[Speed Gibson,
Thursday January 12, 2006 at 8:02pm]
Reviewing: Willie Clark (Part 2 of 2)
Things are already moving quickly at the big AM 1500, per Dementee and Fraters. In fact, I started this series figuring Willie Clark might be the first casualty. So before this becomes a post-mortem, here's my analysis of Willie Clark himself.
I have no idea why he was hired. Had he been one of the "Next Big Thing's" I reviewed last year, he would have finished in the middle of the pack. As I noted in part 1, he frequently pauses in mid-sentence, often 3 seconds or more. He stammers and fills with "um" and "ah" and "you know" and "while" and "now" while he figures what to read next. And other than sports where he does seem to have some passion, that's all he really does - read.
And what does he read? Little more than the "news of the weird" like stupid bank robbers that use their own deposit slips for hold-up notes. Over my three day sample, 338 minutes outside of breaks, weather, traffic, business, and Reusse, I tallied:
Only five topics merited more than ten minutes: movies, company-mandated weight loss, Florida: home of life's losers, poor airline service, and procrastinating.
Another five topics received 5-10 minutes: Congress's low ratings, New Orleans Katrina damage bus tours, Super Bowl commercials, vodka, and the most popular vacation destinations. Six topics received 4-5 minutes, seven topics 3-4 minutes, eight topics 2-3 minutes, thirteen topics 1-2 minutes, and 12 more under 1 minute.
Other than sports, not one of these 56 topics had anything to do with the headlines last week. The miners were still "alive" on Tuesday, with reality and confusion setting in Wednesday and Thursday. There were a number of angles to follow in this story, such as mine safety and our own mining industry up north. No, it was more important to discuss Rollergirls.
Israeli Prime Minister Sharon's stroke drew but a few seconds of comment, contempt actually for those of us who think this is an important story. He cares not for the miners (or his boss insists as much), yet complains that Sharon pushed the miners off the front page. Jack Abramoff? John Murtha? Judge Alito? Never heard of 'em.
Locally, Pawlenty met with Ford in Detroit. Two mayors were sworn in, one clearly intent on outlawing smoking in St. Paul bars. Northwest Airlines' pilots may go on strike. Apparently Bob Berglund's summary at the top of the hour is all you need to know.
Throughout all of this, I got the clear impression that Mr. Clark isn't exactly a people person, an oddity in this business. Further, he sounds to me as if he all but hates his job, perhaps taking it only as a transitional step to some other station or role.
You add it up, and there is absolutely no reason to listen to this program, and KSTP's management gets a big slice of the blame here as I've noted. You can hear the same headlines at the top of the hour, and equivalent sports, weather, and, (sigh) traffic on any competitor. The rest is fluff - pure fluff. You learn nothing. You gain no insights. And Clark's somewhat dour style can ruin a perfectly good morning.
As others noted, guest co-hosts have suddenly appeared this week. I couldn't care less. My dial, long set to KSTP in the morning is now set to Bill Bennett's Morning in America or sometimes Ian & Marjorie's Balanced Breakfast.
I have no idea why he was hired. Had he been one of the "Next Big Thing's" I reviewed last year, he would have finished in the middle of the pack. As I noted in part 1, he frequently pauses in mid-sentence, often 3 seconds or more. He stammers and fills with "um" and "ah" and "you know" and "while" and "now" while he figures what to read next. And other than sports where he does seem to have some passion, that's all he really does - read.
And what does he read? Little more than the "news of the weird" like stupid bank robbers that use their own deposit slips for hold-up notes. Over my three day sample, 338 minutes outside of breaks, weather, traffic, business, and Reusse, I tallied:
Callers 18% (various topics from below)
Sports 9% (by himself, no Reusse)
Banter 8% (intros, exits, happy talk)
Weather 4% (without Hammer)
Topics 61%
Only five topics merited more than ten minutes: movies, company-mandated weight loss, Florida: home of life's losers, poor airline service, and procrastinating.
Another five topics received 5-10 minutes: Congress's low ratings, New Orleans Katrina damage bus tours, Super Bowl commercials, vodka, and the most popular vacation destinations. Six topics received 4-5 minutes, seven topics 3-4 minutes, eight topics 2-3 minutes, thirteen topics 1-2 minutes, and 12 more under 1 minute.
Other than sports, not one of these 56 topics had anything to do with the headlines last week. The miners were still "alive" on Tuesday, with reality and confusion setting in Wednesday and Thursday. There were a number of angles to follow in this story, such as mine safety and our own mining industry up north. No, it was more important to discuss Rollergirls.
Israeli Prime Minister Sharon's stroke drew but a few seconds of comment, contempt actually for those of us who think this is an important story. He cares not for the miners (or his boss insists as much), yet complains that Sharon pushed the miners off the front page. Jack Abramoff? John Murtha? Judge Alito? Never heard of 'em.
Locally, Pawlenty met with Ford in Detroit. Two mayors were sworn in, one clearly intent on outlawing smoking in St. Paul bars. Northwest Airlines' pilots may go on strike. Apparently Bob Berglund's summary at the top of the hour is all you need to know.
Throughout all of this, I got the clear impression that Mr. Clark isn't exactly a people person, an oddity in this business. Further, he sounds to me as if he all but hates his job, perhaps taking it only as a transitional step to some other station or role.
You add it up, and there is absolutely no reason to listen to this program, and KSTP's management gets a big slice of the blame here as I've noted. You can hear the same headlines at the top of the hour, and equivalent sports, weather, and, (sigh) traffic on any competitor. The rest is fluff - pure fluff. You learn nothing. You gain no insights. And Clark's somewhat dour style can ruin a perfectly good morning.
As others noted, guest co-hosts have suddenly appeared this week. I couldn't care less. My dial, long set to KSTP in the morning is now set to Bill Bennett's Morning in America or sometimes Ian & Marjorie's Balanced Breakfast.