The end of Mark Madden? UPDATED: He's FIRED!

[markvid]

Sorry, zag, this isn't a freedom of speech issue. This guy's still welcome to say whatever he wants on the sidewalk or in the town square. But on the radio he's beholden to the standards of station ownership, to the standards of the audience, to the standards of the advertisers, and to the standards of the FCC, who holds the airwaves in the public trust.

And all of those "standards" you speak of -- well they are all continuing the trend of chipping away at the first amendment......

Hardly. Our is a market culture as much as it's a market economy. God forbid we set standards for public discourse.

You can't on the one hand keep bitching about our declining permissive culture, and then complain about how our culture's becoming more restrictive. He went too far. If he had a bigger audience, or better numbers, or more loyal advertisers, maybe he'd still have a job. But he pissed off the wrong people. The beancounters.

And if he'd said the same thing about Bush, he'd be in the basement of the Treasury Building right now, gently undergoing questioning.

Again -- please speak only about subjects you know about.

He didn't pish off the bean counters, despite Markvid's attempts to say the guy's show wasn't bringing advertisers, it was and it was profitable, which is why he lasted as long as he did.

And how many more steps like this do we have to take before we wake up one day and realize the airwaves are no longer free.

If you don't like his show or Rush Limbaugh's show or Hannity's show and think they are meanies -- don't listen.

And if there wasn't a market for this kind of shirt -- Imus wouldn't have his own show and Howard Stern wouldn't be making millions on Sirius.

Sorry, junior mint, but if he's such a juggernaut, why'd he get fired? And who fired him?

He got fired because he was consistently low class.
And ESPN in Bristol fired him, not Pittsburgh. I'm also told that the GM and PD have also been sent packing for not doing anything about Madden last week.

 

[zagoshe]

Oh, ok, you said highest paid talk show host - you didn't say sports talk.
Anyway, I've been emailing someone over at KDKA Radio tonight, that's what I'm told.
But I'd still bet I pull in a better salary than Madden.
Someone who makes big money like Madden claims doesn't write $40 a week columns for small papers like he did.

No that's where you are wrong...

It is about ego, that is what writing a column is for these broadcasters -- which is why Stan Savran and John Steigerwald -- at the height of their careers when they were making more money than just about anyone in the city were cashing $25 and $50 checks from outlets like the Pittsburgh Sports Report and Guy Junker, back when it was the Stan and Guy show was writing a column for the Greensburg edition of the Tribune-Review.

 

[Bubbler]

I'm not debating that corporate America is ruining radio, but it cracks me up when people make the argument based on the sub-moronic crap shock jocks spew. To me, reliance on shock jocks is part of the way corporate America is ruining radio to begin with.

Don't get me wrong, I defend their right to say it, but don't expect me to shed a tear when they inevitably shut themselves down with the bile coming out of their own mouth.

 

[markvid]

They were in bigger papers, now Madden got bounced to where he's in the Beaver County Times, a paper that doesn't even reach the Pittsburgh metro area or even the same county.

 

[zagoshe]

He got fired because he was consistently low class.
And ESPN in Bristol fired him, not Pittsburgh. I'm also told that the GM and PD have also been sent packing for not doing anything about Madden last week.

Exactly corporate headquarters fired him because they don't need him to stay relevant because WEAE is a small station in a small market and ESPN is ESPN.

So once there was a backlash -- because insulting the Kennedy's is a sin in some people's eyes -- corporate had enough.

However, the local station GM and program director know that station needs Madden to exist and stay relevant.

Now they will likely stick someone like, say, Stan Savran or Guy Junker or maybe even a John Steigerwald in that spot and it will be another four hours of awfully boring talk radio.

 

[Herbert Anchovy]

Someone will snap him right up. He won't be unemployed long.

 

[outofplace]

I'm thinking Zag's argument here is as much of an act as Madden's ever was was.

This has NOTHING to do with the political party of the man he spoke about. That is a ridiculous point. What Madden said was despicable, no matter who he said it about.

ESPN was absolutely justified here. Madden was warned to clean up his act. He promised he would and then he broke that promise. Forget the politics. This was Madden thumbing his nose at the people in charge, thinking his ratings would protect him. When your boss tells you to stop doing something, you stop or eventually it gets you fired.

Madden had already said plenty to earn himself a place on the unemployment line before this.

 

[markvid]

John is now doing 7-10 weeknights on KDKA-AM.
Stan has TV at 6:30, so no to that one.
I'd hope they move Junker and Crow to 3-7, 10-1 is a dead zone for them anyway.

 

[zagoshe]

They were in bigger papers, now Madden got bounced to where he's in the Beaver County Times, a paper that doesn't even reach the Pittsburgh metro area or even the same county.

The Beaver County Times as compared to the GREENSBURG edition of the Tribune Review (which is in Westmoreland County and not in the Pittsburgh Metro area) and the Pittsburgh Sports Report (which is given out free at deck's Sporting Goods and, well, you can't find it anywhere else.....) - are you kidding?

Are you really trying to make that case based on those two publications?

Talk show hosts writing these columns for shirt little publications is about ego -- not the $40 or $50 they bring in, trust me.

 

[markvid]

Someone will snap him right up. He won't be unemployed long.

Never. He'd have had a major job long before this had he had any talent.

 

[Herbert Anchovy]

vid,

Ability to inflame and incite = talent, in this marketplace.

 

[markvid]

They were in bigger papers, now Madden got bounced to where he's in the Beaver County Times, a paper that doesn't even reach the Pittsburgh metro area or even the same county.

The Beaver County Times as compared to the GREENSBURG edition of the Tribune Review (which is in Westmoreland County and not in the Pittsburgh Metro area) and the Pittsburgh Sports Report (which is given out free at deck's Sporting Goods and, well, you can't find it anywhere else.....) - are you kidding?

Are you really trying to make that case based on those two publications?

Talk show hosts writing these columns for shirt little publications is about ego -- not the $40 or $50 they bring in, trust me.

Stan, John and Guy weren't making small money for their columns.
Also, remember the Greensburg Tribune-Review also mirrored content in the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review. So, Guy's column was always in the city.