99XWatch.org

Rumors of Morning Show Changes

There are rumors floating around that there have been major personnel changes on the morning show.

Update:

Rumors are now that the changes may involve others.

Jimmy's Comments on New Morning X

Jimmy Baron, blogging from London, writes: 

I can't predict whether the new show will succeed or fail but I'll say this...Sean, Leslie, and Jenners are talented people who are gonna live or die by how the company steers them, and unfortunately it doesn' t look good. ...Cumulus ...fired Randy Lane. Randy worked with the (original) Morning X, TJ&L, and the Bert Show (in addition to some of the biggest names in the business) and is considered hands-down probably the best talent coach in the business. Apparently, however, the company felt they could better coach the show in-house. More accurately, they just didn't feel like paying for Lane's services. Typical.

So this should be interesting to watch.

Update 10/19/2006 9:18 PM

A source close to the show informs me that Monti is leaving the show to take a job in Seattle, for personal reasons unrelated to 99X or Cumulus.  I removed the excerpt from Jimmy's post referring to Monti's departure in light of this new information.

Update 10/19/2006 10:23 PM

Sean Demery confirms to Rodney Ho that Monti is leaving the show.

Sean Demery Resigns at KITS

AllAccess.com reports that Sean Demery has resigned his position as Program Director of Live 105, KITS in San Francisco.  All Access quotes Demery as saying:

I love the people here. The {KITS} GM (STEVE DINARDO) makes it so easy to work here. He's so much smarter than I am, which really annoys the shit out of me. I just need to leave to take care of my extended family.

99XWatch.org reported a rumor last month that Sean Demery was to be part of a new 99X morning show.  Sean denied the rumor.

A Silver Lining to the Cloud?

Rodney Ho blogs this morning about a rumor that former 99X afternoon drive personality Sean Demery and Music Director may be returning to 99X as part of a new morning show.  Sean Demery left 99X to be director of programming for a Dot Com called RadioCentral.  Currently, Sean programs the San Fransisco station Live 105, KITS. 

Ironically, Sean was moved from Mornings at 99X to afternoons to make room for an up and coming afternoon jock from Texas.  Here's what $3.00 bought me from LexisNexis:

The Atlanta Journal And[!] Constitution, PREVIEW; Section P; Page 2
April, 15 1994
...CHANGES AT 99X: Listeners will hear a few changes on the air at WNNX- FM (99X) on Monday. Sean Demery, the station's music director and morning show co-host, will move to the afternoon shift, and Steve Barnes, the current afternoon disc jockey, will fill the morning spot. "On most stations in a market the size of Atlanta serving as the music director is a full-time, off-air job," says Brian Philips, the station's program director. "Sean already puts together and schedules the music for the station, spends two days a week meeting with record label reps and hits clubs at night to stay on top of the new music. The switch will afford him more time for his duties as music director." Leslie Fram, Major Tom [Clark, Crash's brother] and Jimmy Baron will remain on the morning show...

Update 8/10/2006 6:11 PM
Alas, the rumor seems to be untrue.  Sean tells Rodney Ho that he's happy where he is and "I got nothin."  Rodney continues: 

He said he talks to Leslie but only about music, not about any job back in Atlanta. And the prospect of waking up at 3 a.m.? Not something he relishes.

Oh well, that's why they call it a rumor.

Update 10/2/2006 6:24 AM
Sean Demery started today.  He claims that at the time of this rumor, it was, indeed, false.  According to Demery, it was only after he had resigned Live 105 for personal reasons, that the decision was made for him to come to 99X.

Opening for Jimmy on FreeFM?, Wally Silenced

I'm out of town with limited Internet access.  Fortunately, thanks to some observant readers, I'm able to post a quick update.

A Radio-Info.com poster, observed that Jimmy Baron's blog post about a "huge phone call" coincides with a recent lineup opening at 106.9 FreeFM, the station where Jimmy's been auditioning.  Meanwhile, 99X is certainly giving the appearance of bad faith with its listeners and advertisers as it continues to list Jimmy as a cast member, despite the fact that Baron's contract expired a week ago today and sources close to the show indicate that little progress have been made in negotiations.

Meanwhile, Wally has again been silenced.  Sources inside 99X suggest that Wally "pissed off the new owners" with his opinions and they don't appreciate his sense of humor.  So why no mention on 99X about this change?  "The one thing people fear here more than competition is the truth. Case in point Barnes is leaving to be a movie star, Jimmy is just out today, to name a few."

So what do you do after dismantling a great morning show?  You give yourself a raise.

Rich Teases Next Gig Announcement

While there's no real "news" in Rich Shertenlieb's recent blog entry, it's interesting to get his perspective on the genesis of the Toucher and Rich Show. 

The shows in Phoenix ended up being hands down the most fun I have ever had on the radio. It was a dream come true...I was truly doing a show with three of my closest friends, and the end result was awesome. Toucher had me rolling with his Scott Stapp impression ("Which is your favorite Creed video? The one where I levitate or the one where I cure the sick?"), Crash amazed me with his drunken attempts at courtship ("Lemme see your woo-woo!"), and Adolfo, who alone in the bathroom yelled "Victory Is Mine!" after flushing the toilet, invented a catchphrase even more worthy than "Doin' pretty good for yourself?". That week I realized that the Toucher and Rich show was the show that I had always wanted to do.

The company really liked what they heard in Phoenix and flew us to meet with some more higher-ups and do another show for them. Once again, we had a blast. Everyone that we met from this company was unbelievably supportive and completely understood what we were all about.

Unfortunately at this time, we have been asked to refrain from announcing where and when you will be able to hear us. But the official announcement will be made shortly, and I promise to post it here first.

Today Jimmy's Last Day on 99X?

Radio Talk is reporting that today will be Jimmy Baron's last day on the air, until his contract negotiations are resolved.  From Rodney Ho's blog, "'Why do a farewell?' [99X GM Mark] Renier said to [Ho]. 'We don’t know that he’s going away. We’re still in negotiations with him.'  Jimmy's contract is set to expire on April 5, 2006.   

If 99X management and Baron do not come to terms, then he will not be afforded the same courtesy given to Steve Barnes and Fred Toucher, both of whom had the opportunity to do farewell shows.  Ironically, it stands to reason that had 99X management no interest in re-signing Jimmy (as was the case with Barnes and Toucher,) then they probably have given him the opportunity say his farewells.

While no one outside of Cumulus management can say for sure what their thoughts are on this matter, one can certainly speculate that the following facts bear consideration:

• 99X is headed into spring Arbitron sweeps. The financial cost of a drop in ratings would      certainly exceed any possible savings by letting Jimmy go or negotiating down his contract.
• The show came off of a strong winter phase 2 Arbitrend.
• In a city with precious few celebrities, Jimmy is one of the big reasons that 99X has the heritage it enjoys.  Stations invest millions of dollars in marketing to build up their talent to the level of fame that Jimmy enjoys.

While tight-lipped on the status of his negotiations with 99X, Jimmy does suggest that talks with 106.9 FreeFM in San Francisco are "moving as planned."

Developing...

Toucher Teases Next Gig Announcement

From Toucher's MySpace Blog:

Thanks...[f]or the last 7 years.  Rich, Crash and I know what were doing and where we are headed now and can't wait to tell you.

Wally

Sources close to the show indicate that Wally was "told not to speak" on today's show.  Wally has been working without a contract since last year. 

Update 03/21/2006 8:29 PM

Joey Mills shared this email from Leslie Fram:

It's really trying to keep it to 3 main voices as to not confuse the audience. With 4 people on mic on any show it tends to become a pile-on and hard to distinguish.  Wally is going to come in on certain breaks.

Developing...

More on Toucher

Rodney Ho does some interesting analysis of possible opportunities for Toucher.  He also interviews Toucher's agent Norm Schrutt.  From Rodney's blog, Radio Talk:

So where is he going to land? Boston has been bandied about. A rock station WBOS-FM/92.9 doesn’t appear to have a morning show but looks more music intensive than what Fred & Co. want. 96.9 FM talk runs Imus in the mornings. 101.7 FNX looks like it’s more Toucher’s speed than BOS but has something called the Swasey Show. Hard rock station WBCN 104, owned by CBS, is running the stumbling David Lee Roth morning show. That’s a possibility. WAAF 107.3, another hard rock station, has the Hill Man morning show.

Crash and Fred’s agent Norm Schrutt says he’s still shopping the show around, not necessarily with Infinity or Free Fm, but it could be on a rock station which will allow Fred & Co. to talk a lot and limit songs to about four an hour. He said he knew the program director at the Free FM in Phoenix and the guy helped him out to give Crash, Rich and Fred a chance to create an audition tape. Because of a non-compete clause in Fred’s contract, which technically runs through October, there’s virtually no way Fred will stay in Atlanta.

“We have a financial package on the table,” Schrutt said. “We’ve had one offer but it’s just with Toucher. Toucher wants to work with Rich and Crash and we will continue to go in that way with those three pieces.” He said he’s taking interested calls from different radio stations.

“We sit in a much better position because we have a contract for an extended period of time,” Schrutt told me, referencing Fred. (Rich and Crash, though, are not getting paid so there will be some pressures for Fred to sign a deal soon.

Schrutt said he’s impressed that Susquehanna, which is about to hand over the reins of 99X to Atlanta’s Cumulus, is allowing Fred to have an actual goodbye on the air. Most on-air talent getting booted are not given that opportunity. “They are being nicer than I have ever been,” Schrutt said, of the Dickeys, who manage Cumulus. Schrutt used to run radio stations, including Kicks and Eagle.