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Friday, February 29, 2008
2/29: Kicks & Eagle staffs blown out
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
ABOVE: Cadillac will remain. Kristen, who was with him as the Kicks morning team for two years, is out.
ABOVE: Rhubarb Jones is out after 22-plus years. Dallas McCade survives, though she might end up at Kicks.
I spoke too soon about it being a quiet day. (See my previous blog entry.)
Instead, we’ve got what is already being dubbed the Leap Day Massaacre.
Management at Eagles and Kicks Friday dumped nearly the entire on-air staff in what appears to be a severe cost-cutting measure.
The only major survivors: Cadillac Jack, Dallas McCade and Bill Celler. I hear traffic guy Greg Talmadge will remain, too.
Gone? Veteran Kicks news man Jim Vann, Eagle morning man Rhubarb Jones, Kicks morning co-host Kristen Gates, Kicks afternoon DJ Wylie Rose, Eagle afternoon jock Steve Mitchell and Eagle mid-day gal Sandy Weaver, Kicks night-time jock Scotty O’Brien, and promotions guru Buck in the Truck, to name a few. I also heard former “Kimmer” sidekick Wayne “No Offense” Kitchens is out as Eagle morning producer after just a month.
It was ugly and quick. It also looks like Eagle 106.7 will be toast very very soon, replaced by something else. My sources say Citadel, the new owners, are interested in bringing Imus on air at 106.7 and perhaps turn it into a talk station. Another format change could be oldies. I presume they have to keep NASCAR around regardless.
No word yet from Rick Mack, the general sales manager who had to dole out the bad news. I’ve also tried to reach Weaver, Buck and Rhubarb. I’ll post comments from them if I get them. KIcks is now using some weekend jock while Eagle is now being automated with no jocks at all.
“It’s horrible but it’s the radio business,” Mitchell said, matter of factly. He was not under contract and is ready to work anywhere else Monday. In preparation for this, he already has built his own production company.
Citadel, the Kicks/Eagle owner, yesterday reported a nasty loss nationwide and promised swift changes. Well, here is one of them, an obvious major cost-cutting measure.
“I’m glad I’m on the outside looking in,” said Moby, who worked as morning host at Kicks from 1991 to 2002 and now runs his own syndication deal. He is heard on the Bear in Griffin, South 107.1 in Rome and WNGC-FM in Athens.
Rhubarb Jones was on the air for more than 22 years, the longest running morning jock in town. Mr. Charity is also one of the nicest guys you’d ever meet. He’s got a good heart but even he knew things were winding down for him at Eagle. They cut his hours a few months back to boot.
“Rhubarb Jones is the second person I ever called about getting into radio and he gave me great advice,” said Cledus T. Judd, the country parody singer and new morning host at rival 94.9/The Bull. “He’s an absolute class act and radio legend. For all the good he’s done in radio, he’s twice as good a person. Kristen is a good friend of mine, a class act as well. I absolutely hate with a passion to see those people lose their jobs.”
“It breaks my heart for Rhubarb,” said Mike Stiles, who worked at WYAY back in the late 1980s. “This looks like another let’s-get-rid-of-talent affair. I have no idea how you win that way.”
What do you think? I’ll add more to this blog entry as I get more details and more reactions. This is just more insanity in Atlanta radio, which has also featured a major station move signals, four new morning shows and the return of the Regular Guys and Steve & Vikki (in July) on new signals.
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2/29: Interview with WSB’s Jamie Dupree
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
This is the first genuinely quiet week of the year so far in terms of radio/TV news. No format changes. No signal swaps. No anchors leaving. No new morning messes.
So I decided to do a quick phone interview with Jamie Dupree, WSB-AM’s Washington correspondent, who has been a fixture at the station for 20 years, covering everything from the Anita Hill/Clarence Thomas hearings, the 1992 Clinton campaign, the Clinton impeachment hearings, the Florida post-2000 election brouhaha, 9/11 and yes, this year’s fascinating presidential race.
Since 9/11, he has been doing his ten-minute daily gab with Neal Boortz at 12:05 p.m. EST every day, raising his profile nationwide on Boortz’s 250 affiliates. “It’s done more for my visibility than all the news work I’ve done,” he said. “It’s taught me a lot. It took me awhile to get used to, but it’s a lot of fun. People like the fact Neal is going to say something outrageous in an effort to get me to stand up to him.” He said they never prepare and he has no clue what Boortz will say.
Dupree figures they do it at that time to go up against Rush Limbaugh and in some markets (including Atlanta), Boortz beats Rush in that quarter hour. “It’s made me a much better reporter and on the air,” he said. “It’s one thing to be asked questions by a morning show host. It’s another to be asked by Neal.”
He is the consummate journalist in his sense of objectivity. He won’t tip his hand what his political views are. “I simply want to give listeners insight into what’s going on in Washington. They can draw their own conclusions. I get emails accusing me of being a sop for the left. I get emails accusing me of being a Republican hack. I get emails saying I’m the most impartial journalist ever. So I get it from all sides.”
He’s a workhorse (“I’ve been well known to drive three hours for a news conference.”) and loves the primary race, traveling to Iowa, New Hampshire, South Carolina, Florida and on Tuesday, Texas. “I’ll be at Hillary’s rally Monday in Austin,” he said.
Dupree, who is also heard on Cox stations in Dayton, Jacksonville, Orlando, Tulsa and Stamford, Conn., is 44 and married with two young children. He began his career as a page in 1980 on the Hill. His dad was a Ford lobbyist and both parents worked as staffers for Congressmen. He could have followed that path but preferred journalism. He worked as a DJ at the University of Florida in the early 1980s and for a time, considered sports, but opted for news instead.
He said he prefers radio over TV, because “there’s no one between you and the final product. You are responsible for it. I’ve done some TV news. You have a camera man. You have editors. The anchors. The graphics person. There are too many things between you and the final product. I like radio for its immediacy. It’s all you. Nobody’s worried whether you’re wearing your tie correctly.”
He works out of tiny broadcast booths in the House and Senate capital buildings, hanging out with the other Washington journalists. His neighbor for 15 years was CBS News’ Bob Schieffer.
“Covering Congress is a lot of fun,” he said. “A lot of people enjoy hearing the inside baseball going on. I also do live shots with [WSB-AM morning man] Scott Slade and all the other stations. Sometimes, with the campaign, I’ll do stuff at night for Herman Cain. Since January 2, I do every station every morning at least once.”
