a few points:
1. Berry may indeed see only $$$ as his reason for doing anything (or everything, for that matter). After all, we're talking about CC here. With the sell-offs going on, short-term bottom line is their focus, not building great radio stations. That requires an investent.
2. Get off the "W&J are the most untalented blah, blah, blah" thing. One man's entertainment is another man's boredom. Example - I'd guess only a small percentage of people like Barry Manilow (1 in 10, maybe?) yet he's made a fortune selling records and PACKING stadiums. If W&J are smart enough to work the syndication stuff, good for them. Seems to be working, despite moving around the dial locally. I've also heard that they sell very well, and money trumps everything in this business, including talent.
3. Sucks that Baker's gone. Another victim of the soon-to-be washed up terrestial radio industry. Can't wait for URL presets in the truck.
Tooner
You're right. There may be only 1 in 10 that like Manilow and he sells (sold) millions. However, I doubt you'll find 1 in 10 that like W&J or think they have any professional entertainment value. Just look at the past postings on W&J on this board alone. Hell, look at this thread and you'll see the same sentiment. Maybe you'll find 1 in 50 or even 1 in 100. Bobby Chafin makes a good point that perhaps Berry is bringing some heavy hitter advertising to the table, but as I know from 25 years of experience low ratings and poor content will eventually drive those advertisers away. Bottom-line is what 98% of the sentiment on this thread is saying: Michael Berry's complete lack of radio experience is killing the two most widely known and leading AM stations in this market. It's sad that CC killed KTRH, once one of the preeminent News Radio stations in the country. Even sadder is that they let this inexperienced Berry come in and throw gasoline on the body. I agree that Berry's lack of experience is reflected in his lack of on-air talent. He is unlistenable most of the time. His real career fortay is Real Estate plus he was successful in local politics. NONE OF THAT
What people on this board THINK is of little or no value, what counts is which way the numbers are going for W&J, the trends since the PPM began say yes and that is really all that counts. I don't think they are the greatest thing since sliced bread but I sure do hear folks around town asking "did you hear W&J today?"
As for WHY Baker is gone I doubt anyone will ever know the real reason. So far I've heard, budget cuts, bad ratings, bad attitude and I seriously doubt any of those are valid. Maybe he just pee'ed in Berry's cheerios one too many times? If you start a fight with mgmt. you always lose, end of story. And since when did you think anybody cared about what a radio station sounds like? It's all about the bucks, that is where it begins and ends, everything else is just window dressing. For my money Ken Charles will always look bad. I am amazed at CC's ability to screw up a couple of really successful am's however. But really no more amazed that I was a watching other stations kill themselves over the past thirty years, KIKK, K-Lite, KFMK, there have been plenty of stupid moves by virtually every group that has ever owned a station in Houston. The shorter list is the smart moves.
