Congrats Gil Santos

[Donna Halper]

At 02:29 PM 7/12/2009, Kevin Vahey wrote:

>I think the recent expressions of sadness over the death of Larry
>Glick shows it does matter to listeners.  Boston.com had over a 
>thousand comments on his death. Jess Cain as
>well and he had no current station to relive his career

But WBZ, like many stations, is very conflicted over remembering its 
history.  The upper levels of CBS have this belief that "history" 
means you are OLD and your station won't attract young people if you 
focus on the past.  That is why many heritage stations, when they are 
bought by new owners, give up those historical call letters-- 
allegedly, one's history is meaningless because it won't get you any 
ratings in the next Arbitron.  Further, sales people believe 
historical events are not salable.  So when WBZ-TV's 50th anniversary 
came and went, not much was done to celebrate it.  And when Gil 
Santos is made a member of the new WBZ Radio Hall of Fame, the idea 
of spending money on an actual event seems counterproductive or 
expensive.  I of course disagree with these sorts of attitudes-- you 
don't wanna be a museum to the past or make no modern improvements, 
but you also should not forget the great people your audience may 
have grown up listening to.  There were generations who listened to 
Glick, and Jess Cain, and Gary LaPierre.  It's nice to find a way to 
let the listeners say thank-you.