WHAT'S MISSING IN AJC KANOV ARTICLE

[Ready for air]

How did a feature story get on the front page of the AJC business section with so many holes and agenda?
Kanov retires. The man so driven he attempts to prevent his mistake (firing S&V) from haunting by suing WSB to keep them off the air, wants to "rest, travel and do charity work?" Who wrote this softball stuff, Larry King?

Let's see 40 years of greatness and our only praising quotes were from a salesman and a former dj who used to dress in a duck suit?
Where was praise from Jerry Blum who hired him or Clarke Brown who groomed him (and actually hired Ryan Seacrest and Steve & Vikki.) Where was the kiss up from Dan Bowen or Don Benson or anybody at Lincoln. Where was orgasmic accolades from fellow broadcasters who admired his standards or athletes and city leaders who recognized the changed landscape.

This looks like some internal PR crap piece because without comments from the obvious players and sidekicks the writer manages to get a stab in at S&V with "Neither showed up at his going away party." Hey writer dude, get your facts straight, THEY WEREN'T INVITED.

Geez does the AJC have editors or were fact checkers and execs pushing for stories not puff pieces part of the AJC staff reduction. This article was shallow for the business page but probably leaned better on the fun and games section at Peachtree Buzz. Maybe nobody cares the guy is going. At least we'll be spared anymore articles and hype. Think: Nardelli, out of sight, out of mind, good ridance.

 

[Windreader]

Do you complain about the obituaries being unfairly positive, too? It sounds to me like the one with the agenda is you.

 

[wooder]

Hey, Ready For Air, way to close out Friday with the A-Hole Of The Week post. Not every article written has to be a hatchet job. It's okay for a paper to put a piece in the business section about the the positives contributions someone has had to his particular industry after 40 years. Go back to watching TMZ.

 

[RoddyFreeman]

I respect Steve & Vikki, and think they are talented and consumate professionals. They're sounding great on B98.5, and I expect them to have a long run there. That said, I doubt Mark Kanov or anyone else at Star thinks letting Steve & Vikki go was a mistake. S&V simply got too old for the station's target demo, and the ratings and revenue trends had been down.

The lawsuit was not prompted by a perceived mistake but by Star's desire to keep Steve & Vikki off the air during (what Star thought) was their non-compete period. Non-competes for top talents seem to be pretty much the norm in radio. I would have expected any station to react that way if a talent with a non-compete showed up on the air. In this case of course, Star was wrong in that it didn't property cross the t's and dot the i's in the contract. But I doubt Mark Kanov wanted to sue Steve & Vikki personally, but the contract was with them and not Cox.

I thought the article was appropriate as a tribute to Mark Kanov and was effective in communicating his accomplishments.

 

[Ready for air]

Sorry it's just that the business section has a history of not running this kind of material.
Think about it. No key current employees or long time relationships are quoted? Usually people are standing in line to kissa--. It seemed like a guy trying to rewrite the script.
You don't know how sales is badly missing S&V. You are forgetting the value of Star dropped from an asking price of 170 million. You're covering the fact most guys don't "retire" at this age after trying so hard to be proved right with his decisions.

Perhaps today was a rude day to be disrespectful. It's mostly amazing the story got printed as a sendoff without more substance.

But I was puzzled over the line about him "vaccuming his office." Did WQXI not have janitorial services? Was he keeping it neat for clients to drop in? Was the air staff having party's in his office and he was cleaning up? Just sounded kind of kooky. But tributes do get a bit glowing and overstated. I'm sure many feel badly the career ended this way. We remember when Star 94 was a very different place. Check their billing and numbers. It's very hard to defend this but some flavors of Kool aid are just addictive

 

[rho01]

I only had 30 inches and yes, it was a sendoff story, not a critical take on all of Kanov's mistakes. As for vacuuming his office--it was actually part of a longer anecdote from Gary McKee but it wasn't on point so I cut it. It was about how McKee would keep a vacuum cleaner in the control room in case big celebs came by. Sometimes, he'd open the door and it was gone. He knew where it was: Kanov's office.

I interviewed all his bosses Jerry Blum, Clarke Brown and Don Benson. They simply didn't give me the best quotes or anecdotes given the space. I also interviewed Craig Ashwood, Jake Ray, former PD Tony Novia, Andrew Saltzman, Steak Shapiro, his wife Sara, former sales guy Jim Morrison, his first client Sheila Wynne, former sales guy Bob Louie, sales guy Chris Schorr, former client Bruce Piefke and current client Mark Banta. I didn't quote any of them but they all gave me information that helped me flesh out the profile.

 

[littlejohn]

"Only"??? If I had 30 inches, I could rule the world... albeit by proxy.
At least your stuff is spellchecked. Tell the lady who did the piece on the cop's dog the other day, "Malinois". No excuse for that sort of stupidity if you want the paper to retain tis credibility.

 

[RTibbs]

Seemed to me in the space provided the piece took an overview of his lengthy career and how he rose to where he was from salesman to one of the most powerful men in Atlanta radio. I understood the vacuuming piece as it was corroborating evidence of his professional appearance like the pressed shirts and spotless suit. The guy came off as a professional through ad through. I don't believe the point of the article was to dissect the end of the Steve and Vickie relationship. Nor should it speculate on whether his final move of replacing them will pay off or not. It seems the Morning Mess will not succeed but too soon to tell. Remember the adage never follow a legend.

My understanding that sales had already start plummeting before they left. No doubt part of the decision that they were getting too old for the Star demo. Problem was Stars demo would rather turn into the more relevant Bert Show and giving Q100 the opportunity to keep those listeners all day. Tough to sign them to another 5 year deal if they are aging by the day and Bert is coming on strong. You can debate whether they should just tweaked the format to make B98 their main competitor but wither way it didn't seem to belong in an article about the man retiring.

Also good for him if he can retire at his age. Plenty of money obviously. Now he can go consult.

 

[OgOgglby]

Hal Douglas has 30...

 

[Kabrich]

How did a feature story get on the front page of the AJC business section with so many holes and agenda?
Kanov retires. The man so driven he attempts to prevent his mistake (firing S&V) from haunting by suing WSB to keep them off the air, wants to "rest, travel and do charity work?" Who wrote this softball stuff, Larry King?

At least he wasn't forced out with an excuse that he had been diagnosed with a health issue

Let's see 40 years of greatness and our only praising quotes were from a salesman and a former dj who used to dress in a duck suit?
Where was praise from Jerry Blum who hired him or Clarke Brown who groomed him (and actually hired Ryan Seacrest and Steve & Vikki.) Where was the kiss up from Dan Bowen or Don Benson or anybody at Lincoln. Where was orgasmic accolades from fellow broadcasters who admired his standards or athletes and city leaders who recognized the changed landscape.

Sort of tells you something doesn't it.

I interviewed all his bosses Jerry Blum, Clarke Brown and Don Benson. They simply didn't give me the best quotes or anecdotes given the space. I also interviewed Craig Ashwood, Jake Ray, former PD Tony Novia, Andrew Saltzman, Steak Shapiro, his wife Sara, former sales guy Jim Morrison, his first client Sheila Wynne, former sales guy Bob Louie, sales guy Chris Schorr, former client Bruce Piefke and current client Mark Banta. I didn't quote any of them but they all gave me information that helped me flesh out the profile.

Tell you even more

This looks like some internal PR crap piece because without comments from the obvious players and sidekicks the writer manages to get a stab in at S&V with "Neither showed up at his going away party." Hey writer dude, get your facts straight, THEY WEREN'T INVITED.

His facts were correct. Neither showed up at his going away party. Doesn't matter if they were invited or not (I doubt they would have shown up anyway considering what we all know), the fact is, they weren't there.

But I doubt Mark Kanov wanted to sue Steve & Vikki personally, but the contract was with them and not Cox.

And you would be wrong.

In fact, Mr. Kanov went so far as to send a copy of the S&V agreement to Corporate to try and get Corporate Legal to enforce their non-compete - problem was, as Mr. Kanov was, it wasn't the agreement that was in effect.

Once Corporate Lawyers found out that they had been sent an outdated agreement and found out what the agreement said, they said in essence "Lots of Luck, you are on your own".

Mr. Kanov then hired local lawyers to go after them - money that that came out of Station Expenses.

Finally enough lawyers told him what he didn't want to hear....and the suit was dropped.

Isn't it INTERESTING that Mr. Kanov "announced his retirement" slightly after the Corporate Attorneys found out what had been done. Considering what I hear about Corporate Insurance Lawyers, I doubt they like being made a fool of. I don't know and I'm not inferring, but in my opinion, the timing was sure interesting.

So best of luck to Mr. Kanov as he retires to search for a cure for his illness until you find that cure and decide to un-retire. Now the only question that remains is if Sales will continue to run the station or will they learn that Programming is essential to long term success?

 

[Ready for air]

Kabrick gets it. Thanks Randy. Rodney's response was good. I know him to be a probing reporter who doesn't like to leave holes. It just seemed the limits of a 1300 word article missed the obvious accolades. Entertainment reporters by nature write in a condensed form relying on heavy name dropping and quotes. He clarified that he did reach key people who probably are ticked they got left on the cutting room floor. Maybe it proves many in radio truly can't adlib. (where's that liner card when you need a good quote for Rodney?)

Pop quiz. Who are the GM's of WSB AM, WSB FM, WVEE, WGST? If you answered "Don't know, Don't care" you got it right. The GM as "rock-star-with-a-morning-mans-ego" has given us Peach buzz quotes from guys the listeners don't know or care about, really. The producer of American Idol is never interviewe but Seacrest is.

Kabrick got it right: Sales has been the internal center point of the WQXI/WSTR culture, going back to Blum days. They were protected from themselves by good programming and on air people. If they are left to make programming decisions it's like hoping the CEO of Delta can actually fly one of those planes.

Truth is, Mr Kanov is not the owner, but was a hired hand. Any major decisions had to be approved my higher ups here and at headquarters and that's the unanswered subplot of this not for tv mystery. It's unfortunant that a loyal employee like Kanov gave 40 years but may have been a fall guy. He was left defending his decisions in print, to agencies, and to a staff wondering "are you sure about this?"

I'm more puzzled at how a company of this size, history, and experience, got into this jam. I don't know the folks at Cox, but for all the complaining of how they don't change anything there results are sound, focused and effective without guessing and wondering.

I hear the "demo" argument. Hey, they need more than "demos" they need numbers. Let's be honest, it just looks cooler to be chasing the young crowd: think Hooters waitresses." Rodney doesn't do A/C stories. Forget "target audience" hit this target: all of America is aging. Gobs are money have been left for a the guys who want to land the mom who is as efficient as Tina Fay and who drives a new Honda accord then shops at Nordstroms and Target, not Old Navy.

Star made great points they want to be younger. Great. Now instead of a 63 year old manager they can get a 35 year old guy with a 26 year old PD and while we're at it, all these 40ish sales dudes have got to go.
To feel the part the sales staff has got to get a Morning Mess look about them. If you're going to sell the product, BE the product. You don't see a "Jos A Bank " sales guy or "Talbots" clerk at Banana Republic do you.

 

[rho01]

DVD extras that didn't make the Kanov story

Here are some of the quotes that were left on the cutting room floor. Some actually weren't half bad, but I focused my story on good anecdotes that reflected to the best of my knowledge Kanov's true nature. Some people I interviewed talked in generalities and had a difficult time discussing specific details or anecdotes. Those folks tend to fall in the editing wastebasket. Some were a little ancillary to what I needed-- like Steak and Andrew, though they gave me good info. Others talk in colorful soundbites and punchy details. Three made the cut -- Gary McKee, Rob Stearns and Tommy Sullivan. Mark himself was a good quote as well.

Here's a quote, for instance, from Clarke Brown, his former boss:

“We used to party together and strategize together. We did party our butts off,” Brown said. “And it wasn’t just sales people with sales people. It was sales people, programming people and backroom people together.”

This is Tony Novia, former PD, about convincing Mark to go younger after he got there in the early 1990s:

Kanov resisted the move to go younger. “He dug in,” Novia said. He wanted to stay older. But “when we sat down and got in a room and explained and vented and talked about the good, bad and ugly and why we were doing it, Mark bought it. Mark and the sales team did an incredible job holding the revenues as much as they could until the station turned the corner. They began to get higher rates.”

Novia also gave Kanov kudos for helping raise foster newborns before they were adopted, often for two, three weeks at a time. They've done that 23 times.

“He’s raising his kids and he and his wife are up all hours of the night dealing with a newborn foster child. But he never complained or bragged about it. He never looked for any credit for it,” Novia said.

This is from Steak Shapiro. I almost used it to end the story but it would have meant explaining the whole deal with 790/The Zone and it felt a little off the beaten track.

“He taught us reputation is everything. He gave us a sense on how to be professional when we had no clue what we were doing. He taught us to be humble but have swagger. And he taught us to be passionate every day about what we do. It sure beats the real world. He was able to stay out of the real world for 40 years.”

This is from Jim Morrison, a mid-day talent in the 1970s and a sales guy for much longer than that until 1997:

“He spent the company’s money as his money. We teased him: his arms were too short to reach his wallet. Lunches were always dutch.” Kanov had one of the best “gut feels in the industry,” Morrison said. He knew how to get the right mix of people.

Morrison said Kanov wasn’t just a money guy. He actually liked programming and music. “Mark was the daddy. The product was his child."

And here are some thoughts from Jerry Blum:

Jerry Blum, the man who hired Kanov, liked him for being both calm and aggressive. And Kanov dressed well “for a young guy,” he said. Blum demanded loyalty. He remembered Kanov in the early ‘80s actually talking about leaving and starting his own ad agency. “I said, ‘Get your ass back to your desk and get to work and forget all that bull**** of opening your own agency.’ "

“I think he respected me, that old father image," Blum said. Kanov “didn’t need too much direction. He knew what had to be done and did it.”

And thoughts from Andrew Saltzman, who runs 790/the Zone:

“He comes in every day smiling. I know guys who are wealthier and quote have more power. But if success is truly loving what you do and figuring out a way to get paid and take the elevator on the way home and know the best is yet to come going home to your family, everybody should go out like that."

The battle with Cox Radio and Steve & Vikki, he said, “reflects an interesting dichotomy. He has a mild-mannered demeanor but he’s a fierce competitor. He felt the spirit of that [non-compete] was thrown back in his face.”

 

[Kabrich]

Re: DVD extras that didn't make the Kanov story

Here are some of the quotes that were left on the cutting room floor. Some actually weren't half bad, but I focused my story on good anecdotes that reflected to the best of my knowledge Kanov's true nature. Some people I interviewed talked in generalities and had a difficult time discussing specific details or anecdotes. Those folks tend to fall in the editing wastebasket. Some were a little ancillary to what I needed-- like Steak and Andrew, though they gave me good info. Others talk in colorful soundbites and punchy details. Three made the cut -- Gary McKee, Rob Stearns and Tommy Sullivan. Mark himself was a good quote as well.

Here's a quote, for instance, from Clarke Brown, his former boss:

“We used to party together and strategize together. We did party our butts off,” Brown said. “And it wasn’t just sales people with sales people. It was sales people, programming people and backroom people together.”

This is Tony Novia, former PD, about convincing Mark to go younger after he got there in the early 1990s:

Kanov resisted the move to go younger. “He dug in,” Novia said. He wanted to stay older. But “when we sat down and got in a room and explained and vented and talked about the good, bad and ugly and why we were doing it, Mark bought it. Mark and the sales team did an incredible job holding the revenues as much as they could until the station turned the corner. They began to get higher rates.”

Novia also gave Kanov kudos for helping raise foster newborns before they were adopted, often for two, three weeks at a time. They've done that 23 times.

“He’s raising his kids and he and his wife are up all hours of the night dealing with a newborn foster child. But he never complained or bragged about it. He never looked for any credit for it,” Novia said.

This is from Steak Shapiro. I almost used it to end the story but it would have meant explaining the whole deal with 790/The Zone and it felt a little off the beaten track.

“He taught us reputation is everything. He gave us a sense on how to be professional when we had no clue what we were doing. He taught us to be humble but have swagger. And he taught us to be passionate every day about what we do. It sure beats the real world. He was able to stay out of the real world for 40 years.”

This is from Jim Morrison, a mid-day talent in the 1970s and a sales guy for much longer than that until 1997:

“He spent the company’s money as his money. We teased him: his arms were too short to reach his wallet. Lunches were always dutch.” Kanov had one of the best “gut feels in the industry,” Morrison said. He knew how to get the right mix of people.

Morrison said Kanov wasn’t just a money guy. He actually liked programming and music. “Mark was the daddy. The product was his child."

And here are some thoughts from Jerry Blum:

Jerry Blum, the man who hired Kanov, liked him for being both calm and aggressive. And Kanov dressed well “for a young guy,” he said. Blum demanded loyalty. He remembered Kanov in the early ‘80s actually talking about leaving and starting his own ad agency. “I said, ‘Get your ass back to your desk and get to work and forget all that bull**** of opening your own agency.’ "

“I think he respected me, that old father image," Blum said. Kanov “didn’t need too much direction. He knew what had to be done and did it.”

And thoughts from Andrew Saltzman, who runs 790/the Zone:

“He comes in every day smiling. I know guys who are wealthier and quote have more power. But if success is truly loving what you do and figuring out a way to get paid and take the elevator on the way home and know the best is yet to come going home to your family, everybody should go out like that."

The battle with Cox Radio and Steve & Vikki, he said, “reflects an interesting dichotomy. He has a mild-mannered demeanor but he’s a fierce competitor. He felt the spirit of that [non-compete] was thrown back in his face.”

Those quotes prove my points - thanks for sharing.

I am not saying he is a bad person and I respect what he has done for Foster Children. But this board is about what he did in Radio.

When someone calls me for a reference, I can give a reference or I can give a REFERENCE.

How someone parties, is a tightwad or fights change tooth and foot is not the references most would want in this Industry that is CONSTANTLY CHANGING and you need to constantly adapt.

As for the "spirt" of S&V non-compete, I suppose in 40 years he did not learn that what is in writing is all that matters, not what he thought was in "spirit"?

I guess the "spirit" of the leaving radio for medical reasons also should have held? : And speaking of the quote about "all you have is your reputation", what of reputation does it take to forced S&V to agree to leave for "medical reasons"?

Again, his personal life aside, I see his decisions from a Broadcasters Standpoint and only speak to that arena.

 

[RoddyFreeman]

You guys are trying to create an issue when one does not exist. You're using the excuse of the story to carry out your agendas regarding Kanov.

The public that reads the AJC Business section does not read Radio-Info. So all of your venting is going to influence virtually no one who read the article. The story was intended as a send-off to Kanov, as something he can frame and show to his grandkids. Rodney said he had limited space and used what he felt were the most interesting quotes. The public-at-large does not care whether the quotes came from a salesperson or from Clarke Brown.

When I read the story, I thought it was totally appropriate for its target audience, the general public. I doubt anyone else who read it even remotely questioned who was being quoted...or whether WQXI had a cleaning service ;D.

 

[radiochic05]

Exactly Roddy.

Rodney Ho celebrates a man who ran a successful operation that spanned four decades and some of you want to start hatin’ the first day of his retirement. It’s pretty obvious that “Kabrich,” who does business with a direct competitor of Kanov’s, http://www.radio-info.com/smf/index.php?topic=96966.msg765535, has an ax to grind against him. I’d also suggest, Kabrich, if you want to reference S&V’s forced exit due to "medical reasons," you dig a little deeper and get your facts straight. You may be surprised to find you don't know the entire story.

 

[Kabrich]

Exactly Roddy.

Rodney Ho celebrates a man who ran a successful operation that spanned four decades and some of you want to start hatin’ the first day of his retirement. It’s pretty obvious that “Kabrich,” who does business with a direct competitor of Kanov’s, http://www.radio-info.com/smf/index.php?topic=96966.msg765535, has an ax to grind against him. I’d also suggest, Kabrich, if you want to reference S&V’s forced exit due to "medical reasons," you dig a little deeper and get your facts straight. You may be surprised to find you don't know the entire story.

I have no ax to grind - and pretty darn sure I have more first hand info than you ever did or will. And I've never made a secret of who I work with - anyone remotely in radio knows it.

Again, in my opinion, I just find the retirement timing "interesting" and we all know how BS the stories are coming out of that place of why people are leaving :

955 The Beat was a great example of another station where Sales was running the Station. Sean Phillips was the right person at the right time to get Programming and Promotion back out of Sales Hands. Great strides have been made with that station because balance was restored to where it needed to be.

Sales has always run Star94 and Star94 will be judged by the shape Kanov left it in as of now - and as of right now, that is in the worst state of it's life as Star 94. If the Morning Mess kicks in and the station grabs several more points, then perhaps he made the right move.

But I do know that it will be interesting to see if this when the balance that was always needed will finally be restored in that building.

History will be the final judge, not me.

 

[jabba17]

For someone outside the business, I would find it very hard to believe that Kanov was pushed out by one or more recent mistakes (86ing S&V, filing a lawsuit against them, bringing in a bad morning show) over a long career, if such a mistake was made. Giving this a clean, close, comfortable shave with Occam's Razor:

1) Maybe we can take this story at face value, and he just felt like it was time to retire after 40 freaking years?

2) Maybe he was concerned about Lincoln's interest in J-P's radio business--in particular, Lincoln's willingness to invest in the station, while they park it until the market improves to the point where they can unload it; as well as a possible future owner who might take an ax to the front office (particularly an owner like CBS or Cumulus with other stations and front-office staffs in ATL already)? In short, maybe he was getting while the getting was good. It's no secret that Lincoln wants to sell all of their radio stations, for the right price. I would imagine that Lincoln isn't spending a penny they absolutely don't have to.

I find it impossible to believe that Kanov was pushed out related to anything pertaining to S&V. If Star wants to go younger, getting rid of S&V is the right move and B98.5 picking them up is logical. I find it hard to believe that he was pushed out due to Star's recent performance, given his long successful track record.