NCAAbbs

I see that they arent even ranked in the latest Arbitron ratings. That means there are atleast 16 other radio stations in this market getting better ratings. Some of those include WZAP in Bristol, WRGS in Rogersville, and WETB in Elizabethton. I wonder if Bill Meade is sweating.

I've wondered about the same thing. At one time I thought they were an okay station and I listened. I never listened to the ESPN programming, but did have an interest in the local programming. Then I just grew tired of Bubba, Pizza Head, the Instigator, the same folks calling in all the time. No diversity of opinions.

I listened to about 30 minutes of Sportsline yesterday and it seemed as if there were few callers. When Meade announced he wouldn't take calls on ETSU football, I realized that the show wasn't caller driven and he was lying every time he said he would "love to know what you would like to talk about".

Too much Nascar and Vol calls for me. Then there are King College sports...who cares?? I'm sure she is a nice lady but I really don't care what Lori Worley thinks. Are there enough horse racing fans in the area to justify the time devoted to Colonial Downs (although said time may be paid for by Colonial Downs). It appears to me that the NBA has limited appeal in the area and there certainly aren't a large contingent of Celtics fans. Don't those who follow Braves baseball usually watch rather than listen to the games?

I wonder if they would improve their ratings once ut football season and local high school sports began in the fall.

Just my opinions.

He actually said he wouldn't take calls on ETSU football??? Wow, I must have missed that. That will take away a lot of his credibility. Folks, the lines are being drawn. Many people who have aligned themselves with Stanton and the university on this are going to be changing their tune pretty soon.

Amen. On the deadline to declare NBA draft intentions, Meade went on about the guys from UNC withdrawing from the NBA and returning to school as well as other players around the country returing to college. I heard no mention about CP. To be fair, I didn't listen to the entire show, so its possible he mentioned it later, but he should have started the segment with CP's announcement.

Bill has lost me as listener--too much UT and Celtics Bball. I do enjoy Don Helman talking ETSU on Saturday mornings especially when football is the topic.

Bill wants to be a national host so bad. So much so, that he does his show like its a national program. I have a feeling he would get much better ratings if he stuck to local topics(and I'm not talking about Knoxville).

I'm paraphrasing, but what he said was that the vote was taken, a decison had been made and until there was something new to discusss, the football topic was closed for his show.

That's interesting b/c it seems like the sheer volume of calls on the subject would be a "vote" in itself. He must mean a vote with the staff around the station, which is obviously heavily influenced by advertising dollars like the Johnson City Press (and I speak with certainty on that subject because I have spoken with people there who stated they were "afraid of making Stanton angry" since the university spent so much money with WJCW who was their flagship station at the time). I'd like to call in again and pretend I never heard that rule (which is technically true) and see how he reacted. Why would he want to risk the integrity of his show that he's worked so hard to build? Why try and worry about appeasing Stanton and risk losing your listeners? Not a wise decision.

It's pretty obvious that the only media organization with any backbone in the Tri-Cities is Media General. There are occasional journalists in the other organizations that speak out, but that is the exception rather than the rule.

He was talking about the student vote regarding the fee increase. In Meade's defense, that has been quite some time ago and just shortly after the student vote. He may now be taking calls on ETSU football, I don't listen to the show enough any more to really know. I quit listening at that time.

My current listening to WXSM is a few minutes every couple of weeks to see if I can see any changes that would draw me back/make it worth my time to listen again. So far I haven't found that.

I do enjoy tuning in to local high school football on occasion in the fall and thus my previous comment that the fall may bring more listeners back to WXSM with local sports and ut football to talk on the call in shows.

Other's opinions or experiences may differ.

I listen to Don on Saturdays but that is about it. Bill loses me as a listener with the ut/Colts/Celtics stuff. If he would talk more ETSU sports I would listen. Just my opinion.

I can understand the UT stuff, because there are tons of UT fans in the area. What I can't understand is the Celtics talk. I mean seriously, how many Celtics fans are there in the area? Like 12? He simply talks about them because he likes them. I remember a time not so long ago, that he didn't talk much NBA at all, because they Celtics were in the tank, and he said he didn't care much for the game. Now he's all about it. Amazing how that works.

Then my suggestion to everyone on this board is to listen to who Sportsline is brought to you by, and then call, write, email, fax or WHATEVER to every single one of those advertisers and tell them you're not going back until his ass is gone. There's nothing new on the Celtics, not that anyone GIVES A DAMN about Boston in the tri-cities. Also, UT football shouldn't be talked about in June, there's nothing to report. No calls there either. I would also contemplate contacting Citadel Broadcasting and raise hell. I could imagine George Plaster (104.5 The Zone afternoon drive show host, WXSM sister station) saying he wasn't going to take phone calls on a topic pertaining to Nashville sports. Even with the stroke he carries in Nashville he'd be fired faster than anyone. That's just unreal, while being here Monday and Tuesday it's reminded me that while I'm grateful to visit and even see ETSU, I'm glad I don't live here.
One more thing, Bill doesn't have the ability to complete sentences without losing his train of thought and going ummm, uhh, errr, eeee, ummm, aah aah aah for 30 seconds intervals. How is he going to go national? In my job I've listened to sports radio from Boise to Beckley, WV., and nothing compares to the dry, unscripted, poorly produced, half-assed stuff I've heard while being here this week. I was actually saddened to hear it. Are there pre and post show meetings going on? Does anyone have a plan? Ridiculous.

Ah, I thought Bill's statement was more recent, but you're saying he said this back in 2007. Now I'm with you.

But when you look at it, has there EVER been any other topic that Bill said he just didn't want to talk about? In his defense, he always seems happy to talk about most anything (regardless of how insignificant), and when I used to listen, I can't recall ever hearing him say he didn't want to talk about something. For him to do that, it becomes pretty clear that he's worried about upsetting someone above him, which further confirms what I was told in the past. What a shame, we assume our media outlets operate with their said intent when in fact, they're part of the good 'ol boy network and just out to further personal agendas. I guess if you can rationalize it enough so you can sleep at night then it must be OK.

It's hard to imagine Bill's show is on the air. It's, without a doubt, the worst sports talk show I've heard. I'd guess most of you would agree.

I'm guessing he gets paid next to nothing and there are very little costs associated with the show. It's a filler that brings in a few advertisers.

Honestly, can you imagine anyone listening to it on a regular basis?

Pizza Head, Claude, and Lenny from the Bronx

It's ridiculous too, because Bud, Don and Bob Gordon have a TON of talent, and are getting brought down by the afternoon garbage. I know Gordon isn't on the air but he's still works for the company, and should come back on. I looked up the number, if you guys are really unhappy then call the main office, the number is 423-477-1000. I heard it the other day when Bill came on and the opening segment was a riveting monologue about women dunking the basketball. When is the area going to get out of the doldrums of bad radio.

Yes, it's on a 24/7 broadcast in hell. Live from 3-6 with that smooth talking, slow walkin guy Bill Meade....then replayed around the clock until 3-6 the next day.

You're forgetting about King College basketball games on special nights. Nothing like a good George Pitts and Dale Burns schmoozefest. It was such a great call to take one of the highest rated stations in the market and dump it for really bad sportsradio.

What other sports talk show will go out on location, and basically just do an advertisement for that place for 3 straight hours, and mix in a little bit of sports talk. When he's out on location, there really is no reason to listen.

Sure there is, because now you know where to get your tires filled with hydrogen, or to place an OTB.

"Just come by and say you heard it on Sportsline, and I'll give you a free Colonial Downs tire pressure gage!"

That does bring up an interesting point though about Citadel, their salespeople are by far the best in the area. But seriously, does anyone know if WXSM picked up the Jeff Fisher softball game up there? Titan players, coaches, former players, etc... Would have been a great way to promo the Titans if they still have them.

You didn’t think I would let this one go, did you?

A- Fan1, the ratings I saw had the station at a slumping rating, but they did show in the overall ratings. I know you’re privy to certain posted demographics but could you be reading, say, the ratings among women?
B- Most sports stations experience a slump in the summer and it picks up in the fall when football kicks off. Personally, I don’t think this HAS to happen- but in the case of WXSM I think it hurts that the NASCAR races are aired on WJCW. The fact that The Sports Fox, which has absolutely no local programming but carries the NASCAR races for Bristol, nearly matched WXSM after not showing in the book since WXSM adopted the format, is testament to this.
C- Furthermore, it might not hurt to talk a bit more Braves since they carry the games. A few Morning Monster guests from the Braves, be they team figures or writers covering the team, might not be a bad idea.
D- Criticisms are to follow, but I want to say this. Fan1, this is nothing personal, but your radio career is NOTHING compared to Bill Meade’s. Very, very few radio personalities in the HISTORY of this market can compare to Meade. He is the greatest talk show host, in any format, in the history of the market. That’s not even debatable. To survive for 18 years in this cutthroat business and to be the leading voice of sports opinion- even if you don’t agree with it or his style- speaks of being able to relate to an audience.

A- Great point about not enough diversity of opinions. There isn't. Just once, wouldn't you like to hear someone on the Monster stand up and scream for Phil Fulmer to be fired? Or for a defense of Bud Selig?

Not so much because I think Fulmer should be fired or that Selig is Peter Ueberroth. But for the diversity of opinion. It's what sparks interest and reaction.

B- The ETSU football situation and Meade trying to stay away from it speaks volumes about so many things.

I still think Meade holds a grudge against ETSU from the Keener Fry days when he moved the broadcasts off WJCW because they were being preempted by Science Hill. The way ETSU has handled themselves with the media since then has not made anyone in this market really want to cozy up to them, so I don't make Meade out to be such a bad guy in that situation- to a certain degree.

It is a disapointing philosophy to take, because Meade could be a springboard for the revival of the program and make such a positive impact in the community. But either he doesn't really care because he's so UT orientated or he doesn't want to burn a bridge with ETSU.

C- No sports talk show is run by the callers. The host dictates what kind of callers he will have. Jim Rome will have callers that have a take and want to give a bit of a song and dance. Bill will have older white guys who want to make excuses for UT.

D- Nothing wrong with talking UT and NASCAR. But with WXSM's signal now strong in SW VA, a bit more Hokies talk might not hurt. I thought The Morning Monster earned some chops with that audience last year by complaining VPI wasn't playing for a national title- though I disagreed with their points.

Better to talk local than national whenever possible- because with ESPN all around the local shows there is no way they are going to be able to have a more relevant or knowledgeable opinion than the ESPN guys. WXSM will not be able to get a playoff in college football, but ESPN might.

E- I'm with you on King College. Supposedly that contract was signed before WXSM went sports. But what I see is a situation where the sports talk shows are talking more King and potentially less ETSU. Even if The Peak has a better signal than WXSM (debatable depending on time of day and location), the fact is it isn't well listened to and it cannot promote ETSU wall-to-wall. Best situation would be a simulcast on WXSM.

F- I have said it before, Lori Worley should NEVER be on the air. She's a flack, she is nothing but a shill for BMS. Nothing personal. But flacks NEVER should be a guest on a sports talk show, unless they are calling and talking about another sport.

G- Disagree on Colonial Downs. I'm sure it is paid time, but the fact is I think Jerry T. does a great job on the air. He has a weekly show at 9 a.m. and that's not sinking or swimming the WXSM ratings. Otherwise, his appearances on Sportsline make sense- like before the Kentucky Derby.

He's a new voice. He's lively. One of the things Mark Madden taught us is it's not so much the sport you talk about but the personality. Madden actually talked English Soccer a lot, but you'd listen to him because he could make it sound exciting. Same thing about Jerry T.

H- Bingo on the NBA. Less so on baseball. Baseball on the radio has an appeal, and since there are 162 games, every baseball fan listens to the radio broadcasts a lot (games aren't televised, can't get to the TV, etc.).

Um....I'm not comparing myself to BM. And the station did not appear on the first page of the ratings, which means they were at best #17 in this market.

Fan1- Actually, they finished in a tie for 17th.


http://www.radioandrecords.com/RRRatings...%20AM&CE=0

Here's what probably happened. Since they are WXSM, alphabetically they didn't finish in the top two of the finishers who tied for 17th on your piece of paper.

Now Pitt, the greatest talk show host in the history of the market? Granted that isn't saying much, but seriously, it goes back to everything even you've always said about the tri-cites being a bad sports town. Ask the average "sports fan" who they've heard of, Bill Meade, Tom Taylor, or Jody Lee. After that, ask the average person on the street in any of the three true tri-cities and get your response. And yes, I agree 100 percent it's a horribly sad statement on the area that Jody Lee has more name recognition, but she does.
The fact that WXSM has gone from FOURTH TO 17th should say something. And by the way, we've had this argument before, WXSM doesn't have a stronger signal than 104.9, no matter what time of the day it is.

Now, Fan1, I think one of the things about Meade's show is not so much he wants to be a national host, but that so many of his topics are national in orientation.

He once told me he had a philosophy that if he were to rip a local sports figure, it would come off worse on him than the sports figure. I'm not sure this is 100 percent true, because, for instance, the "George Pitts should get an interview at ETSU thing," didn't come off well for ETSU, but he still was named their PBP announcer when Jay was serving Guard Duty.

I know of plenty of hosts in markets like Johnson City whose philosophy is "just play the hits." So you'll talk NBA Finals when the NBA Finals are on, and you'll talk NFL on Monday, and so on. After all, who cares about high school basketball?

Problem with that is in today's sports radio marketplace, you've got ESPN to talk about the NFL as it is happening. What Bill Meade has to say on a national topic isn't going to resonate, whereas in 1990 he was the only guy locally to vent to (no 'net, no network sports radio).

To have an impact in your market, you have to talk about what is going on in the market. Sadly, there aren't many sports going on in the market.

What made Meade's show were two things-

A- The fact they moved him to 3 p.m. after Rush Limbaugh. He had a great lead in and sports radio was moving to that drive time nationally from the traditional 6 p.m. slot. Furthermore, his show was modeled a bit like Limbaugh's- no guests.

B- Just as I made this board, I made that show. I was the first regular caller. There were shows where he didn't receive any calls when it first began and when you don't have guests on, it was a 40 minute monolouge. He'd do trivia contests and people had no idea about the relatively simple trivia he'd ask.

Then I'd come on and ask "When are the Braves going to fire Russ Nixon?" two weeks into the show and it went on from there.

In the beginning, they actually talked Steelers more than the Vols on that show simply because that's what I wanted to talk about. I'd call, I'd make a point and a half about the Steelers, and all the people who followed a national team like that would call in. The Vols became secondary. He actually would say "I had no idea there were so many Steelers fans here!"

Now, Meade doesn't have the lead-in. He doesn't have any healthy friction callers to offer a diversity of opinion. He is running on reputation- and don't get me wrong- that's the best thing to run on- but the style of his show is rather dated.

One thing that Meade could do, if his employers would let him, is cut back his workload. Myron Cope did this- he went from five days a week to two during the last seven years or so of his career, but still did the Steelers games and TV commentaries and ads and such.

What it did was allow Cope's legend to grow. You made sure to listen to those two days. He was the living legend. His opinions were old school, but even though maybe he wasn't so cutting edge anymore he was such a pleasure to listen to. The fact he was a throwback worked well, here's the traditional opinion from a guy you trusted. And he had enough time to work on those two days they were spectacular- when Dave Wannstedt became the Chicago Bears head coach Cope broke the story- IN PITTSBURGH- ahead of the ESPNS and Chicago and Dallas media. The old school reporter just had more time to utilize his contacts.

Such a format would work well for WXSM, no need to cut his pay. Meade becomes the living legend. He can devote to his off air duties, his play-by-play, recording ads, and be more rested when he needs to pinch-hit. Less becomes more- and now that the living legend is only on the air for six hours a week he becomes "must listen," instead of 15 hours of "Why we need a playoff system in college football."

It's not being put to pasture. It's being moved to first base. Nothing wrong with that for a heavy-hitting vet.

Jody Lee is NOT the greatest talk show host in the history of the market. Jody Lee was in and out. Jody Lee lasted about a month on Power Talk. Jody Lee is currently doing what I do- blogging- and not getting the feedback I do.

Meade may win the honor by default. I was trying to figure out who would be No. 2, and I came up with Matt Hill, simply because he used his show as a springboard to get into office. Of course, that IS debatable, but that's what I came up with.

Remember, talk programming really didn't hit into the market until 1990, about 30 years after the format debuted. I can remember Curly White taking calls and such in the 80s on some sort of show, but it wasn't like it is now by any stretch.

Meade was there from the start and lasted. The general talk guys they had on WJCW came and went and continue to come and go and, to be honest, I'm not sure how good they were. The two guys they have on now are probably as good as anyone they've ever had now and they are both laid back guys whose bios say they've been in radio for 50 years. That doesn't get me up in the morning, and with the exception of when they have on David Davis generally their guests aren't all that good.

The demos are clearly slanted to people over 50. If you want to target that market- fine- but I can't say you're the best of all time- you're not catering to enough of the audience.

The guys on WFHG have lasted, but you wonder why. John Quaintence is a true pro, but he always wants to talk above his audience and then goes so heavily into philosophy he often doesn't know what is going on- like when he asked on the air "Do we have any Citgo stations in the market?"

Uh, yeah. Go outside and maybe you'd know.

Bernier is handicapped because he does his show from Florida. He also isn't that smart. I once called in and he tried to tell me wrestling got better ratings than Monday Night Football and asked me if baseball got rid of Marge Schott because of the Jews.

The last question is borderline hate speech- as offensive as Don Imus' "Nappy Headed Hoes" comment.

I don't know who is hosting Good Morning Tri-Cities on Power Talk anymore. Scott Robertson did a sports talk show at WXBQ-AM back in the '90s but there was something missing. Marty Ricker used to play Andy Griffith bits to fill up his show. He actually succeeded myself- and I didn't last because I didn't want to do things like have Andy Griffith bits on to fill up my show.

Chip Kessler did a Saturday morning show and it was even more filled up with ads than anything WXSM is doing. It's one thing to talk about sponsors. It's another to devote half your show to the menu at Mingles.

He also had a panel that wasn't all that good. They used to pick football games- and ETSU was always in it.

One time Marshall came in to play the Bucs, who were on their way to a typical losing season. Marshall was something like No. 1 in the country.

The panel actually picked the Bucs to win the game. Their reasoning was that one of them had seen some Marshall players loading up at the breakfast bar at Shoney's that day and thought they'd be sluggish.

True, some of these people would have been more successful if given better station support, promotion, equipment, etc. And they all lasted longer than Taylor did at WXSM.

Meade's show has shaped sports opinion in this market- witness the growth of the Arby's Classic and George Pitts' name around here, whereas at Brentwood he was just a high school basketball coach.

How could anyone even DEBATE he is the best in the history of the market?

Jody Lee? Are you serious?

Plain and simple, Bill Meade wins the best sports show host by default, and thats the bottom line.


R

Ah, but Rod, there you go again trying to change the subject.

Sure, Meade is the best SPORTS talk show host ever. But he's also the best TALK SHOW host here ever.

That might also be by default for the reasons I've said upstairs.

i would agree that Bill is the top sports talk guy in the area, but there is something with him and ETSU. On Bill's show (when I used to listen) if an ETSU topic came up, it was a given that within five-ten minutes UT came into the conversation. I know UT talk is what a lot of people in the area want to hear, but it doesn't interest me. I can hear and read about UT from many sources.

Don Hellman on the other hand, invites talk about ETSU. He seems to be more in tune with the university and its importance to the Tri-cities--fully funded football, construction of a new basketball arena, etc.

And it's not easy to talk ETSU sports these days. As an alumnus, ETSU sports constantly frustrate me. The most recent example--trying to find an ETSU baseball cap. I wouldn't wear the one with a "B" on it and I couldn't find this year's style at local stores or the university bookstore. I finally just gave up and went with the local high school. The golf team does have some fairly nice caps but apparently that's another story.

You know what I noticed Pitt. WXSM with Bill Meade and "gang" finished with a 0.8. The AM sports station for Bristol Broadcasting (WFHG-AM The Sports Fox), which is an unmanned satellite station with no advertising finished right behind it with a 0.6. Surely you know how bad that is Pitt.

I found a couple of different styles of ETSU hats at the local CVS. Try there.

R

Uh, yeah. That's what I said above.

Remember? Sports stations take a hit in the summer? Sports Fox has NASCAR, WXSM does not? Remember that?

Read my post next time.

Do you agree with me on Quaintance and Bernier?

Bill Meade needs to learn some alternatives for the word "interesting"

I've mentioned this. I think this stems from the following factors-

A- Back in the early 90s, Bill would talk ETSU a lot. In fact, when Keener Fry became the AD he championed him as a guy who would move football to Roosevelt Memorial Stadium.

Only in Johnson City would moving from a 15-year-old venue to one constructed in 1934 be considered progress.

Well, that didn't happen. And the Bucs started to lose as Science Hill started to win. The Hilltoppers started receiving precedence ahead of ETSU on WJCW. So Fry moved the broadcasts to WGOC- which at the time was not owned by Citadel.

Then the whole sympathy for George Pitts came about.

B- We all know he likes UT. I look at ETSU as the area's major, Division I University. He looks at it as a small college and to be lumped in with King.

It's an interest thing.

C- Helman is the ETSU announcer, hence he attracts calls. The problem is as the announcer, he will never rip Stanton, Mullins, etc.

And those two DESERVE to be ripped.

THe main things WXSM doesn't have that are holding it back, though, are-

A- Lack of money. When Helman takes off, Meade pinch-hits and vice-versa. They need a fill-in guy (maybe the guy who spends all his time writing on message boards? He seems to attract an audience . . .).

B- Lack of promotion.

C- Lack of potential sponsors. Specifically, I'm talking about strip joints, which are traditionally big advertisers for sports radio.

I understand management has killed strip joint ads- even on WQUT. And I would accept that and really kind of respect it, EXCEPT . . .

They did a remote from a gas station the other day and highlighted, big time, how the redeveloped gas station had a new discount tobacco shop.

I thought you couldn't advertise cigarettes on broadcast outlets, but regardless. I don't believe they said "MARLBOROS! ONLY $2.50 A PACK!"

Citadel also does things like run ads for the lingerie shops- and not the Victoria Secret type places but more the edible panties places.

But it's the strip joint that is considered taboo?

I see.

Granted, I don't want to hear anyone on that staff read a strip joint ad. But I ask you- would you rather have your boy go to a strip joint on a Friday night or start smoking when he comes of age?

Fan1- I asked a question.

Do you agree with me on Bernier and Quaintance?

Got your PM saying you wouldn't say anything about them.

However, isn't the silence rather deafening?

We can talk about Bill Meade all we want, but the fact is he speaks more to the listener than does John Quaintance.

As for Bernier, Meade- or Helman- or Bud- or Hawkins- or Mahler- or Avento- or any other broadcaster in this or any other market- would not be as stupid or as offensive to ask a caller- as he did me- "Did baseball get rid of Marge Scott to appease the Jews?"

Seriously, that's far, far, far more offensive than Don Imus' comments on the Rutgers women's basketball team, don't you think?

The difference, of course, is that Bernier doesn't have Imus' audience or market and Media Matters didn't exist back then.

If you're going to levy criticism at the competition, you need to be able to offer defenses of your own co-workers. You started the thread- I can't help it if you don't like how it turned out.

Don't hit and run. If Meade sucks so much, then why hasn't Bristol decided to hire someone for The Sports Fox or support Scott Robertson more when he was a talk show host there?

I don't have to apologize for my coworkers when I point out criticisms of Bill Meade. Thats absolutely ridiculous.

If I can't criticize anyone in the talk radio field, then you sure as hell cant criticize anyone in journalism. (Brian T. Smith)

I didn't say you couldn't fire shots at Meade.

But if you do- consider that you may be asked to answer questions about Bristol Broadcasting.

Which is what I've done.

Seriously, you started this topic.

So, if the programming on WXSM is so awful- and I'm not saying it is or it isn't- but if it is- then why is it that Bristol has not done anything with The Sports Fox (even when they had me fall right into their lap) and WFHG consistently fails to top WJCW in the ratings?

I'm not in management.

Please guys - get a life. I tried the other day, for the second time, to listen to this 640 stuff, and it's total crap. I can't believe you all get so hung up on listening to talk radio. Goodness gracious - get out and get some exercise yourself! That station is full of commercials. Rife with them. I'm kinda joking here........but mostly not. Among the few things more boring than listening to talk radio is reading about others writing *about* listening to talk radio. To repeat - get a life - please. (I'm sure some of you do; but it's obvious that some of you don't, just as surely.)

We all have lives here and don't appriciate you acting like you're the only one who does.

In fact, I would say that keeping three-year-old threads on your computer from another site and posting them on here would show some sort of unhealthy obsession, but I digress.

Talk radio shapes the culture of a community, just as advertising and newspapers do- and perhaps more so. I can cite all kinds of examples- Nashville talk show hosts starting a grassroots rally at the Tennessee capitol to protest income tax- Mike Trivisonno's March to Protest the Browns move- etc.

Locally, doesn't it seem the area is a bit laid back and never gets around to doing anything?

What does the talk radio scene here sound like? The only radio people who really say "WE'VE GOT TO DO SOMETHING ABOUT THIS!" are the WPWT people, and they are passionate about a resistence to change. Hence, they got elected to office.

That's what makes this board so successful. We actually say things on here.

Sports talk radio's influence around here has-

A- Turned George Pitts into a God, which in turn has high school basketball waaaaaay overblown around here, had Pitts named the area's leading sports figure of the decade of the 90s by Sports Talk, and helped King become Division II.

B- Overblown the Arby's Classic.

C- Hurt other sports with their silence (ETSU and Appalachian League baseball).

D- Could it have influenced UT athletics? It seems the Knoxville press is coming down hard on Phil Fulmer, for instance. Yet here are the Tri-Cities defending his every move- firmly establishing a "Pro Fulmer" mindset to the masses to defend him.

That's debatable. Obviously Bill Meade's shilling couldn't save Buzz Peterson. But, then again, there is a bit more to defend with Fulmer's record than Peterson's.

But since the Vols have a statewide following, if Knoxville is angry and Tri-Cities is positive, then they can cancel each other out.

E- Probably established Colonial Downs.

That's for starters.

By the way, if you wish to discuss influence, if it wasn't for this board- then there would not be an outlet for ETSU criticism.

The thing is that for all of Mullins' efforts to shut me up, instead he has made me more powerful than ever.

I am the Obiwan Kenobe of the Flies!

Now then, back to Fan1.

The fact you're not in management is irrelevant. You certainly can ask questions and shed some insight on the topic that you started.

Since Bristol's reaction to the format change was that Citadel had lost their minds, it would be interesting to hear the take- from Bristol- on why WJCW consistently beats WFHG in the ratings and why The Sports Fox has not been established more as a competitor in the sports radio genre.

Now, Fan1, you have a few options here-

A- You can ask management. You said to me privately you were afraid of being fired if you commented publicly, and I can understand that.

However, what does it say about Bristol Broadcasting that to inquire about where the stations are headed from an employee would be grounds for dismissal?

And that's a very accurate assessment of Bristol Broadcasting, by the way.

B- You can ignore me, and be looked upon by the board as the moderator who could dish it out but couldn't take it, and in agreement with my assessments of Bernier and Quaintance with your silence.

C- You can do what I did when I worked there. I didn't post. Read, don't moderate or post, and there won't be any conflict of interest when you bash Bill Meade. Or quit your job and bash Bill Meade. Either one.

The thing is, as the moderator of the board, you should be asked by BB to host some sort of show on The Sports Fox.

But instead, Bill Hagy will look at you as disposable talent to be fired on a whim despite all the commutes to Newport, all the loyalty you've given the company.

And it's been a lot. You deserve more than just counting down the Top Eight at Eight or whatever.

--- Ummm.....I didn't. I simply googled it. It was embedded within previous postings on this board, drawn from the old board before it's archives got lost. If you dare go back and read it again, you'll see that.

Hey, I'm interested in sports, too, but some of you all (yourself obviously included), wrap WAAAAY too much of your life up in sports. In your case, you have (sort of) an excuse in that's you've tried to make it your livelihood, but it's clear that other than the few tangents you also post about, you eat, think, and dream sports. Yes, there are certainly worse things, and my comments were meant to be taken light-hearted, but actually internet posting about "who is the greatest sports talk radio host in Tri-Cities history" is akin to debating who grew the biggest pumpkin for the county fair last year. It's trivial in most people's mind. Apparently the ratings for this 'experiment' confirm that.

There you go again. You can't claim superior knowledge on a topic, you say that it's not important.

Look up the SI archives you're now so fond of. Check out Pete Franklin. Check out and see how one in every four male listerners to the radio in Cleveland were tuned into him during his heyday (as they did Bob Trumpy in Cincy, Ken Beatrice in DC, and many others).

Or just go see the public reaction when a civic icon like Myron Cope, a- GASP!- sports talk show host!- died in Pittsburgh. I think you can still link to his tributes on the homepage of the Pittsburgh newspapers.

A sports talk host might not command such reaction in this market, but, on the other hand, if I were to ask who the most popular man was in the Tri-Cities, would Meade not be a candidate?

So it's a little bit than the pumpkin at the fair. It's the individual who probably can shape local culture more than any other one man.

Frankly, if Bill Meade followed ETSU as closely as we do on here, then there is a fantastic chance things would be tremendously different.

Let's just say, if when Mullins was hired as the AD, he had provided this commentary-

"Congrats to David Mullins, a hard working, longtime coach at ETSU who is now given the chance to lead the athletic department. It is likely the revolving door policy at ETSU regarding ADs will now stop for awhile. That's a positive.

"But Dave, I'm warning you right now- DON'T TOUCH THAT FOOTBALL TEAM! Forget the wrath you'll feel from ETSU fans. In addition to likely getting kicked out of the Southern Conference, then you'll forever be regarded as the bad guy and you're entire coaching career will be tarnished and forgotten.

"But more than that, if you drop that football team, which would be Johnson City's equivilent of Baltimore losing the Colts, then I am going to make it very difficult for you right here. Don't expect to use this station's airwaves for your games any longer. Don't expect us to talk Bucs. Don't expect us to be a friendly media source."

That would take some HUGE balls, but it wouldn't be unprecedented (Pete Franklin likely saved the Cleveland Cavaliers from moving to Toronto with actions similar to this). And in the long run, it would probably do more for advertising if Meade did take that stand, because either advertisers would want to go with the host who took such a stand, or your legacy could be that you saved your hometown football team.

But what if Meade had done that? He likely would have created a buzz that could have significantly changed things at ETSU.

And by the way, before someone says "how would Meade have known that?"- when Mullins was hired, I did say "this is the sort of AD that is hired if you want to drop football."

Perhaps, since you're so good at retriving posts on boards that no longer exist, you could retrive that one, K-Babe?

Along with your posts saying I didn't know what I was talking about.

Bill isn't taking a stand on ETSU because ETSU is irrelevant to Bill. ETSU has nothing to do with the Celtics, Pete Rose, Bud Selig, UT, Pizzahead, Anti-Gamecock, hydrogen filled tires, or a free throw shooting contest at a gas station near Daniel Boone High School. Plus, nobody in this market has the balls to step up and do anything like that.