Name: Robert Goodrich
Age: 78
Occupation: movie theatre mogul/radio station owner
Last Seen: Grand Rapids
Bee-otched For: having Rome burn while he plays the fiddle
Age: 78
Occupation: movie theatre mogul/radio station owner
Last Seen: Grand Rapids
Bee-otched For: having Rome burn while he plays the fiddle
---
On Saturday, I think the coffee I drank was overcaffenating me.
I was listening to my favorite weekly podcast when the host talked about how Sinclair was fucking up two of my childhood TV stations, NBC WPBN 7&4 and ABC WGTU 29&8 in Traverse City. I was riled up and had to comment on the show's Facebook page. Within hours, one of the show's hosts started messaging me on Facebook about the further destruction that's been going on at his old radio station here in Grand Rapids.
That show? Southpaws. The host? Darren Gibson. That station? WPRR/Public Reality Radio 1680 plus a slew of low-powered translator stations here and there.
Darren and I were chatting about how WPRR had gone down to just 15 shows. When he was the station's programming director, there was a lot more. The station's glory days have truly fallen behind them.
A main reason for WPRR's demise is because of their current PD, Tyrone Bynum. Bynum worked for Goodrich in the late 90s when he owned 1140 WKWM (now a Catholic station). In the 2000s, Bynum ran the now defunct WMFN 640 AM, which he was forced to give up because it was not making money. Somehow, he weaseled his way into WPRR where he now hosts his own show, Drive For the Dream in the afternoon. Meanwhile, Gibson was hosting Southpaws twice a week on WPRR and also produced a few other shows as well such as Women Libs Radio.
As reported around Christmas 2016, Gibson was fired from WPRR because station owner Bob Goodrich claimed that his ratings were down. However, Gibson became very critical of the Democratic party because of what they did to Bernie Sanders in the 2016 election. But since Goodrich - who ran for Congress against Justin Amash some years ago - and Bynum are avowed Democrats, they seemed to think that Gibson was the antichrist and wanted him out.
Since then, WPRR has become a sad shadow of itself with very few shows and (SURPRISE!) Bynum resurrecting his crappy "Smooth Vibes" soft R&B format for the overnight hours. I've listened, and the music sounds like it's being transmitted through telephone lines. It's sad that despite a having a sizable African American population, Grand Rapids has very few choices for urban music on the radio. When that happens, leave it up to Tyrone to cater to that community... poorly.
Folks, I remember when Tyrone was on AM 640. His show had few callers and one of them was an African dude whose phone had a bad connection. He even had his wife host a show and it was hard to listen to. Now, she has her own show on WPRR. There's a reason why 640 had few advertisers and eventually packed their bags and moved to Chicago. Part of it's because of Tyrone.
I wonder if Goodrich will eventually plan to sell WPRR. Then again, he's 78, single and has no children. He also has the Goodrich Quality Theater chain, which USED to have cinemas here in Grand Rapids, but for some reason, Bob doesn't know how to compete against the Loeks family and Celebration! Cinema. When I moved here in 2002, GQT - whose HQ is at the corner of 44th and Broadmoor - had already pulled out of town, save for the Ada-Lowell 5 which was built in 1996 and is dinky comparing to the giant megaplexes Loeks has. They also have cinemas in Hastings, Kalamazoo, Holland and a few others, but sadly, it's all either Celebration! or AMC here in GR (and tell ya the truth, I like the AMC on Alpine better since the seats are comfy, the tickets are cheaper and AMC has no known connection to the fat, bloated short-bus riding douchebag known as "Huge" Bill Simonson).
Remember, Goodrich used to own a ton of radio stations and sold them all - save for WPRR - off. WPRR acts like a non-profit station and yet it's a commercial station that's supposedly funded by Goodrich's theatres. I wonder if what Goodrich is even doing is legal. I'm surprised that when he ran for Congress, he didn't sell WPRR. Things that make you go, "hmmmmmm".
Another thing to make you go, "hmmmmmm": Southpaws has 442 likes on Facebook. Drive For the Dream? 311.
And WHY did Goodrich fire Darren Gibson?
---
On Saturday, I think the coffee I drank was overcaffenating me.
I was listening to my favorite weekly podcast when the host talked about how Sinclair was fucking up two of my childhood TV stations, NBC WPBN 7&4 and ABC WGTU 29&8 in Traverse City. I was riled up and had to comment on the show's Facebook page. Within hours, one of the show's hosts started messaging me on Facebook about the further destruction that's been going on at his old radio station here in Grand Rapids.
That show? Southpaws. The host? Darren Gibson. That station? WPRR/Public Reality Radio 1680 plus a slew of low-powered translator stations here and there.
Darren and I were chatting about how WPRR had gone down to just 15 shows. When he was the station's programming director, there was a lot more. The station's glory days have truly fallen behind them.
A main reason for WPRR's demise is because of their current PD, Tyrone Bynum. Bynum worked for Goodrich in the late 90s when he owned 1140 WKWM (now a Catholic station). In the 2000s, Bynum ran the now defunct WMFN 640 AM, which he was forced to give up because it was not making money. Somehow, he weaseled his way into WPRR where he now hosts his own show, Drive For the Dream in the afternoon. Meanwhile, Gibson was hosting Southpaws twice a week on WPRR and also produced a few other shows as well such as Women Libs Radio.
As reported around Christmas 2016, Gibson was fired from WPRR because station owner Bob Goodrich claimed that his ratings were down. However, Gibson became very critical of the Democratic party because of what they did to Bernie Sanders in the 2016 election. But since Goodrich - who ran for Congress against Justin Amash some years ago - and Bynum are avowed Democrats, they seemed to think that Gibson was the antichrist and wanted him out.
Since then, WPRR has become a sad shadow of itself with very few shows and (SURPRISE!) Bynum resurrecting his crappy "Smooth Vibes" soft R&B format for the overnight hours. I've listened, and the music sounds like it's being transmitted through telephone lines. It's sad that despite a having a sizable African American population, Grand Rapids has very few choices for urban music on the radio. When that happens, leave it up to Tyrone to cater to that community... poorly.
Folks, I remember when Tyrone was on AM 640. His show had few callers and one of them was an African dude whose phone had a bad connection. He even had his wife host a show and it was hard to listen to. Now, she has her own show on WPRR. There's a reason why 640 had few advertisers and eventually packed their bags and moved to Chicago. Part of it's because of Tyrone.
I wonder if Goodrich will eventually plan to sell WPRR. Then again, he's 78, single and has no children. He also has the Goodrich Quality Theater chain, which USED to have cinemas here in Grand Rapids, but for some reason, Bob doesn't know how to compete against the Loeks family and Celebration! Cinema. When I moved here in 2002, GQT - whose HQ is at the corner of 44th and Broadmoor - had already pulled out of town, save for the Ada-Lowell 5 which was built in 1996 and is dinky comparing to the giant megaplexes Loeks has. They also have cinemas in Hastings, Kalamazoo, Holland and a few others, but sadly, it's all either Celebration! or AMC here in GR (and tell ya the truth, I like the AMC on Alpine better since the seats are comfy, the tickets are cheaper and AMC has no known connection to the fat, bloated short-bus riding douchebag known as "Huge" Bill Simonson).
Remember, Goodrich used to own a ton of radio stations and sold them all - save for WPRR - off. WPRR acts like a non-profit station and yet it's a commercial station that's supposedly funded by Goodrich's theatres. I wonder if what Goodrich is even doing is legal. I'm surprised that when he ran for Congress, he didn't sell WPRR. Things that make you go, "hmmmmmm".
Another thing to make you go, "hmmmmmm": Southpaws has 442 likes on Facebook. Drive For the Dream? 311.
And WHY did Goodrich fire Darren Gibson?
---
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Bee-otch of the Day Archives can be seen on http://beeotchoftheday.blogspot.com
Bee-otch of the Day is a production of Chuck69.com, Grand Rapids' site for Stern, politics and more!
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