Access Atlanta > Entertainment > Radio Talk > Archives > 2008 > July > 25
Friday, July 25, 2008
7/25: Autism flap costs Michael Savage sponsors including Home Depot
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
New York syndicated radio host Michael Savage, heard locally at night on WSB-AM, has been losing sponsors and affiliates after comments about autism caught the ear of activisits. Atlanta-based Home Depot is one of the sponsors who dropped him, according to Newsday. The New York Times noted that Columbus-based Aflac has ditched him, too.
The irascible conservative Savage was on for a couple of years in the evenings in Atlanta on WSB but was bumped earlier this year to late night since his ratings were pretty bad. Herman Cain now has his slot here.
One of his more damaging quotes:
“I’ll tell you what autism is. In 99 percent of the cases it’sa brat who hasn’t been told to cut the act out.
Here’s a bit from the New York Times story:
On his Web site, Michaelsavage.com, the host posted a letter on Monday in which he iterated the central point he said he had been trying to make on his July 16 program: that autism is too often misdiagnosed in the cases of children, or falsely diagnosed, at least partly as a means of wringing resources. “Let the truly autistic be treated,” he wrote. “Let the falsely diagnosed be free.” On July 16, Mr. Savage, above, referred to autism as “a fraud, a racket,” and asserted that what “99 percent” of children with autism most needed was a parent willing to tell them things like, “Don’t act like a moron.”
Dan Kearney, general manager at WSB-AM, said he’s been inundated with emails complaining about Savage but most are coming from outside activist groups, not Atlanta listeners. He said he is meeting with a local autism group next week to talk about the Savage controversy.
And on another note, Kearney told me when Hannity’s contract is up: 2012. So he will indeed be contractually obligated to WSB for quite a long time coming.
-I wrote a story for the print edition today about Mark Kanov, who worked at Star 94 for 40 years, starting on July 26, 1968 and retiring today on July 25, 2008. He was the first full-time sales guy at the FM station WQXI in 1968, moved up the ranks to eventually run the shop the last 15 years.
He ran a great station, a station with fiercely loyal employees, a consistent and advertiser-friendly brand and an amazing sales team that helped prop up revenues this decade even as ratings dropped.
By dumping Steve & Vikki last year, he’s taken a huge gamble just as he’s walking out the door by bringing in the relatively inexperienced Morning Mess team from Indianapolis. Unfortunately, for the Mess, Kanov was one of the trio’s biggest supporters. Will his replacement prop them up if they don’t quickly build an audience to replace that of Steve & Vikki, now at B98.5? That’s the big question for them.
Spring ratings, which are considered more important than winter, come out next week. We’ll get a better handle on how all the morning shows are doing then.
