By Ian Bailey
August 14th, 2014
The radio DJ who once asked Premier Christy Clark a question using a vulgar term that refers to a sexually desirable woman will be anchoring a four-hour evening show weekdays on Vancouver-based station CKNW as part of a newly announced lineup for the venerable B.C. broadcaster.
Justin Wilcomes, known as Drex, will host a 6 p.m. to 10 p.m. show on the station, which just saw the departure of veteran host Bill Good after 26 years as a CKNW stalwart, as well as Phillip Till, who spent the most recent 10 of his 25 years with the station in the morning slot.
The new lineup, which will take effect Sept. 2, will also have two current CKNW broadcasters basically replacing Mr. Good in the 8:30 a.m. to noon slot. Jon McComb will be on air from 5:30 a.m to 10 a.m. weekdays, while current afternoon host Simi Sara will take the 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. weekday slot. (Ed. Note: Michael Eckford will move up from evenings to handle the 2-6 pm afternoon commute.)
CKNW – formally CKNW News Talk 980 – referenced Mr. Wilcomes’s 2013 incident with Ms. Clark in a statement, noting he “is clearly not afraid to push boundaries” and “challenged the Premier” while working for a previous broadcaster.
In January, 2013, Ms. Clark was talking to Mr. Wilcomes on 98.9 Jet in Courtenay. Mr. Wilcomes asked the Premier, based on a listener’s query, what it was like to be a MILF. Ms. Clark laughed at the question and said she would rather be called that four-letter acronym than a cougar. Mr. Wilcomes was fired, but later secured an on-air gig with 99.3 The FOX, owned by Corus Entertainment Inc., which also owns CKNW. The Premier called him to offer congratulations.
Ian Koenigsfest, brand director of AM programming at Corus Radio, said Wednesday he has been impressed with Mr. Wilcomes during some weekend hosting opportunities on CKNW, noting he has an impressive knowledge of Metro Vancouver and the province.
“He comes at things from a different angle,” Mr. Koenigsfest said, “and if we have an opportunity on night-time radio to be irreverent, brazen and bold and do it in a smart and savvy way, he’s the guy who is doing it.”
He said he expected Mr. Wilcomes would look at current events in a way distinct from other radio voices in the market. “He’s going to create a lot of noise and push the boundaries and we need that – not in a way that’s disrespectful and inappropriate, but in a way that’s going to push and push.”
He said he was not worried about Mr. Wilcomes being inappropriate given the incident with Ms. Clark. “Whether it was his question or whether it was the way it was answered that led to his firing, that’s for people to interpret. But Drex has proven to me and proven to the audience that he’s going to ask the tough questions and not going to settle for double-speak.”
Ms. Clark has a professional history with CKNW. During a break from provincial politics, she was a CKNW talk-show host from August, 2007, until December, 2010, when she launched an eventually successful campaign to lead the B.C. Liberal Party.
Other changes coming to the broadcaster, formerly a ratings leader in the province but now trying to regain traction, will include fewer on-air calls from listeners, fewer guests and more use of social media to draw in and push out material to audiences, Mr. Koenigsfest said.
“We’re no longer going to rely simply on often quite a negative group of people who tend to call radio stations,” he said. “We want to broaden that.”
Mr. Koenigsfest also said “party politics and getting into the machinery of politics is not a big sell for our audience,” so the station will cut back on its coverage of politics.
“I think we have done more of that than our audience really cared for.”
Read More HERE
Follow Ian Bailey on Twitter: @ianabailey
I wonder if the morning show format will change or if McComb will essentially be doing two shows each day (the Morning News, shorter segment type, followed by the longer segment ‘Bill Good’ type).
Also – who’s got afternoons? Eckford?
I still won’t be listening. Hiring a hack like Drex pretty much seals the deal.
Until they get rid of Koenigsfest, this station will continue to die a long and miserable death.
Drex should be an improvement at night but it will be interesting to see how much ratings damage Eckford will do in the afternoon. If anything there might not be much audience left for Drex to draw from. Its definitely snooze radio even though Eckford sounds like a good guy.
The little or no caller policy is total asinine. All of the rearranged hosts they have scheduled dont have the ability to maintain an audience just interviewing people or talking to their producer which is irritating and turnoff radio. If Koenigsfest feels callers to NW are a “negative group of people” it’s because of the incompetent screeners/producers the station has. As we all know most are just kids from BCIT who dont pronounce words in English that well let alone know how to mix callers into a show to make things interesting.
As we all know most are just kids from BCIT who dont pronounce words in English that well let alone know how to mix callers into a show to make things interesting.
Sez the poster who calls himself Anonymous
As a member of the younger demo CKNW is now going after, I for one have listened more in the past year to Mike Eckford, than I have to the station since Frosty left in 2005. The guy brings a fresh approach to the issues of the day without dumbing them down. As much as I respect Drex as a broadcaster, his style is still growing on me. I will miss listening to Eckford in the evenings, but am looking forward to hearing the new sound of the station.
– Altering their program “change-over” times to 10:00 and 2:00 is just a way to get people to stop turning on -or off- CKNW at their usual times. ‘Shaking up old listening habits.
– I like Mike Eckford, but that’s a tough slot. 2-4 is sleepy and 4-6 is just a manic series of news and traffic updates.
– Fewer callers – good plan. That was a 1960’s and 70’s “shtick” that long ago ran its course.
– Fewer guests – bad plan. You’re turning your “hosts” into blabbing DJs.
– The move away from politics is interesting, and probably reflects a generational shift. (Young people – you’ll recall – don’t vote).
– Local CBC is really the station ‘NW is gunning at, it’s stolen their coveted 35-55 audience. So expect NW’s content and style to increasingly reflect that of their rivals a few blocks down Georgia.
– Oh, and as for the much hyped Drex. The only people who have their radios on after supper are listening to hockey games.
The ratings plunge will continue, especially after 2:00 PM. One can only wonder what the brass are thinking or not thinking, with incompetence ruling the air waves from 2:00 on. NW continues to sink, like the Titanic
Dumb question maybe.. When they say fewer guests, does that mean the ones they have will be on the air longer in order provide more in depth conversation or are they just relying on their personalities, personality to carry the whole show?
Also congrats to Drex. Smart dude, I like his show.
Mike Eckford is terrible! I have tried listening to him and he is a younger version of Vanilla Bill. He does not reach out to anyone!
It’s obvious that the brain trusts in the cknw branding department have determined that the only audience NW can go after is the CBC’s. Definitely flawed thinking as why would someone listening to CBC flip to NW when all they are offering is CBC with irritating ads from a couple selling diamonds and Ian and Steve.
Well…. good luck with that guys. Eckford seems a nice guy (based on my very brief chat years ago) and doesn’t seem to have a huge ego.. nice. Don’t know Drex, but the name sounds too close to drek for me to get passed… Must have the chops if he’s had this much success in Van.. or he works cheap (kidding).
For my $ NW of 1984/85ish is hard to top, let alone equal. Best of luck to the dog.
So ‘NW is going to become a hub for tweeters and discourage political debate. What a plan.
They’re done.
CKNW has shuffled some deck chairs I see…….the ship is still sinking.
After being a long time CKNW listener I have to assume that folks in their mid 40’s are no longer the demographic the station is going for. The station gutted the sports department which is what had me listening to CKNW when I was in my late teens early 20’s. I don’t see how the new changes are going to attract a younger audience. I had high hopes for Simi Sara when she joined the station but I have found her to be a significant disappointment. John McComb’s only approach is to attack the government and while he dreams of the day that the NDP run the province I don’t that leading to an increased number of listeners. Hopefully Drex will put some life into the station. Clearly I am getting old when I miss folks like Frosty, J Paul and Neil……
Great that they plan to use social media to “…draw in and push out material to audiences”, very trendy and on-point, as the consultants would say. Using Twitter and Facebook postings as conversation starters is all well and good, but the thing that’s got me scratching my head is the plan to use “…fewer on-air calls from listeners, fewer guests”. Does that mean we’ll get four hour blocks of Simi, Drex or Eckford simply droning on with one-sided conversations?
One of the areas where CKNW management screwed up years ago was deciding that the producers were disposable, that they could hire simply anybody off the street to help research and assemble shows, as well as screen calls. A great host merely becomes an OK host without a knowledgeable and experienced producer helping to guide the show. When you have just OK hosts (like most of the current lineup), the lack of skill on the other side of the glass means the show will be almost unlistenable.
yes indeed a sinking ship-bruce allen is a joke, eckford super dull could care less about drex-gee i thought local media had a responsibility to report on politics-more infotainment bullcrap
Eckford and Drex = yuck!! Young people don’t care about AM Radio!! So who’s getting off the Titanic next??
Really sad what CKNW has spiraled to.. once the “top dog” now just a dead old dog!
Maybe FINALLY Ian Koengfest will be fired… after all these years…
I only feel sorry for those poor people who actually do a good job (some of the newsies).. other than that.. lets watch this sink ship…
I have been listening to CKNW since Bob Hutton was the morning man, and Bill Hughes did the “roving mic.” I now take my leave of the station as it has become unsuitable news and entertainment. Over to CBC go I.
“Fewer Guests”? … That’s nuts.
Guests – locally, across the country, and from around the world, are cheap (often free) … and are the lifeblood of talk radio IN ANY MARKET.
What Mr. Koeningsfest is REALLY saying is:
– Finding, booking, and researching/pre-interviewing guests requires “Producer Time”.
AND CKNW DOESN’T WANT TO PAY FOR “PRODUCER TIME”.
So the NEW IDEA” is:
“Let Simi and Mike WING IT for 3-4 hours every day”.
(AND oh, without calls – which fill a LOT of air time).
Good luck with that.
These changes sound good. Don’t know if AM radio has a future, but this line-up provides something different from the CBC, the dullest, most politically correct, smugly liberal programming out there.
Too bad. I’ve been enjoying Mike Eckford in the evenings. Heck, I cancelled my cable TV, in part due to some good evening programming on CKNW and my boredom with cable TV.
Drex? No thanks.
I also miss Terry Bell’s evening newscasts. The new kids doing it fumble every other word. Corus sucks.
A talk show host is not a “DJ”. The job requires a very different knowledge base… and sufficient wisdom not to ask a premier what it’s like to be “milf”.
I might listen, for a brief while at least, if “Drex” — a.k.a. Justin Wilcomes — demonstrates the courage to use his real name on air.
I too miss Terry Bell’s (and Tom Mark’s) newscasts. So many errors with the replacement cast (both on air and spelling errors in tweets). Sure will miss the Palmer/Baldrey segments. Talk radio without politics? Makes little sense to me. We need the likes of Mike Smyth to hold politicians to account.
Young people don’t care about AM radio? Maybe 30 years ago when they were still playing music. Aside from the odd oldies/country station most AM sticks are talk radio, which young people do care about.. In fact, when you look at the success of podcasts the evidence would suggest that young people are actually craving that content.
My advice for any young broadcaster would be to steer away from spinning records (well.. MP3s..) and be a content creator.
The changes might work some what, but much damage has been done since Christy Clark came to CKNW and infected most everyone, ironically, by friendship and thereby weakened them and caused their loss of neutrality and objectivity that is the hallmark of great journalism, reporting and talk radio.Clark came in like a mole in a good spy novel and turned CKNW into a weak little ass kissing biased stooge for the government. Even with the changes , i don’t know if Jon McComb can keep the ship from sinking. He is now the only one i trust . Hopefully Simi, Eckford, and Drex rise up and follow Jon’s lead as REAL REPORTERS AND JOURNALISTS. Does Koenigsfest know what that means or is he the captain of the doomed ship. After listening to the weak sissy assed interview of Wally Oppal in the morning Aaugust 14 by Squire Barnes and company made me so sickened with disgust that it really confirmed to me how screwed up andCKNW
Hit the wrong button. Ccontinuing. After listening to Squire Barnes and company made me so sickened with disgust that it confirmed to me just how screwed up CKNW has become. It was good to hear of convictions for the criminals at Bountiful but not one word, not one question to Oppal about his involvement as former Attorney general in the and cover up of the Basi Virk B.C. Rail scandal and subsequent halting of further court proceedings so as not to allow a list of witnesses and people involved in the fraud that goes up to the office of the Premier!! Protecting his government also from scrutiny and possible charges. Also nothing about the cleansing of important information and further investigation and lack of respect and moral decency in respect to the families and their looking for descent closure regarding the Pickton case. He was the commissioner in charge of the justice branch during this investigation and
Continuing . Butterfingers today i guess. After this disgusting clown show of an interview i think im close to done with shill show CKNW. Thank god for our country we still have the real news pros and journalists like Tsakumis, Yule , Makin, Oberfleld , Farrell, Tielman, Mair and institutions like Puget Sound and their members, and many others that still i hope outnumber the useless bunch out there that are a stain on our system and the institutions of the press.
Mr. “kenee” appears to be deaf to two things:
– The sound of himself falling off his bar stool.
– The fact that no one under the age of 28 knows what the term “Basi-Virk” that means.
I like Drex. I was fired from where I worked before I got to meet him personally, but from what I’ve listened to he knows how to create radio magic. I can see him doing lots of random things on air, but he’s Australian so that’s OK. Good luck, Drex.
I must say “anonymous”, that is funny. But it couldn’t have been the one beer i had. Oh the human condition to make mistakes. There are many over 28 that don’t seem to care or give up because of overwhelming political corruption, from any party that is in, and try to laughably rely on people in the justice department to fight it and because of their party affiliation which outflanks the right things that should be done, and some in reporting , radio, and MSM perpetuate the corruption because of bias chicken shit interviewing because some have become to close to there subjects and have lost there objectivity. I thought this was the computer age.The Basi Virk case and B.C.Rail scandal, crimes, corruption,fraud rip off of the taxpayer, or whatever title one likes is out there on the internet with all politicians and so called protectors of justice involved.
I have listened to NW for many years although lately less and less. I had high hopes when hearing that Philip Till and Bill Good were leaving…should have happened long ago. However the new lot pretty well seals the deal for me. Putting in a cheer leader for nearly any socialist policy as your lead man reveals the direction of the station. And it goes downhill from there.
There is an old Russian proverb that translates to this. “The fish rots from the head” Maybe start looking there for solutions.
As was aptly pointed out in the Georgia Straight (which I suspect few on this forum read)…
rather than bringing in someone new – and taking on a new contract – CKNW simply shuffled the deck, or “deck chairs”.
Let’s look at how this sleight of hand affects the bottom line:
– The big contracts of Good and Till are now gone.
– As are veteran staff Tom Mark, Terry Bell, along with sportscaster Stu Walters.
Then ‘NW management shuffled things around a bit, but dealt out the same old “face cards”, except in a slightly different order.… The only new card on the table being Drex, who brings with him as much impact and import as a seven of clubs.
The bean counters at CKNW must love this new balance sheet, after management’s very slick game of “strip” poker.
Sadly I see CKNW’s programming changes and direction to in the long run be a missed shot.
I agree with many posters here, the loss of quality, informed, worldy, professional producers has dulled the once Top Dog. The cookie cutter producers (most likely unpaid interns) haven’t the skills, breadth of knowledge nor required professional abilities to operate at such a talk radio station. Maybe one day some will but they should be doing it first at radio stations in the sticks so to say.
CKNW you get what you pay. The older hosts now most retired became lethargic and dull. The new producers had not the ability to keep them motivated. Though one has to respect Bill Good and Philip Till they both became rather vanilla in the last oh 5-6 years. Sadly I bet Jon McComb to will be gone within a year too.
The new hosts as nice as they may be as persons are in my opinions rather stick figure-like. and a bit narcissistic They do not seem to have much breadth of knowledge on not just affairs locally, but nationally and worldy. I bet if I put up an unlabeled map of the world these hosts would not be able to find Ukraine on it, nor would their cookie cutter producers as well.
As to Koeningfests insults about callers being NEGATIVE! Well that’s what makes listening to callers interesting. If every caller was just the host’s love in caller all shaking their heads up and down in unison, most would not want to hear them. Good producers make sure calls are screened and placed in good order to offer up diversity and even challenge the hosts and guests if need be. Talk radio without many callers is a BIG MISTAKE! I get a kick out of callers, some I will agree with, others I will roll my eyes and maybe yell back at the radio that they are idiots. But callers are also a way to get stuff off your chest. Most citizens can’t just call up a Mayor, a Premier, a Prime Minister or a President etc. to vent and get stuff off their chests. But by getting on the air and dropping stuff off our chests we feel we were at least heard. Tit for Tat banter by the hosts only makes such better.
Taking less guest means as others say, cookie cutter producers have no longer to work harder at getting a good line up. But now we will probably get 3-4 hours of the host’s blathering in monologues or this new and in my opinion rather stupid banter between the hosts and the often air headed producers and that makes for weak talk radio. I DON’T WANT TO HEAR ABOUT ANOTHER G’DAM WEDDING A PRODUCER WHINED ABOUT GOING TO! Same goes with what crap your ate or where you ate. I don’t care about where you live and any renoes you may have done either, HGTV bores that crap to us enough already ok, personal bike lane banter only goes so far too?
I’m not saying talk radio has to be hard news, hard talk all the time. By all means lighten up as the show move on during its time slot. But NEWS TALK is about news and talking about news. Politics is a part of it and if you want to hope to inspire youth to engage more into politics not talking much about politics wont help!
Sadly CKNW will probably sink more and more into obscurity. The change coming in Sept. will see a short bump in ratings as listeners give it all a go, but soon the shallow conduct, thin content, odd ball stuff n nonsense and OVERWHELMING AMOUNT OF COMMERCIALS And yes CKNW has many more minutes per hour of such as compared to say 5-10-15-20 years ago will see ratings fall off.
Ditching sports, by not bidding on the Canucks and Lions ( lets not forget, White Caps, The C’s and Giants ) was a big mistake. Ditching Sports Talk was one too. Now having fewer callers, fewer guests and those damned 5-10 minute segments drive talk radio fans nuts. Not all of us are ADHD!
Talk radio format is simple. Have quality, pertinent topics of the day, pertinent guests if need be, dedicated a good length of time to each, taking calls and maybe just open the lines works. Adding stuff off Twitter and Facebook is fine but it will be all cherry picked. The producers and hosts may not choose to talk about Twitter posts or Facebook posts that may be hard on them or a topic at hand. It will not be a rather balanced cherry picking I bet.
I have been listening to CKNW as a good general regular since the mid 80’s. The station once kept my dial pegged very well and held its own until Corus bought them out and since then it’s been going down hill and for me sadly it’s not MUST LISTEN TOO RADIO anymore.
Too bad, but you reap what you sew CKNW and Corus.
Oh and BTW, if Drex wants to be taken seriously as a real talk show host, DITCH THE STAGE NAME DREX!
You were given the name Justin Wilcomes, USE IT! You ain’t spinning discs as a DJ anymore. GROW UP!
I’ve listened to NW regularly for about 12 years from 6am till 12:30 then turn it off when the very ill -informed ,boring ,Simi Sara show starts but now it’s not even worth turning on at all .
It would be hard to add to this list of pure negativity , but lets have a go at it.
Less politics, less callers, more inane banter between host and production staff, no guests.
I hope that when this new format implodes it takes the designer down hard. If Mr Ian K thinks that am radio is going to attract a younger demographic hes an idiot. Tweets and facebook? I can remember wondering what my dad liked about NW. As I aged I began to listen and enjoy the NW format. But the thought of listening to Mike Eckford and his pointless blather for 4 hours is enough to make me sick.
Its too bad, its very sad, from number one to a bottom feeder.
I listened to the new CKNW morning show this morning, and as I expected, enjoyed Mr. Mcomb’s broadcast professionalism.
However, this professionalism took a steep dive with Bruce Allen’s comment on bike lanes, specifically his reference to the ‘bums’ on the eastside. The use of that word is shameful, but I doubt Mr. Allen has the strength of character to understand that.
I wonder if Mr. Allen has ever spent any time volunteering on the eastside, or are his comments based solely on driving ‘through’ the area? His comments obviously reflect the latter.
If he has/had spent any time researching the issues that afflict the area, he would know that no one chooses to be a ‘bum.’ Many of those unfortunate citizens had productive lives and loving families before their descent due to mental illness.
His use of the word ‘bum’ speaks more about Mr. Allen, then the people he chooses to label.
Further, I find it ironic that Mr. Mcomb and CKNW would allow Mr. Allen to continually refer to those less fortunate in this way. Ironic because, Mr. Mcomb suffers from a mental illness, and to his credit, has been an active in helping us all understand mental health issues.
For CKNW to allow Mr. Allen to continually label those most vulnerable, who have no voice with which to respond, undermines the station’s credibility, and leaves one wondering that when it does promote the understanding of mental illness, whether its efforts are sincere.
I believe the station, and Mr. Mcomb have a moral obligation to reign in Mr. Allen’s continual scapegoating of those less fortunate. He sounds like a schoolyard bully.
And just like the CEO, caught on video abusing a vulnerable dog, and forced to resign, all bullies one day face the consequences of their words and/or actions.
Maybe Mr. Mcomb can have a one-on-one session with Mr. Allen, and let him know, that we are all ‘one diagnosis’ away from the ‘corner office’ to a street corner on the the Downtown Eastside.
I wouldn’t worry about Bruce Allen, if he is spouting his crap on NW nobody heard him……
If Drex and Exford programs yesterday are an indication of what is ahead for NW, the station will sink faster than the Titanic.
Opinions, yes we all have one indeed. Not sure what station the above Anonymous was listening to, but I for one find Drex and his program not only informative but engaging. What more do you expect? Maybe you’d be best to listen to CBC.
I can see ratings sinking to mid single digits pretty quickly. McComb is OK (not sure how they talked him into waking up at 4AM) but his hand-off at 10 am messes with the continuity of that time slot.
Just like people tune in and out at various points of the hour people tune in and out when hosts change on a station and less people will be tuning in for Sara and more people tuning out from McComb.
I’m trying to be open minded to the changes on CKNW. I’m trying to give the newbie Drex a chance but his progamming is too often just a gab fest with his producer and others in the station such as sports guys etc. Gabbing it up all sorts of trivial nonsense gets tiring quickly. CKNW must not forget that it’s history was built on solid news with serious and informative talk. Water cooler blather is really shallow.
As to other changes with other shows, well Jon McComb is of course doing a good job, Simi Sara is still doing ok. Eckford, I have not caught his new slot yet but if its similar to his previous slot I doubt it will rock any boats.
I hate the top of the hour bumper tune too. It’s too 8th grade music class. I also do not feel the need fort he canned “THANK YOU FOR LISTENING” bit. OK by having it as a canned phrase it has no weight nor meaning. Ditch it now CKNW.
Les I have to agree with you.
Outside of Mccomb the station sounds like a lower tiered station. Hearing hosts, producers and other people dropping in bloviating between themselves gets really tiring and will probably show in the ratings. It is just not good radio and any radio person with a bit of knowhow will be able to see that immediately.
As for the announcement on the hour it says THANK YOU FOR FOLLOWING which sounds kind of weird. I dont follow any radio station, I might tune in and listen but following sounds too Jimmy Jonesish.
If NW thinks its fooling anyone by reporting the news that their inhouse staff create as faux panels and interviews it isnt going to work. I wonder when they will drag the staff from the coffee shop from the lobby to bring us up to date on world affairs. Give Mccomb and Sara some real guests. Some real experts. Dont allow the producers on air.
The 2 to 6 with Eckford is very hard to listen to. His entire shtick is to talk fast and endlessly to his production crew. MIKE SMYTH might have filled this slot and given NW some real boost.
Drex has been a pleasant surprise. His show has real guests. His “the lines are always open” seems to be the NW of old. His show has ebergy and he seems to have a grip on what the listeners want to hear. Drex is the only positive change NW has made in years
If anyone at CKNW is listening…
I am 41 years old, squarely in the target demographic, I have been listening faithfully for years and I have supported your advertisers in the past.
I am very disappointed at the changes that CKNW has chosen to make. The comentary and questioning by almost all of the hosts (John McComb excluded) is amateurish and at times blatantly ignorant. Sorry to say, I am now looking for another radio station, and from conversations I have had with other faithful listeners, I’m not alone.
You’re right David, you are not alone. I have listened to ‘NW for years because at one time, it had everything a listener would want. News, sports, commentary, entertainment- it was all there. Now all we have is perhaps 2 programs worth tuning in for – namely Jon McComb and Roy Green. Beyond that (with possible exception of Simi) all we get is news readers stumbling over pronounciation of the most basic names of people and places, stupid chat between so-called hosts and there producers which sounds so juvenile it boggles the mind. It seems that the suits at Corus just don’t get it. If they want to be the “top dog” again, they should go back into their archives and listen to what the station once was and try and replicate what they had “back in the day”. Obviously they cannot have the same hosts, but surely to goodness with a bit of effort they could find people who could come close. As for Jon McCombs’ show, people want to be entertained in the morning while getting ready for the day. Leave the “heavy” topics until after 8:30 or 9. At the rate they are going there will not be anybody for them to “thank for following”.
It is almost like a slash and burn policy; if the managers are going down they will take the station down with them. Up to now they have been doing a great job at it.
What NW needs to do is what the Canucks did. Fire current management and get a respected past alumni to come in and blow the doors out of the place and set it in the right direction again.
The way it is now they will probably do this in a year and by that time they will be buried with the also-rans in the ratings.
What management doesnt seem to understand is that low ratings breeds lower ratings in the current format. If a station has a 10 or more rating share then news will be scrambling to get on the station but if the ratings aren’t any better than anyone else they will be passed over which will make the shows sound even more useless than they are now.
Do you really think the BCTF, Fassbender or Clark would want to go on NW if they had a 5 or 6 share. No way.