Re: TALK 96

[Mike Thomas <nostatic@earthlink.net>]

It's highly doubtful that O&A will be coming to 96.9.  Their show is on WNEW-FM,
an Infinity station, and of course, Infinity owns WBCN.  With WNEW-FM evolving
to talk, and Infinity hot-talkers already on the air in DC, LA and Detroit,
there have been rumors that WBCN may follow suit.  BCN already airs Stern,
Loveline, and the Patriot games, and their afternoon driver, Nik Carter, has
been playing less and less music recently.  If BCN is even considering going
Talk, they'll want to keep O&A for themselves.  It's even possible they may keep
Leykis from 96.9, since he's distributed by Infinity-owned Westwood One for the
same reason.  Ditto for the Don and Mike show out of WJFK-FM in DC.

I think that Barnicle will wind up on PM Drive, since he is a local name, and
has the best shot to beat Howie.  I simply don't think a syndicated show or a
local show without some name recognition can surpass Carr.

Mike Thomas
WXLO & Mediabase 24/7

Joseph Gallant wrote:

> Here's a wild-card possibility: Mike Barnicle mid-days (not in PM drive,
> head-to-head against Howie Carr), and in PM drive, direct via the bird from
> WNEW New York---Opie & Anthony!
>
> Why do I think O & A might end up at 96.9? First, from what I've heard (I
> was supposed to go to Long Island for vacation this week, but I was forced
> to cancel it so I'm not going to be able to give O & A a
> listen), they've dropped music from their show and gone all-talk. If
> syndication is the future of their show, Boston would be the perfect place
> to launch syndication, thanks to the fact they used to be on WAAF. Their
> "name value" alone, along with Imus and Barnicle, could be very important,
> and could help position "FM Talk Ninety-Six-Nine" as
> the station wil be known, as "This Ain't Your Father's Talk Radio!" And,
> with WNEW New York converting from rock to talk (based on what I've read,
> they have very little music left at the moment), maybe Mike Barnicle--who
> now writes for the New York Daily News--might get picked up by 102.7 in New
> York, which would dictate a midday slot as
> O & A are solid in PM drive.
>
> Another possible wild-card might be Tom Leykis' syndicated evening show,
> which I've heard has descended (or risen, if you believe in "shock jock"
> talk) to the level of Stern, O & A, etc. Remember that Leykis used to be on
> WRKO (in his much tamer era).
>

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