Radio Woodshed
Well, David Lee Roth is back on the air, but it’s not the David Lee Roth who was taken off the air a few days ago. He announced this morning all the things he’s not allowed to be — which was all the things he was. No music. His cohorts are gone. He has to talk about the news and sports. He has to change subjects every X minutes. They will hire him a Robin. They even hired extra security for the floor but I don’t know what they’ll do: keep his sister out? He got a four-page letter from his bosses detailing all these things or there will be “disciplinary action.” He even hints of insipid racism in the orders: “no more black guy, no more black music” is one of the orders, he says.
Even though I thought he was a disaster on the air, I sympathize with Roth — as Stern has. CBS is turning the post-Stern disaster on their air into Roth’s fault. But it’s not. It’s CBS’s fault for hiring him. For there was no way he was going to give them the radio they’re used to. What he came up with was unlistenable, but they should have known that before they put him in front of that mike.
So now he is miserable and he makes them look all the more idiotic.
Tags: Howard_Stern
March 31st, 2006 at 8:11 am
One can only imagine that meeting going something like the first meeting between Howard and pig vomit in the Private Parts movie. “W ENNNNN BEE CEE!”
They took DLR to the woodshed to tell him how to get ratings, except that, not knowing their own jobs, they have no idea how to get ratings, and the proof is that they hired the guy in the first place. If they knew their jobs, they would have a stable of guys in the minor leagues who could bring something, and so they wouldn’t have to fumble around for a Stern replacement. But they trashed their own minor leagues by networking them and homogenizing the life out of them.
I ran my college’s radio station in the early 80s and we went to our local top-40 station to see how it ran. The “DJ” had no responsibility to create content whatsoever. The format was entirely canned on tape and automation ran everything. The DJ had 20 seconds of weather and a quip every 15 minutes. It was written out for them and required no personality and no thought. We were offended because at our college station the DJ had full control.
The top-40 DJ asked, semi-sarcastically, whether she could have a spot on our air because it would be much mroe fun. At that point I knew I would never ever dare work in radio.
March 31st, 2006 at 8:44 am
WOOWHOOO! Crackin’ the top 100K
Looks like I cracked the top 100,000 blogs with 26 sites generating 66 links to my little piece of the blogosphere. (Actually, one of my two pieces of the blogosphere.) Yes sir, my blog has a Technorati rank of 97,956!…
March 31st, 2006 at 3:17 pm
I spent twenty years co-hosting morning radio programs, and I honestly feel sorry for Dave– I sat through more of those meetings than I care to recall.
The thing is, he should have known what he was getting into.
No big media company in this day and age is going to shell out big bucks and sit back while the talent “figures it out”. Corporate owners crave control almost as much as they crave big profits.
Howard was successful because he knew that you have to be totally honest with your audience, and you can’t listen to “the suits”. Management let him get away with it because he was making them a pile of cash.
Dave doesn’t have that luxury.
My guess is that the winners here will be JV and Elvis.
March 31st, 2006 at 4:10 pm
Jeff,
Clearly this is a leadership problem. David Lee Roth may or may not turn out to be a star, however, his fate will, in large part, be determined by the quality of direction. This is not about what you now hear it’s about discovering the talent’s potential; providing Roth with the support, coaching, direction and leadership needed to bring out his best. In the final analysis all that’s important is what comes out of the speakers and management is responsible for that result not Roth alone.
March 31st, 2006 at 7:39 pm
Was WXRK anything after Howard? Why would management at CBS suddenly have an epiphany on how to run an FM Radio Station in NYC without Howard?
News is one thing… Sports another… CBS has very little success in the FM world of NY Radio. The only success they had they blew up to save some $ on talent
March 31st, 2006 at 10:37 pm
The post by David Martin is spot on. It starts ands stops with leadership. The company had well over 12 months notice that their most profitable talent was leaving. If they had been remotely curious about the the forces shaping media choices (see exploding your tv!) they could have invested the stern programming costs (not insignificant $) into ways to unleash the control of these local brands… they had a real shot to use the lowered revenue expectations created by his departure to act strategically, to create perhaps the next generation of radio. But they chose, as always, to act tactically, willfully ignoring the larger tectonic shifts in their business. DLR is like a bad, persistent fever…its a symptom of a much larger much more serious business problem.
March 31st, 2006 at 11:09 pm
One thing must be said for David Lee Roth, he’s more truthful than his CBS masters who fell all over themselves to explain DLR’s absence from the airwaves “was not a suspensionâ€.
Returning to the microphone, Roth say’s he was indeed “suspended†and that he took the time in Miami to consider his new marching orders from CBS management.
As we have noted earlier, David’s days are numbered before CBS replaces him with what they hope will erase their stumble at replacing Howard Stern. Unable to face the fact that his new found “inexperience” in radio was a disaster, Roth will halfheartedly follow the edit set down by his CBS masters, who themselves have already proven their expertise in programming is limited.
Before hiring and endorsing David Lee Roth, any programmer with experience should have spotted the flaw in his character, that Roth would not be able to take direction. But then, I suspect he was put on the air without any dry runs…without any direction. So CBS deserves what they have hatched.
Could it be that they will finally take steps allowing local program directors to create a morning show that serves the needs in their individual markets?
Radio must return to local stages where talent can be allowed to grow before it too will crash and burn. Seeds must be planted, cultivated and nourished if you expect a bountiful harvest.
Talent with longevity and major success learn their craft with time spent on local radio. It built the superstars of radio’s past, let’s hope its allowed to create more of them for its future.
April 1st, 2006 at 12:20 pm
[...] Meanwhile, Stern fan Jeff Jarvis reports on CBS’s utter incompetence in managing Stern replacement, David Lee Roth. [...]
April 1st, 2006 at 12:22 pm
OMG - Barber! I used to *love* your show growing up on Eastern Long Island… K-Rock didn’t reach that far, so I’d listen to you guys on WPLR. Great show…
Poor DLR. He hasn’t been given time to grow and I’m fairly certain he’s going to get the ax soon. It’s not easy to step in the large shoes of Old Lady Stern.
I have no idea how CBS could even consider replacing DLR with Opie & Anthony, as was rumored. It would be a nonstop bleep fest. To me, that would be the most successful show in that timeslot (save for Stern) - but also the riskiest.
I think the only option is one of their “safe” shows they currently have on the air. They know their place and can take orders.
April 1st, 2006 at 12:59 pm
And I just cracked the Top Ten!!!!! Awesome!!!!!!!!!!!
April Fool
April 2nd, 2006 at 10:37 am
I wish David Lee Roth would be allowed to talk about music and the music biz.
Stern attracted idiots (there are a lot of idiots in the tri-state NYC area) who worshipped him. Good for him and good for them. But the idiots aren’t getting any smarter and Stern’s getting richer (again, good for him).
DLR gets the idiots who aren’t able/willing to pay for Stern. Sadly (for me, because one of my coworkers has the radio on in the AM and used to listen to HS, now it’s DLR - can’t tell him to turn it off, usual long story no need to tell, etc.). DLR isn’t Stern. DLR wrote songs, toured the world as a performer, was numero uno in rock/metal while Stern was stroking himsefl at DC101. DLR has tons to offer in terms of what he’s seen and done on an international scale. Compared to Stern, whose main talent is entertaining people by insulting them (and getting well paid for it, again, good for him), DLR is Einstein; DLR made his millions entertaining people and NOT insulting them.
Instead he gets these callers who want Stern. The callers who want freak show radio and lowest common denominator entertainment. I heard a couple of weeks ago, DLR telling military listeners to call his show collect, yet the only callers were the mildly retarded, too poor for satellite radio mooks. What was it, nearly 20 years ago, when Stern regularly had Joey Ramone and Dee Snider and (the excreable) Leslie West and lots of rockers who talked about music and performing and everything in-between? It was interesting since K-Rock was a rock station and Stern seemed genuinely interested in turning his listeners on to music. Then again, maybe his heart is in toilet humor and there’s more money in toilet humor.
If it’s true that Opie and Anthony - the intellectual bottom of the barrel bar none - are replacing DLR the only good that will come of it is that I will demand my coworker not have his radio tuned to them. WOW - the slogan of the “smartest” city in the world…
April 3rd, 2006 at 5:07 am
Let me start off by thanking DC for the kind words. I still find it amazing that people actually used to listen…
David Martin illuminates a major problem in broadcasting today– that management needs to do a better job of “supporting” talent. How you actually DO this is the real question. It requires both the insight to know what needs to be done, and the diplomacy to communicate with talent in a way that doesn’t feeel as threatening.
That said, I totally agree with with Dave_Violence; DLR should be doing a music-centric program. I find it exhausing to listen to Dave talk about things like Iraq and immigration reform. When he talks about music and the music business, he is knowlegdeable and passionate.
April 3rd, 2006 at 5:10 am
Sorry for the typo.
“feeel as threatening” should be “feel threatening”.
I need coffee.
April 3rd, 2006 at 9:46 am
Barber - yeah we listened man! I live in Fairfield County so I often listened to the Smith & Barber program. As Bill McNeal from News Radio often said…”Good Times” and thanks for a bunch Barber!
April 3rd, 2006 at 11:13 am
“Corporate owners crave control almost as much as they crave big profits.” That’s worth a post in itself because it is so true, and one key to understanding why Big Media is frequently perplexed and befuddled these days. Those who had control when Media was one way and capital intensive will try to increase controls as a way of staving off the realization that the world isn’t that way any longer.
April 3rd, 2006 at 11:34 am
It’s beyond annoying that management thinks someone without radio experience can do good radio. Howard Stern didn’t just become talented one day- it took years of very hard work- and years of not listening to the suits upstairs who thought they knew as much about programming as they may have about selling airtime.
CBS is getting exactly what it deserves; the loyal listener is not.
April 3rd, 2006 at 5:51 pm
“I wish David Lee Roth would be allowed to talk about music and the music biz.”
Then you might like Steve Jones’ (Sex Pistols fame) show on Indie 103.1 in Los Angeles. He goes on about music, the industry, new bands, and frequently interviews artists in LA. Cool stuff.
Indie 103.1 has a live feed as well.
http://www.indie1031.fm/index.php
April 4th, 2006 at 12:52 pm
William,
Unfortunately “indie” recently got rid of their morning show host , Dicky Barrett, for having a pro-choice discussion. Not really that indie.
http://lavoice.org/index.php?name=News&file=article&sid=1690
Check the LAweekly article that links too as well.
April 14th, 2006 at 6:58 am
Its amazing to read people catagorize Stern listeners as idiots yet almost every single person I know that listens to him has a 6 or 7 figure salary.
You people havent figure Stern out yet, have you???
Stern is a VERY smart man, he doesnt hold back, we “common” working folks can relate to him, he not phony in any way. I cant tell you how many time I was late to work because he was cracking me up in the parking lot. Like him or hate him, he is a cash cow and CBS should have stood with him against this rediculous censorship nonsense and what has that really accomplished anyway????
Nothing, because all the new TV shows out there now have cursing and nudity worst than before. All other DJ’s out there just cant compare to Stern, they sound phony, pathetic, whiney….
CBS really screwed up a good thing and the lawsuit against Stern is just a pathetic last ditch attempt to save some face……its pathetic..
April 20th, 2006 at 10:14 am
DLR is doing a great job on the radio. He is extremely intelligent, witty and speaks from the heart and can carry on an informative conversation on almost any topic. He is obviously not Howard Stern and everyone knew that any replacement to Howard would involve differences and changes. He has exquisite taste in music and the audience can trust him as a new spokesperson on KROC. Hats off to David Lee Roth! I am an impressed listener.
May 1st, 2006 at 10:37 pm
I personally found Roth refreshing. It was nice to hear intelligent discussion coming out of the speakers. I never would have thought DLR capable of such insight, but I was wrong. You can have the howard sterns of the world, my time is too valuable to waste on such nonsense.
October 5th, 2006 at 7:42 am
For Bruce Barber:
I lived in Woodstock, CT, worked in Hartford and listened to you two every morning on the drive in. I felt you were two were more spontaneous before you left for Florida but, I loved the show regardless.
Would love to hear you two back on the box again. Hey, if a bottom-feeder like Sebastian has a career, then someone with genuine talent and humor should kill.