KEVIN MATTHEWS CANNED FROM LAV
Plus, WNWZ flips to Comedy
Plus, WNWZ flips to Comedy
Wow. Within the past few weeks, radio's become fun again.
Sadly, not in a positive way.
On Thursday, Kevin Matthews announced on his Facebook page that he had been let go from 97 LAV-FM. He had been holding down mornings on the Classic Rock station for six years. Effective immediately, mornings are now handled by LAV vet Tony Gates and Michelle McKormick.
The Warwick Davis lookalike originally worked at LAV in the 1980's, but was lured away by a station in St. Louis. Then, it was off to Chicago, where he worked at WLUP, WXCD (now WLS-FM) and Howard Stern affiliate WCKG 105.9. Due to getting fired from poor ratings in later years, he ended up doing internet radio broadcasts declaring Chicago radio "dead".
In 2005, he came back to LAV, despite morning man Tony Gates getting good ratings. However, LAV's ratings have been sliding these past few years, especially due to WGRD's Free Beer and Hot Wings in the morning. Matthews also announced in 2008 that he's battling Multiple Sclerosis, limiting his schedule.
Matthews even created shockwaves in December when Citadel fired WMMQ 94.9 Lansing morning man Rich Michaels to syndicate his show to that station. However, the move didn't last long; just a few weeks ago, Cumulus lifted the show from 'MMQ and is back to doing a local show in the morning. Michaels is now hosting a talk show in Miami using his real name, Rich Minaya.
With WLAV parent Citadel Media being sold to Cumulus a few months ago, they've been doing some housecleaning. The biggie so far has been GM Matt Hanlon not being included in the merger deal; he's now VP of Advertising for WGRD parent Townsquare Media.Without a doubt, there could be more changes to come.
Oh, and it appears that the daily radio program hosted by Verve Pipe lead singer Brian Vander Ark is off LAV, too.
In a way Matthews' firing is no surprise to many. He was one of Hanlon's stable of has-beens and big-market rejects - ie Dave and Geri, Michael Grey, Ron and Don, and oh, yes, HUUUUUGE - that he felt could bring in the ratings for his stations. While many felt that Matthews' show was a welcome addition to LAV, many felt that he was nothing more than a tool for Hanlon, who made him Director of Program Development at Citadel and the PD of 92.5 The Outlaw.
But, in the end, it's up to Cumulus to fix many of Hanlon's mistakes, and Matthews was one of them. I don't know the guy personally and I feel bad that he's battling MS, but Kevin has seen better days. Will he work in radio again? Only time will tell. However, I don't think it'll be in Grand Rapids. Chicago? Maybe. Who knows? Mancow's daytimer might be looking for folks.
But of course, there's the trillion-dollar question: is Huge next on the chopping block? That's a good question. Bear in mind that Simonson's syndicated, albeit to a bunch of smaller stations that otherwise air programming from ESPN, Fox Sports or Yahoo! Sports Radio (the former Sporting News Radio/One On One Sports). If Huge gets the shaft, it's no big deal. It's the Red Wings and Lions that are keeping WBBL alive, not that fat ass. I'll betcha that even without Sean and Killer, Ryan Terpstra on 96.1 ESPN get maul the fat one back to Sparta.
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Speaking of funny (but true), yes, WNWZ 1410 is now all Comedy as "Funny 1410". The station launched sometime after 11 a.m. Monday morning (it was off the air for some reason). The Townsquare Media station was previously Regional Mexican "La Maquina Musical" and was the first 24/7 Spanish station in town. However, with two other stations in town reaching the Spanish audience, 24-hour WMFN 640 and daytimer WMJH 810 and Grand Rapids only having a 7% Spanish audience, the flip was made. Oddly enough, WMFN aired some Comedy when it was talk several years ago. 1410's flip to Comedy was made weeks before this year's LaughFest, which is scheduled to feature Whoopi Goldberg and Sinbad. IMO, it might not be a huge ratings grabber, so who knows?
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