Television: Rush Limbaugh? It Must Be A Stunt

Wednesday, January 02, 2008

Rush Limbaugh? It Must Be A Stunt

They can't be serious. Rush Limbaugh's syndicated show is replacing Gary Burbank on WLW-AM? I'm guessing it's a stunt, and that the real Burbank replacement will debut tomorrow... or Friday... or possibly Monday.
I'm still guessing that we'll hear Tracy Jones and Eddie Fingers by Monday.
Two days ago, at least Channels 5 and 9 reported Monday morning that it would be Jones and Fingers. Fingers has been missing from the WEBN-FM Dawn Patrol this week, and I'm told he's on vacation. Nobody else is talking at WLW-AM....
I still consider Limbaugh a stunt. Clear Channel owns Limbaugh, so they could easily arrange this. And this puts a little space between Burbank and his actual replacement, so there's maybe less of a comparison. Just my hunch.
As Darryl Parks says, radio is all about ratings and revenue.... and I'm guessing WLW-AM can generate more revenue with a local show and local commercials 3-6 p.m., in afternoon drive than Limbaugh.
Your thoughts?

48 Comments:

at 1/02/2008 3:20 PM

Anonymous said...

I certainly hope it's not Rush. Don't mind him on WKRC in the early afternoon, but sheesh. Was he on KRC earlier today?

I'd like to hear Dave Ramsey back on there air here in town, that's for sure.

at 1/02/2008 3:36 PM

Brad said...

Tracy Jones and Eddie Fingers? That won't last 6 months.

at 1/02/2008 3:42 PM

Anonymous said...

Listening this afternoon, and DP implied that TOMORROW, Thursday, will be the beginning of Gary Burbank replacement. And he has implied Fingers and Jones several times today....

at 1/02/2008 3:46 PM

Anonymous said...

WLW is not on Rush's site on his station list. If the move WAS real, you know is would be there and it would be NEVER be on WLW on a delay! Bet the 3 PM ratings were huge.... for about 15 seconds.

at 1/02/2008 3:46 PM

Anonymous said...

I agree, it is a stunt, my hope is John is right and we see either Jones, Fingers or both. Was their any rumor about John Philips getting it?

at 1/02/2008 3:47 PM

Anonymous said...

It's just another stupid stunt by Daryl Parks. This stuff used to be funny.

at 1/02/2008 3:48 PM

Anonymous said...

WLW is not on Rush's site on his station list. If the move WAS real, you know is would be there and it would be NEVER be on WLW on a delay! Bet the 3 PM ratings were huge.... for about 15 seconds.

at 1/02/2008 3:55 PM

Anonymous said...

Kiese the main question is Will you be appearing on there show on mondays still?

at 1/02/2008 3:56 PM

Anonymous said...

Kiese, I just read on a wrestling website that Monday Night Raw will be broadcast in HD on monday. Will Time Warner Cable make USA HD open to all of us customers?

at 1/02/2008 4:02 PM

Anonymous said...

Darryl Parks is the worst thing to ever happen to Cincinnati radio.

at 1/02/2008 4:05 PM

Rob Bernard said...

I can't imagine having him on full-time at 3-6 seeing as his show is live from 12-3. If they did want him on WLW it seems to me they'd be going with him live instead of delayed.

at 1/02/2008 4:21 PM

Unknown said...

Directv carrys USA in HD...

at 1/02/2008 4:22 PM

Unknown said...

Limbaugh - The powers that be at WLW used to always say they preferred not to run syndicated programming. That they could do better with their own talent. Of course as the saying goes never say never... Look at all the cut backs Clear Channel has been going through over the past year. I personally can't stand Limbaugh but he does fit in with the conservative slant on the station and look at the money they'd save by not paying someone.

Tracy Jones – Huh? He was a good interview when he was a Reds player and he’s an alright talk show host. I just don’t get this one. I could see if he was hosting WLW Sportstalk (I’d actually be in favor of that) but the afternoon drive? It just doesn’t make sense to me…

Eddie Fingers – Another confusing option. Just what does Eddie Fingers and his Dr. Johnny Fever gimmick bring to an AM Drive time show? He’s not funny - he’s definitely no Burbank that’s for sure. And please don’t tell me just because he filled in for Burbank 15 years ago that makes him qualified to take over the chair.

Hate to be so negative but man the state of radio around here has gone down the tubes…

at 1/02/2008 4:25 PM

Anonymous said...

Honestly, DID ANYBODY Think this RUSH repeat was anything MORE than a STUNT?

I hardly think they would run his show on DELAY!?!

DP is an idiot and so is the choice of Fingers and Tracy. I agree, I do not give such a show 6 months.

Tracy is such an elitist and can ONLY talk about himself and his son and his RICH friends ala Richard from Indian Hill..and girls he hopes to meet or pick up after a Reds game.

Tracy is such a whiner...like the spoil rich boy he is......he also sounds like.

WLW is doing some major SHARK JUMPING HERE. :(

p.s. We ALL missed Trumpy's interview with Burbank.

Burbank NEVER played it on the last two days of his show. But on the 31st I heard Rob running the board on Gary's show and then after commecial, it's Trumpy and Gary talking about how Gary got the Eunice and Bernice Twins bit..among other things.

IDIOTS for not promoting this interview.

Bad mistake on Burbanks part as well..I wondered what had happend to Trumpys interview and figured they dumped it.

Instead, who the hell wanted to listen to Gary's RERUNS AFTER his final day...well apparently that is when Burbank or Clear Channel CHOSE to run what must have been a GREAT INTERVIEW.

We all got screwed.

WHy not address THAT john?????????????

I just happened to get in the car at the right time, turn on the radio and stumbled into two segments of this, then it was over and OFF went my radio.

WHY DID NOBODY INCLUDING GARY want us to HEAR this interview?

MAJOR SCREW UP on Gary's way out the door.

S'pose we will have to PAY to hear it on a cd?

Loved you Gary but this was P*SS POOR PLANNING. :(

at 1/02/2008 4:56 PM

Unknown said...

is Eddie Fingers leaving WEBN morning show then? I'm not sure about Jones/Fingers pairing. It's kind of like Oscar & Felix. Plus not sure that Fingers will fit with the WLW crowd (like my dad and many other more conservatives).

at 1/02/2008 5:10 PM

Anonymous said...

Yea, Darryl Parks keeps asking his guests if they have seen Tracy Jones or Eddie Fingers and then each gets a little silly laugh and they move on. This station is so awful. Another goofy stunt putting Rushie on their today. Tracy Jones. Sooooo stuck on himself. Fingers is half way decent. Oh well, they dont care what I think anyway.

at 1/02/2008 5:31 PM

Anonymous said...

Maybe it will be Glenn Beck. He is missing from Cincinnati since 98.5 went from Talk to Rock

at 1/02/2008 5:54 PM

Anonymous said...

Tracy and Eddie Fingers...that should be a great duo. Finally someone between 3-6 who can appeal to more that just the elderly. Gary Burbank (aka 3 hours of sports or consequences) = TIRED RADIO. Heck, maybe they'll even have the arrogant elitist, Richard, share his warped opinions with us. He's actaully funny...in a sick and twisted sort of way. Lighten up people!!!!

at 1/02/2008 9:00 PM

Anonymous said...

It is getting ridiculous how little clear channel(and cumulus for that matter) care about peoples desires and input. The recent year in greater cincy radio has proven that it really IS only about revenue and to heck with individual listeners. The FCC should be forced to listen to the garbage to hear what their deregulation has wrought. As a truck driver I listen all day long and the intelligent choices are just about GONE.

at 1/02/2008 10:07 PM

Anonymous said...

The Dawn Patrol has led in morning ratings for years....why fix things if they aren't broken??? This is news to WEBN listeners that we won't take well at all. But...it doesn't surprise me out of Clear Channel....they have screwed things up in Cincinnati radio for some time now.

Beth Richardson
Fort Mitchell, KY

at 1/02/2008 11:10 PM

Scott Evans said...

Its a stunt the same as the construction sounds on 96.5 was a stunt before they revealed their true format.

Also on XM the display clearly stated listen to Rush on 55KRC.

at 1/03/2008 7:02 AM

Anonymous said...

They would put Eddie and Tracy together for a Felix and Oscar effect on purpose. Who wants to listen to two grown men agree with each other all afternoon (again) when they can have conflicting POVs?
Also, has anybody ever thought that Eddie might be growing out of the 'EBN mentality? He's getting older, and is more intelligent than the Dawn Patrol allows him to be. Plus, he's funny, without pre-produced parody songs and stripper interviews.
It would be interesting to see Finger's departure from 'EBN for the other rock stations' morning shows too.

If you question Rush being a stunt or not, then you weren't listening. The first bumper around 20 after said something to the effect of "Catch Rush weekdays noon-3 on 55 KRC. Who will be on WLW tomorrow at 3? The stress is making you pull your hair out...there's a woman in Cheviot who will flash you for the answer...find out tomorrow at 3." It will be another stunt Thursday, and maybe even Friday afternoon, to keep you dolts posting and groaning about DP being "the worst thing to happen to Cincy radio."
You think his ideas are tired?

at 1/03/2008 8:17 AM

Anonymous said...

I can lighten up with the best of them, but that doesn't make WLW any better.

The station is a shadow of its former self.

Oh...and I heard the Trumpy interview...it stunk. You didn't miss anything.

Jones sucks, his voice is all weird, and his head is enormous. Too bad for Eddie.

at 1/03/2008 9:10 AM

Anonymous said...

Tracy Jones is awful. I can't believe WLW would basically concede their 3-6 p.m. ratings by going with that clown. Lance McAllister will kill Tracy. WLW should put Rush on live from 12-3 and then have Cunningham on 3-6. If they want to pair him up with someone, bring in Fingers. Just no Tracy Jones.

at 1/03/2008 9:18 AM

Anonymous said...

Never understood the infatuation with WlW in this town....it's surviving off it's name and what it used to be.....everyone is complaining about how "Cincinnati Radio is Dead" but when something different comes "Eddie and Tracy" they slam it for not being the same old unfunny, tired impressions about rednecks that appeal to our grandfathers. Everything in WLW is for "base" audience and what is passed off as "shock radio".....shocking for the elderly anyway.....maybe Ed and Tracy will bring WLW into the 90's at least....

at 1/03/2008 9:43 AM

Anonymous said...

Jim Scott reads the Enquirer, Mike McConnell tries to not sound like he's in Cincinnati, Bill Cunningham phones it in, Eddie and Tracy take a stab at shoring up what has always been the weak link in the ratings, in spite of the high regard for Burbank. Follow it with a great newspaper column writer who doesn't understand radio and Sloan, who has been here for nearly ten years and STILL no one knows him. Overnights used to be a decent country music companion but Clear Channel didn't want to pay the ASCAP and BMI fees, so they turned it into 5 hours of owner/operator snivelling.

The "Grand Old Lady of Radio" has stopped dancing and sat back down.

She's reaching for her oxygen bottle.

The Fingers move explains why the budget axe didn't cull from the Dawn Patrol herd.

at 1/03/2008 10:01 AM

Anonymous said...

I love how no one is giving the show a chance before it even starts. Listen first, and maybe you will like it. I give Darryl credit for keeping it local. As far as the show.....time will tell, but I wish Tracy and Eddie well. People are so negative. Smile, we are all going to die anyway....RB

at 1/03/2008 10:16 AM

The Nudie Professor said...

Radio about ratings and revenue? Well at Clear Channel it sure isn't about ENTERTAINMENT!

at 1/03/2008 11:13 AM

Anonymous said...

Darryl is a master at this...find a way to get people talking. Keis even notices it....Who is next as they play mind games...Randi Rhodes from AAR? I would love that.

Come down people...it will all be over soon enough. Chill out. Go play in the snow.

at 1/03/2008 11:24 AM

Anonymous said...

I can't believe how Parks has run this station into the ground. Even the news breaks are terrible. Some baby died or house burned somewhere and go to the website to see a video. Mcconnell hangs in because he has no pressure. Same for Willie except he doesn't try anymore. Doc can't say a sentence in sport talk without stuttering. He is like Bryant Gumble with the whole "I am so above sports and it's fans", although he takes a job talking about sports and it's fans. You can tell it just plain hurts him in the gut to have to talk to your average caller.

This station needs to start acting like the Big Dog like it used to. Demand top performance from it's talent, give releavant news updates instead of shock news and website promotion, and stop the sad ratings stunts. Until then, I will get some good books on CD

at 1/03/2008 11:36 AM

Anonymous said...

When will people learn. It's not even about ratings anymore. Parks has sold out LW. His show was cut by an hour on Saturday mornings to run the mutual fund show crap.

Book it, it WILL be Jones and Fingers. The station went downhill when they "fired" Furman. Plain and simple. Losing the Reds revenue doesn't help. The sales staff leaving and forming their own marketing company and the rest that haven't been taken by the Reds have the Bengals to sell. WOW what a product to sell. Here's my money!!!

at 1/03/2008 12:31 PM

Anonymous said...

Hey lemmings.....when they start making promos out of the bit, it's a gag!!!

at 1/03/2008 1:06 PM

Anonymous said...

Let me answer a lot of posts all at once!

"Darryl Parks is the worst thing to ever happen to Cincinnati radio."
-WLW is the #1 station in Cincinnati.

"The station is a shadow of its former self."
-WLW is the #1 station in Cincinnati.

"I can't believe how Parks has run this station into the ground. Even the news breaks are terrible."
-WLW is the #1 station in Cincinnati.

I could go on. I don't work there, and I simply get annoyed to no end reading posts about how awful this station has become, yet they succeed. They know something that you and I don't. And that's how to beat every other station in town, by far.

at 1/03/2008 1:41 PM

Unknown said...

saying that these points are incorrect because WLW is "1 in Cincy" is completely ignorant and irrelevent to the point that the station is tanking. Now what their market share is compared to the past is not irrelevent. Being that you must work for the station, please share this data. You won't because I promise you this station does not have the share it once did.

at 1/03/2008 2:04 PM

Anonymous said...

to anon 1/3 at 1:06pm.
Right. 700 is number 1. But, go from one end of the dial to the other and what is there? junk, including 700. They do quite a job at getting people to talk about the station, thus when the rating service calls,,,, 700 is fresh in people's minds and they end up number one. Their antics is what gets them where they are. I remember Darryl Parks at WTVN in Columbus. He was a soft spoken run of the mill guy. He comes to this place and starts yelling and pulling his antics (the big Juan, Willie getting fired by Helen Mays and on and on and on and on) Why do other Clear Crummy stations around the US have large blocks of in depth news/info etc and what do we have here -- a fast talking former disc jockey who talks fast, does taped interview where his voice is dubbed in and he never says hello or good bye. If you want a real laugh --- how about the "aviation expert" that is squeezed in. Have you ever not taken a flight by anything this guy says? Or get in depth team coverage at 700WLW.COM. Real nice if you are in your car. Their news is nothing more than loud bumpers in and out of the news. Lets face it -- Furman, as nuts as he was - was the gas in the engine and the columnist in the evening knows alot of sports but is ill at ease at the mike. Parks talked him into the gig. Scott Sloan -- who is he? They should send him back to Toledo. Bill Cunningham? Well he is Bill Cunningham and what else can you say. Seg Dennison? Ha ha,,, he gets an award if he can put two sentences back-to-back without stuttering or saying "you know" and "I mean".
Get the picture radio man?

at 1/03/2008 2:30 PM

Anonymous said...

In 3 to 5 years, WLW will be the route, most newstalk stations have gone..

Mostly syndication...Less news people...They won't be nothing more than a poor excuse for a radio station.

Clear Channel and whoever decides to take them over, care nothing about talent..

The only way WLW will survive in the long haul..is if Randy Michaels buys them

at 1/03/2008 2:38 PM

Anonymous said...

http://www.radioandrecords.com/RRRatings/DetailsPage.aspx?MID=55&RY=2007&RQ=4&MP=2&OTHER=2&MN=Cincinnati&MS=OH&MR=29&12P=1721200&UP=12/17/2007%2012:00:00%20AM&SU=CM&BPER=11.3&HPER=&OPER=&NSD=1/15/2008%2012:00:00%20AM&CE=0

this will show you that WLW is number one in the Cincinnati Market. For those of you that want to BASH without the facts.. get a life. NO i do not work for the station.

at 1/03/2008 2:41 PM

Anonymous said...

http://www.radioandrecords.com/RRRatings/DetailsPage.aspx?MID=55&RY=2007&RQ=4&MP=2&OTHER=2&MN=Cincinnati&MS=OH&MR=29&12P=1721200&UP=12/17/2007%2012:00:00%20AM&SU=CM&BPER=11.3&HPER=&OPER=&NSD=1/15/2008%2012:00:00%20AM&CE=0

check it out for yourself. WLW is number one in Cincy, by far over other stations. THE FACTS ARE HERE!

at 1/03/2008 3:56 PM

Anonymous said...

Nice....two guys from Kiss??? Way to audition talent Parks!!! Who is next?? Tom Horan, how about the Goldfish!!!

at 1/03/2008 4:27 PM

Anonymous said...

I admit, I let myself get suckered into the Rush thing. Feel really stupid. But if you think that Richard from Indian Hill is real, then you to are being suckered. That's such an obvious bit. Tracy just gets tired of talking about the Reds and so has these "characters" call in.

And how often could they play that Mike's Car Wash commercial? Only EVERY break. I would turn off the radio when that came on. Must've had little else to advertise during the holidays.

at 1/03/2008 4:37 PM

Anonymous said...

You want to see some numbers that prove WLW is doing just fine, in spite of being an "awful shell of it's former self"?
Visit http://www.radio-info.com/content/arbitron.php?market=029 and look. They slipped .2 in the last trend, while WUBE gained .2, and they're still comfortable.
And go ahead, tell me about how this number doesn't matter because the demo is what people really care about. You think this 12+ race is any different than any of WLW's demos?
The ratings are irrelevant?
You think they should have the same share they did 25 years ago, when there weren't half as many stations on the air?
You think they need salespeople who can actually "sell"? You and I can go to a WLW sales cubicle and sit by our phones, wait for businesses to call us up and ask how many avails we have for them today.

at 1/03/2008 4:38 PM

Anonymous said...

Correction, WLW slipped .6 in the last trend. STILL COMFORTABLE.

at 1/03/2008 9:52 PM

Anonymous said...

Find me a station that IS doing the market share it was doing 10 years ago. 15 years ago.

It's still competitive and a market titan.

at 1/03/2008 11:19 PM

Anonymous said...

I'd like to see them pick up Dave Ramsey. Worst case would be Scott Sloan..I would have to destroy my radio!

at 1/04/2008 9:21 AM

Anonymous said...

why does d. parks have such issues with you. he has been the worst pd the station has ever had and he still wlks around like a rock star. I can't wait for the day he gets let go. how can a man look in the mirror and not realize he is not good at his job. his stupid stunts he continues to have done at once a good station is sad. I know people who work their and they feel he is a walking joke.

at 1/04/2008 10:21 AM

Anonymous said...

Hey I dont work there either but I found the radio shares like you wanted someone else to find. here is the link http://www.radioandrecords.com/RRRatings/DetailsPage.aspx?MID=55&RY=2007&RQ=4&MP=2&OTHER=2&MN=Cincinnati&MS=OH&MR=29&12P=1721200&UP=12/17/2007&SU=CM&BPER=11.3&HPER=&OPER=&NSD=1/15/2008&CE=0

at 1/04/2008 5:30 PM

Anonymous said...

Tracy Jones is an excellent choice. His tongue-in-cheek humor will attract a higher intelligence demographic which is desperately needed by the time you get through with Willie. Cant wait!!!
Mark

at 1/05/2008 2:22 PM

Anonymous said...

I'm hoping for Mr. Red to replace Burbank in the afternoon.

Hey, what about a 3 hour show with nothing but animal noises? Heck, if CC could sell it, book it!

Previous Posts

Wednesday, January 02, 2008

Rush Limbaugh? It Must Be A Stunt

48 Comments: