February 16, 2011
WPRO Shaking it Up
Our corporate overlords are shaking up their lineup. Jeff Derderian at GoLocalProv broke the news:
John DePetro who currently holds down the 6am till 10am slot is said to have a major deal in play that could include a nationally syndicated show down the line. Details of what that national show may be are not being made public yet. And because of that timing opportunity, we hear that a change in the morning show will mean that DePetro moves his show to a new time from 9am till Noon. And it doesn't just affect DePetro....The plan is also to move both Dan Yorke and Buddy Cianci. Yorke, now on the air from 10am till 2pm will be on from to noon till 3pm....then have Cianci going to 3pm to 6pm. So all three talk show hosts would be doing a 3-hour shift and the “new” morning show would be on the air from just 6am till 9am.Ted Nesi reports that the goal is to have a more objective morning news program from 6-9 AM:
In a statement, WPRO Program Director Paul Giammarco said only that the station plans “to recast The WPRO Morning News” to provide “objective news reporting.” He also confirmed the station will be adding a fifth local host in the morning but did not say who it would be.Maybe that explains the various guest co-host spots that have been occurring on some of the WPRO shows over the last few weeks.Multiple sources say WLNE-TV ABC 6 anchor Andrew Gobeil is in advanced talks to host a new morning rush-hour program on WPRO that will air from 6 to 9 a.m. But that deal has not been finalized.
Gobeil, who joined ABC 6 in October 2009, confirmed that he’s leaving WLNE – which is in receivership and set to be sold within weeks – but was coy when asked whether he was doing so to join WPRO.
“I’m not at liberty to discuss where I’ll be in the weeks ahead, but I am absolutely thrilled at what the future holds,” Gobeil told me.
BOOOOORRRRIIINNNNGGG!
Can DePetro altogether and put Yorke in his spot.
I've looked but can't find the ratings for WPRO and tried to see what Buddy has done compared to Dan. All I know is that I rarely listen to PRO anymore since Yorke is on during the day and I try to catch Matt at night. But DePetro and Buddy are unlistenable.
Posted by: Patrick at February 16, 2011 4:18 PMI was a longtime listener of Dan Yorke when I lived in RI. He always had good guests and good questions for them. Buddy's show is, hands down, the worst radio program I have ever heard in my life. Zero educational value and negative entertainment value. I can't believe people tune in to listen to a bitter old corrupt politician during their day. The average listener of that show must be, what, 80 years old?
I'll never understand why they moved Yorke from his drive-time spot. It was a perfect timeslot for his content and audience. They lost me as a listeneer when they made that change.
Posted by: Dan at February 16, 2011 4:48 PMDePetro, from his New York days, has more clout with higher-ups. That's what has enabled his career to survive the "fat lesbo" incident in Boston.
If I were Yorke, I'd go have a talk with HJJ. With ratings for syndicated talk sinking nationally, they might be ready for a second local show to go with Helen Glover.
I doubt Matt gets a break out of this. He's too young and probably too libertarian for most of the callers.
De Petro is an immature fool. I don't know who listens to him.
If "more objective" means that they rely more heavily on MSM feeds from ABC radio, then they might as well go dark from 6-9 am, because it's sickening to hear WPRO newsreaders parrot the Obama party line.
This should be a great boon to Helen Glover, who deserves a much larger audience anyway.
Posted by: BobN at February 16, 2011 7:48 PMI find it a continuing embarassment that "Buddy" Cianci is given air time on a major station.
He is an embarassment, not a solon.
Bob, I seriously doubt a station that aggressively courts conservative listenership like PRO would allow anyone within a mile of Obama politically to gain any kind of employment there, as a host, a newsperson or a janitor.
If you're implying that Tara Granahan is a liberal, DePetro could've had her canned any time he pleased.
As usual, Bella, you failed to understand my post. Were you in the public school system, or is it intentional?
DePetro "interviews" Lamestream media talking heads from ABC radio and accepts their BS without challenge, and the ABC news bulletins every half-hour spread the party line. Nothing "fair and balanced" about any of it. This is what I was talking about, not Tara.
But, considering the entirety of your comments here, I'm not surprised that you didn't get it.
Posted by: BobN at February 17, 2011 2:44 PM If it doesn't conform with the laws of the Bobiverse, I guess it is just lamestream media.
I don't happen to believe in the Gospel According to DePetro. Guess you'll just have to have me burned at the stake...along with every other public high school graduate (including Don Carcieri).
I never suggested any such thing. Do you have any other rhetorical tactics besides hyperbole?
Posted by: BobN at February 17, 2011 4:59 PMBobN, you are correct about the bias of the ABC reporters (in particular, the guy - forget his name) who come on with Depetro to talk about national issues. When that segment starts, I have to steel myself against the defense of the bad policies of President Obama and Congressional dems that will most likely occur during the interview.
You have to wonder why WPRO has them on instead of, say, FOX correspondents. Or how about alternating between FOX and ABC correspondents? (Presumably, there's an exclusivity issue presented by the national affilate.)
Posted by: Monique at February 17, 2011 6:55 PMMonique
I agree with you. If you're biased antway why not be completely biased all the time and let the audience decide. Sounds like something Susan from Providence used to say.
Posted by: Phil at February 17, 2011 8:40 PMYou're unfairly biased if you don't agree with DePetro 100 percent..that's the takeaway from this whole debate. We're seeing more than ever with this syndication that he is truly the tail that wags the PRO dog.
Posted by: bella at February 18, 2011 12:25 AMI see that you don't.
Posted by: BobN at February 18, 2011 7:07 AMSo Monique it is not unbiased reporting that you seek but rather a type of reporting that matches your own biases. I have purchased and faithfully listen to my Sirius satellite radio, they have left right and all other types of reporting and talk shows, after listening to that stuff for a while you may realize that our local hosts are amateurs at best and frauds at worst(depetro rating book blame thy wife)
Posted by: triplerichard at February 18, 2011 5:28 PM