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Should A Host Doing A Local Talk Show Have To Be In The Same City?
The question comes from Buffalo News TV and radio scribe Alan Pergament, who notes that longtime WBEN talk show personality Tom Bauerle appears to be taking his show on the road, moving to Florida. But the right wing host will still be doing his daily program about Buffalo issues on the station, even if he's 3,000 miles away.
He'll be joining fellow AM 930 host David Bellavia, who also broadcasts at least part time from the Sunshine State.
I know this is a common thing now, and technically, you can't tell the difference. But there's something to be said for being in the same city in order to be able to judge the public mood and the political tensions, as well as last minute developments. I think it would be hard to do a truly credible show about Buffalo issues if you're never or rarely there.
It's a bit different for a music show. But talk is an animal that needs to be local. And I would argue only being there lets you truly tap into that.
Tom Bauerle taking WBEN show to Florida
- Binson Echorec
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Re: Should A Host Doing A Local Talk Show Have To Be In The Same City?
For talk, they absolutely should. Bill Carroll doing 640's afternoon drive from L.A. was one of the more embarrassing moves I've witnessed. Especially because he was on the air in L.A. at the same time, which meant he had to tape two hours for Toronto in the morning.
I'm pretty sure Peter Shurman used to do the occasional show from Florida - which wasn't as bad because he lived here for half the year so he knew the market and he could do the show live in its entirety as he wasn't on the air elsewhere!
- BowmanvilleBob
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Re: Should A Host Doing A Local Talk Show Have To Be In The Same City?
Author and journalist Michael Harris had a live show on CFRA in Ottawa for several years while living in Lunenburg, Nova Scotia. His producer was responsible for keeping him updated on current Ottawa news and frankly, most of his listeners were none the wiser. It really only became an issue when a host on the local sportstalk station was taking heat for not living in Ottawa and used Harris as an example of someone on the air who didn't live locally.
- Hansa
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Re: Should A Host Doing A Local Talk Show Have To Be In The Same City?
Reminds me of Sue Ann Levy filing columns on city and provincial politics while spending months at a time in Florida.
- zed
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Re: Should A Host Doing A Local Talk Show Have To Be In The Same City?
The flip of this was Miami talk show host Neil Rogers on 560 WMAQ. His 10am - 2pm show was consistently one of the top rated shows in the Miami-Fort Lauderdale market but he was living and broadcast his show from Toronto and never tried to hide that fact.
He regularly talked about Toronto and spending his afternoons at Woodbine betting on the ponies.There were billboards all over south Florida with his face on them and one Saturday morning I was walking up Yonge Street, waiting for a light to change when I recognized the guy that would be coming toward me. I waited and when he crossed said, you're Neli Rogers aren't you? He said yes and we had quite a conversation about his home studio set up and how it all worked.
He retired in 2009 and sadly passed away in 2010.
Last edited by zed (May 28, 2025 4:27 pm)
- Binson Echorec
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Re: Should A Host Doing A Local Talk Show Have To Be In The Same City?
^I knew about this guy but didn't know the name or I would've cited it. Thanks for filling me in!
- fybush
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Re: Should A Host Doing A Local Talk Show Have To Be In The Same City?
As was noted earlier in the thread about my appearance on the Broadcast Dialogue podcast, I used to work at WBZ in Boston. Our lead morning anchor, Gary LaPierre, had worked at the station since 1964, and by the early 2000s (not long after I left) he was enjoying spending parts of the winter in the sunshine at his second home in Florida.
The Boston papers "discovered" a huge "scandal" when they learned Gary was sometimes anchoring the morning news from St. Augustine instead of from Boston, and it was all over the news for a little while.
It never seemed like a big deal to me, and still doesn't. Nobody knew Boston the way Gary did. The newscasts he was reading from Florida were still being gathered and edited back in Boston by a very talented, very local newsroom. Gary was still reading all the Boston papers every morning, watching the Boston newscasts and very deeply plugged into the city regardless of where he was physically located.
Here in Rochester now, our veteran morning FM talker, Brother Wease, is in Florida most of the year, too. He makes no secret of that, and he's still on the air with a team that's partially in the studio back home.
As with voicetracking, I'm less interested in exactly where and when the talent is, and more interested in whether the content they're generating is compelling and current. And technology allows for that to happen from just about anywhere.
- Chrisphen
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Re: Should A Host Doing A Local Talk Show Have To Be In The Same City?
WBEN is curious. They've resolutely stood by their man, despite his...uh...shortcomings.
- Binson Echorec
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Re: Should A Host Doing A Local Talk Show Have To Be In The Same City?
fybush wrote:
Here in Rochester now, our veteran morning FM talker, Brother Wease, is in Florida most of the year, too. He makes no secret of that, and he's still on the air with a team that's partially in the studio back home.
Oh, wow. I loved Brother Wease when he was simulcast to 92.9 in Buffalo in the early 2000s.
Glad to hear he's still at it. That show had a great vibe.