Conservative Charlotte Host Canned, Listeners Baffled

AMATEUR HOUR

Katz Sacking Stuns NC Talk Fans, Sets Questionable Example







At a time when conservative talk radio's future has never looked brighter, some struggling broadcast firms are instead shooting themselves in the foot with short-sighted programming decisions. While these ill-conceived moves may save the company a few bucks up front, over the long run, they can prove disastrous.

This week's example doesn't just jump off the page, it leaps right into the center of the debate over radio's survival prospects.

In Charlotte, baffled listeners are wondering what has become of local heavyweight talker Jeff Katz, who was suddenly booted from WBT's airwaves this week. The well-known conservative, who has also worked in San Francisco, Boston and elsewhere around the country, was replaced by a comparatively little-known columnist from a left-wing "alternative" news weekly.

Placed in a difficult position, local managers were forced to defend their company's move during what was Katz's program Tuesday. Though they wouldn't give the real reason for his termination, an industry source indicates it was related to compensation. Is there any doubt the new gal works cheaply?

Another industry insider who monitored the on-air farce tells your Radio Equalizer that managers admitted replacement host Tara Servatius was so green, she needed "diction lessons" just to be remotely airworthy.

At Katz's Facebook group, the host himself points to this Examiner assessment, which calls into question how WBT's public relations fiasco has so far been handled:

At no point was any real information provided on the abrupt and mysterious departure of popular conservative talk show host Jeff Katz. "Ratings are important," they said. Not, 'Jeff has low ratings', or 'Jeff's slot performs poorly' ... just "ratings are important". This mundane and unilluminating observation is characteristic of most of the answers provided by Rick Jackson and Bill White during what was, until yesterday, the Jeff Katz show.

There were some none too subtle attempts at subtle innuendo, too. Answering Andrea from Charlotte, the managers trotted out the performance line, couched in kudos for Jeff, with the addendum that they "want to have people who represent you" ... you being us, the listeners in Charlotte. Later in the call they belabored the point that the audience for the station is conservative and that there would likely not be a liberal host anytime soon. One of the guys going so far as to say they'd "learned their lesson" on that one.

When answering Janice from Charlotte the managers pointed out that Jeff had a lot of "very strong-minded" fans. They forcefully denied that his firing was the result of pressure from any group. More than once we heard that the hosts must appeal to their listeners and the station's "clients". Over and over the implication was made that Jeff was a product that was not performing. When they finally relented to the notion of posting the ratings live on the site, they immediately began in with the "it's not all about the ratings, though" bit.

In other words, the three hours smacked of spin. For example, when challenged about his remarks in The Charlotte Observer this morning, which I wrote about earlier today, Rick Jackson passed off his comment as merely high praise for Tara. Read the following excerpt from that article and see if you think Rick is telling the whole story:


“She spends hours combing through the files researching her points,” he said. “People want facts rather than someone spouting an opinion. We may see a new kind of a talk show host in Tara.”


Spouting? There is evident contempt in referring to anyone's opinion as something they spout, spit, spew or otherwise expectorate, and I think most of the Jeff Katz audience is well aware of that. Add that to the comment about representation above, and the line from Rick that, as a manager, you have to let somebody know when they've done wrong and give them the chance to make "amends," and a picture behind the picture begins to take shape.

But this isn't about picking on Servatius, as she has just been placed into a nearly impossible position. Angry listeners are likely to take out their anger on her, if they stick around at all. They want right-leaning talk from a seasoned pro, exactly what they've been getting until now.

The real issue is clear: at a time when conservative talk radio is headed for unprecedented growth, the medium is still saddled with corporate execs with backgrounds in rapidly- dying music formats. WBT was recently purchased by a Boston-based firm, Greater Media, which has a history of micromanagement by its CEO and just plain bizarre programming calls.

This decision was likely made in Massachusetts, not North Carolina, providing an extra bit of anxiety for local residents who are already watching New England refugees begin to reshape their political landscape.

And in Boston, Greater Media's WTKK has the same peculiar habit of hiring inexperienced newspaper columnists as talk hosts. The results have generally been weak.

Take a look at the "spouting an opinion" quote in the above story, it provides full confirmation that company management hasn't the slightest idea as to what makes talk radio successful.

It's about opinions, analysis and personality, all based on factual material.

That's exactly what Jeff Katz and many others have been doing for years. With so much at stake and time running out before several major radio operators file for bankruptcy, can we continue to tolerate managerial amateur hour? At what point does what's left of this industry rise up in protest of sheer programming malpractice?




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