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AL
PETERSON
Issue 21
News • Talk • Sports Weekly
Straight Ahead With Bob Grant
The term “legendary” is too often carelessly tossed around
in our industry, but in the case of Bob Grant
it’s a word that is both appropriate and
accurate to describe the WABC/New York
host. Grant first arrived in the Big Apple
in 1970, when he set up shop and built a
loyal following for seven years at WMCA.
He then moved to crosstown WOR and also
served a stint at WWDB/Philadelphia before Bob Grant
returning to NYC in 1984 as the cornerstone
of WABC’s new Talk format. After his well-publicized firing
in 1996, Grant segued back to WOR and was also broadcast
nationwide via the WOR Radio Network. Retiring in 2006,
Grant soon found he’s not the kind of guy who was ready to
spend his days on the golf course. After guest-hosting a few
times on WABC this past summer, Grant recently returned to
the air full-time, and his nightly 8‑10pm show is once again
attracting old fans and new converts to his controversial,
opinionated and “straight ahead” style of Talk radio. This
week we’re proud to offer an exclusive conversation with
one of the format’s true pioneers who still has a lot to say,
even after all these years on the radio.
AP: I guess I could say, “welcome back,” but you never really left,
did you?
BG: Well, yes and no. I did retire from hosting my daily show
in January of 2006, but just a few weeks later WOR asked if I’d
do some commentaries every week, which I did until September
of that year. So even though I had about four or five retirement
dinners, I guess technically I wasn’t really ever retired.
October 5, 2007
AP: You could have easily retired and your rank among the greats
of Talk radio would’ve remained safe. So what drew you back to
the daily grind?
BG: I just missed doing it. I always thought it would be nice to
get away from all the disputes and arguing and having to suffer
the slings and arrows for expressing my opinions. But after a few
months I really missed it. I felt like a retired boxer who wants
to jump back in the ring every time he hears a bell. So plain and
simple, I just missed doing what I have done nearly all of my
adult life. And I must say that I am enjoying getting back in the
game immensely, especially since it’s at WABC.
“ I felt like a retired boxer who
wants to jump back in the ring
every time he hears a bell.”
AP: How weird was it to step back into those studios and go to
work surrounded by many of the same folks including PD Phil
Boyce, who were there when you were very publicly fired from
the station?
BG: I thought it would feel strange, but it didn’t. In no time at all
I felt like I was just showing up for work the next day, and seeing
Phil made it all the more enjoyable to return. I have always had
warm feelings for him, and I know how much he agonized the day
he had to deliver the message that [then-Disney-owned WABC]
management was firing me. Everybody seems so genuinely happy
to see me back. It’s been a real energizing experience.
AP: Did you experience any sense of déjà vu watching the very
public firing of Don Imus from his long-running show on WFAN?
(continued on page 3)
©200 7 News • Ta lk • S p o r t s Airc h ec k ™ — Al l r i g hts re s e r ve d. To s u bs c r i be v i s i t www.ntsaircheck.com
News • Talk • Sports Weekly
October 5, 2007
Page 2
Airchecklets
Satcaster News
Industry veteran Bill Figenshu has been named President/
Broadcast Operations and Development for Peak Broadcasting.
“Fig” is a former Regional President for Citadel Communications
and SVP at Infinity Broadcasting and Chancellor Media ... KCBQ/
San Diego evening host Rick Amato guests on Westwood One’s
Dennis Miller Show today (10/5). On Monday, Amato will be
on Talk Radio Network’s Mancow’s Morning Madhouse. Both
appearances are to discuss a recent op-ed piece Amato penned for
the Washington Times here ... Two Angry Guys, Richard Skinner
and Tom Gamble, will reunite Monday (10/8) to host mornings at
FM Talker WFTK (Supertalk FM 96.5)/Cincinnati. The former
Kentucky Post sportswriters previously hosted mornings on
crosstown Clear Channel outlets WSAI and WCKY. They’ll take
over a slot currently held by TRN’s syndicated Mancow.
Wilbur Entertainment-distributed weekly political gabfest
Beyond the Beltway with Bruce DuMont has been added to the
lineup at XM Satellite Radio. The show airs on the satcaster’s
recently launched all-political news channel, P.O.T.U.S. ... The
NAB has filed an ex parte document with the FCC regarding
the proposed merger of Sirius Satellite Radio with XM that
reads: “Now that NAB and others have had an opportunity to
review the voluminous economic analysis that Applicants filed
at the close of the pleading cycle, it is clearer than ever that the
Commission would be discarding long-standing merger review
standards if it approves this merger. Applicants’ strategy in this
regard has not been subtle; they recognize that following the
Commission’s legal standards would kill the merger, so they try
to kill the standards instead. The Commission’s acquiescence to
such an approach would be arbitrary and capricious, inconsistent
with its own precedent, and set the Commission’s merger review
process on a risky course.”
Network/Syndication Aircheck
Take On The Day’s Dr. Laura Show joins the lineup at American
General Media Christian Talk KERI/Bakersfield, CA starting
October 15 ... Premiere Radio Networks launches Bob & Tom
24/7 at www.bobandtom.com ... Talk Shows USA-distributed
Cigar Dave Show adds KPRC/Houston, while the indie syndicator’s Tom Gresham’s Gun Talk picks up KSKY/Dallas ...
Modavox inks a deal with Dallas-based Golden Broadcasters
to develop terrestrial radio affiliations for VoiceAmerica Sports
Channel’s Pat Summerall Show, a weekly Internet radio program
hosted by the veteran sportscaster ... KXSP/Omaha expands its
FOX Sports Radio lineup and now carries the network from
midnight-11am and 6pm-midnight (CT) weekdays, as well as
around the clock on weekends ... Independently syndicated
weekly pet-talk show Animal Radio will feature upcoming guest
appearances by pet-loving actresses Jane Alexander, Jane
Lynch and Glenn Close ... Sports Radio Event Network,
which provides in-stadium event broadcast services via radio,
will expand its offerings to include long-term exclusive broadcast
contracts to amateur and professional sports organizations and
arenas throughout the country. Find out more here.
Gig Alerts
Salem Communications is looking for a market manager for its
seven-station cluster in Hawaii. E-mail your resume to jobs@
Salem.cc and reference job MMHI ... KIRO/Seattle is seeking
an experienced evening talk host. Send your audio samples
and resume to PD Rod Arquette at rarquette@710kiro.com ...
KLWN/Lawrence, KS is searching for a reporter/afternoon news
anchor. E-mail you resume, writing samples and audio to Rees
Graves at rees@lazer.com ...
Power To The People
Talk Radio Network syndicated host Laura Ingraham (center)
hangs out with the crew at Emmis
FM Talker KFTK/St. Louis.
Ingraham was in the Gateway
City to host a live event for 97.1
FM Talk in support of her latest
New York Times bestseller, Power
To The People.
©20 07 News • Ta lk • S p o r t s Airc h ec k ™ — Al l r i g hts re s e r ve d. S e n d n e ws to news@NTSaircheck.com
News • Talk • Sports Weekly
October 5, 2007
(continued from page 1)
BG: A little, yes, but I honestly didn’t think he was going to
get fired; I figured he’d get suspended to make a point and to
appease certain elements. So that surprised me a little. I don’t
think anybody — whether it’s Don or myself or any host — plans
to go out there and say something that’s going to get you in
super-hot water. But at least when they quoted the remark Don
made, which has been repeated over and over again, they quoted
him accurately. When I got fired there were so many people who
misquoted and misunderstood what I said about [former U.S.
Commerce Secretary] Ron Brown. I did not say I wished he were
dead, in fact it was quite the contrary. I wanted him to get the
indictment that was waiting for him on the several serious legal
charges he was facing at that time. I’m not going to repeat what I
said — I think everyone knows by now — but I honestly thought
I was just being humorous at the time.
AP: All these years later, has that experience caused you to
second-guess yourself on the air more than you did before?
BG: I think it made me a better broadcaster. That experience has
allowed me to now do the program I do every day, no matter
how contentious things might get, then go home and go to sleep
at night without worrying, “Gee, what did I say today?” That’s a
lousy way to live. So in the end, I think I’d have to say that whole
experience actually improved me as a host and a broadcaster.
AP: As a guy who’s seen it all in Talk radio, what challenges lie
ahead for the format that concern you?
BG: If Democrats take the White House in 2008 and increase their
margin in Congress, I believe they will bring back the Fairness
Doctrine. If they do, it will inhibit many people who have been
so successful in Talk radio over the past 20 years. I may be one
of the few out there still broadcasting who remembers what doing
this job was like before the Fairness Doctrine was repealed in
1987. I think if it is restored it will inhibit — chill, to use a word
the media loves — many of the performers on Talk radio. But if
we can make the public aware of the real motives behind wanting
to restore the Fairness Doctrine, I think it will backfire on them.
Register today for Talk radio's new "must attend" meeting,
Al Peterson's Talk Media Conference, February 20-22, 2008 at the
Scottsdale Plaza Resort in Phoenix. Get more details and save on
early-bird registration now at www.TalkMediaConference.com.
Contact NTS Aircheck
Al Peterson:
858-486-7559
Brooke Trissel:
512-218-8228
news@ntsaircheck.com
NTS Aircheck
1102 17th Ave. South, Suite 205
Nashville, TN 37212
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