What Are You Thinking …(“Poiter”)

In the newest episode of radio’s version of “Days Of Our Lives” in the Fargo/Moorhead area Jack & Sandy have left WDAY to go back to their roots at KFGO. Let me qualify my view of what has happened by saying I have never, ever, ever listened to Jack & Sandy. I do however have a short history dealing with radio people and how unprofessional some in that business operate.

There are a few things that are certain in radio. These people have egos and very, very few have any loyalty. Whatever station they happen to be employed with is the best and their people are the best; until they are employed by a different radio station then the new one is the best. Everyone plays nice when on the air but will discredit someone off of it in order to get that time slot. Most of these people are extremely fake and do not like outsiders. I remember an FM radio host once telling me that I should leave being on the radio to radio professionals. I answered him by saying how I could see how someone who plays records for 10 – 15 year old girls can get awfully full of himself. I mean talk about a job with great significance. It is a much different business than what most business professionals are used too.

Why? Because of ratings. This is how they are graded. A grading system that is wrought with smoke and mirrors but evidently is the only system they can figure out to use in order to rank themselves. While many may listen to talk radio as much very few listen to it anymore than my circle of friends. In near twenty years of doing so none of us have ever been involved in telling an Arbitron system who we listen too. If you are like most people you switch channels regularly depending on whether you like the host or not.

Which brings me back to this uproar over J&S, two radio hosts who one year ago were burned by their friend Ed. Who can forget Ed crying on the air last year wondering if J&S were still his friends? Awesome entertainment! The evil Ed had left them homeless on the street. WDAY rode in and rescued them before they starved. I would suggest not because of the kindness of WDAY’s heart but because if felt it could put one too the competition. Hire J&S and steal their listener ship, which is not much different than in football signing a free agent from one of your divisional foes. Smart business. But I wouldn’t have done it.

This is where the radio business whores itself. You spend all year long trying to beat your competition and then the next day you hire them and tell them how much you enjoy them. If I spent five years trying to whip your butt I would much rather continue to do so than smile and call you a buddy the next day. You can only be that way if you are in this business or sports. I do not want Brett Farve on the Vikings it just wouldn’t feel right.

So I personally would have never hired them. If I am on WDAY I would have felt J&S were from the darkside and would have wished them well with the excuse it wasn’t a good fit. Radio stations take on the personality of their most popular host. Evidently at WDAY this is a family type atmosphere. It is also a conservative station even though Scott is probably the only conservative in the entire building. At KFGO for the time I was around and I am certain still today is much more of a looking over your shoulder fear. Explainable because its main host was the walking time bomb Schultz. When Schultz’s bomb goes off the one guarantee is he will benefit.

In the year since WDAY hired J&S you could tell they just didn’t fit. They probably brought most of their audience but I just knew it wouldn’t last. While most personalities on WDAY are closet liberals these two were unabashed liberals. You mix them with Hennan’s conservative listeners and you had an unfair fight. It was like throwing fresh meat to the lions. Two proud liberals having to directly follow the area’s conservative voice. J&S were left to fend themselves off from the conservative listeners who had not yet changed the dial. They were no longer in a comfort zone. I felt like many the hiring of J&S by WDAY was a slap in the face of its conservative audience, another reminder of the sleezy side of radio.

Did J&S leave WDAY in a class way? No! Should we expect anything different from most radio people? No! It is the nature of the beast. The ironic and wonderful thing about this (for us with a taste for sarcasm) is how J&S did to others what was done to them. Liberals talk a good game but damn they love money as much as the rest of us. I would have paid a hefty price to see J&S drinking champagne in one room while Ed was fired in the next. Like the mastercard commercial says "priceless".

So Fargo/Moorhead woke up to a new world today. Ed is gone. J/S are back where they belong on the liberal station and WDAY is left to find a new host. Ah… a new host. It amazes me all of the recycled names people are offering up. It amazes me what people think is quality in this area. Names like Jill St. John, Boyd Christianson, Jack Michaels, Ed Schafer, Steve Poitress, Rob Lynch, Kevin Cramer, blah blah blah are being suggested. God help us! Here is a novel concept… how about someone we have never heard of or maybe a group of hosts. I have a hunch any dope could host a radio show in this area and the always nice Scandinavians in this area would say him/her is doing a great job. Live a little folks, think outside your comfort zone for a minute and lets have someone fresh. A person that is intense, articulate, knowledgeable, and doesn’t drink the kool-aid of either side. The hell with this live and local mantra we all hear about. We get a blend of live and local all day as long if the show is not nationally syndicated. The person who fills this time slot must understand what is going on nationally and mix in a local flavor when appropriate. “Poiter” types are not who I want for the job. The milk toast crowd may go for it but I prefer a little bite with my talk radio.