WJR-AM, the Citadel/ABC station in Detroit demanded that Rush Limbaugh never use Mark Steyn again as a guest host.
If you have lived in or near Detroit, WJR was a total flack for GM and the city of Detroit – reassuring GM management that there was nothing wrong with pushrod cast iron engine blocks, 4000 pound cars that got 15 MPG and the fact that Americans were buying Toyotas and Mazdas in huge numbers was just a messaging problem, not that GM’s cars were crap – overweight and based on 30 year old technology serviced and sold by a dealer network who still believed they were the only car dealer in town.
So on this week’s Ricochet podcast, Mark mentioned in passing that the morning man (Paul W Smith?) demanded that Mark Steyn apologize for pointing out unpleasant facts like the % of the city’s adults who can’t read at a six grade level. (this was related to the Chrysler ad on the Superbowl). WJR demanded that he apologize or be banned from Limbaugh’s show. (Have you ever wondered why Roger Hedgecock isn’t on Rush’s show any more?)
This story is about 50 minutes into the podcast.
Back in the late 80s, Rush syndicators were on good terms with ABC radio which is why the ABC stations formed the initial network. A decade later, Clear Channel acquired Rush, resulting in some friction between Premiere and Citadel/ABC… Sean Hannity was an ABC property, and when ABC was sold to Citadel, Hannity was given the option to leave after 2 years to join Premiere, which he did.
Hmm… interesting. Do you know if Limbaugh or CC complied with the request?
It’s also worth noting that this comes on the heels of the Citadel/Cumulus bid. As you’ve noted in the past, Cumulus has a pretty cozy deal with Westwood One, who has Douglas Urbanski in Rush’s time slot. So it’s not like WJR doesn’t have options… not that dumping Rush would be a good idea, but then again, we’re talking radio companies and they’re not always smart with management decisions as the past few years have shown.
Steyn (according to his account) did go on the show. He didn’t mentioned if he apologized – it seems highly unlikely. Steyn probably would have gone on even if it was just a friendly request – he’s not exactly a wimp.
People at WJR could probably influence GM’s marketing budget, but Rush has already slammed the door on Government Motors. You might remember Rush and Hannity (Beck?) had a big GM campaign just before GM went into bankruptcy.
I thought that Hedgecock stopped filling in because he got his own syndicated show which hosts with their own syndicated shows can’t fill in for Rush.
Also WJR should be careful with this Rush demand because Clear Channel could easily flip say 106.7 The Beat to RushRadio 106.7 and also take Hannity with Rush to the new station. That would leave WJR with their stale a$$ programming and they will lose ratings and revenue.
Hedgecock has a syndicated show? [joke]
That may well be the explanation, but my impression is the reason predated Hedgecock going “national”. I was fishing for rumors 8^P
Poking around, it was Frank Beckman, not Paul W Smith (Steyn just said the “morning man”).
Beckman used to be the sports guy on WJR, back before CBS’s WXYT switched to sports and lured away all the major league teams . So now he is doing the 9AM talk shift.
Here is some more details
http://apps.detnews.com/apps/blogs/watercooler/index.php?blogid=1651
WJR muscles Mark Steyn? – possible, but I’m agreeing with you Art, he’s not a wimp and he wouldn’t change his tune (or storyline, or his principles).
WJR muscles Rush? – no way. Oh, they could switch to just another Oldies station. But not a move that any businessperson would pull the trigger on.
Think about it – the typical Rush listener is a bit smarter than your typical Oldies listener, so they shouldn’t be offended by the statement of fact that Mark stated. As long as the fact can be backed up with proof.
WJR is actually doing Detroit a disservice. By keeping this going they are making more and more people aware of this truly horrendous failure of the public school system instead of just letting it fade away.
I mean, it certainly isn’t something the Chamber of Commerce can use to sell businesses on moving there.
I happened to see the ad on YouTube. With the disclaimer that I left Michigan in 1997 (I went back for a brief visit in 2002)…
The ad really distorted what Detroit is like (and it is much worse than when I used to visit). There is a brief shot of the area where Grand River and Woodward meet – it was essentially the center of downtown – like what Times Square is to New York. Most of the buildings are completely empty if you look closely. City Hall and the Rennaisance center (GM’s headquarters) are about all that has any activity during the day. The tunnel and bridge to Canada generate some traffic.
Things are so bad the city is reviving the plan again to designate large swaths of the city as uninhabitable. Detroit has a couple curious cities within the city. Highland Park was the World HQ for Chrysler – it’s long gone. Hamtranck next door used to be a curious place that was home to a vibrant Polish immigrant population. It is now dominated by the Mosque and its daily calls to prayer.
Michigan just cleaned house in Lansing (similar to Wisconsin) – but as long as Detroit’s economy is based on dependency on government handout programs and racial self-segregation, it isn’t going to turn around.
Probably not unrelated – WJR has a brand new manager for its news/talk and he is a long time sales manager
http://news.radio-online.com/cgi-bin/rol.exe/headline_id=n21886
Mark Steyn was stating facts – not that the rest of the country isn’t aware of what a trash heap Detroit is. When the mayor of Indianapolis was mugged there upon leaving a basketball game, the response in Indy was “..It’s Detroit – what were you thinking?” Frank Beckman et al can choose to live in the land of denial, or they can keep hammering away until the few civilized people who live in Wayne County decide to overhaul the place (or give it back to Ohio.)