You might know him as “MJ in the Morning”, from doing one of those Morning Yuk Yuk “zoo” shows in Florida, feuding with Bubba the Love Sponge.
Slightly more possible is you may know him as the afternoon host playing Conservative talker using his real name (for all we know) – Todd Schnitt.
Todd left the suburban New York City area in 1982 – missing the eras of Ed Koch, David Dinkins, Rudy Giuliani and Michael Bloomberg. Living out in Rockland County, his knowledge of New York City itself is likely pretty thin. Schnitt is no Curtis Sliwa.
Sportscaster Len Berman will be the show’s co-host and maybe can create something resembling an authentic New York City show. I guess Clear Channel is hoping to capture the magic of Don Imus and Warner Wolfe that has rocketed the ratings at WABC-AM.
Speaking of WABC-AM, Mark Levin says he will have an announcement about himself and his 6-9 pm syndicated show tomorrow (Thursday 1/29). He said his contract expires on 2/1, though he didn’t say with whom he has a contract. Presumably, he is talking about a contract with Cumulus Media.
Woohoo – Joe Pags is about to lose his temporary job.
I listened to most of the show on a delayed broadcast. He hammered over and over a quote from Calvin Collidge about persistence winning in the end. In seems related, although I’m not sure how.
Talkers.com has the story. Cumulus/Westwood One and Levin have signed a contract that keeps them together until 2020.
Tom Taylor has the same information this morning. I now owe my first born child to Tom.
It’s very clear now that Lew Dickey has given control of programming to the Westwood One folks. Its head is a direct report. Lew Dickey has been looking for a “second in command” for 6 months now and when the recruiter approaches experienced people “in the biz”, they don’t have any interest in even talking about the job. $50k a year doesn’t buy as much as it used to.
It may be that Levin was encumbered by a non-compete and would have had to sit on the sidelines for a year. My sense is he is more interested in having people listen to him than making money. Maybe he has a new book coming out exploring the life of Calvin Coolidge.
Call me confused. Inga Barks is filling in today – which is what I would expect if he didn’t review. She confirmed the Westwood One press release, and said Mark wasn’t feeling well, and she is sure we’ll hear his voice again.