstation is a long time Dallas market veteran.

 

[TheLaffer]

He wore out his welcome at the hands of Peter Stewart and Phil Hall. I know because i've been their several years.

You've been their what several years? And since you claim to have been their there as just a part time employee, how do you have all of this inside information?

I was fulltime for several years.

 

[TheLaffer]

All of which is amazing, considering that all of the ABC Radio Network studios have SAS routing switchers...which allow any program to be routed to any studio...

Proving how lazy Peter Stewart and engineering was to set it up.

You really need to make some sense. Do you mean to not set it up?

My apologies. I was in a hurry.

 

[TheLaffer]

When i was let go (making too much money) i was told the network was going to voice track many shows and a lot of fulltimers would get let go.

If you were let go, why are you still there part time as you claim? Do you mean to say that when you were let go, they told you the reason was that you were making too much money? If making lots of money is a reason for being let go, lots of other people would be gone.

They even had a PD/OM who had drug/alcohol problems for years until he went into therapy.

Sounds commendable to me. Too many companies jettison people for the slightest reason. It seems like ABC supported an employee who needed treatment.

...Talk about a CRACKHEAD.

Your IP is being logged. You need to read the definition of libel.

I came back a year later in a parttime capacity sir.

This person was FORCED to seek treatmeant. He was out of control pissing off a lot of people and affiliates. Grant you i don't know much about the situation i was not on their side of the building but most everyone knew about the circumstances.

"Crackhead". Read into what you may. It's not necessary a Drug Term as you insinuate.

 

[kenhawk1160]

Right around 2000-2001 was when the quality really started to suck. David Kanter,Lee Abrams was gone, Robert Hall was gone and a lot of good talent were getting blown out. They passed up a damn good engineer by the name of Clark who was with the network since the days of Satelitte Music Network.. To this day a lot of stuff is still analog and not wired properly. It was too bad about Leonard. He's right though he was making too much money and the PD was giving him a hard time.

I'd agree with that. I think 2001 was the year they started voicetracking overnights. I thought John Lacy was a great talent, but I would have loved to have heard him live. The least they could have done was update those liner cards they had him reading over and over again. It's pretty bad when I could set my watch by which liner he read. Dave Kantor was a smart guy with lots of moxie on the ball. I was sorry to hear he got blown out, along with Lee Abrams (a true legend), and Robert Hall, who was one of the start-up jocks in the beginning and I believe had ascended to VP of programming before he got the ax.

As for the signal still being analog, that didn't surprise me one bit. We ran the format on an AM station, and the inferior audio quality of which you speak wasn't really detectable since it was AM and that washed much of it out anyway. But our then co-owned FM sister in central PA also ran the same exact format (package deal), and it really sounded like garbage. I asked the PD up there if the GM had invested in any new equipment up there at all, and he said that they had just installed all new digital processing that year. And it still sounded like crap...along with the antiquated analog cues that Transtar (now Westwood One) trashed with their digital cue system IN THE LATE 80'S!!!

 

[kenhawk1160]

I'm not sure what your gripe is with some of the other people, but that's your opinion. I don't know which of the Dallas formats you're referring to, but they're all live around the clock. There are no voice tracks. John Lacy, who does overnights on Starstation is a long time Dallas market veteran.

My gripe is mainly with the part-time weekend folks, with the obvious exception of Steve Eberhart. There's a part-time guy who's truly an asset to the format. I've also talked to him on the phone on more than one occasion, and was probably one of the very few talented people without the swelled head. As for "there are no voice tracks", I'm sorry...I'm not buying that. I can set my watch by the liner card that John Lacy is reading. He's a great talent, no argument there, but I have a hard time believing that that shift is live. I hear the same liners repeated over and over again, and big gaps of dead air...largely from the hour not being timed out right. It sounds like a board op trying to fit local liners, network liners, and music well within that 60 minutes.

And at least one hour was repeated every day on the Bob and Lori show, when it was on. Unless some drastic changes were made since April of 2005, when I left, I don't see the operations having changed much, if at all.