4.5.11 Bee-otch of the Day: Matt Hanlon

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Name: Matt Hanlon

Age: 47
Occupation: regional vice president, Citadel Broadcasting
Last Seen: Grand Rapids, MI
Bee-otched For: bad ratings 

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Aw, poor Matty Hanlon. Looks like this was one long, cold winter for him.

The Phase II Winter Arbitrends showed that not one, not two, but THREE of his Citadel Grand Rapids stations scored a measly 2.0 or below. Even worse, the three stations were KLQ's replacements.

In the latest book, Country Thunder 94.5 had its worst outing since flipping to country seven years ago. This time, the station scored a dismal 1.8 while its competitor, Clear Channel's B93 had a great second place showing with a 7.5.

Bear in mind that it was Thunder that replaced KLQ at its original home at 94.5 out of Holland. That station moved to 107.3 Greenville - replacing Oldies WODJ - and that station is now the new WBBL/107.3 The Ball. Despite being Grand Rapids' home for the Red Wings, WBBL is now getting its ass whipped by another Clear Channel station, ESPN 96.1. WBBL got a 2.0, ESPN had a 2.7. The probable reason is of course, ESPN's strong lineup of national hosts whereas WBBL uses Sporting News Radio, and yes, the fact that ESPN's local afternoon show, Sean and Terp, actually has intelligent sports talk over the overrated and outdated "Huge" Bill Simonson. As a matter of fact, extraps now show that S&T now beat the morbidly obese Little Caesars peddler by a longshot in most demos.

And let's not forget poor little WJRW 1340, which has failed to attract any audience since it debuted over a year ago. Their latest rating? 0.0. Bear in mind that 1340 was WBBL, which moved to 107.3 when Hanlon got the word that Clear Channel signed a contract to bring ESPN to the FM band. Needless to say, either move, WBBL loses.

The only station giving Hanlon any joy is Classic Rock stalwart WLAV, even though it's now at a 4.4 in 6th place. Crappy-assed CHR 105.3 Hot FM is steady at a 4.3, but getting creamed by WSNX (3rd place, 6.9).

The point is, the people have spoken. Hanlon's stations are the most-worthless to the people of Grand Rapids. Yes, these are only trends and not real ratings, so the Winter book will be fun to look at. After all, Star 105.7 was #1 by default because of Christmas music. Hanlon has four stations in the Grand Rapids area, and three of 'em have a 2.0 or less. That, my friends, is not good radio.

I think that if I were Cumulus, I'd be considering firing Hanlon, but since his stations are akin to their liking, firing him is doubtful. Even worse, we'll be hearing the soulful sounds of Billy Bush on Hot FM sooner or later. These days, it doesn't matter what your ratings are. It's how much you suck.

If I were Howard Stern, I'd be laughing at those ratings, too.  

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