Who the hell listens to music on an a.m. station? Sounds like a bad executive decision to me!
Sounds more like censorship to me.
I got this from the Schenectady Board on this subject. It is a letter from Steve VanZandt, co-host of "Daybreak".
Quoted Text
Hello WROW lovers, haters and the indifferent! Steve Van Zandt here. Thank you to all who have taken the time to call, email,
and post comments on the Times Union logs and on Facebook.
I can’t begin to tell you what all the good wishes I’ve received have meant to me personally and my family.
I am providing the following information regarding the demise of WROW because, frankly, I cannot just sit back and be
silent anymore. There is a LOT of misinformation out there so please allow me (someone directly affected and part of the story),
the opportunity to cover a number of the reasons being debated here as to why it happened, point by point.
WROW was losing money: TRUE, the station was indeed losing money, and it is management's ABSOLUTE RIGHT to change
the format and go in another direction to make it profitable. After all, radio is a BUSINESS first. However, the station was
incredibly mismanaged from the day Paul Vandenberg left. And THAT, my friends, is why it failed, period. I saw it up close and
personal, and anyone who works in the ABC building (who is completely honest with themselves about it) would wholeheartedly
agree. In addition, the dismantling of WROW and staff last Monday was handled with an absolutely despicable lack of class. For
more on that, please read on.
Station ratings: Media reports have mentioned the station's poor ratings as a big reason for the change and yes, they were
not good OVERALL. Understandably, people are assuming that ratings for “Daybreak with Steve & Jackie” were also poor. Not
true. Our numbers were consistently UP from day one (9/1/0
– and WAY, WAY UP from where they were when we took over
from Scotto.
Promotion and selling of “Steve & Jackie” (and other WROW programming): From that same day one, ABC spent exactly
ZERO dollars promoting OUR show or ANY of the shows on the station during that time. Not one nickel. No TV spots. No print
ads. No event money (i.e. “Takeover of Green Island”). No bumper stickers. Not even a cross-promotion on sister stations
(As WGY does). Want proof? When Glenn Beck was in town last year for a book signing (Glenn followed “Daybreak”), WROW
had absolutely had no connection to it. How’s that for quality promotion! As for lack of WROW advertisers, see Lack of stability
below.
Day-to-day station operation: Here are a few examples to help illustrate the kind of disrespect and lack of attention that was
paid to the needs of the station. No guest microphone in the studio. Management refused to purchase one or even install an
old one. As a result, when a WROW guest would come in (Often times important people like mayors, senators, congressmen, etc.),
poor News Director Heidi Kelly would literally have to play “musical chairs” (swapping HER seat and mic back and forth from herself
to poor guest when she needed to do the news). This resulted in literally kicking the guest out of their seat every 10 minutes or so.
Last year, management canceled the news department’s NEWSPAPER subscriptions as a…are you ready?... money-saving move.
“It’s free on the internet. Print it from there” we were told. When ink cartridges were then used up quicker as a result (A greater
expense than actually getting the papers), we often waited days for a replacement. I wish I was kidding. For a longest time
management dragged their feet to purchase “mic flags” (Logos for reporter microphones, roughly $25 each). Imagine - a so-called
“news-talk” station showing up at important press conferences for months without a logo on the WROW reporter’s mic for identification. They finally broke down and coughed up the big bucks for them. I could go on and on with big and small absurdities we were forced
to deal with day in and day out but, you get the picture.
Lack of stability: In a span of less than two years, WROW had three morning shows, four PDs, and for GMs. The simple truth is
that NO RADIO STATION will sell well or climb out of a ratings slump with that kind of inconsistency. That should also tell you
something about how much fun it is to work there. Good radio people would come to work at WROW but get discouraged real fast.
Former PD and Afternoon Drive Host Sherman Baldwin: A convicted felon (and back in the self-promotion business)
http://blog.timesunion.com/bus...../ Baldwin was hired by owner Jim Morrell - who apparently never bothered to do a background
check. And now for the fun part: He actually MODERATED the 20th Congressional race in November ’08 - An election he could not
have legally voted in because of said felony. As the MasterCard commercials say…Priceless.
Owner Jim Morrell: I was personally hired - face-to-face - by Mr. Morrell. To him I was always friendly, respectful - and he to me.
We never had an unpleasant exchange at any time. Toward others in the building, my attitude was also friendly and upbeat. I
never rocked the boat. When I was let go on Friday by a gloating Mr. Benfer, I expected nothing more from Mr. Morrell than perhaps
a handshake and maybe a “goodbye and good luck” for my 16 months at ABC. What I got was absolutely nothing. No handshake.
No goodbye. No good luck. Not even an email. Only cowardly silence. Very classy. Shortly before starting at WROW, Mr. Morrell gave
me a grand tour of his new hotel (which sits just a stones’ throw from ABC). He went on and on about how, together, we could do
great things with his fine ball room - comedy nights, fund-raisers, etc. Well we did just that. “Show Us Your Cans” Food Drive
(Day before Thanksgiving), and “Guns & Hoses Comedy Challenge” (Just last Friday). Plus other charity events connected to ABC
overall (“Little Sisters of the Poor”, “Ronald McDonald House”, etc.) Let me be clear that I was MORE THAN HAPPY to do them
(free of charge) and GLAD to help out the community I live in and love in that small way. After my performance last Friday at the
hotel, I received handshakes and accolades from Morrell and GM Chuck Benfer (even a huggie and kissie from Mrs. Morrell!). Of
course, they all knew I’d be done on Monday the whole time.
GM Chuck Benfer: Pompous, arrogant, unfriendly, negative, condescending and CLUELESS. How clueless? You need only read
what he said to the media about the format change: “There's a lot of competition in the news-talk format. Other stations are doing
a good job with it, so we decided to move in another direction.” Really Chuck? WGY and Vandenberg add up to “lots of competition?"
Translation: “I am clueless about how to fix WROW. Our competitors are way smarter than me, and so I just decided to destroy the
station completely.” Yes, Jaba the GM clearly has the personality and all the essential programming skills required to motivate radio
talent and salespeople. Therefore the money should soon be raining down on the all-new and shiny WROW music station. We shall
see. Sadly, the only two things thicker than Benfer’s girth are his skull and his ego. Good luck Chuck!
So now you know what Jackie and I were up against every day behind the scenes. If you want to call this rant of mine sour grapes
on my part, it is your right and that’s fine. Feel free to draw your own conclusions as to my motivations. But this I do know. WROW
did NOT fail because Vandenberg left. WROW did NOT fail because the show lineup was weak (The syndicated shows that were on
WROW are among of the highest-rated in similar markets). No dear Capital District, the demise of WROW lies squarely at the feet
of Morrell (Who was simply too cheap to spend what it takes (On talent, promotion, hardware - anything) to do battle with the
competition (once Vandenberg left), and to a lesser extent Benfer (who could have begun to turn it around). They had ALL THE
INGREDIENTS in the pot to make a great soup, and they pissed in that pot.
Thanks to this brilliant move, today there is now one less news-talk station in the capital city of New York State - the most
dysfunctional and corrupt state in the union. One less station to provide a voice and outlet for the people who live here. One less
station to point out the outrageous BS going on - not only in NY State - but the NATION’S capital. And so what has risen from the
WROW ashes? Soft music on AM in the year 2010. Dear Lord, Wolfman Jack must be heaven laughing his a** off right now.
On a lighter note, since I never got the chance on the air, I’d like to take this opportunity to thank Jackie Donovan (Who I had grown
to love as a friend as well as a co-host), Heidi Kelly, Tom Rigatti, Producer Ian, and all the other personnel at WROW, plus those at
WFLY, WYJB, WZMR, WAJZ and WKLI. All good people; all good friends.
I wish Jackie all the best as she continues at ABC. She is smart, sassy, damn funny and yes, compassionate (for a Jersey gal).
To all the listeners who tuned in, I thank each of you for every time you did.
I’ll land on my feet and be just fine, whether radio is in my future – or not. Thank you Capital Region for a great 16 months.
Steve Van Zandt
Logged
