KSPN-AM (710) station manager
Bob Koontz made it sound as if there'd be no major housecleaning when he told us Thursday morning that changes in the station's direction would be announced at a staff meeting Monday.
Not true.
John Ireland confirmed that after Friday afternoon's show, he'd been told by Koontz that his contract wouldn't be renewed in March of next year and he's done working at the station.
According to several sources,
Steve Mason, who has been Ireland's partner the last four years, will be moved to middays and team up with
Kevin Kiley.
That is, if Kiley's still around. We'd been told he was all set to move back with his family in Virginia, but one option that would keep him around is if he could be paired with Mason. Kiley was originally brought in as
D'Marco Farr's co-host until he left in September.
So, from what we're told now, the new afternoon drive show will be co-hosted by
Dave Damashek , who until recently was
Adam Carolla's sidekick on 97.1-FM until he was replaced by
Danny Bonaduce, and
Dicky Barnett, the former frontman of the Mighty Mighty BossTones and announcer on "Jimmy Kimmel Live" who had his own radio show on Indie 103.1-FM until he was let go in 2006.
Kinda sounds like 710 is trying to go the route of KLAC-570 with
Petros Papadakis and
Matt "Money" Smith in the drive-time, eh?
Koontz's plans are for some kind of big ol' 710 relaunch, where the station may even go to all ESPN Radio national shows until coming back with its new lineup.
Meanwhile, Ireland isn't disappearing, since he keeps his job as a reporter on KCAL Channel 9 and KCBS Channel 2 as well as doing sidelines on the Lakers' KCAL road game telecasts.
Comments
aT ONE TIME...Doug and Joe were the biggest thing on the station...Highest ratings on the station...Doug was let go...then Joe...both TERMINATIONS were BUDGET related....The pitch internally was that Mason and Ireland were as good as Doug and Joe and...potentially even better...I never believed it...and the ratings NEVER SUBSTANTIATED mgnts. view. The station is in trouble and they are now cutting corners to save money. The future does not look bright...
Dan Patricks departure 6 months ago left a credibility gap at the station...
Angels Baseball was a staple at the station for at least 6 months of every year. Regular in Season In game Angel spots were routinely sold in the $300-$700 range (depending on time of season...early season spots were cheaper..Late season and playoffs were sold at a premium). The Angels were money makers for the station...Now..the Angels are gone.
Syndicated ESPN programming may indeed help. It's relatively cheap, but never been proven to be a ratings winner. KLAC has chosen to go a different route, and will prove to win the ratings/revenue competition .
Posted by: kahuna | December 3, 2007 10:51 PM