The Christmas tunes play on 93.7 and my guess is they have tripled their listenership from last week. (That means maybe 10 people are listening now)
John McIntire (and his ego) confirmed what we all knew already, he has another pink slip to add to his collection.
"I was fired today. So was Paulsen. So was Steigy. So was Gab. So was Scott's producer Nik. They were nice. Decision made at the top. CBS corporate has been flipping FM talk to music in New York and Philly, so perhaps it was a matter of time. Still, naive moi figured they'd give us a year rather than six months. I thought it was working. They wanted young men, every time we did a comedy show young men showed up claiming to listen constantly. They cited comedy bits chapter and verse. They said their friends were listening. You don't keep a radio gig through anecdotal evidence. You need hard, cold numbers that turn into hard, cold cash."
Johnny boy, guys who can recite your boob jokes listen constantly because they have no job, no money and live in mom's basement laughing at your sexual skits while they build a beer can pyramid. That's not real attractive to advertisers. (Unless you brew beer or run a strip club)
McIntire said that he was "stunned" by the sudden announcement. I'm not quite sure why. Of the 11 CBS stations to experiment with this format, six have dropped it (including Philadelphia's WYSP-FM). I bet the rest aren't printing any new bumper stickers.
CBS Radio Pittsburgh vice president of programming Keith Clark would not say why the change was made or what the new format will be. But I will, the station was HORRIBLE. Clark does not have a clue what he's doing. The new format first needs a new vice president of programming. Maybe get the former captain of the Exxon Valdez. He ran aground but at least his ship didn't sink after 6 months.
8 comments:
That's a shame... at least as far as Scott Paulsen goes. He was intelligent, funny, and a nice change from the sports shows on the drive home.
I'll also miss Dennis Miller.
McIntire... he was a turd with a very big mouth and not much in the way of brains.
Here is what I don't get. You have a powerhouse station with KDKA. But managment decides they want a younger audience. It's AM radio! Most people born after 1975 don't ever tune in to AM. So they fired McIntire from KDKA becuse the young hip liberal station idea never left the station and put him on 93.7. The fired Shelly Duffy from B-94 and put her on KDKA in another attempt to get younger. "Here's your Britney Spears Report". They fired John & Bubba from B and moved them to 100.7 hoping the B-94 audience the sold down the river would follow. It didn't happen. The signal is awful. So then they fired John totaly. Across the board the ratings have gone down. Don't you think there might be a problem with managment? The jocks don't program the station.
I used to work for that company. I was the promotion director of WZPT and worked with all the stations. I know for a fact there is a huge problem.
If the president of CBS would like to email me I'll be happy to tell him who he needs to fire and what needs to be done in Pittsburgh. Heck, I won't even charge a consulting fee!
I'll miss Dennis Miller. It seems that every other station on the air in PGH is run by some radio conglomerate that plays the SAME music on ALL their stations at the SAME time. It was a nice change. Better than hearing Avril Lavigne on several stations at once, or Carrie Underwood on the SAME three stations heard in PGH. I guess I'll have to listen online to DM.
I liked The John & Jeff Show and Love Line...That was it. As for the rest of The Zone, it sucked. I used to love Paulsen on DVE. Hearing him on The Zone was just pitiful. The comedy bits were dry and stupid, at best!
McIntire was, well, just awful.
Don't you think there might be a problem with managment?
Yes, I do think there was a problem with management. A big one. They didn't promote the station, they wanted a too-quick return without having to do what is necessary, and they in most cases didn't provide a good product.
While I can't stand McIntyre and hated his show, I hope all of them over there, the ones that had to bear the consequences of poor management, land on their feet. I hate to see anyone lose their job.
That Man staion concept... You listened to it and moaned "oh man!" John McIntyre is horrible. And he has been horrible on every station he has been on. Scott Paulsen is a stale bore, Dennis Miller is a pretentious bore. Who in heaven wants to hear Dennis Miller's thoughts on the war on terrorism????? Opie and Anthony were funny, but Pittsburgh is too parochial for anything but Catholic high grads from the North Hills. As for the 4 days of Christmas music, uh you're not off to a good start with me, there, new station....
Well another one bites the dust. God help us there were additional local voices on the air, instead of EVERYTHING going totally corporate and syndicated. NOT to mention voices of anyone who doesn't represent an extreme political point of view, particularly the far right talk shows that populate so much of the airwaves.
I'm a little shocked how vehemently everyone posting dislikes John McIntire; I did tire of the crude humor, but otherwise he's entertaining and had a good rapport with his on air producer. And look who they replaced him with on KDKA: Neil Boortz, whose show is not only extremely mean, it's incredibly BORING. He does the same radio broadcast every day. I heard him on WPTT years ago...he gets picked up by KDKA, and it sounded like exactly the same show, same subjecxts, same rants, same self-satisifying humor. I'd rather listen to a baby crying.
So anyone, I'm sorry all of WTZN is gone, there was a lot to listen to there. Guess I'll reprogram my car radio.
i sure hope scott paulsen returns to pittsburgh airwaves soon. after getting his start at nickelodeon he was great at DVE. it seemed he had a lot more creative freedom at THE ZONE but one can only talk for four hours a day for so long and one can only listen to talk for four hours a day for so long. his comedy bits and witty observations along with breaks of classic rock at DVE were the perfect formula for him. if anyone can tell me where he lands on his feet i'd appreciate it.
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