Re: WOR stops Rambling with Gambling

[dan.strassberg@att.net]

My folks were married in 1927 and lived in New York City 
from the start. I believe they said that they listened 
to the _original_ John Gambling, John B, from the time 
they were married, which would have been only two years 
after his program started. My mother, who is now almost 
101, may still remember John Gambling. I remember 
listening to John B along with Vincent Sori and the 
Gamboleers (an instrumental trio) and news with such 
luminaries as Alois Havrilla every weekday morning for 
about the first 15 years of my life.

I'll bet there's more to this story than has yet come to 
light. A Buckley station killing a show that has 
increased its billings 40% year over year in a quest for 
younger demos--well, it just doesn't sound like Buckley. 
I bet John R got a better offer. The fact that WOR 
apparently hasn't yet firmed up its plans gives credence 
to that speculation. Maybe they've lined up someone who 
is currently employed to start Jan 1. If so, they might 
not be able to identify the person. But consider how 
WABC has struggled to find the right show for AM drive. 
WOR will be hard pressed to do as well as it had been 
doing, especially if Gambling shows up elsewhere on the 
dial.

Let's see how this wild speculation plays out. Bloomberg 
has announced that WBBR is about to go live (or maybe it 
has done so already), after doing a hard-drive-automated 
news format since its inception in 1993. Would John 
Gambling make a good personality to anchor a news-
oriented morning drive chit-chat show on WBBR? Yes! 
Would Bloomberg be willing to pay Gambling more than he 
was getting at WOR? If WBBR feels it has a chance to get 
something more than the minuscule ratings it has so far 
has "enjoyed"--quite possibly. Shades of Martin Bloch 
leaving the old WNEW (AM) first for WOR and then for 
WABC. (He had to rename his program Martin Bloch's 
Ballroom because WNEW owned the name Make-believe 
Balleroom.)

>         Here's a link to get the AP story on John Gambling leaving WOR. It
> explains why it happened so fast, with no notice. I saw Mr. Weil's post
> about 20 minutes after the show ended. Darn.
> 
>         Anybody got a tape? Maybe WOR will sell copies to make a couple
> more pennies. Nah. Cassettes -- they're for that older demographic. Maybe
> they'll burn some copies on purple and yellow CDs.
> 
> http://www.boston.com/dailynews/255/region/WOR_Radio_s_Rambling_With_Gamb:.shtml
> 
>