Rose is “unplugged” from WJAS
June 21, 2021So much for being local – well except, of course, for Bloomdaddy. It seems that Rose Somma-Tennent and WJAS ownership, St. Barnabas Broadcasting have parted ways after a very short time together. The station’s website is showing Dan Bongino in the Noon – 3 p.m. time slot.
That brings to mind the recent end of the short-lived Wendy Bell experience at WJAS. Most observers assumed Wendy had “said something” that got her fired. A few weeks ago, PBRTV learned second- or third-hand that Bell’s departure was due to a disagreement with St. Barnabas management. The details were kind of sketchy, but we understand that it was a business deal that wasn’t suitable for both parties. Could that be what happened with Rose? We may never find out of course.
It appears that the last thing any broadcast operation wants is any sort of local programming. I would not be surprised to discover that there is some excuse for getting rid of any local talent that makes it appear that there’s some other reason. But I am almost certain that the excuse is just that, an excuse to hide the truth.
Over the last several years – 10-15ish. I’ve observed that many of the on-air staffers at many stations are “responsible” for bringing in their own clientele for advertising. As long as they are doing that, they are certainly welcome to remain on the air. Of course they work together with the sales department on such things, but if your NAME can bring in potential clientele … no problem!
I think Eric’s point is spot-on here. There was probably the expectation that Rose and Wendy were going to sell ad time, or bring their own book of clients, or do something else to enhance the station’s bottom line aside from just being on-air talent. Apparently not everybody was seeing eye-to-eye on just what those responsibilities would be.
And to that I’ll add that in the case of Wendy Bell, she seems to have a laundry list of faithful sponsors who follow her whether she’s on radio or Facebook. So I’m not certain that’s the reasoning behind this, but it certainly is among the possibilities.
Now you can understand why Rose’s old radio partner Jim Quinn decided to go it alone with a subscription service broadcast and no longer deal radio management/owners to screw with your shows.
Wendy Bell and Rose Tenant keep coming out on the losing end with local stations through no fault on their parts. Not sure if her replacement Dan Bongino will do any better in the ratings game. Radio stations are just too inconsistent for me when it comes to talk radio.
I miss Uncle Dougie and Lynn Cullen and real local people 🙁
But, I am old and still read newspapers, sooooo……
I suspect Bongino’s syndicator just flat out bought that time. The (not) Rush Limbaugh Show officially concluded it’s run on Friday and the playing field for that timeslot is now wide open. The battle is on for coverage and audience share, and if you looked at the station map on Bongino’s website there was a huge gaping hole in this region. Cash in hand from a syndicator versus disappointment over the local host’s ability to generate revenue probably made this an easy decision for St. Barnabas.
You got that right ANTHONY. Talk radio was better and more intelligent with JERRY BOWYER, LYNN CULLEN, plus DOUG HOERTH. They had intelligence, logical thoughts, and one could DISAGREE WITHOUT BEING DISAGREEABLE. Sadly, Doug Hoerth is deceased, but his bits are still on YOU TUBE. Jerry Bowyer can be friended plus followed on FACEBOOK, while Lynn Cullen does her talk show on http://www.pghcitypaper.com/. I read newspapers and other information online now, just like I used to in print.
Actually, Eric, except for the paid shows on weekends, Bill DeFabio’s sportscasts and possibly the newscasts, I do not believe there is anything “local” on WJAS now. Bloomdaddy, as worthwhile as he is, and as observant as he is of things in Pittsburgh, is still a Wheeling, W.Va., talent based at iHeart’s WWVA-1170, who is trying to insert “local” contest for all the stations on his three-state network. Rose is an old friend from decades ago, and was a producer for the late Tom Green’s LightMusic. I wish her well.
I was considering Wheeling as “local” in this case. But in the grand scheme of things, you’re probably right. He’s not.