Bill Nojay on WYSL

[Savage]

Thanks for the reference to the "colon-blow" shows, which gave me a big laugh out loud first thing this morning.  Also thanks for the apropos response to the low "colon-blow" about our sports coverage.  rochestermediamonitor might be interested to know that Rochester's largest employer, the U of R, pays for this excellent sports coverage - if he ever listened, he'd hear a network-quality play-by guy, JC DeLass, call the games.  Ditto for SJF, Roberts Wesleyan, RIT and other colleges.  They're actually entertaining broadcasts done professionally, and, yes, they generate a lot of revenue. The only high school we do is Bishop Kearney through a cooperative effort with that school's very progressive broadcasting program.  When we do BK games kids who have an interest in pursuing a broadcast career get the opportunity to join JC on-air for a quarter doing color.  It's a great opportunity for young people to get hands-on experience - in an era when everybody in the industry bemoans the lack of entry-level chances for aspiring young radio people.
Let the cheap shots fly.  We're proud of our sports coverage.  And, whether you politically agree with him or not, we're excited about Bill Nojay, who is primarily interested in improving life around here.

[JohnW]

The front page of yesterday's Democrat & Chronicle B section had a blurb about the Nojay show.

[The Voice of Reason]

I had the opportunity to hear Bill Nojay on WYSL while traveling to Buffalo this afternoon and if I am allowed a first impression I must say that I was not impressed. I thought this show was designed to discuss the upstate economy. Instead it was nothing but another right-wing conservative critical of Liberals. (I happen to be registered to vote but not with any political party, just in case anyone wants to know)
Nojay’s constant hammering of Congresswoman Louise Slaughter and her position on the issue of a Fairness Doctrine wore thin after a while. I happen to support the Fairness Doctrine and also believe that Reagan and Clinton were wrong in supporting deregulation and the Telecommunications Act; both of which opened the door to allow companies like Entercom, Clear Channel, Cumulus and others to monopolize local radio. As a well known Republican one would think that Mr. Nojay would support the idea of competition instead of monopolies. And he also used the L word (Liberal) like it was something to be scorned. It was liberal lawmakers who passed Social Security, which I am sure Mr. Nojay will be happy to collect when he retires, along with Medicaid, Medicare, the Civil Rights and Voting Rights laws. I don't want to turn this into a discussion of one's political views, but I am just tired of the divisiveness in this country. I hope that the Bill Nojay Show sticks to its theme of commenting on our local economy and ways to resolve issues impacting us instead of just being another mouthpiece for the conservatives. God knows we have enough of those already on the air.
 

[Element9]

I have heard Mr. Nojay only once and that was a while ago. At that time I believe he was not the host of the show but an interviewee. If what you write is an accurate account of his WYSL show, I would only add this observation: Many small market talk show hosts follow the lead of the better know syndicated talk show hosts such as O'Reilly and Limbaugh. In many cases, they're not radio broadcasters, but ex-politicians, accountants, P-R people or, as in Mr. Nojay's case, attorneys. In many cases theyr firmly believe that if a knucklehead community college drop out(comparitively speaking) like Rush Limbaugh can succeed, then certainly a person with an advanced degree can do better.

Folly.

In many cases, these locals are accomplished attorneys, plumbers, doctors or accountants, yet they're downright lousy talk show hosts. They believe they're "smarter than the average bear" and in many cases they are. But their education betrays them because smart as they may be in the areas of accounting, legislating and the law, they HAVE NO CLUE ABOUT WHAT IT TAKES TO BE SUCCESSFUL ON THE RADIO.

Sorry about the caps. Not shouting, just making a point.

So, these locals invariably flail around, throw verbal grenades and pray that somebody... SOMEBODY will call. In most cases listeners DO call... their pals and cronies from the courts and associated businesses, who tell them how great they are, what a good job they're doing and how much they agree with the host. The same eight callers every day, playing the same eight themes over... Hillary is evil, democrats are cut-n-runners, tax and spenders; or conversely, Dubya is an imbecile, Wolfowitz is the devil, Cheney is a scheming draft dodger and yada-yada-yada... it becomes tiresome after the third show.

Lawyers (sorry Bob) are often the worst offenders in this capcity: The Barristers of Bombast. This is likely because dummies don't make it through law school (even if they're "legacies") and they certainly don't pass the bar because daddy is a city court judge. Nope. You have to be pretty smart to be an attorney. The local talkmeisters need to understand that in order to be a proficient and effective talk show host, one must be creative and technically adroit, entertaining as well as smart.

Mr. Savage might want to sit Mr. Nojay down and give him a primer in Talk Radio 101. Of course, it just may be that Nojay is buying the time and cares not a fig for Mr. Savage's sage radio advice. Then again, one attorney instructing another attorney in the fine art of broadcasting would make for a pretty entertaining talk show in its own right. Can you imagine THAT exchange of ideas?

UN-civil procedure!

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[SirRoxalot]

Then again, one attorney instructing another attorney in the fine art of broadcasting would make for a pretty entertaining talk show in its own right. Can you imagine THAT exchange of ideas?

Two guys who know EVERYTHING that there is to know about EVERYTHING trying to explain to each other why THEY'RE right and the other guy is WRONG? It could turn into a Jerry Springer episode!

Only kidding Bob...

[Mike Sheridan]

Oh why not play the hits and talk dirty?  That used to work.   

[rochestermediamonitor]

Maybe they could combine the programming so Bill could try colon blow while doing color for the girls Bocce game? Now THAT would be entertaining.

[The Voice of Reason]

It appears that Mr. Nojay decided to cut back on the political rhetoric and concentrate more on upstate's economy and our state's dysfunctional government. I find his talk show to be more informative and even entertaining. A far cry from his first day on the air.

[vistua]

Just a few thoughts.

Mr Nojay seems to be doing well, I disapprove of many of his views but he seems to be able to hold on as a broadcaster. I am especially impressed because he is well, a err... (there's no polite way to say this). Lawyah!!!!

The ratings of the station are somewhat... irrelevant. It's actually the quality of programming (which overall, is depressingly low... Sorry, if I ever again hear Mr Savage refer to the county executive as "The Magster" I shall vomit.)

Regarding criticism of the Media as being "Liberal". It is. I am NOT a conservative AT ALL, and I can assure you that the Media is almost uniformly welfare-statist (I-E Liberal). However I am pleased that I have not been able to discern bias in the station, per-se (except of course in the talk-shows, but everyone knows that!)

I think that WYSL should probably focus more of it's energy on boosting it's newsgathering and (local) hard-news reporting

[Element9]

Regarding criticism of the Media as being "Liberal". It is. I am NOT a conservative AT ALL, and I can assure you that the Media is almost uniformly welfare-statist (I-E Liberal).

Here we go again, "the liberal media" canard from the O'Reilly-Hannity-Fox News-Bauerle-Limbaugh cabal.

Meanwhile, dominant AM talkers like WBEN and WHAM spew their right and sometimes far-right-of-center local and syndicated pabulum to scores of listeners who can't wait to drink the Kool-Aid, propeling these stations to top three status in their respective markets.

That "liberal" media?

Here's my disclaimer. I'm a registered Independent... which means I can't vote in Republican and Democratic primaries. Fine. It's the price I pay for wanting to maintain a position of neutrality being in the news business.

NPR and PBS get tagged (mostly by the neo-cons) with the "liberal" stigma simply because these organizations ASK questions and objectively expose both sides of the issues.

Now, what about the CORPORATE welfare state? Tax breaks for companies that gouge the American consumer at the gas pump, the military-industrialists who assisted in bringing us Iraq; and locally, the abundant IDA's that give away the farm (at taxpayers' expense) any time a company wants to locate to a community in New York state or worse, re-locate from one community to another in Monroe county?

When we talk about "welfare," let's at least talk about it HONESTLY. Please.

And what about that same "liberal" media that didn't do its homework and co-opted itself by cheering on the executive and legislative branches of our federal government in the "war on terra'?" Weapons of mass destruction? Mushroom clouds? Yellow-cake uranium? High grade aluminum tubes for producing fisionable uranium and plutonium?

Is THAT the liberal media we're talking about here?

Fey!

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