Radio at times can be a downright dirty business. I've seen many very talented people get the boot because some ego maniac takes over the larger office.
KDKA, and in larger part Infinity Broadcasting, has one of the supreme ego maniacs at the helm these days. Keith Clark, vice president of programming for CBS Radio in Pittsburgh, and his inability to program a VCR much less a radio station, has led to the firing of three of KDKA Radio on-air hosts. -- Mike Pintek, Paul Alexander and Mike Romigh.
In the interest of full disclosure, I worked for Infinity and Mr. Clark. I know how he manages things.
So what does all this mean for the future of KDKA? My best guess would be you begin to hear "progressive talk" which is code for liberal talk. Where that leaves Fred Honsburger remains to be seen.
If that happens, the ratings will continue to drop and KDKA will decline following the path of the old B-94. Clark oversaw the destruction of that heritage top 40 station as well. They pulled the plug on B-94 to make way for Howard Stern who is no longer on the air. Wise move.
It boggles my mind how some people end up in leadership. I don't like to see anyone lose their job and I wish these guys the best.
You can read the Post-Gazette article here.
4 comments:
Well I stopped listing to KDKA when they stopped Rush. I know I can listen to him on some FM station, but I listen to him via the web, or his Podcast (yes I am a subscriber to his web site)
I doubt KDKA could work as a liberal talk station, many stations have tried to be a liberal talk station, and they don't get the money they need to continue (unless you count stealling from children)
I don't know how this is much different than other other big radio controversy in Pittsubrgh this year, that being the one at your station regarding M. Minto. From what I've gathered on that particular sitation, it doesn't sound much different than what happened over at KDKA, with a 'renegade manager' railroading a successful program into the ground.
That being said, the new show is coming along nicely. Althought I admit, I miss the controversy that Minto brought, made for really interesting talk radio.
Dan
Monongahela, PA
My guess would be that their ratings went down when 104.7 turned into the local big talk radio station.
Still, there are those of us who can't stand Ellis Cannon or Hannity, but all KDKA offered was another sports show after 6:00 and WORD-FM has the 3-6 time slot covered. ;)
Liberal talk radio won't work for long, not for a station like KDKA. Cullen, who I'm convinced would have a brain hemmorage if she ever even approached a rational thought, is a big lib here on Pittsburgh radio, but she is on a small station with small listenership. I don't think leftists could keep a large radio station afloat. Their best bet would be to do more of a comedy kind of thing like they did in the 70's / 80's.
I think you may be right on, or should I say "left" on, with your concerns about KDKA possibly leaning towards a more liberal format. Just look at who their fill in hosts are; Chris Moore, John McEntyre and Rick Bergman. All openly claim to be bleeding heart liberals. Even Marty Griffin has stated at times he leans more left than right of center. The only quirk is that they dumped Mike Romigh, although his ratings were probably so low that he was very overdue for removal. I truly enjoyed listening to Pintek because he had great guests, good topics and his show flowed very nicely during the morning. KDKA is in a serious tailspin and it's unlikely that they will ever recover. Marty Griffin having to spend two days discussing the firing of Mike had to send shock waves through upper management. It was very apparent from the e-mails and time spent on the issue that KD made a BIG mistake.
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