The Southern Ontario/WNY Radio-TV Forum » News on Bill Carroll

Jody Thornton · February 2, 2016 11:13 pm

http://www.torontomike.com/2016/02/bill_carrolls_leaving_talk_radio_a.html

Last edited by Jody Thornton (February 2, 2016 11:14 pm)

RadioQuiz · February 2, 2016 11:28 pm

I'll submit a suggestion - Sirius XM. Discuss.

Peter the K · February 3, 2016 12:13 am

Does anyone actually listen to Sirius XM talk? (That's a serious question. Not sure if I'd be willing to actually pay for talk radio.)

I still have a feeling this move out of L.A. isn't one of his best ideas. Although he's already admitted on the air that it wasn't really his idea in the first place. C'est la vie.

g121 · February 3, 2016 12:38 am

to be honest when Kelly Cutrara subs for McArthur or Carroll, i enjoy the show more. McArthur & Carroll preach, Cutrara discusses .. thus making for a more balanced show.

Peter the K · February 3, 2016 1:10 am

Kelly Cutrara could certainly step in without a skipping a beat. Besides, it's nice hearing a female voice doing talk radio. I miss Tina T. and Arlene Bynon. (although I won't pay for SiriusXM)

g121 · February 3, 2016 1:25 am

Peter the K wrote:
Kelly Cutrara could certainly step in without a skipping a beat. Besides, it's nice hearing a female voice doing talk radio. I miss Tina T. and Arlene Bynon. (although I won't pay for SiriusXM)

Tina T. is cool although i do think Kelly C. is a step up.

Arlene Bynon .. ugg, no thanks .. in my opinion, she's a female McArthur\Carroll. she preaches & over talks her callers especially if they have a different view than hers.

Radiowiz · February 3, 2016 6:20 am

Before we speculate a replacement for Bill Carroll, why not swing back to the original speculation of a format change first...
http://gta.boardhost.com/viewtopic.php?id=425

February 3, 2016 8:37 am

Radiowiz wrote:
Before we speculate a replacement for Bill Carroll, why not swing back to the original speculation of a format change

The answer is at pg. GT8 of this morning's Toronto Star, halfway down right side: "younger audiences don't want talk radio, they want music; starting today we're going all bagpipes all the time . . . the winds of change, blowing loud and screechy"

does that not describe Bill Carroll?

G.

Johnny B · February 3, 2016 9:27 am

If 640 was smart (which it isn't) they'd give the gig to Kelly...why not?...they have nothing to lose and she actually is positive and entertaining...plus it may help cull this old school conservative white guy over 55 club that talk is clinging to until all their listeners die of pissed-off disease.

tvguy · February 3, 2016 1:17 pm

My wife has Sat Radio in her car and listens to US talk - only on NPR Now and BBC World. I discontinued XM in the car about 6 months ago and now play podcasts of my choosing and audiobooks. My blood pressure is lower. But answering the question, I tried to listen to the Canadian talk channels on Sirius XM a few times and they were of no interest to me. The programming sounded more like poorly executed college radio. I graduated from college a long time ago.

Steve · February 6, 2016 10:02 am

Read on his twitter that his gig at 640 is officially done. Reading his words it didn't sound like it was his decision.

I wonder if 640 is thinking of the same revolving host format as RB. At least in the interim.

Dial Twister · February 6, 2016 10:17 am

I'm betting Bendixen knows what's going on.

tvguy · February 6, 2016 1:49 pm

On his closing Friday night he made a couple of points. First he mentioned having non-competes (which are normal). So he is waiting out his non-compete period(s). Secondly, he said that management changes at 640, resulted in no-one being prepared to make a longer-term contractual commitment. He noted that he was looking for a long-term contract, and they were prepared to continue month-to-month. He's looking for more (job) security at this point. Reading between the lines, for the Toronto market, he has to sit out a non-compete period before moving to another station. He didn't say how long. 6 months? If that's so, he's pulled the trigger in order to start the non-compete clock ticking. It's also possible he is waiting out a US non-compete - perhaps larger than the S.California region..
Bottom line, I assume he may be fielding calls fairly soon. Bill said he's taking his kids and Sylvie up the Calif coast in about a week in a motor home and plans to do nothing for a while.

Good for him!!!

Peter the K · February 6, 2016 6:05 pm

Can't blame him for walking when 640 won't give him some form of security. I'm sure he'll land on his feet but they have to start making some decisions fairly soon.

Anyone taking bets on how long it will take AM640 to get a permanent host for the slot? I'd want to see Kelly Cutrara get the gig but I have a feeling (and nothing against him, but radio is just a plaything for him these days) that Mr. Honickman will be seeing a lot of air time in the next little while.

Kilgore · February 6, 2016 6:15 pm

Peter the K wrote:
Mr. Honickman will be seeing a lot of air time in the next little while

Honickman is OK but is no Jimi Cauchon

RadioActive · February 6, 2016 11:03 pm

tvguy wrote:
He noted that he was looking for a long-term contract, and they were prepared to continue month-to-month. He's looking for more (job) security at this point.

What I find interesting about that statement, which I also heard on Friday, is what it may portend for everyone else at the station. Could it be that Corus will also offer month-to-month deals to its other hosts when their contracts expire, which would certainly make it possible for them to pull the trigger on a format change without having to worry about severance, owed benefits and the other annoyances companies like this hate to deal with when there's a massive bloodletting?

I can't help but wonder if this is the opening salvo of the end of AM640 as we presently know it. Or perhaps I'm reading too much into it.

Time, as they say, will tell.

And probably sooner than later.

Kilgore · February 7, 2016 6:40 am

RadioActive wrote:
tvguy wrote:
He noted that he was looking for a long-term contract, and they were prepared to continue month-to-month. He's looking for more (job) security at this point.
Corus will also offer month-to-month deals to its other hosts when their contracts expire, which would certainly make it possible for them to pull the trigger on a format change without having to worry about severance, owed benefits and the other annoyances

Did Elwood Glover, Bing Whitteker, Max Ferguson, Al Boliska & Dave Johnson have severance entitlements?

Radiowiz · February 7, 2016 7:54 am

Kilgore wrote:
Did Elwood Glover, Bing Whitteker, Max Ferguson, Al Boliska & Dave Johnson have severance entitlements?

Back in those days there was a lot more competition among radio stations. Each station would fight harder to keep the staff they have to prevent them from wandering down the dial.

At this point, I think AM 640 is quietly researching a few possible different format changes that steer the radio station in a new direction.
Business news radio is a good guess, but who really knows?
As long as it's easy for them to "get rid of the bodies" (as they say in the biz) they're good to go for what ever is about to happen next. (the "next chapter" as they also say in the biz...)

Steve · February 7, 2016 9:24 am

I doubt it will be a change of format to business radio unless it was just an aggregate station that played pretaped and routed material from other places.

Just an observation but Stafford seems to be the only host that actually cares about the station. Oakley is unlistenable and the other guy sounds and acts like it's his side gig.

Fearless prediction is the afternoons go to a younger guy who is relatively unknown. Not just as a stab in the dark but someone who will take the lower pay and skittish contract.

But what the hell do I know

Kilgore · February 7, 2016 1:47 pm

Steve wrote:
Stafford seems to be the only host that actually cares about the station

Does he stay behind at the end of his shift and wipe down the mic? Does he return his mug to the coffee room and wash it? Or how do you quantify his level of caring, compared to other AM 640 hosts who you evidently detest?

Fjiri · February 7, 2016 5:48 pm

Correcting tvguy.

I heard the end of his show

He was offered a year contract, not month-to-month. We're not talking about renting an apartment here

RadioActive · February 7, 2016 6:37 pm

AM640 has already removed any Bill Carroll audio files. There seems to be some dispute about exactly what he said. and this being the Internet, you knew somebody would post the goodbye somewhere. And someone has.

Bill Carroll signs off AM640 Toronto

He does talk about being offered a "short term deal" at the 1:50 mark, and makes reference to not being happy with a month-to-month deal at around the 2:40 mark. Worth a listen if you didn't hear it.

Mark Elliot · February 7, 2016 8:10 pm

Perhaps Bill is doing what he is out of concern for his family.
If so, Good for Bill!
Radio is damned demanding on the best of relationships and if he's doing this out of love for Sylvie - Good for Bill!
Radio jobs come and go, but family is forever...

g121 · February 8, 2016 1:15 pm

https://twitter.com/KellyCutrara?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
Kelly Cutrara ‏=13px@KellyCutrara [/url] 1h1 hour ago Bill Carroll said farewell on Friday. I will be hosting the show this week. [url=https://twitter.com/billcarroll640]@billcarroll640 fans, please cut me some slack, I am a fan too.

hmmm .. maybe they're giving Kelly an extended audition?

RadioActive · February 8, 2016 9:59 pm

Cutrara fills in all this week. Honickman all next. And then back to Cutrara for the rest of February. After that, it's anyone's guess. I sometimes wonder if even the brass at Corus knows who will eventually be doing permanent afternoon drive in the most important market in Canada.

Kilgore · February 9, 2016 9:48 am

Steve wrote:
Stafford seems to be the only host that actually cares about the station

Does Kelly Cutrara CARE?

Peter the K · February 9, 2016 12:48 pm

The big issue is that it appears that the powers that be at AM640 don't care.

-Rotating hosts in afternoon drive -- you would think they would have a game plan in place already. There's no way this development came as a surprise to the management.

-Ryan Bonner in for Stafford. It's unlistenable. But why care about it. I hope Stafford wins really big at the casino this week so he doesn't have to come back to the shyte show that his station has become.

Maybe it's time for Corus to just sell the thing to someone who can make a go of it.

Steve · February 9, 2016 2:53 pm

I didn't get a chance to tune into Kelly's afternoon start.

If it's anything like her previous incarnation on 640 I don't regret it.

As to caring?... She probably cares enough in so much as she needs all the exposure she can get in the new media market. And she seems genuinely eager to be on air. Which is more than I can say for some of the hosts down there.

StevieB · February 10, 2016 4:39 pm

I've listened to her this week, and it's alright. Trouble is, She's just filling in, and can't pretend she isn't. I caught her once saying "It's Kelly In..." and stopped before she could say "for Bill"
The one thing I do like, is that they have kept much of Bill Carroll's format. Chris is on air, Chreston's cuts are still there, and Kelly says that She'll have Andy Frost in on Friday for Frost on Ice. I'd really like to hear Karen Gordon on Friday. I know it sounds just like Bill's show, but I LIKED BILL'S SHOW.
BTW completely agree about Bonnar. He's hosted the show before and done a far better job of it, but this week it sounds like He just isn't putting much into it.
Maybe the writing IS on the wall for the station.

Last edited by StevieB (February 10, 2016 4:41 pm)

Fjiri · February 10, 2016 5:54 pm

Everybody's a critic! I think Bonnar has done pretty damn well this week, better than previous outings. anything positive to say on this board?