By: Pergy's friend

Pergy's friend — Thu, 21 Jul 2011 01:22:41 +0000

I can’t see Sully sullying himself by becoming a full-time radio guy.

By: Don

Don — Wed, 20 Jul 2011 13:04:34 +0000

* On another radio note, sources report that Andy Roth, the program director who has helped drive the success at WGR, will be leaving shortly to take a new and presumably better job. Roth could not be reached for comment.

Let’s just hope he takes Mike Schopp with him.

By: Jlessord

Jlessord — Wed, 20 Jul 2011 04:36:28 +0000

All this time later and Jeff Nixon didn’t even realize you had left the Snooze? Wow. What a huge impact you must have had. I know Ahmad Rashad must have been equally as impressed, , having referred to you as “Bob” Pergament in his autobiography.

By: Mark Scott

Mark Scott — Wed, 20 Jul 2011 03:01:48 +0000

Thanks for the radio column, Alan. As a 30-plus year veteran of the radio industry here, it’s a pleasure to read your opinions. I agree that Dick Greene probably should have waited until the Spring ratings came out to assess Brad’s performance at WECK. But he did give the format three years. (Breaking news as I write this — the Spring radio ratings are now out. WECK had a .5 share. Now, this is a 12+ number covering the entire week. Hourly numbers, which we don’t have access to, could show some strength among specific demographics in some dayparts. But this overall number indicates WECK made no traction after Brad issued his manifesto against WBEN and WGR.)

Talk on WECK was difficult from the get go. The station couldn’t compete with WBEN’s 24-hour news presence. And then you have the two public stations — WBFO (where, in the interest of full disclosure, I served as news director before retiring last year) and WNED-AM. Tom Donahure and Loraine O’Donnell tried hard. But if you’re a radio news consumer, you’re either listening to John and Susan on WBEN or “Morning Edition” on the public stations.

I think Brad Riter is a talented host. But he was up against Sandy Beach, Shredd and Ragan, Schopp and the Bulldog and “All Things Considered” on at the same time. So, his show was my fourth or fifth choice.

I never tuned in Nick Mendola. I did download his interview with my friend, Dan Herbeck of the Buffalo News, last month. Nick is a young announcer with tons of potential. But the Herbeck interview was rough. Now, I will say that at his age, I, too, wasn’t very good. Mastering the art of the radio interview was the most difficult challenge in my career. Nick needs a mentor to get him to that next step. That wasn’t going to happen at WECK.

So, talk really wasn’t going to work.

Only time will tell if music works on WECK. But I wouldn’t be so quick to dismiss music on AM radio, Alan. If you were to combine the shares of the stations playing music — Swing 1270, Solid Gold Soul on 1400, standards on AM 740 and country on WXRL — you’d have a station with more than a five share. So, obviously, there’s an audience that still listens to music on AM. With streaming, everyone is on an equal playing field. And I’ll share this personal story. While preparing to go out, I switched on a radio tuned to WECK with every intention of changing the station to WBFO for “All Things Considered.” But WECK was playing Bruce’s “Tenth Avenue Freeze Out.” If you hear one of your favorite songs, even if it’s on crappy-sounding AM, you’re going to listen to it. Will the music format work? That will be answered when the summer ratings come out later this fall. But I don’t criticize Mr. Greene for making this change.

By: MJS

MJS — Tue, 19 Jul 2011 17:13:52 +0000

I agree with Mark. Radio updates are equally enjoyable from you and I would welcome more of them. I also enjoy your insights into the inner workings of the Buffalo News (i.e. upcoming buy-outs, etc).

By: Mark

Mark — Tue, 19 Jul 2011 14:32:10 +0000