Who Should and Shouldn't 96 Rock Hire For Mornings?

[RogueRadio]

I think the best strategy for CC would be to make an attempt to reclaim 96rock's glory days of the eighties and early ninties, when it was THE rock station and was the place to turn to for anything happening in that genre. I think they could do this by bringing back the classic jocks from that time: Either Mark McCain or the Wake-Up Crew (I bet Chris Rude would love to get back to the FM dial). Also bring back Willard, who currently is doing sales for Dave FM, and Kaedy Keily, who to my knowlege is not doing radio work right now. Play a 70/30 mix of classic and new rock, like the old days, and I think they would be successful. 96rock is a brand in Atlanta. An institution. Unlike most stations, it has a heritage and history that has been ignored for more than a decade now. It is time to get back to what made it so successful for so long.

I know that radio is different now than it was just fifteen years ago, so maybe I'm being unrealistic, but hey- what they've been doing has NOT been working. It's time to remind people why they bought those 96rock jerseys at Turtles and carried the velcro 96rock wallet containing the 96rock card back in the eighties. It worth a shot.

Good idea in theory. But Atlanta radio's problem is that it wants to live in the past, and not move forward to the future. Whatever that future may be...

 

[Paycheck]

Kelly married a reporter from AJC and they moved to San Francisco. That's the last I heard...and that's been several years now.

 

[johnnykool]

Shouldn't:
1. Me or anyone else on this board.

I am in total 100% agreement with this statement.

 

[sidechick1]

It would be great to have Christopher Rude back. What about Rude, Kady (sp?) Keily, and SS Steve???

 

[seabass]

It would be great to have Christopher Rude back. What about Rude, Kady (sp?) Keily, and SS Steve???

Good idea. No one has ever thought of that. Back to the days when, with no competition, they couldn't get good numbers. That's what 96 needs yesterday!!!

 

[ExWKLS]

C'mon SeaBass. In the early nineties, when Chris Rude was handling the morning drive and Kaedy Kiely was doing afternoon drive, 96 did very well in the books, while in the unique position of having to compete with both WZGC and WNNX for the classic and new rock demos.

The age of "no competition" is now, with CC and others dominating markets like Atlanta. This is why radio today takes fewer risks than just 15 years ago.

 

[wooder]

The debate over who SHOULD do mornings at 96Rock is just mental masturbation. The real discussion is who is AVAILBLE. Chris Rude may be a fine discussion but it ain't gonna happen as he's already under contract in the market. And people saying "They should re-hire Eric and/or Larry" are just wasting space on the board as that's not happening either. Also, CBS is NOT going to let O&A compete against an already hurting Dave FM, so forget that idea (along with "Bring back Toucher and Rich).

 

[ExWKLS]

Good point, wooder. I guess i was just working on the assumption that whatever contract Rude has with 680, it can't be very long-term, given the volatility of that format and the ATL market.

 

[automationasphyxiation]

The debate over who SHOULD do mornings at 96Rock is just mental masturbation. The real discussion is who is AVAILBLE. Chris Rude may be a fine discussion but it ain't gonna happen as he's already under contract in the market. And people saying "They should re-hire Eric and/or Larry" are just wasting space on the board as that's not happening either. Also, CBS is NOT going to let O&A compete against an already hurting Dave FM, so forget that idea (along with "Bring back Toucher and Rich).

Yeah...that 'Herb Dickman' would never let Rude leave his current sweet deal.

Regarding O/A, is CBS calling the shots there? I would think XM would be the only corporate entity with a voice. Is this not the case?

 

[evnlee]

Good point, wooder. I guess i was just working on the assumption that whatever contract Rude has with 680, it can't be very long-term, given the volatility of that format and the ATL market.

Rude is no idiot. His agent is Norm Schutt. He could be on Al Jazeera Radio, and he's still gonna get 3 years

Here's a scenario: let's say that Rude is still under contract for 2 more years. If 680 never breaks a 1.8, or has a dramatic decrease in the demo for more then 2 books, would Dickie allow him to be bought out? specially if he was going to a different format? How does that work?

 

[RTibbs]

Sure they would gladly release him so he can go to 96 Rock and compete with 99x. The Fan might be separate from Cumulus but the Dickeys are not and they are not going to release him so he can compete against 99x.

 

[evnlee]

Sure they would gladly release him so he can go to 96 Rock and compete with 99x. The Fan might be separate from Cumulus but the Dickeys are not and they are not going to release him so he can compete against 99x.

gotcha. makes sense.

If Cumulus had not aqcuired 99x, would they cut him loose then?

 

[RTibbs]

I believe I read in the last several months that Rude signed a contract extension so unless the buyout in dollars were there I am not sure they would let him go. I think they are committed to 680 the Fan especially with the Thrashers contract so I think they are staying status quo with that operation for the foreseeable future.

 

[livingfruitvirus]

Regarding O/A, is CBS calling the shots there? I would think XM would be the only corporate entity with a voice. Is this not the case?

CBS has some kind of first right to refusal deal. If you look at their affiliate list, most of their smaller markets are stations owned by Citadel.