Media Frenzy

By Rob Holbert Managing Editor

Firings at WPMI

It didn’t take long for WPMI-TV’s new owners, Newport, to make a splash at the NBC affiliate. In late June, they slashed 7.5 percent of the personnel at their 56 stations nationwide, including, of course, WPMI.

The layoffs at WPMI included non-on-air staff, including producers, Web personnel and other support staff, according to a staffer who was laid off. Those who had worked for the company for several years were offered buyout packages ranging up to six months salary. Newer employees were given much less.

Newport bought WPMI in March and cut more than 2,000 employees nationwide.

The former WPMI staffers told us seven or eight employees were fired as a result of the cuts. Some of Newport’s largest stations reportedly canned up to 20 employees.

Gardner Pirates up

Starting July 7, local radio listeners can catch Wayne Gardner mornings on WAVH, “The Pirate.” Gardner, a longtime host on WNSP’s morning show, will join Sean Sullivan in hosting The Pirate’s morning program.

Gardner comes aboard as both the morning co-host and general manager. He has been off the air for six months, waiting out a non-compete clause in his contract with WNSP. Sullivan said the two have worked together for sometime and listeners can expect good interplay between them.

“The Pirate is excited to have a broadcaster with Wayne’s experience on and off the air on board,” Sullivan said.

Fingers going viral

If you ever wondered what the term “viral marketing” means, look no further than what’s happened since an employee with Foosackly’s Chicken Fingers trundled out to the store’s kiosk and constructed the phrase, “We would like to offer Boeing a finger.”

The sign was a clever play on the word “finger” and a heartfelt response to Boeing’s success in possibly negating the Air Force’s selection Northrop-Grumman/EADS to build the next generation of refueling tankers in the Port City. But what happened next probably got the employee a raise, or at least a free gallon Foosackly’s sauce (which is so good it could make a very old shoe taste fantastic).

According to Rich Sullivan of Red Square, the agency handling all of Foosackly’s advertising, “Foo viral has reached epic proportions. Crazy actually.”

The sign was a front-page story in the Press-Register and was covered by all three of the city’s TV news outlets. WKRG has even gone back for seconds. (I told you that sauce is good.)

Sullivan says the story has also made it onto many Web sites and blogs and appeared in several Washington State newspapers, including in the June 29 Seattle Times, which boasts a readership of 420,000. Sullivan said they are also talking to cable news networks and late night TV producers.

Besides formally putting the message on a billboard, the company has also designed bumper stickers with the “finger for Boeing” message. Northrop has ordered 800 stickers and Boeing has even asked for some as well.

“It’s a hell of a return for a very small investment – all for being topical, a little bit wicked and doing what people talk about,” Sullivan explained.

FOX wins sweeps

The May sweeps period was good for WALA TV-10. The FOX affiliate announced it had claimed the top spot for the six straight ratings periods, going back to February of 2007, as surveyed by Nielson.

“We always say that the ratings race is a marathon and not a sprint,” said WALA/WBPG President and General Manager Matt Pumo in a press release. “Our focus is now on maintaining and growing this level of commitment…to our community, to our advertisers and, most importantly, to our viewers.”

WALA led all Mobile stations from sign-on to sign-off with a 2.1 rating, and won the mornings with a 3.3 share. At 5 p.m., the station had a 5.6 rating. The ratings surveyed viewers in the 25-54 age group, considered the standard of audience measurement.

“This victory reflects the hard work of the entire news department as well as every department in the station,” WALA News Director Bob Cashen said in a press release. “We are extremely gratified to know that people trust FOX10 News day-in and day-out as their primary source for local news, weather and sports. We look forward to even better things to come.”

McBryde busted

The on-again, off-again radio career of former Mobile talk show host Shane McBryde appears to be off again.

McBryde, 37, has been co-host of a talk show on WMAC News Talk 940 in Macon, Ga. for the past year, along with fellow former Mobilian Ron Fraiser. But McBryde was suspended from the station June 22 after being arrested for misdemeanor marijuana possession, according to published stories.

McBryde has been hosing the station’s morning show from 6 a.m. to 9 p.m. weekday mornings for the Cumulus-owned station. He was arrested after a police officer responded to a report of a man with a gun. The officer did not find the person with the gun, but smelled pot wafting from a nearby house, knocked on the door and the homeowner agreed to allow a search.

According to published reports, there were seven people inside and all denied having any weed, but McBryde admitted he had a small amount after being told the drug-sniffing dog was on the way. He was charged with misdemeanor possession. The following day, he was suspended indefinitely by the station.

In subsequent interviews with both print and broadcast news agencies, McBryde claimed he hadn’t smoked pot that day, but had been saving it for later. He claims to have not smoked pot for many years, but that he had recently fallen off the wagon.

Fraiser was left to cover for McBryde, a situation he’s been in before. A few years ago, the two hosted a show together on WABB 1480 AM. McBryde abruptly quit that show one morning, leaving Fraiser to soldier on. McBryde also hosted a show in the afternoons at WNTM 710 AM for a couple of years in the early part of this decade.

McBryde told the local newspaper he’d become friendly with people in Macon’s rap-music scene and has worked with them to get their music recorded. Those were the people he was with when he was arrested. He was released on $390 bail.

Rob Holbert is Lagniappe managing editor. Contact him at rholbert@lagniappemobile.com.

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