More Media consolidation - Wease is out
Yep - Per the D&C -
Officials from Entercom Rochester today announced that the company has discontinued contract negotiations with longtime radio personality Brother Wease.
And as of this morning, WCMF-FM (96.5) also pulled “Radio Free Wease†promotions from the popular morning show, station officials confirmed.
I get that owners can do what they want with their companies - I understand that. As media consolidates and looks for efficiencies - reducing salaries, consolidating talent, rebroadcasting content to fill time -
In the end the listener suffers
bummer.
Maybe 107.7 will hire him or something like that.
People should call the sponsors on 96.5 to complain. We can make a list. The sponsors deserve to know that no one will listen to that station anymore so that they can pull their ads.
You won’t hear him anywhere in the Rochester Market on traditional radio for at least a year. There was a non-compete clause in his contract.
Does that include this situation where they’re basically letting him go? Non-compete clauses are generally used to prevent folks from jumping ship to better opportunities.
Non-competes (in general) are only valid if they pay. If 96.5 is so strapped for cash, I’ll bet Wease could work something out if he wants to get back on the air at another station.
This is sad news. Wease is the best liberal ally in our town.
Their website is listed as “under construction”. call 423-2900 to ask to leave a comment for management.
Interesting, they don’t even list WCMF as one of their stations on this website http://www.entercom.com/markets.php?marketid=16
I’m guessing we’re about to see a format change at WCMF.
I would love to boycott all of their stations, but I’m annoyed that 950 is on the list.
I heard on WHAM AM this morning that they’re replacing wease with a with a show called “The Men’s Room” … sounds like a terrible idea. Rochester is really going to miss you Wease!
I guess I won’t be tuning in to WCMF any more, regardless of how the format changes. I’d sure like to know what Entrecom’s reasons were for this change.
time to switch to XM folks. it’s really nice over here.
I’m sure it’s nice, but that’s just feeding into a bigger corporate structure, not maintaining a bit of local character. This just sucks.
there is virtually no local character on the broadcast stations due to the corporate consolidation anyways. virtually all of the programming is fed in, it’s not like the old days where local dj’s were spinning the records they wanted to play.
After many years with WHAM, I switched to WXXI AM for my news and its commercial free radio. Its amazing the difference.
It’s no surprise, really. Wease was pretty much the only “mainstream” media person or program locally to do serious, challenging, progressive political content - and succeed economically. What do you know? His employer got bought by a big (not local) conglomerate, and now that voice, that channel is gone. I’d bet $100 right now that Entercom doesn’t fill that political gap, ever. It’s what consolidation is all about. Keep ‘em stupid. Don’t let ‘em start thinking.
Non-compete clauses are of dubious value and validity, and are generally construed to be legally unenforceable. However, that doesn’t mean that going against one is a worthwhile endeavor.
Yes, that was it entirely. It had nothing what so ever to do with the financial business decision his new employer made that in their opinion he was overpaid and them wanting to bring his salary more in line with what the market dictates. It was a cost cutting measure, nothing more. He wasn’t fired. He walked away.
Do you know the details of the contract negotiations at all? I’m curious.
What the market dictates? The market dictates salaries? A convenient statement that in this case is meaningless. How were Wease’s ratings?
Please - try again with more clarity.
The employer decided to improve their margins at the expense of local content.
[...] a shame.ÂÂ It’s all over the news that Brother Wease’s long-time run on WCMF is at a close.ÂÂ This is but a scant few months after Dave Kane was also canned, so I guess the writing was on [...]
This is interesting. KISW, the Entercom station where, “The Men’s Room” originates is also home to BJ Shea. He was Wease’s sidekick about 10 years ago. Maybe just a coincidence.
That is interesting.
How about somone starting a pirate radio or an lp station. Otherwise wew have no local radio at all
Anyone want to Pump Up the Volume? lol.
WDKX is still locally owned and operated. and WBER and 90.1 (forgot the call letters, the jazz station) are both local and volunteer operated.
Stlo - I posted the same as you, just worded differently. In the opinion of the new owners, his current salary was too high. Rochester is a medium-sized radio market. I’m sure they compared his salary to that of his contemporaries in similar sized markets and determined he was over-paid. I would imagine they are looking long-term and realistically, he wouldn’t fit into those plans on his terms. He’s been on the air 20+ years, he’s pushing 60 (maybe older), and his contract came up for renewal. It’s an easy business decision to make.
right but the “market” had nothing to do with it it was profit margins by the station. Their prerogative but …
Wease wanted a share of the ad revenue (per a news10 report), the owners didnt’ want to share - so no agreement - and Wease is gone.
Profit margin over local content- loss of ad revenue that Wease helped bring in.
It took two parties to make this happen.
Perhaps “Wease” didn’t need to be so greedy, either.
hey - he’s the talent. he is (was) in a position to negotiate his worth. we’d do the same if we were in that same unique position.
[...] is such a loss for Rochester. Our last local, liberal voice silenced. As Joni Mitchell would sing, “Don’t it always seem to go, that you don’t know [...]
I’ve taken 96.5 off all the truck radios at work. I’m mad as I don’t like the New World Order coming to my town and sticking it to me. It’s bad enough when our local Corporations (Kodak) do it to us. I’d like to tell CMF advertisers to forget about it, let’s draw a line in the sand. Let’s start a radio station. In the meantime I also listen to XXI the FM 88.5 is really good with no commercials (sorry wease) but I do pay the subscription so there! . Also, “the men’s room?” how lame, I get it …..flush it, wipe it, smell it, the list goes on and on, makes Rover sound like he has a brain. what is with the mass stupidity these days …..uuuggghhh, no one ever went broke underestimating the stupidity of the general public. Gosh it all rushes back like a reoccuring bad dream. Rock on Rochester, support local everything while we still have it. Germ has spoken.
[...] affectionately known, by his friends, fans and the radio world in general, as Brother Wease, was let go from WCMF when the station was purchased by Intercom Rochester and negotiations broke down. The lone liberal [...]