Lonsberry fired

[cbojanower]

Bob Lonsberry posted on Facebook last night that he and his son were fired Wednesday from KNRS. There is more on his website.

They claim it was due to low rating, he thinks may have been a hit for his pro-Bridgewater stance

[bonnevillemariner]

What I posted on that other board:

They thought ratings were low with Lonsberry-- they'll be completely flushed now. I, for one, no longer have any reason to listen to the station. The CC suits will now put all their chickens in the basket of a Rush Limbaugh/Dr. Laura/Glenn Beck syndicated trifecta. I don't think this will work for them.

Glenn Beck I can get on podcast, and the show is a much better experience this way. After listening to Beck on podcast for 8 or so years, there's no way I'm tuning in to radio and waiting thru commercials. Sorry. KNRS may well see better ratings with Beck in Lonsberry's slot than they ever did with Lonsberry, but they will have only shifted those ratings from slot to slot. Who will fill the afternoon drive slot now? Another syndicated talker? Forgive me if I'm not just jumping for joy.

I don't care for Rush and I can't stand Dr. Laura, despite the fact that I agree with everything she says. Dave Ramsey I do on podcast too.

I officially have no reason to ever tune in to KNRS again. Nice job, guys.

Bottom line: If news/talk radio's primary goal is to provide local information and entertainment-- a live, on-air friend tailored to a community's sensibilities, Lonsberry was the best thing on KNRS.

Now that they've dumped him, they must hang their hat on syndicated shows that listeners can hear in every other market in the country, on satellite radio, streaming, and on podcast. National hosts have come to realize what radio station execs never will- that on-demand, online, bullcrap-stripped audio is traditional radio's worst nightmare. That's why they all offer commercial-free enhanced podcast versions of their shows for very reasonable fees. In this sense, these hosts themselves are contributing to the demise of traditional radio.

How ironic that KNRS has just tossed the only reason to listen to them, and must now trust their future to syndicated entities whose stake in traditional radio decreases by the day.

Goodbye, KNRS.

[bonnevillemariner]

Forgot to mention one thing: Also fired was Lonsberry's son and producer, Lee Lonsberry, which struck Lonsberry as fishy:

But whatever it was, it also cost my son his job. He got into radio independently of me, hired on at a sister station in Salt Lake, learned how to operate the station I was at, became the go-to guy, got promoted to my show, and was fired yesterday.

Because of his last name.

Is it customary to fire a local show's entire staff? I remember when Barberi got canned from KALL. He was gone, but his producer and sidekick kept their jobs and were moved to new positions in the company. If this was just another ratings-inspired firing, should the simultaneous firing of Lee Lonsberry strike me as suspicious?

It would be one thing if Bob had said something controversial or detrimental to the station-- he has in the past, and he's been fired for it in the past. But not this time. He's towed the company line pretty well the last few years.

So he can't help but wonder if their firings might not have something to do with his dog in the GOP senate fight:

Of course, being suspicious is my stock-in-trade, and the timing of my termination and the stand I’ve been taking on the looming senatorial primary and the fact I’ve been opposing a candidate who made $600,000 from one of our largest advertisers last year, does make me wonder. Strings get pulled in the real world, and politics is hardball, and our program’s effort helped tip the nominating convention, so it’s not impossible that I lost my job in Salt Lake so that somebody else could get a job in Washington.

[Terry]

I got an automated political phone call today, on my cell phone no less, from some woman named Eagar(?) claiming that Energy Solutions was the big advertiser that CC was protecting by firing Lonsberry. She said something about Mike Lee having been a legal rep for ES and "helped bring nuclear waste to Utah". The phone ad was paid by the Bridgewater campaign.

I'm a bit surprised at how nasty this contest has become.

I've already voted by mail for Mike Lee. I still think he is the better thinker and least likely to be bought off in Washington.

Lonsberry says that CC says that the "people meters" killed him. I haven't figured that one out.

I do think that I prefer to hear Glenn Beck live in the morning rather than Lonsberry. I seldom listened to Lonsberry. Now I'll have to continually switch at commercials from Laura Ingraham on KLO to Glenn Beck on KNRS.

I wonder how they'll fill the 4pm till 7pm slot.

[seattlefollower]

Jun 17, 2010 7:50:02 GMT -7 bonnevillemariner said:

Is it customary to fire a local show's entire staff... I remember when Barberi got canned from KALL. He was gone, but his producer and sidekick kept their jobs and were moved to new positions in the company. If this was just another ratings-inspired firing, should the simultaneous firing of Lee Lonsberry strike me as suspicious?

No. It happens all the time. I have many larger "mid-size" market examples I could point to if you really want.

[CAwasinNJ]

See my comments about the Bridgewater campaign in the General Talk board. I won't believe anything that comes out of that campaign. There's a lot about what's going on there that sickens me, but here I'll focus on the radio aspect. Why in the world would a political campaign try to use something like that for political points? Even the most successful radio shows don't get more than 10% of the listenership. The other 90+% don't care. It just makes no sense!

[henry]

Maybe Bob could apply for this?

clearcareers.clearchannel.com/Jobs/JobDetail.aspx?JobPostingId=15680

[CAwasinNJ]

Ah. Probably one of those "we already know who we want but we have to make it look good" job postings that nobody ever gets hired from. More high comedy from your friends on 12th St SW.