Access Atlanta > Entertainment > Radio Talk > Archives > 2006 > November > 19
Sunday, November 19, 2006
11/20: Whip speaks & other 96rock detritus
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
I got a hold of Whip on Sunday. Yes, he was fired Thursday after 18 months as the morning host at 105.3/The Buzz. (He was also fired from 99X a few months before that.) He said he knew the Buzz was going away and had a sinking feeling a couple days before that he might not make the transition. He said he joked with mid-day guy Fin from 96rock that one of them was not going to make it. In the end, he said, neither made it.
Based on promos on Project 9-6-1, Aly, the midday gal, and Chris Williams, program director and afternoon host, will be back the Monday after Thanksgiving. They are seeking a new morning show. Ironically, Whip said Williams told him just a couple days before that “I’m the well-behaved child I don’t have to pay attention to.” In fact, Whip said he got virtually no guidance and no personnel support. Unlike other morning shows, he had no sidekick, no phone screener, no producer, not even an unpaid intern. But he’s not bitter. He said he enjoyed his time there, that he figures his firing was not Williams’ doing. “It was a nice run,” he said. He just had no idea who didn’t like him at Clear Channel and decided he woudln’t fit on Projecct 9-6-1. He said he would have been willing to even take another shift to stay on but wasn’t given that option. His kids, ages six and eight, weren’t happy because Whip figures he’s going to have to find a job elsewhere.
I also finally reached Mike Wheeler, regional vice president of programming for Clear Channel Atlanta and the boss of Project 9-6-1 program director Chris Williams. (Williams was PD at 105.3/The Buzz and PD at 99X before that.) Wheeler was perfectly nice but offered me zero information about 105.3’s future, why they created Project 9-6-1 or the future of Fin and Jennifer Reed except to say, “We’re just going to do focus on what we’re doing” and “We’re under no obligation to talk to you.” Clearly, someone up high has told them not to talk to the media. It’s possible the leveraged buyout of Clear Channel announced last week may have led to some corporate guy at headquarters in San Antonio to impose a systemwide media blackout. Or it could be fallout from the Regular Guys firing and lawsuits. Or maybe not. Wheeler wouldn’t say. He also wouldn’t lay the blame on his boss Chuck Deskins, market manager for Clear Channel Atlanta. He said maybe he’ll be able to speak Monday when Deskins is back from Clear Channel headquarters in San Antonio. We’ll see!
It’s interesting that Larry Wachs, formerly of the Regular Guys, had about as much luck as I did trying to talk to someone at Clear Channel Atlanta Friday, according to his blog about 96rock’s demise. Here’s an excerpt:
Truth be told, the Rock succumbed to a long illness that started in 2004 when we got fired the first time. That triggered an avalanche of events which were compounded by more bleeding and malpractice (Hint: Overpaying for the Braves).
By the time we came back in 2005, the Mays Family had quietly begun their exit strategy, realizing what budding monopolists throughout history have; without guns, you can’t own everything. The managerial disarray had metastasized by then and today it’s 1945 in Japan. If only war crimes tribunals were applicable in radio.
Today was simply the first public acknowledgment by Clear Channel of what everyone has known for years. Without TRG, Clear Channel/Atlanta was doomed. Saddam has a better chance. Everyone bowed and scraped to the gods of baseball in there, but they’re still around and the station is through…
I called over to 96Rock this afternoon when I heard the news, and, of course, got no human to speak with. That’ll play well with the public when the new formats launch soon. If I know Atlanta, I know one thing for sure. Southerners love cold, impersonal radio stations that play the hits.
