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August 21, 2013Yesterday afternoon ESPN Cleveland WKNR made waves across Cleveland by mysteriously axing talent. Will Burge, T.J. Zuppe, Kenny Roda and (maybe) Michael Reghi1 were all told something about a “different direction” and mostly left wondering where that destination was and why it didn’t include them. Meanwhile, it has been all quiet from the station as nobody else seems to know that destination either. Therein lies the problem as I see it today.
Going in a new direction and changing your lineup and making tough choices about programming are part of the job of running a media property. Burge, Zuppe and Roda seem to get that as they certainly didn’t come out with blowtorches trying to publicly burn down their former bosses. I’m sure they weren’t enthused of course, but this is the game and they’ve seen it play out before. I don’t begrudge any company for making choices; even unpopular ones. The problem occurs when those decisions are made and there is a massive communication vacuum between the media company and the audience as people talk and talk and talk. I’ve said it many times before and I get a chance to say it yet again. You’re better off talking to the world rather than allowing the world to just talk about you.
Kenny Roda’s voice was still doing Champps promos this morning directly after Tony Rizzo talked about him being let go. How does an awkward moment like that happen on the station’s signature show – The Really Big Show – the day after the guy was told he didn’t fit the direction of the station? Did they make the decision impulsively? Do they not have the proper station management in place to keep stuff like that from happening? It’s pretty amazing really.
One thing I won’t do is sit around talking about, “why did these guys get fired, when it should have been these other guys who work at the station.” If you don’t like Rizzo or Aaron Goldhammer or Bruce Hooley or Greg Brinda, it isn’t really the point. That’s just a waste of conversation from my perspective. You have to assume that station management and ownership are making their decisions for a reason, whether it be ratings or contracts, timing or other details. I can’t begin to get inside those kinds of decisions without any first-hand accounts. My real first-hand account is as an outsider left in the turbulent aftermath created by a station that allegedly didn’t return phone calls for comment.
Tony Rizzo said this morning that station owner Craig Karmazin would be on with The Hooligans this afternoon to speak to the audience about the changes, but by then the perception has already been formed that the station isn’t handling its business well at all. Maybe there are really good reasons that the business plan changed. Maybe the new relationship with the Browns makes ad sales easier and boosts margins. Maybe the cost side of things changed with that same Browns relationship. Maybe those things combined with the maturing of 92.3 the Fan in the marketplace has changed the direction that the station needs to go.
Maybe maybe maybe. That’s all there was last night and into today. In this day and age of information, that’s unacceptable. Everyone seems to know it except ESPN Cleveland WKNR.
As we wait to hear from the station, presumably this afternoon during The Hooligans show, we’ll just echo the huge sentiment that was on Twitter yesterday wishing Burge, Zuppe and Roda well. For everything that was said last night in the absence of station comment, I think it’s notable that I didn’t hear or see anyone saying “Good riddance!” about the dismissals. I hope that was at least a small silver lining for those guys. It’s too bad they had to be let go in order to hear such nice things about what they meant to their audiences.
- Rizzo was talking about the moves this morning and he didn’t mention Reghi at all. We at least have to assume the show he co-hosted with Roda is over. [↩]
33 Comments
Now that KNR is associated with the Browns, I guess they felt the need to be equally inept in “getting in front of” a story.
What I read was that Reghi was fired by WKNR, but will still be working under the Browns contract, so he’ll be on WKNR for the Browns Radio Network broadcasts.
The best part of this right now is the the Cleveland ESPN affiliate does not have a beat reporter for the Indians or the Cavs. I know those roles are different than they were in the past, but I still find it incredible.
craig doesn’t this remind you of WEEI in boston? for 15 years they had the market to themselves and thought they were geniuses because their ratings were good. but it really meant they could put anything ‘sports’ on air and it would sell. when EEI got competition they fell to second place immediately and it’s been panicked/scrambling ever since. inevitably the clueless mgt engages some consultant who says ‘blah blah skew younger blah blah’ and they wind up canning the older guys without regard to whether they’re liked (dale arnold) or loathed (glenn ordway).
the fact that KNR canned four people and not one was aaron goldhammer tells me they still haven’t hit bottom.
YES!
Was Michael Reghi’s hair piece retained? That should have been fired a long time ago
Should have gotten rid of Goldhammer…
But hopefully these guys will have a place at The Fan.
I haven’t listened to KNR in five years or so. It’s pretty amazing how they almost cornered the market on hosts who are unlistenable-to (the lone exception being Booms, who they somehow let slip away from their roster of putridness). KNR has a virtual monopoly on annoying hosts.
Hopefully not. Zuppe would be acceptable. But only if Fedor is sent packing.
Thanks for the info., Craig!!
Goldhammer is the problem with our ESPN affiliate. He does not represent what the average Clevelander thinks about our beloved sports teams.
Also, to say that noone said “good riddance” to these three(four) folks is not accurate. I (and MANY others I know) stopped listening to Kenny Roda some time ago! He has been HORRIBLE for years. The only subject he brings any depth of knowledge to is basketball… his repeated John Lucas proves how fresh his delivery is!!
I hold nothing against Burge or Zuppe… young guys who are likely overworked and underpaid. Reghi deserves a spot somewhere on Cleveland radio.
Goldhammer’s continued employment is a reflection of the management of Karmazin…
He’s not as bad on The Fan. There’s still moments where he becomes ‘the old’ Fedor but, I’ve genuinely enjoyed him on The Fan.
Nice!
i wish manning would hit u upside ur head sometimes!
Don’t listen to KNR, but I always figured that Goldhammer was the kind of guy that helped drive talk radio. Someone needs to play the foil who riles us the fanbase to call in and yell at him, or at least tune in to what thing he’s going to say next.
“He does not represent what the average Clevelander thinks about our beloved sports teams”
Combining this with what I said above, isn’t that what works? If talk radio was everybody agreeing with the average stance, it would be incredibly boring.
My advice to 92.3 The Fan is to not let WKNR outmaneuver them. 92.3 needs to show that they too are willing to fire people by letting go of Kylie and Booms. That should be a sufficient counter to keep it a stalemate.
that is exactly the programming that drove single sportstalk station for so long. it’s that thinking that gives us skip bayless. espn thinks they’re smart because (i guess) they get ratings. let’s see how long bayless types last with competition.
on the whole, i just think willing trolling of your audience is not a sustainable business model.
there’s never a reasonable excuse for goldhammer.
Isn’t First Take one of ESPN more highly rated shows? And this isn’t limited to just sports talk. In “news” talk, there is quite the competition, and the list of top rated programs have quite a few controversial figures. I don’t think people are that dumb that they think they’re getting brilliant insight from the foils. They tune in because people like to argue about sports, and they need someone to argue with. And I think there is a safer ground somewhere short of Bayless.
That’s right. Basing your radio career on the fact that people don’t like you seems to be counterproductive.
The flip side of being a jerk just to draw an audience is that being a jerk can lose you an audience. There are better ways to reach people — being interesting and intelligent come to mind. But that’s not the KNR model.
I used to listen to Rizzo a lot, but then Goldhammer’s role became larger and I couldn’t stand him. He drove me away from that station for good.
But I need to hear ahead or behind played like clockwork every 20 minutes like it was a traffic and weather update on WTAM.
When will ESPN stop trying to tout Dancing With the Stars as a sport?
when Disney stops owning both
Truth be told 92.3 the Fan is a much better station anyway.
really, when you consider all the different time slots that Reghi and Roda have had over the past couple of years, this writing was really on the wall. Ever since they got pulled from afternoon drive (which was Roda’s territory for a while), I figured it was a matter of time.
A couple of other factors that may (or may not) have played into things:
Reghi avoided Twitter for how long? I can’t imagine being a stubborn dinosaur in this day and age helps any.
Roda is a Steelers fan. He admits rooting for the Steelers when they play the Browns. Maybe the new partnership with the Browns had an effect?
And Aaron Goldhammer is the reason I haven’t listened to Rizzo in 3 years. No sense complaining, that’s what they want. Do not feed the trolls.
yeah, but for some reason I always liked Brinda. Drennan too (although the movie reviews did get taxing after a while). Roda was even ok 10-12 years ago. Perhaps it was the ESPN takeover that infected everything and maybe some of the guys were forced to “embrace debate”
Thats it, it’s all ESPN and Goldhammer’s fault…perfect!
Yeah let go of the hosts of the top morning show. Great idea.
lyndall & raab would get more listeners than kylie & booms.
top rated doesnt mean good.
and ‘not good’ = vulnerable.
You are mistaking what you would like to hear with what would be the most popular. Don’t get me wrong, I’d like the same kind of analysis that you would, but that doesn’t sell as well to the general public.
I guess KNR thinks that we would rather listen to a Rizzo type show featuring 4 hours of plugs and product mentions. I would much rather listen to hosts who talk sports intelligently for more than 1 minute out of every 20. Sorry to see the guys go….I enjoyed them all.
I can honestly say that since 92.3 hit the air I haven’t flipped the station back to KNR once. I personally feel that it’s a much superior product.
I agree with your points. That’s the current model: a foil for the main host to argue with and who prompts listener calls and attention. Just another form of the lowbrow host who starts his show with an intentionally idiotic statement, and then adds: “Now I’m not saying it’s true necessarily, but call and tell me what you think.” There’s been a lot of that on WKNR.
Reghi’s radio play by play of the last exhibition was worse than amateurish, just horrid. And surprising because he was solid doing Cavs tv play by play. Guy has zero football chops – can’t follow the ball coherently and repeatedly misidentified players.
Right. I’m not saying there is anything high quality about this, but that people who turn in to talk radio aren’t looking for high quality analysis.
It always amazed me how a card-carrying Steeler fan had his own talk show in Cleveland in the 1st place.