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What happened to Todd Wilson? Handel KFI

Are you asking about his porn career or his radio career? :D Handel said this morning---around 6:55, for those of you who care---that there was a big "board operator trade." Todd Wilson is now working with Bill Carroll and Larry Robbins is doing Handel's show.
 
Todd must be disoriented in the new time slot. Today while Carroll was nearing the end of a live commercial, Todd started playing a recorded commercial before Carroll was finished. Todd realized his mistake and quickly stopped the commercial. Carroll teased him about it on-air but Todd didn't respond. At least he didn't respond out loud---maybe he made a "gesture." :D
 
Re Todd Wilson of KFI: Something happened on 5/8/2013 to Todd Wilson! On 5/7 I heard him; on 5/9 someone else took his place and Todd has not been heard of since. There was no podcast of Handel on 5/8. I believe it was on this day, 5/8, that Todd may I have said something that got him removed from the show.
But here is my greatest fear:Todd Wilson's Twitter feed is now missing! I now believe that Todd Wilson may have been murdered by someone who worked with him, and KFI is trying to cover it up!
I am going to try to contact George Noory to see if he may have any information on this matter.
Stay tuned!
m
 
Todd spoke a lot during Handel's show but says hardly anything during Carroll's show. I would think he'd have an easier time getting a word in edgewise during Carroll's show as opposed to competing with three men (Bill Handel, Gary Hoffmann, Rich Marotta) during the morning show. Maybe it will take him a few weeks to feel that he "fits in." Remember when Roger Barkley joined the KABC morning show on October 1, 1990? Ken Minyard did most of the talking for the first two weeks because Barkley, who had worked so well with Al Lohman, inexplicably seemed intimidated and shy. Of course Todd is a board operator and not a co-host. Maybe no one expects him to talk during Carroll's show. On the morning show, he proabably felt more comfortable interrupting.
 
I was listening on 5/8/13, and about 20 minutes into the show Todd allowed a feed of (another stations?) traffic report to bleed into the show. Handel said something to the effect of "what the hell was that...?" and seemed to get pissed enough to threaten to walk off the show. It's difficult to tell whether Handel was serious or not, but I couldn't listen more because I reached my destination. I usually podcast the rest of the show--but you're right--there was no podcast that day.

Interesting that Todd did not appear on any show after this, and I sensed something was wrong.

I emailed the show when they announced his departure to Bill Carroll and this is what I got from Michelle Kube:


Nothing to do with what happened last week.

The boss makes changes sometimes and we just have to figure out how to roll with the punches and move forward. She made several changes last week on shows and this was one of them.

Todd is still with KFI, just in another shift. He will be working for the Bill Carroll show starting today.

This switched shift works better for the Improv stuff he's been wanting to get back into after his big time major motion picture debut in 'Serial Buddies'


I appreciated her response, but I'm not sure I'm buying it.

Frankly, the show (especially the first hour) seems flat without Todd. There have been some obvious moments where the cast is talking about a Todd related subject and there is silence where before there would have been a punch. The first few days Todd was gone you could really tell that Rich and Gary weren't really into it.
 
That sounds exactly like the response we'd tell a listener after a major in-house problem. Good P.R., but not entirely honest (partly because they don't want KTLA running a segment on it, like they did with the whole Jamie, Jack, and Stench fiasco).

That said, maybe it's the pressure of Handel being in market #2, but the talent I work with everyday humiliates our show's board op whenever he makes a mistake, on air, and it makes the show a lot of fun. What's the need to get someone fired and threaten to walk off the show?

(That said, off the air, I'd rather go to a BBQ with my show's talent than with Bill Handel -- but maybe that's just me. Personality differences.)
 
henry said:
That sounds exactly like the response we'd tell a listener after a major in-house problem. Good P.R., but not entirely honest (partly because they don't want KTLA running a segment on it, like they did with the whole Jamie, Jack, and Stench fiasco).

That said, maybe it's the pressure of Handel being in market #2, but the talent I work with everyday humiliates our show's board op whenever he makes a mistake, on air, and it makes the show a lot of fun. What's the need to get someone fired and threaten to walk off the show?

(That said, off the air, I'd rather go to a BBQ with my show's talent than with Bill Handel -- but maybe that's just me. Personality differences.)
Click to expand...

"the talent I work with everyday humiliates our show's board op whenever he makes a mistake, on air, and it makes the show a lot of fun."

I never have and never will understand how humiliating a board op for making a mistake "makes a show a lot of fun". I suppose it's all about the context and if it is good natured or not, but for the most part whenever I hear "talent" go off on someone in support I switch stations...and don't come back.
 
It's a constructive way to get rid of the frustration in a humorous way. Once the mics are off and we're in break, the talent and the board op are back to being buddies.

Too often, I think it works the other way. Talent and board op act like buddies until the mics are off and they're in break. Then all hell breaks loose.

Of the two choices, I'd rather have the first one.
 
How many times does the board op humiliate the "talent" for blowing a line, mis-pronucitations, or whatever? I've always thought in my over 40 years experience as talent it is better to keep your cool than look a fool or bully. It's just me I suppose, but I really dislike "talent" that bullies the support staff. It makes the "talent" look like an egotistic ass.
 
By the way Henry, I am not singling out your situation. For all I know, your talent may "go off" in a positive humorous way with a snappy line or a good comeback.

But today in radio it appears to be a "talent's" standard mode of retaliation to humiliate, on the air, those support individuals who lack access to a microphone. To me actions like that are a cheap shot and show a decided lack of ability to react positively to situations often encountered in LIVE radio.
Because everybody makes mistooks mistakes... ;)
 
Guys, getting back to board-op Todd Wilson, if I may:
I might have exaggerated a bit when I stated that Todd may have been murdered. He is actually alive and well and still living in beautiful downtown Studio City. What I did mean to say is that Todd is now dead radio-wise. For whatever reason, he was exiled to the nine-to-three slot at KFI where he is forced to listen to Rush Limbaugh and Bill Carroll on a daily basis. (Talk about living in Hell while on Earth!) ((If you're a fan of Todd, you probably have his political bent, so you know I'm not exaggerating here!!))
I don't believe he is allowed to talk on these shows, but what would it matter if he was? We don't listen to those shows, so it brings up that old saying, "If a tree falls in a forest, does anybody hear it fall?" Todd is now a lone tree in a vast forest of Nothingness!
That's what I mean when I say he's dead radio-wise.

RIP, Todd.
m
 
And it's unfortunate to learn about the late Todd Wilson. ;D

To be fair, though, most who work in radio get "murdered" eventually. It could be layoffs. Ratings shuffle. Who knows? I could be booted tomorrow myself. But you can never get rid of the memories of being part of a show, like Handel's in Todd's case. While we always hope the gig last forever, it's still cool the gig existed at all.

Maybe Todd gets shuffled back in down the road? Who knows? Wish him the best, though.
 
henry said:
That sounds exactly like the response we'd tell a listener after a major in-house problem. Good P.R., but not entirely honest (partly because they don't want KTLA running a segment on it, like they did with the whole Jamie, Jack, and Stench fiasco).
Click to expand...
It is strange that Todd would yank his own Twitter feed just because he moved to another show. On the other hand, the idea that KFI would make him take it down just because he pissed off Handel doesn't quite add up either.
 
Well, for what it's worth, I've heard Handel let it slip a couple of times that Todd was fired, but I also heard Handel mention during an eposode of Handel on the News that Todd was the board operator (Todd didn't speak during the show). I understand he's doing the Carroll show, but I've never heard him speak (I don't podcast the Carroll show).

Still think it was a poor decision to have him leave the Handel show, though.
 
pinball said:
Well, for what it's worth, I've heard Handel let it slip a couple of times that Todd was fired, but I also heard Handel mention during an eposode of Handel on the News that Todd was the board operator (Todd didn't speak during the show). I understand he's doing the Carroll show, but I've never heard him speak (I don't podcast the Carroll show).

Still think it was a poor decision to have him leave the Handel show, though.
Click to expand...

1 - Todd spoke frequently during the morning show as did Paul the Wall who also was the board op.
2 - He was prominently featured on their website with his daily Tshirt photos
3 - He is currently working for the Bill Carroll show
4 - Bill recently said Todd had some issues and the morning time slot probably wasn't helping him get better. I assume these were not physical but mental since on a recent morning thing they joked about his anger and lack of concentration. So either he applied for another shift or they couldn't take him anymore and made the choice for him.
 
I wasn't clear and I made an error--I know Todd spoke frequently during the Handel morning show. I mistakenly said Handel on the News, but it was on a Handel on the Law show since Todd was released from the morning show where Handel said his old board operator, Todd, was working this particular HOTL show. He didn't speak on this particular HOTL.
 
Where's John Ziegler when you need him. Soon after he left KFI he set up a website with a long dissertation on the real KFI and he proceeded to tell a lot of dirt and behind the scenes story of that station.

It's a shame these stations go into a lock down mode, when something controversial happens or when their ratings tank (as in KABC or now in KFI's case). At least at KLSX, FHF and Leykis would all be brutally honest of their ratings success or lack of success. It makes the hosts seem real if they were more honest with their audience.
 
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