Just heard he is taking Hannity's spot on 1040 starting next week. Guess Hannity goes to nites on WFLA starting next week... Since he is no longer on in Sarasota, wonder if anyone in this area will be able to get him live. Probably possible WFLA is keeping him from being on a Sarasota station unless CC owns it.
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Who is Brian Fasulo??
- Thread starter sbe1
- Start date
Perhaps Genesis is trying to get back to that "Friendly Talk Radio" that earned it a 0.0 before it became the home of red meat for people who think that WFLA is liberal. 
Given his background was basically acting as a shill for people who paid Channel 8 to do fake "interviews"
to hawk their products, I doubt Fasulo's ability to satisfy WWBA's hardcore conservative base audience.
I know that a lot of stations are trying to get away from the "all conservative, all playbook, all the time"
approach as ratings begin a slow decline. But while this may be a good strategy for a broad-based talker
like 970, it may not be the best approach for 10:40, especially with 860 starting to breathe down its neck.
That gap will only lessen once Hannity moves to 970.
I think they would have done better importing a local talker from a smaller market who's got the red-meat act down. Maybe bring Rocky D back from Charleston SC. He's kinda dopey but he knows how to satisfy the
guns-and-ammo crowd.
Given his background was basically acting as a shill for people who paid Channel 8 to do fake "interviews"
to hawk their products, I doubt Fasulo's ability to satisfy WWBA's hardcore conservative base audience.
I know that a lot of stations are trying to get away from the "all conservative, all playbook, all the time"
approach as ratings begin a slow decline. But while this may be a good strategy for a broad-based talker
like 970, it may not be the best approach for 10:40, especially with 860 starting to breathe down its neck.
That gap will only lessen once Hannity moves to 970.
I think they would have done better importing a local talker from a smaller market who's got the red-meat act down. Maybe bring Rocky D back from Charleston SC. He's kinda dopey but he knows how to satisfy the
guns-and-ammo crowd.
The 3-6 p.m. shift on Wednesday began with a whine session by Brad James and Matt Ternes ("Tool "). "Sean Hannity has decided to crush the little guy."
Of course, as they themselves admitted, Genesis knew this was coming for months, and they could have planned a lot better for the day they knew was coming. Later on, James contradicted himself when he told a caller "we were blindsided". Nonsense.
Another choice comment from James about the new show: "We politic our audience to death." "I think you're going to hear a lighter approach, more lifestyle issues (from Fasulo)." "They're going to get a light hearted look at things." Ternes said: "I don't know about you, but I want to invite some of the liberals back into the fold."
They got Fasulo on the phone around 3:30. "We're going to deal with local issues. Sure, we'll talk some politics, but we'll also talk about American Idol." And this makes him how different from Schnitt?? Fasulo took some backhanded slams at conservatives: "They report, you decide. When is it ever decided?"
Again, after all this time, they don't get their audience. It's the redder-than-red meat crowd. WWBA is the hardcore conservative station. That is their only audience. They don't have the resources to draw in casual, non-ideological listeners, who barely know that AM radio exists. WWBA didn't think this through. They have chosen to be the victim rather than be the victor.
How a real manager would have dealt with this:
Begin dealing with this ON THE AIR months in advance. This goes against every "rule" in the business. Mention call letters. Interrupt Hannity's show. Talk about how Hannity's trying to screw the station. Threaten to yank the show off. Call Hannity on the air and give him and "up yours" sendoff. Taunt the competition. Take the show off on your schedule, and that doesn't mean waiting out the contract and picking a "host" at the last minute.
Mark Larsen and Brad James are both veterans of "4002", and yet they have never applied their knowledge of the "enemy" effectively. Probably their hands have been tied by the "family friendly" edicts of Mr. Maduri.
I think it's laughable, if true according to one post, that Maduri is trying to put pressure on the advertisers
just at the time when his numbers are about to go down the toilet.
Example of how to deal with a situation when the "big guys" take your shows away:
Back in 1998, when then-Jacor acquired the then-Art Bell show for 970, then- AM 570 replaced him without warning with Stan Major, who quickly declared his show was about "issues not aliens", and ridiculed Bell's act.
I assume it was without warning to 970, as it took a week for them to recover and work Bell into their schedule. 570 was a lousy talker, but at least they showed some cogliones on this one. It was apparently memorable enough for someone to write about it on a web page:
http://www.crazedfanboy.com/nolansnewsstand02/popculturereview143.html
Of course, as they themselves admitted, Genesis knew this was coming for months, and they could have planned a lot better for the day they knew was coming. Later on, James contradicted himself when he told a caller "we were blindsided". Nonsense.
Another choice comment from James about the new show: "We politic our audience to death." "I think you're going to hear a lighter approach, more lifestyle issues (from Fasulo)." "They're going to get a light hearted look at things." Ternes said: "I don't know about you, but I want to invite some of the liberals back into the fold."
They got Fasulo on the phone around 3:30. "We're going to deal with local issues. Sure, we'll talk some politics, but we'll also talk about American Idol." And this makes him how different from Schnitt?? Fasulo took some backhanded slams at conservatives: "They report, you decide. When is it ever decided?"
Again, after all this time, they don't get their audience. It's the redder-than-red meat crowd. WWBA is the hardcore conservative station. That is their only audience. They don't have the resources to draw in casual, non-ideological listeners, who barely know that AM radio exists. WWBA didn't think this through. They have chosen to be the victim rather than be the victor.
How a real manager would have dealt with this:
Begin dealing with this ON THE AIR months in advance. This goes against every "rule" in the business. Mention call letters. Interrupt Hannity's show. Talk about how Hannity's trying to screw the station. Threaten to yank the show off. Call Hannity on the air and give him and "up yours" sendoff. Taunt the competition. Take the show off on your schedule, and that doesn't mean waiting out the contract and picking a "host" at the last minute.
Mark Larsen and Brad James are both veterans of "4002", and yet they have never applied their knowledge of the "enemy" effectively. Probably their hands have been tied by the "family friendly" edicts of Mr. Maduri.
I think it's laughable, if true according to one post, that Maduri is trying to put pressure on the advertisers
just at the time when his numbers are about to go down the toilet.
Example of how to deal with a situation when the "big guys" take your shows away:
Back in 1998, when then-Jacor acquired the then-Art Bell show for 970, then- AM 570 replaced him without warning with Stan Major, who quickly declared his show was about "issues not aliens", and ridiculed Bell's act.
I assume it was without warning to 970, as it took a week for them to recover and work Bell into their schedule. 570 was a lousy talker, but at least they showed some cogliones on this one. It was apparently memorable enough for someone to write about it on a web page:
http://www.crazedfanboy.com/nolansnewsstand02/popculturereview143.html
MORE: James and Ternes took calls. Most of them were female. 1040's audience probably skews male, so one must assume those callers were plants from the front office. Everybody was praising the change (again a sign the calls were planted), except for one caller who I think more accurately represents the real attitude of the "hardcore" 1040 audience. "I'm a Republican and I think you did this because you're a bunch of liberals." Of course that's a paranoid outlook, but the hosts probably encouraged this when they said things like "now we can welcome the liberals back to the station." Instead of dissing Hannity, and implying that he betrayed conservative principles by stiffing WWBA, they managed to make the core 1040 audience feel dissed.
I also couldn't believe James had the chutzpah to name-drop Bob Lassiter, Jay Marvin, and Lionel. In their late 80's peak, those three wouldn't have lasted FIVE MINUTES under the regime of Jethro "Don't say damn or hell on my station" Maduri. Certainly they wouldn't have lasted with the WWBA audience. Also thought it amusing that
they lambasted Hannity for going to a delay on 970 when they run O' Reilly on delay on 1040.
I also couldn't believe James had the chutzpah to name-drop Bob Lassiter, Jay Marvin, and Lionel. In their late 80's peak, those three wouldn't have lasted FIVE MINUTES under the regime of Jethro "Don't say damn or hell on my station" Maduri. Certainly they wouldn't have lasted with the WWBA audience. Also thought it amusing that
they lambasted Hannity for going to a delay on 970 when they run O' Reilly on delay on 1040.
It is obviously a right wing conspiracy to shift Tampa Bay radio further to the right. All in preparation to steal the elections in 2006 and 2008!
I'm disappointed, sigh
Here, I was hoping they would move the WHBO call back to 1040, bring Howard Hewes back to his old timeslot of afternoon drive, let him do a goofy talk, oldies program, and have fun on the drive home.....Howard has talk experience on the old Sun Radio Network (How can I say Chuck Harder?), as Joel Vincent. (all said tongue in cheek)
Here, I was hoping they would move the WHBO call back to 1040, bring Howard Hewes back to his old timeslot of afternoon drive, let him do a goofy talk, oldies program, and have fun on the drive home.....Howard has talk experience on the old Sun Radio Network (How can I say Chuck Harder?), as Joel Vincent. (all said tongue in cheek)
This is a joke, I'm willing to bet that this is going to backfire on 970. Personally, I tend to lean a little to the right... and even I feel the need to spew. Schnitt's show is bad enough, now its going to be followed by (delayed) Hannity??? When Phil Hendrie was on, it broke up all the constant right wing propaganda. And added a little comic relief to an otherwise humorless lineup.
The greatest part of all this is, 970 is proudly listing the call in numbers for Sean's show on their website. What's the point of that?
I don't know about youze guys, but I think its sad that a once great station like WFLA has become the official Fox News radio station.
More Later
Cedric
The greatest part of all this is, 970 is proudly listing the call in numbers for Sean's show on their website. What's the point of that?
I don't know about youze guys, but I think its sad that a once great station like WFLA has become the official Fox News radio station.
More Later
Cedric
He's not ready for Tampa
But that doesn't mean he's not ready for WWBA! ;D
Besides, with winter coming, it's more like "He's not ready for Pinellas County"!
This from Radio Ink:
News/Talk WWBA-AM, part of Genesis Communications, has announced that beginning Monday, October 2, longtime TV personality and Talk show host Brian Fasulo will anchor afternoons from 3-6 PM. The move falls in line with the company’s recent efforts to bolster local programming. .......
“This is a real city,” Fasulo added. “The people of Tampa deserve to have smiles on their faces when they’re driving home. That’s what this show is about. It will be topical, relevant and fun.”
What effort to bolster local programming? More like, "the market bully stole our best program and we didn't want to stoop SO low to pick up Jerry Doyle or somesuch, so we settled for this." WFLA already pretends to be local in PMD anyway, so it's mediocre "local" against bad local. And what's this about being a real city? As opposed to the fake cities? ???
What bothers me about the Hannity move is that CC is poaching him from competitors in a number of places, including Tallahassee, by clearing his lapdog Mark Levin. To think we have to listen to that schrill, New York-centric act in dozens of markets. Seems ABC has been hiring some of TRN's affiliate relations folks. :
Seems Dr. Laura, who's running (almost) live on 'BA's daytimer sister in Orlando would be a better choice than this self-proclaimed "happy talk" coming. She offers some stability for when times when the "red meat" talk is of less interest to people, plus she's free.
But that doesn't mean he's not ready for WWBA! ;D
Besides, with winter coming, it's more like "He's not ready for Pinellas County"!
This from Radio Ink:
News/Talk WWBA-AM, part of Genesis Communications, has announced that beginning Monday, October 2, longtime TV personality and Talk show host Brian Fasulo will anchor afternoons from 3-6 PM. The move falls in line with the company’s recent efforts to bolster local programming. .......
“This is a real city,” Fasulo added. “The people of Tampa deserve to have smiles on their faces when they’re driving home. That’s what this show is about. It will be topical, relevant and fun.”
What effort to bolster local programming? More like, "the market bully stole our best program and we didn't want to stoop SO low to pick up Jerry Doyle or somesuch, so we settled for this." WFLA already pretends to be local in PMD anyway, so it's mediocre "local" against bad local. And what's this about being a real city? As opposed to the fake cities? ???
What bothers me about the Hannity move is that CC is poaching him from competitors in a number of places, including Tallahassee, by clearing his lapdog Mark Levin. To think we have to listen to that schrill, New York-centric act in dozens of markets. Seems ABC has been hiring some of TRN's affiliate relations folks. :
Seems Dr. Laura, who's running (almost) live on 'BA's daytimer sister in Orlando would be a better choice than this self-proclaimed "happy talk" coming. She offers some stability for when times when the "red meat" talk is of less interest to people, plus she's free.
Losing Hannity is not a bad thing
Hannity is losing his touch. So shrill, facts mean nothing and ideology is everything. He belongs on a Salem station more than WFLA. Remember, WFLA stole Dr. Laura from WSUN and she soon self destructed. Same thing is happening to Hannity and to a lesser extent Rush. Schnitt cant do his show locally as he has those other affiliates, so Fasulo will be the only local talen in PM drive. Seems such a shame to see such a good heritage station such as WFLA go to hell like this. Also, FLA would have been better to have Levin on first and Hannity after Levin. Just my humble opinion. Maybe now, WWBA will make more money so they can fix or move their transmitter site. Their nite signal really sucks now, since they lost their tower. There are times like last nite, here in Bradenton, I could actually listen to WHO in DesMoines underneath them.
Hannity is losing his touch. So shrill, facts mean nothing and ideology is everything. He belongs on a Salem station more than WFLA. Remember, WFLA stole Dr. Laura from WSUN and she soon self destructed. Same thing is happening to Hannity and to a lesser extent Rush. Schnitt cant do his show locally as he has those other affiliates, so Fasulo will be the only local talen in PM drive. Seems such a shame to see such a good heritage station such as WFLA go to hell like this. Also, FLA would have been better to have Levin on first and Hannity after Levin. Just my humble opinion. Maybe now, WWBA will make more money so they can fix or move their transmitter site. Their nite signal really sucks now, since they lost their tower. There are times like last nite, here in Bradenton, I could actually listen to WHO in DesMoines underneath them.
Actually WFLA stole Dr. Laura from Tan-Talk, which then ran promos announcing the "WFLA Sucks" contest.
Personally I miss the local Glenn Beck PM drive show, particularly when we would come out of an afternoon Rays game with a parody of a Cox station. One day doing a bit about the Dove, he had them doing a "Show us your Dick Ring and win" contest.
Personally I miss the local Glenn Beck PM drive show, particularly when we would come out of an afternoon Rays game with a parody of a Cox station. One day doing a bit about the Dove, he had them doing a "Show us your Dick Ring and win" contest.
Brian Fasulo is going to tank in a few short weeks. WWBA had him fill in for Mark when he went to Italy and it was horrible but the powers that be love Brian.
The guy even said he hated reporting news and then when things couldn't get any worse he had a guest come into help him finish the week. The guest was the one and only Debra Shrills, yep he needed to tag team with her so that he could talk for the three hours.
Look for him to do a lot of phone interviews about a lot of different topics because he can't carry a 3 hour show without help. I say 2 to 3 calls / interviews per hour.
The guy even said he hated reporting news and then when things couldn't get any worse he had a guest come into help him finish the week. The guest was the one and only Debra Shrills, yep he needed to tag team with her so that he could talk for the three hours.
Look for him to do a lot of phone interviews about a lot of different topics because he can't carry a 3 hour show without help. I say 2 to 3 calls / interviews per hour.
I have to wonder if the 10:40 sales staff is going to start pitching "interviews" to clients as a revenue stream to make this loser attempt at local radio pay for itself.
Fasulo's show sounds like it's going to revisit the bland "guests and topics" approach of 1980's talk radio
pre-Rush. I'm sure any non-client material will be stuff that comes straight out of some industry producers' bible, like the Radio-TV Interview Report.
I wonder if anyone on this board remembers the "Frank Foster" show a few years back when 10:40 was brokered during the day. Foster's hour was basically stiff down-the-list questions of cliched PR-hack guests, made unintentionally interesting by some very subtle crank callers who would pull his leg. Fasulo seems to want to be caller-friendly. Perhaps... the show could be made entertaining in spite of itself.
Fasulo's show sounds like it's going to revisit the bland "guests and topics" approach of 1980's talk radio
pre-Rush. I'm sure any non-client material will be stuff that comes straight out of some industry producers' bible, like the Radio-TV Interview Report.
I wonder if anyone on this board remembers the "Frank Foster" show a few years back when 10:40 was brokered during the day. Foster's hour was basically stiff down-the-list questions of cliched PR-hack guests, made unintentionally interesting by some very subtle crank callers who would pull his leg. Fasulo seems to want to be caller-friendly. Perhaps... the show could be made entertaining in spite of itself.
Just checked out this show, I know it's the first day but wow, this show sucks. I give him a couple months. And yes, I remember Frank Foster, horrible; this sounds like 1040 is taking a dramatic step backwards after seemingly finally doing something worthwhile in the market. As far as that tower and the signal goes, that should be priority #1 if they ever want to be a player again. Daylight savings ends soon and Tampa and Bradenton is gonna miss out on all the; oh nevermind, just turn it off.
Oh I just heard a promo for Neil Boortz. Ok, guess they've still got something worth a damn.
Oh I just heard a promo for Neil Boortz. Ok, guess they've still got something worth a damn.
D
DougD
Guest
billalm said:
I heard his first hour or so and liked it. Very professional. He's no right-wing ideologue for sure.
As for Boortz, I think he's overblown and shallow in his logic.
Yes, I listen to him unlike others who haven't listened to the new WWBA host before posting bashing messages in these parts.
I listened to the second and third hours of the show today. It wasn't great, it wasn't what I would have liked to hear. But I can't complain too hard, it's local talk. In my opinion, the show is a huge improvement over Hannity, and its also more palatable than MJ.
The guy sounds like a rookie, and he is. That's all right, he probably won't last very long, but at least it's local. My expectations weren't very high in the first place. It's not like we were expecting another Mad Dog.
Cedric
The guy sounds like a rookie, and he is. That's all right, he probably won't last very long, but at least it's local. My expectations weren't very high in the first place. It's not like we were expecting another Mad Dog.
Cedric
Listening to Brian Fasulo, it's as if the last 25 years of evolution in local talk radio, Lassiter, David Fowler, Dick Norman, Mark Larsen, Chris Thomas, et. al. never happened. We were transported back in time to 1980 and a bad version of Paul Gonzalez. PG pretended not to have opinions in order to stay on the good side of his bosses at timid Media General. But Fasulo really didn't have opinions at times. He didn't know radio and didn't know his own mind. "I don't know what I think" was his answer on at least one occasion. Where's this generation's Lionel to call in and spice things up?
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