Who is in charge at Citadel?

[BillBattle]

Who is the Citadel new person in charge of Knoxville replacing Ed Brantley? He or she is on pace to flush all of 60 years of goodwill and trust with the listeners of Knoxville and East TN built up by the Dicks and old Citadel in less than 3 months. Do they think because we are from the south and they are from New York that they are smarting than we are? Almost every step they make is a disaster.

1. Not paying Pirkle and rejecting the balance of the LMA for WNOX.
2. Discharging Ed Brantley.
3. Putting News Talk format on 8,000 watt rim shot FM.
4. Really making listeners mad with loss of Oldies format.
5. Losing WNOX call letters... that are oldest call letters in the state of Tennessee. All the promotion and goodwill built up over five years on FM 100.3 that makes WNOX the third rated station in the market.
6. Confusing listeners that WNOX was moving to 98.7. I am not sure they even realized that call letters were with Pirkle and they no longer had them.
7. Telling advertisers that the ad rate is going to stay the same on the 8,000 watt station that they had been getting on 100,000 watts!
8. Telling listeners that the signal is going to improve in a few months. No possible way of improving coverage in such a short period of time.
9. Dropping Neal Bortz show in the middle of a week.
10. Telling listeners that the news format programming would be simulcast starting July 9th but only doing for a week.
11. Silencing Dave Foulk and Phil Williams Facebooks pages.
12. What is next.. Tim Berry ham radio privileges revoked?

 

[Big Bopper]

This has been the most intriguing board, radio or otherwise, I have ever seen!
Reading through the archives, I am still amazed that so much has happened in a couple of months, and the implications for the Knoxville market in the near and distant future are almost immeasurable.

What will the new WNOX have to say, once the good guys get back behind a mic, hooked to that 100,000 watt blow torch? Will they reveal all the behind the scenes maneuvering detailed on this board, and answer the dozens of questions we, the public, are asking? You can bet on one thing kids, the national radio community is watching our market, and that includes stations, major advertisers, program syndicators, and the investment community. When outsiders invade a nice market like this, and pull all the boners listed by "the coach" (Bill Battle), people pay more than casual attention. I bet Brantley and co. hit the air with the inside scoop. They deserve their day in the court of public opinion, and I, for one, cannot wait!

PS...what are the "headaches" Citadel got rid of? They had a stable staff or loyal pros, great ratings, a good revenue stream and a highly thought-of radio station. Where are any headaches? I mean, before they started playing their games?

 

[MN Maniac]

Regarding the revocation of ham radio privileges: don't laugh. That's been done before. Charlotte, 1995-96. A few of the market's on-air people were also active on a local 2 meter repeater. There was some very interesting and juicy tidbits of information being discussed regarding format changes, personnel, ratings, etc. Nothing slanderous or legally actionable and nothing that would break any confidentiality agreement. But apparently, some of the "higher ups" got wind of this and decided to put the kibosh on it.

At at least one cluster, people were "strictly warned" against engaging in "shop talk" on their ham radios. Word is that one of the corporate suits happened to overhear one of these discussions on his police scanner and raised holy you-know-what over it.

Can a company prohibit or regulate the subject content of an employee who holds a federal radio amateur radio license and operates his own equipment on his own time? I've always thought that would have made an interesting court case.

 

[gr8oldies]

I suppose if you can fire people for what they write on Facebook (this has happened in several lines of work), you can fire them for what they say on ham radio.

I doubt anyone in Knoxville made the decision to dump 100.3. The people who are left behind have to just deal with it, and the ramifications. It will be interesting if any of the "inside baseball" stuff makes it to the air on August 2.

98.7 is having a "moving party" at the Citadel studios August 2. Anyone going?

 

[BillBattle]

What is a moving party? It looks like they have already moved.

 

[gr8oldies]

That's what they called it on-air, that's all I know.

 

[BillBattle]

That's what they called it on-air, that's all I know.

I can't pick 98.7 anymore that is why I asked.

 

[gr8oldies]

I guess there will be plenty of leftover trade out food

 

[Big Bopper]

Talk about a TOP TEN list, let's review what Bill Battle posted:

1. Not paying Pirkle and rejecting the balance of the LMA for WNOX.
2. Discharging Ed Brantley.
3. Putting News Talk format on 8,000 watt rim shot FM.
4. Really making listeners mad with loss of Oldies format.
5. Losing WNOX call letters... that are oldest call letters in the state of Tennessee. All the promotion and goodwill built up over five years on FM 100.3 that makes WNOX the third rated station in the market.
6. Confusing listeners that WNOX was moving to 98.7. I am not sure they even realized that call letters were with Pirkle and they no longer had them.
7. Telling advertisers that the ad rate is going to stay the same on the 8,000 watt station that they had been getting on 100,000 watts!
8. Telling listeners that the signal is going to improve in a few months. No possible way of improving coverage in such a short period of time.
9. Dropping Neal Bortz show in the middle of a week.
10. Telling listeners that the news format programming would be simulcast starting July 9th but only doing for a week.

Actually, Top Ten only begins to cover this list of Knoxville's Biggest Radio Screw-ups!
How about running spots bought from 100.3 (at the 100,000, 8 share rate) on 98.7 (with 8,000 watts and a 2 share?)
How about continuing to display the WNOX call letters on front of the Citadel building?
How about calling an 8,000 watt station "The BIG Talker?"
How about claiming "WNOX is moving?" when that was never the truth?

I cannot imagine a more disastrous bunch of stumbling and fumbling as Citadel has done.
The guy in charge is a full-time politician, his boss lives in Atlanta, and, it appears no one with any judgment is watching the store. It might make a good reality tv show to follow Pirkle/Brantley and Hammond around with a couple of camera crews in August. Don'tcha just bet the fur is about to fly?
BB

 

[BillBattle]

Reality show title.. Slimest Catch...Survivor...Radio Wars...Talk Show Stars...Knoxville Pickers..?

 

[Fiveahead]

The guy in charge is a full-time politician, his boss lives in Atlanta, and, it appears no one with any judgment is watching the store. It might make a good reality tv show to follow Pirkle/Brantley and Hammond around with a couple of camera crews in August. Don'tcha just bet the fur is about to fly?
BB

Fur? No. But I do think there are going to be two offices packed up very soon. One in Knoxville and another in Atlanta.

 

[radio30]

The question was "Who is in charge at Citadel?" Lets see....Larry, Moe or Curly perhaps? No, any of those guys would be smarter!

Going up to Kentucky yesterday and listened to 98.7 only as far as the Campbell/Scott County line on hwy 63. By the Straight Fork Community it was totally gone. By the time I reached my destination in Somerset Ky, 98.7 was a country station in Liberty Ky with excellent reception. In the meantime 100.3 was still playing (strong as a local) saying "news talk has moved-tune now to 98.7..........

This has got to be one of the biggest goofs in radio history.

 

[gr8oldies]

If I was Pirkle I'd pull the plug on that "tune to 98.7" loop now and run my own this week

 

[Big Bopper]

If I was Pirkle I'd pull the plug on that "tune to 98.7" loop now and run my own this week

I don't think he can. The suits from Citadel apparently told the old 100.3 sales staff that JP did not even have a studio site picked out. If that is correct, it seems doubtful that the new 100.3 can even get on the air by August.

But, if that is correct, it would also be the only time Citadel has told the truth during this entire ordeal. They may have been trying to discourage any of their employees from jumping to the new WNOX. (How would you like to know your family's living depended on that bunch of Citadel bozos?)

 

[Fiveahead]

If I was Pirkle I'd pull the plug on that "tune to 98.7" loop now and run my own this week

I don't think he can. The suits from Citadel apparently told the old 100.3 sales staff that JP did not even have a studio site picked out. If that is correct, it seems doubtful that the new 100.3 can even get on the air by August.

But, if that is correct, it would also be the only time Citadel has told the truth during this entire ordeal. They may have been trying to discourage any of their employees from jumping to the new WNOX. (How would you like to know your family's living depended on that bunch of Citadel bozos?)

Let's say that they do have a studio. And they do get on the air by their target date.

Two questions, if the above is true.

How long until Hammond is looking for work?

How long until the parking lot is half empty due to a mass exodus by employees tired of being lied to about the [WNOX] situation?

Bonus question...

98.7. News Talk. 14 months. Over, under? You decide.

 

[Big Bopper]

Okay, I stand corrected. While Citadel DID tell their staff Ed and JP did not have a studio building, I just received this link (I hope links work here):

Click here: Commercial Real Estate For Lease - LoopNet

Beautiful building! ;D

 

[gr8oldies]

Yes, they have studios and they were completed a couple of weeks ago. One of the TV stations showed them. Pirkle would just need to come up with his own continuous loop to run for a week.
How long will 98.7 last in talk? As long as it takes 100.3 to pry Rush away (the Dave Ramsey contract is real easy to discontinue)

 

[aaronsnet]

If I was Pirkle I'd pull the plug on that "tune to 98.7" loop now and run my own this week

I don't think he can. The suits from Citadel apparently told the old 100.3 sales staff that JP did not even have a studio site picked out. If that is correct, it seems doubtful that the new 100.3 can even get on the air by August.

But, if that is correct, it would also be the only time Citadel has told the truth during this entire ordeal. They may have been trying to discourage any of their employees from jumping to the new WNOX. (How would you like to know your family's living depended on that bunch of Citadel bozos?)

Huh? Many of you must just pull your "rumors" out of thin air. Pirkle has certainly picked out a new building and is currently working on renovating it. It is next to the laser tag place at the intersection of Downtown West. I had the pleasure to meet a few of the contractors that were working on setting up the new studio. The computers and mic stands are already in place.

It's at 8081 Kingston Pike. Feel free to stop by and peak in so that you can put another credible rumor to rest.

Here is a picture taken on 7/20. I could imagine he could start transmitting today if he wanted.

http://thedetour.us/fotos/displayimage.php?album=4&pid=174

 

[MurvleJumpUp]

Question where would Hammmonnnd LOOK for work?

 

[Tennessee Cowboy]

Question where would Hammmonnnd LOOK for work?

As long as his eyesight holds out for the drive, he can apply for the next greeter opening at the Oliver Springs WalMart. The shift after mine should come open soon.