Who are the worst talk radio hosts in Boston?

[Varulven]

One of those rare times Neanderpaul & Varulven are in agreement.

Opie & Anthony got their bearings at WAAF. I personally found their April Fools Joke on the Menino family repugnant, but they rolled the dice and they end up making millions. It could have went the other way.

Take away their WAAF platform and you don't have an Opie & Anthony. They launched from this market.

As did David Brudnoy who was heard up and down the East Coast this side of the Mississippi for decades...

 

[raccoonradio]

>>1. Talkers Magazine is a rag. Hasn't every talk host made their heavy 100 list at one time.

Yeah, they promise to show up to do a speech but submit a video instead and then rail at C-SPAN
for not carrying it. Oops, that's just Savage.

>>2. I think Howie Carr is a hypocrite, a bully and his Herald Column is stale. He does have a few affiliates in New England but failed at national syndication. Both ABC Radio and SuperRadio tried to sell him. But, because he is the only game in town I still tune him in.

Ah, part of the "I think your show stinks but I listen everyday" crowd. Welcome! Howie is funny and
not a bully, because the pols he talks about (and the hacks) have it coming. The column is great. But yeah,
not much competition. Severino? Yikes!

>>3. I liked Barnicale. I am going out this weekend to buy a satelite radio so I can listen to Stern again.

Barnicale, is that a new drink? Barnic Ale! If he ever gets back on the radio (far too busy these
days doing MSNBC) maybe he may even take _calls_... Be brave, Mike! You're a yuk on every page,
just like in that George Carlin book you claim you never read & didn't steal from (but someone dug up footage of
you reviewing it on Chronicle. Ha!)

>>4. The Big Mattress was a great morning show as was the Boston Sunday review on BCN.

Or you can do the funky chicken if you get it wrong!

 

[Neanderpaul]

You call it nitpicking. I call it having the proper facts. Telling people O&A got their start in NY, when Opie actually worked in Long Island, a unique market unto its own, is like saying someone who started at WORC in Worcester got their start in Boston. Or, someone who started in Riverside got their start in LA. Or, Toledo is Detroit. They're not the same.

And again...Anthony never worked in radio prior to WAAF. He was a listener. Your assertions of O&A as having worked out their show in "the boonies" is both factually incorrect, and an obvious slam to the quality of radio being done in Boston, a market every bit as good as NY both currently, and historically. I'd put Dale Dorman against your Scott Muni. Jess Cain against Cousin Brucie. Matt Seigel against Scott Shannon. Boston radio is in no way inferior to NY. Never has been.
The only difference is population. Call it nitpicking if you want. To tell the truth, you need to have the details correct. You do not.

Your assertion that no Boston talk radio host is qualified to work in NY is just baiting. In this case it worked.

 

[Erie_Lackawanna]

fm5 wrote:
"Does anyone in their right mind think that any local Boston host could ever jump to either New York or LA at this point?"

who in their "right" mind would WANT to go to NY or LA from Boston? run the risk of packing, moving and all that fun garbage just to have to go find work somewhere else because your new station did not deliver the desired results in .75 of a ratings book? blink THIS!

granted, the radio money is good in market #1 or #2 (insert favorite bathroom analogy here) - but only as good as that last book. lock, load and launch - the 3 L's of radio. as a pd of mine used to say "they're building a Saturn-3 as we speak and one of our bretheren is about to become a Gemini Astronaut."

O&A did NOT start in New York. that's where they wound up.

next you'll give credit to NYC for Roger Clemens and #18 in the Yankee outfield. (by the way - keep 'em.)

and to have to live with and/or talk about the freakin' Yankees or Dodgers? puh-leeeeze. we had our fun with Jean Damon, the french centerfielder. and i can't even type the word Gray... Gred... Gra... oh, the LA manager, Little. see, thinkin' about the guy and i kept myself in this thing too long.

 

[fieldmarshallcinque]

Heritage Talk station's morning shows:

NYC: Curtis/Kuby
LA: Bill Handel
BOS: T Finneran.

Yep, same quality.........

 

[Casablanca]

Howie Carr assumed the time slot of Jerry Williams but never his stature. Carr is a case of the Frankenstein monster killing its creator

Those that can...do.

Those that can't/never have...criticize.

Kudos to those who've been smart enough to ignore the multiple tangential bait of corporate blah blah, and stolen votes blah blah.

The fact remains that Howie (and remember, when it comes to character, I personally root for Whitey's guys) is the talk show in that city. Much in the way Andleman is the godfather of Sports Talk.

His long tenure is a testament to his effectiveness. It doesn't matter who's in office, who got snagged in some political backroom deal, or which govt. hack got caught, Howie has always been there to provide a forum for New Englanders to voice their omnipresent opinion. He has successfully assumed the role that Jerry Williams once held, and replaced Brudnoy as a Boston insitution when it comes to talk radio.

That alone is something most of his critics are envious of.

Many of you who slam him...myself included, would gladly sit in those studios every day and do that gig.

Talk radio in Boston might be the easiest in America....because New Englanders love nothing more than to argue.

This forum proves that every day.

Critique them all...it proves they have made listeners of every one of you, and that's their job.

Mission accomplished!

 

[BigBish1966]

Its not fair to Howie to compare him with Williams. He couldn't hold Jerry's jock.

However, Howie's carved out his own niche and has been successful at it. He's entertaining and lite, but in all actuality he doesn't have the substance Jerry had. For that matter, no talk radio host in bostone has even a fraction of the substance that hosts of 10-15 years ago had.

Think about it in terms of the gay marriage amendment- If Jerry Williams was anti amendment ( and you know he would have been) you would have had 4 hours a day railingon it, organizing protests, having guests - just like the 2 1/2 issues years ago.

I miss that in talk radio now.

 

[raccoonradio]

I disagree in one way--I actually looked forward to Howie when he filled in for Jerry. I did like Jerry but I
thought Howie was funnier, more entertaining. But Jerry was groundbreaking in many ways, true.

 

[Casablanca]

Yeah, as Jerry always warned taking the cue from Neil Postman's phrase we would be ' amusing ourselves to death...'

Carr is a true light-weight who owes his career in radio to 71682...

I disagree in one way--I actually looked forward to Howie when he filled in for Jerry. I did like Jerry but I
thought Howie was funnier, more entertaining. But Jerry was groundbreaking in many ways, true.

 

[Mickey37]

Carr has made his own name in this market. Sounds as though our friend here is carrying on some misguided mission to fight to keep his late mentor's name alive, by tossing stink bombs at his successor.

Yeah, as Jerry always warned taking the cue from Neil Postman's phrase we would be ' amusing ourselves to death...'

Carr is a true light-weight who owes his career in radio to 71682...

I disagree in one way--I actually looked forward to Howie when he filled in for Jerry. I did like Jerry but I
thought Howie was funnier, more entertaining. But Jerry was groundbreaking in many ways, true.