Out with the old, in with the new
Happy New Year: You're fired! That's essentially the message that several DJs received in the last two weeks. At "Kiss" WXKS-FM (107.9), Kory Knight is gone from the night shift. At WBOS-FM (92.9), Neal Robert is off afternoons. Angelle Wood has been shuffled off the WFNX-FM (101.7) morning show, and Tai (a.k.a. Tom Irwin) has been removed from afternoon drive on WROR-FM (105.7). Add in the late December removal of Bill Wightman, a longtime local talent who had recently begun helming morning drive on the North Shore's WBOQ-FM (104.9), and it's a market-wide housecleaning.
Not that the stations are putting it that way. If they are saying anything -- and most aren't -- they release statements that announce these moves as voluntary, "a mutual decision to part ways," as WROR assistant program director-music director Ken West put it. But the lack of a forwarding address or any celebratory announcements -- no "So-and-So is going to New York!" -- suggests otherwise.
Some of these changes could have been anticipated. WFNX, for example, has a new program director, Max Tolkoff. And new program directors often look to fine-tune or make their own mark on the most closely observed shifts, morning and afternoon drive. Wood, therefore, appears to have been a casualty of plans to readjust FNX's morning show.
"The show will now be focused [more] on its host, Mike Swasey, and 23-year 'FNX morning show veteran Henry Santoro," and less on other personalities, says station general manager Andy Kingston. That new-boss-new-drive-time turnover, industry professionals say, is probably what happened in early December at WBCN-FM (104.1), when new program director Dave Wellington removed longtime afternoon drive DJ Nik Carter. (Carter has since been replaced by Rob "Hardy" Poole, who will start Jan. 13.)
Other changes may have been long in the works. At WBOS, for example, there's a seamless changeover going on: Overnight DJ George Knight (who continues to host the popular "Sunday Morning Over Easy" 8 a.m.-noon) has already taken on Robert's shift, with Scott Lucas filling Knight's midnight-7 a.m. duties. But many of the departing hosts aren't being immediately replaced.
At most of these stations, in fact, shifts are being filled by part-timers or by other DJs rearranging their hours. Replacements, say those in charge, will be announced when they're hired: WBOQ is promising a new morning host as early as next week.
What we're seeing could be part of a larger seasonal pattern. "I tend to see it more on the program director level nationally," says Sean Ross, vice president for music and programming at New Jersey-based Edison Media Research. "Every year around this time are the exits of longtime programmers who you thought were in good shape."
Attribute the changes to the bottom line -- or the race for ratings. Stations commonly figure out their upcoming year's budgets in the period from September through January. On-air talent costs money, so we may be seeing some financial adjusting. Plus, now is a good time to get ready for the important spring ratings book. Adds Ross: "Anything in January that can't be explained by budget is often explained by the overall repositioning that you see taking place at a lot of stations around the first of the year. It's about now that stations start to do research and take stock of where they are in the market."
The changes aren't necessarily bad -- or permanent. After all, last January after 12 years at "Mix" WBMX-FM (98.5), host Gregg Daniels hit the road. He moved to New York and tried his hand at radio in a bigger market. In December, Daniels was back -- booting replacement Tom Mitchell, who returned to his former haunts in Las Vegas.
Spinning the dialOn Jan. 23, at 2 p.m., Public Radio International children's classical music show "From the Top" will return to New England Conservatory's Jordan Hall to tape a program that will include performances by young artists, including teen pianists from Cambridge and Lexington. For tickets and more program information, call 617-585-1260. "From the Top" can be heard Sundays at 6p.m. on WGBH-FM (89.7). . . . WGBH and the Old South Meeting House will hold a lunchtime concert at the Meeting House on Thursday at 12:15 p.m. Part of "The American Way: Four Concerts of American Composers" series, it will feature soprano Kokui Selormey Woodson and baritone Brian Ballard performing works by African-American composers. Tickets are $5, free for WGBH and Meeting House members. For more information, call 617-482-6439 or visit www.oldsouthmeetinghouse.org.
