Philly Talk
Radio Online: Mr. Gross, Gil if I may, you've been heard doing the
Paul Harvey spots, what else have you been up to over the past 8 months and
what would you like to do more of in the future?
Gil
Gross: I've been waiting until school is out for my son to make my
final decision about where to go. I've been doing talk shows for KGO,
KLAC, WMAL & KHOW, as well as doing the Paul Harvey "fills" and
special events for ABC news such as Long Form Coverage and specials on the
McVeigh execution. I'm deciding among several offers. What I'd
like to do more of is whatever has me with my family more than anything
else. Sounds like a Miss America answer, but it's true.
PTRO:
What do you miss most about WWDB and doing a talk show in Philly?
Gil:
I miss the people at WWDB. I've seen people write that we all hated each
other. I only had trouble with one host and it was someone I
really had very little contact with. It was a good group. Philly
should be a great talk show market filled with local talk. I miss the
last 3 months when management and consultants who were clueless on running a
talk station finally just left us the hell alone. I think that last
summer and early fall were the only shows I did that I really liked.
PTRO:
Do you have any thoughts on the format flip that killed Philly's heritage
talker, WWDB .. the first FM talk station in the country?
Gil:
Well, I think the ratings speak for themselves. The company hadn't a
clue as to how to run a talk station and if they cared at all about Philly
they would have sold it. They would bring in talk Program Directors,
from Casale to Mark Williams to Jeff Hillery, and just ignore them. With
Alice, Jammin', Mix or whatever it is today, 80's music was the last thing
that the market needed. As for WWDB being a heritage station, it was
like having someone come in from out of town, buy the Liberty Bell and melt it
down for scrap ... or something that rhymes with scrap!
PTRO:
Anything special about talk in this market and what does this market need?
Gil:
It needs compelling local talk. The problem at 'DB was they couldn't
decide what it was. It called itself NewsTalk but Irv, Susan and myself
were the only ones who talked about news. Everyone on the air was
talented but we shouldn't have been at the same place doing all those
different things. For instance, they could have kept Kent Voss, Jay
& Hilarie and killed the rest of us and gone lifestyle. WPHT is now
a good classic conservative talker. I think the market still needs a
young talker though WYSP seems headed there now, maybe a lifestyle
station. A classic NewsTalker could work but it takes money and
time. I don't see any companies going that way in this economy.
What
it really did not need is what we did. Pat & I were brought in to do
a news oriented talk show. The concept I was brought in to do was a show
where Pat would do news and then I'd go to the phones. We'd go to a
street reporter getting reaction from people on the street ... Pat and I would
then interview the newsmaker involved and then I'd take more calls. It
would have worked. Two weeks before air they chickened out and decided
to take on KYW which was insane and I told them that. The consultant,
who was certifiable, had promos on the air telling listeners how they couldn't
hear KYW in Bucks County but they could hear us. Who the hell was that
spot for? Was it to convince people who couldn't hear a radio station
not to listen to it? They were full of neat stuff like that.
The
concept the sold me on was we'd do the news and then concentrate on the big
talk story of the day. We never did it. Pat & I basically
introduced John Brown. John was cool. It just wasn't the format we
were supposed to be doing.
PTRO:
With traditional talk radio seemingly on life support in this town do you have
any thoughts on its future hear and around the country?
Gil:
Maybe Philly Talk is cursed. I hope not. I wish WPHT luck and hope
they do a local morning drive show. It is healthy around the
country. DB got out before the biggest talk radio ratings book in
history. I'm on KGO this week. It's #1 and its sister station,
KSFO, is #2 in San Francisco. That's market #4. We're just one
below that at #5. That should be US. We're hurt somewhat because
ABC and Clear Channel, the 2 big talk chains, don't own talk stations in
Philly. If the Beasley's finally leave this market you could see 96.5 go
talk again but Clear Channel is at capacity and ABC seems to be buying only
for Radio Disney and ESPN so there's nothing in view for Philadelphia.
PTRO:
You've done a great deal in your career, what part did you enjoy the most?
Gil:
Working with musicians. Going to the North and South Poles.
Meeting my wife at WNBC.
PTRO:
If you hit the lottery for a huge sum and had the ability to purchase a major
market signal would you or is it just too much trouble running a station and
being a broadcaster?
Gil:
I don't think it's really a problem. WWDB could have been reorganized in
a year and have been a 5 rating radio station. Radio is, with very few
exceptions, badly managed. Good General Managers that can meld
programming, sales and promotion are hard to find. I've worked for
people that can do it. Mickey Luckoff at KGO/KSFO, Lee Simonson when he
was at WOR, Bob Hyland, Jr. at WCBS. Sure, I'd buy a station. I'd
buy the former Jammin' from Greater Media and put on a kickass talk station
that promoted like a rocker.
PTRO:
We have a lot of young talent in this town, do you have any advice for those
interested in making radio a career?
Gil:
Be yourself. 'DB was probably the only place I violated that. When
they threatened to fire me for being funny [Honest to God. True
story!] I should have just let them do it. I had just moved my
family , enrolled my kid in school and bought a house and sacrificed myself
for my family. I learned not to do that ... ever. It is a great
career. For all the bitching and moaning you hear from people, it's a
great life.
PTRO:
Mellany Armstrong was always one of my favorites. It's been said that
she has one of the sexiest news voices around, would you agree or is your wife
in the room?
Gil:
Mellany has a great voice, is a nice person and a terrific news person.
If you like intelligent, hip women then the whole damn staff was pretty
sexy. Fortunately, my wife is incredibly sexy and has great taste in
men.
PTRO:
What about Pat Farnack?
Gil:
I miss her the most. Pat is probably the lifelong friend I made there,
along with Larrimore .. who I see a good deal. I have had some awful
co-anchor experiences but Pat was a total pleasure. Smart, professional,
good sense of humor. I loved working with her.
PTRO:
Any other thoughts?
Gil:
WPHT is all you're likely to have for the foreseeable future. Even if
they do flip WPEN someday I don't think its signal allows it to be a major
talk contender. If I had to guess, I'd think it will end up being leased
or sold to ABC as an ESPN affiliate. I think you have to work on WPHT
doing a morning show and a local show before Rush.
If
you get a 2nd station, don't slaughter it for not being everything you want it
to be. No station is or ever will be. Support what you like, rally
for what you want, but don't slaughter what's not for you or you'll end up
with nothing.
I'm
not likely to ever be part of WPHT but even as you fight for what you want on
the station, try to give Dom and Smerconish the benefit of the doubt.
They're what you've got. You want the station to do well enough that
someone else comes in as well and let them both look to serve you best, rather
than have one roll over and die ala WWDB. Right now Philly has an
undeserved reputation as a lousy talk market because of DB and the various
1210 formats of the past.
