Found some clues to the NovaM/Randi/Manzo mystery over on Jef Farias' board

[Wiley50]

http://www.thejefffariasshow.com/community/viewtopic.php?f=7&t=474&p=795#p795


Re: manzo suing drobney's/novam

Postby Blueinmo on Sun Feb 15, 2009 5:03 am
Did you guys see this post that supposedly was posted by Sean Ryan? He really rips into Randi. This was posted YESTERDAY!

And why has Manzo included Sean in the lawsuit he was fired too by NovaM?

Re: Randi Rhodes leaves Nova M Radio
http://www.thejefffariasshow.com/community/viewtopic.php?f=7&t=481&p=800#p800

(this post by Kim Macias, fired sales mgr)

When AAR came on in Phoenix, I got in my car and drove to 1010AM. I told (then GM) Bob Christy, “I’ve never heard anyone talk like this before! I’ll do whatever it takes to keep this woman (Randi Rhodes) on the air in Phoenix!”

I was the 1st employee, and we got started.

In LESS than a year, we were turning a profit. Affiliates were calling us to find out how we were doing all of this, and in a red state?
The station’s secret was the same as mine: doing everything it takes to make sure this thing worked. Worked for the listeners, for the advertisers, for the community.
Everyone working there had that same goal. They all came in with their expertise and said, “you need my help, I want to be here, this MUST work.”

And then we’d done such a good job making a nothing station valuable, 1010 was bought. I thought this was the worst thing I could ever have imagined….

But THIS MUST work!
So a hand full of us got together to save/resurrect Progressive Talk in Phoenix.
And with the help of everyone we knew, and everyone they knew, and everyone they knew…. We got back up.

I remember Randi, and Sam and Malloy REALLY helping us. They told their national audiences the 1010 story and about our efforts and helped us unite as a community to gather funds and advertisers.
After everything we had done to keep these talents on the air in Phoenix, they had just repaid us and we got back up and running in one month!!

We were so proud. I thought I couldn’t be prouder than I was at 1010. But this topped it.

I love and miss all of you who suffered through cockroaches and vermin those first few days. Those who helped paint and clean. Those who spent the night on the floor of the station with me, giggling and exhausted…
Those who wired and rewired for days and days. Those who donated pictures and books and helped us any way you could. Those who printed their own stickers and tshirts and flyers and emailed their friends about us, because we had no money to market.

Then a year later, THE IMPOSSIBLE.

We now OWN the Randi Rhodes Show!!!

OMG OMG! We own the biggest, the baddest, the smartest show in TALK radio. Wheez…faint…wow.
What a dream. And we were selling the shite out of it. Even selling out!!!!
I don’t know what’s wrong with progressive talk…. Honestly. We made it work, but maybe that’s because we loved it. It had VALUE to us, and we treated it that way.

We got top dollar for Randi.
We would have clients say “why do I have to pay THIS when I was paying up to 5x less where she was before?”
And I would let them know Randi gets her client results. And maybe undervaluing ads is why her previous employer keeps filing for bankruptcy.
-And she worked for clients. My most amazed client got just over 200 orders the first day their ads ran!!!
200!!! The first day. So she sells, and she gets results. And so did we. Happy days...

I must say this is heartbreaking for me on so many levels.

Many of the people writing on the boards say they love the station, the network, the format, the talent.
Then why claw so mercilessly at it? You help build this and now you’re going to say it doesn’t work -or it’s the talents fault….
No, the talent still has talent, so …
The people you got rid of are gone, so...

Maybe if Nova M were still a player, it would be quelching the negative talk coming from whiny affiliates who didn’t realize this was going to be work.
Like DC… AND Like some hosts who hate whiners, but continue to whine that Progressive Talk is going away, or to the internet. Wow, that’s coming out of a progressive radio hosts mouth…? Stunning.
Simply because Obama won the election, or a station is broadcast in a “blue area”, there is no easy money. So work!!! We worked for every dime brought in. And then we made it work for those who gave us the dimes!

I love the format. I miss the people. All I know is that we had Nova M and KPHX humming and set to soar in a boom of an election.
It has been truly awful watching it decompose slowly over the last 5 months, like someone left the freezer door open over a longgggg vacation. Lord.

I miss Randi and hope to hear her soon.
I understand everyone is angry. We had something we loved. It’s been ruined.
But, I won’t be pit against one another or let anyone take that time from us.
What’s done is done.

And thi:

(by Sean Ryan, novam board op, and then, briefly, CEO after Manzo, before getting canned himself)


by sean ryan on Sat Feb 14, 2009 9:34 am

Randi's Contract is not up till 4-15-09 what she is pulling now is deploreable, she really thinks highly of herself to think she is going to get more money. Her show already costs Nova M $600,000.00 a year! And what does she think, that there are other Progressive Networks ready to grab up a Very High Maintence Personality? Randi Rhodes has been the downfall of The Nova M Radio Network. She must think that going on strike will bring Manzo back, WRONG! And now Manzo has sued the Drobny's, Nova M and Me. He must think that a lawsuit will get him back like it did Dr.Mike Newcomb. Yes the Drobny's settled with Dr.Mike and that's how he got his 2 hours every weekday afternoon. I'll be surprised if Nova M makes it till the end of the month.
Of course Randi has completely disrepected her fan base with her tantrums and demands which shows Randi only cares about Randi. Period

http://unfilterednewsnetwork.com/forums ... 210#p46475


MY Own Gut Feeling (having met none of the parties involved)

Shelly Drobney is a smart, progressive, but browbeaten husband who let his neurotic wife run things so she'd fucking shut up

[libnnc]

1. geez, what a mess

x(

[wildflower]

2. Sean is gone?

I hadn't realized that. Though just this past week, I noticed he wasn't producing for "Real Estate Matters." I used to like his "Politics in Music" show.

[Wiley50]

3. NOTE: I screwed up doing the cut and paste

the first part, from blueinmo goes with the Sean Ryan post at the end.

The Kim Macias post is on the other link

sorry

[Wiley50]

4. I found one more relevent post over there

ceo no

Postby udermuder on Fri Feb 13, 2009 11:28 am
The Dakota Indians of North America passed on this piece of wisdom from generation by word of mouth - "If you are riding a dead horse the best thing to do is dismount". However in the corporate world because of the heavy investment factor other things to be tried, (but not limited to) are the following

* buy a stronger whip
* change riders
* threaten the horse with termination
* appoint a committee to study the horse
* arrange to visit other sites to see how they ride dead horses
* lower the standards so dead horses can be included
* appoint an intervention team to reanimate the horse
* create a training session to increase the riders load share
* reclassify the horse as 'living impaired'
* change the form so it reads "This horse is not dead"
* hire outside contractors to ride the dead horse
* harness several dead horses together for increased speed and efficiency
* donate the dead horse to a recognised charity therefore deducting its full original cost
* provide additional funding to increase horse's performance
* do a time management study to see if lighter riders would improve productivity
* purchase an after market product that makes dead horses run faster
* declare the dead horse has lower overheads and is therefore more cost effective
* form a quality focus group to find profitable uses for dead horses
* rewrite the performance requirements for horses
* and finally if all else fails.....promote the dead horse into a supervisory (management) position
*quit picking at that or it will scar.

[Canuckistanian]

5. I remember Kim Macias

She used to do voiceovers for their commercials.

But I still don't understand why Randi went. Was she asking for more money? I heard one time she was making about 300k.

Not out of line for a national show host, but these progressive networks keep folding like cheap card tables.

I just don't get all these lawsuits.

[Wiley50]

6. Here's some more

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x5062736

[Cato the Younger]

7. Perhaps if people act like children

they should be treated accordingly.....

Sorry, I dropped the pod-casts and frankly don't give a rats ass about what happens to liberal talk radio. It fell on it's own sword and maybe it does deserve to die off. It was a nice effort but once the drama behind the scenes comes to the forefront, it is damaged goods. (And what the hell were people thinking Randi off the air was some sort of strategy?!?? Once you're off the air due to a "dispute" you've pretty much lost the war.)

I was a liberal before the format came along, hell I was a liberal back in second grade, and I'll still be a liberal when progressive talk finally dies out in the next couple of years.

[otohara]

12. Not So Fast Kemosabe

Rhodes has burnt her last bridge perhaps and may have to resort to a much smaller roll back in one market, satellite and the net.

Ed Schultz however is not going anywhere soon, nor Thom Hartman. Schultz is moving to DC 6 months out of the year to do his show.

We're in charge now...Ed Schultz was sitting next to Helen Thomas at the big press conference last Monday. The death of progressive media isn't happening anytime soon.

[liberal1973]

13. I do

I do.

"-frankly don't give a rats ass about what happens to liberal talk radio-"

Frankly you're ful of crap. You post in message about a liberal radio host and you don't care. lol..

[Wiley50]

8. Kick for the day shift

[Spazito]

9. Well, if what Sean has posted is true...

and Randi is withholding her services while, still under contract, for more money or, to force Nova M to re-hire Manzo then I think she is being unprofessional in the extreme and Nova M should, and it now seems they have, cut her loose. I am very disappointed with this whole mess but will continue to support Nova M and Mike Malloy.

[Garbo 2004]

10. Ryan's already named in one lawsuit & his public statements ill advised.

I rather doubt Rhodes took any action without legal counsel.

[Spazito]

11. Whether his statement was ill-advised or not is not relevant as to whether his statement was

true or not. If true, I find Randi's actions unprofessional, if it is not true then it is hoped a statement from Randi will clear it up.

[Garbo 2004]

14. And we don't know if his statement is true or not. And won't likely get much more light for some

time, if ever, other than the current public statements by Nova M and Randi, which appear mutually contradictory. http://www.green960.com/pages/blog.html?feed=313154&article=5009873

For example in the matter of another Nova M host, AFAIK Nova M (and Ryan) still say Jeff Farias quit last fall whereas Farias says he was fired. (And IIRC in that case the evidence publicly cited by Nova M to support their contention was ridiculous.)

[Spazito]

15. It is true we may never know what actually precipitated the current...

kerfuffle whether it be a contractual dispute, the firing of some personnel or some version of both. All in all, the kerfuffle, in being fought by dueling messages, is quite unprofessional as is the behavior of those involved and does not do liberal/progressive talk any favors, imo.

[travelingtypist]

16. Fuck you, Randi.

Appreciation my ass.

I can't be the only one who's pissed at her.