Bob Lonsberry fired after a decade on KNRS

[BonnevilleMariner]

CC/KNRS fired local morning host, Bob Lonsberry, last night. As of this morning, they are running Glenn Beck's syndicated show in his slot.

Lonsberry had been that station's morning voice for just over a decade. Whether you agreed with his positions or not, any honest radio fan has to admit that he was good radio. Lonsberry chalks the firing up mostly to the switch to FM and the new ratings system. From his website:

But I got killed by a frequency change and something called the People Meter. A new way to measure radio ratings, it took our station from the top to the bottom. It essentially said that 10 years of ratings were all wrong and that nobody was listening to the show. Our sponsors had plenty of customers, our listeners determined the outcome of elections, station events always drew well, and then a switch flipped.

I know nothing about ratings and how they differ between bands, but I suppose he's making sense here.

Thing is, they thought ratings were low with Lonsberry-- they'll be completely flushed now. I, for one, no longer have any reason to listen to the station. The CC suits will now put all their chickens in the basket of a Rush Limbaugh/Dr. Laura/Glenn Beck syndicated trifecta. I don't think this will work for them.

Glenn Beck I can get on podcast, and the show is a much better experience this way. After listening to Beck on podcast for 8 or so years, there's no way I'm tuning in to radio and waiting thru commercials. Sorry. KNRS may well see better ratings with Beck in Lonsberry's slot than they ever did with Lonsberry, but they will have only shifted those ratings from slot to slot. Who will fill the afternoon drive slot now? Another syndicated talker? Forgive me if I'm not just jumping for joy.

I don't care for Rush and I can't stand Dr. Laura, despite the fact that I agree with everything she says. Dave Ramsey I do on podcast too.

I officially have no reason to ever tune in to KNRS again. Nice job, guys.

Bottom line: If news/talk radio's primary goal is to provide local information and entertainment-- a live, on-air friend tailored to a community's sensibilities, Lonsberry was the best thing on KNRS.

Now that they've dumped him, they must hang their hat on syndicated shows that listeners can hear in every other market in the country, on satellite radio, streaming, and on podcast. National hosts have come to realize what radio station execs never will- that on-demand, online, bullcrap-stripped audio is traditional radio's worst nightmare. That's why they all offer commercial-free enhanced podcast versions of their shows for very reasonable fees. In this sense, these hosts themselves are contributing to the demise of traditional radio.

How ironic that KNRS has just tossed the only reason to listen to them, and must now trust their future to syndicated entities whose stake in traditional radio decreases by the day.

Goodbye, KNRS.

[BonnevilleMariner]

Forgot to mention one thing: Also fired was Lonsberry's son and producer, Lee Lonsberry, which struck Lonsberry as fishy:

But whatever it was, it also cost my son his job. He got into radio independently of me, hired on at a sister station in Salt Lake, learned how to operate the station I was at, became the go-to guy, got promoted to my show, and was fired yesterday.

Because of his last name.

Is it customary to fire a local show's entire staff? I remember when Barberi got canned from KALL. He was gone, but his producer and sidekick kept their jobs and were moved to new positions in the company. If this was just another ratings-inspired firing, should the simultaneous firing of Lee Lonsberry strike me as suious?

It would be one thing if Bob had said something controversial or detrimental to the station-- he has in the past, and he's been fired for it in the past. But not this time. He's towed the company line pretty well the last few years.

So he can't help but wonder if their firings might not have something to do with his dog in the GOP senate fight:

Of course, being suious is my stock-in-trade, and the timing of my termination and the stand I’ve been taking on the looming senatorial primary and the fact I’ve been opposing a candidate who made $600,000 from one of our largest advertisers last year, does make me wonder. Strings get pulled in the real world, and politics is hardball, and our program’s effort helped tip the nominating convention, so it’s not impossible that I lost my job in Salt Lake so that somebody else could get a job in Washington.

[henry]

Clear Channel will lose more in ad revenue than they will in savings firing Flanders. Smooth move.

But wait ... this is CC.

[toomuchradio]

When KNRS moved to FM it was much more difficult to include Bob in the AM preset dial. While I didn't listen as much when they moved, Lonsberry's insight was 10 times that of KSL's daytime talking head. Please help me find someone else to turn to when it's election time in Utah. Who else will break down a story about the shooting of a police officer, oil spilling in our rivers, child abductions by Mama's boyfriend, the next Super Del saga, Rocky Anderson's antics, Sunday doctrine, and of course the interviews with authors. Nobody else could do it like Bob, and I will miss him. I can only hope he could get picked up by some outlying AM station. He has a loyal and quasi loyal following. One would think that they could instantly bump ratings with someone like Bob.

God Bless you and your family Bob.

[dolt]

You can still listen to him on WHAM Rochester, New York.

One less East Coaster meddling in western life.

[radiolovr]

I could not stand listening to him. Believe it or not, there are a few of us out here who are not LDS, and I couldn't stand listening to all Mormon, all the time.

[BlowMeUpTom]

Well put, extremely well put, that dude wasn't entertaining, regardless of his religious beliefs, he had an obnoxious and totally irritating voice that was like dragging nails over a chalk board at 5 a.m, and his way of trying to discuss anything even kind of racy or a little off color using stupid wording which he obviously thought was clever, was horrid, he's just not that good, and it has nothing to do with his being Mormon, he's just not very talented, and id rather listen to anyone syndicated or not(with the exception of Roy Masters) over him any day, good riddance!

[BonnevilleMariner]

Jun 23, 2010 10:58:46 GMT -5 radiolovr said:

I could not stand listening to him. Believe it or not, there are a few of us out here who are not LDS, and I couldn't stand listening to all Mormon, all the time.

Isn't that akin to living in Oaxaca, Mexico and complaining that their radio stations only play all Spanish, all the time?

[BonnevilleMariner]

Oct 8, 2010 21:55:29 GMT -5 BlowMeUpTom said:

Well put, extremely well put, that dude wasn't entertaining, regardless of his religious beliefs, he had an obnoxious and totally irritating voice that was like dragging nails over a chalk board at 5 a.m, and his way of trying to discuss anything even kind of racy or a little off color using stupid wording which he obviously thought was clever, was horrid, he's just not that good, and it has nothing to do with his being Mormon, he's just not very talented, and id rather listen to anyone syndicated or not(with the exception of Roy Masters) over him any day, good riddance!

I found him quite entertaining, but I agree that he's not the most talented radio host. I wonder if your take on his presentation would differ (really) if that presentation echoed more closely your own political/religious views. Would mine change? Probably.

Methinks it's less about his delivery and more about his subject matter.

[BlowMeUpTom]

If someones good their good, Im not a non conservative, im absolutely not a liberal, I just dont find him entertaining, im sure he's a great guy and all, just nothing there hits me, I like Mancow, I like Beck, I really love Savage, just not that impressive of a show!

[BonnevilleMariner]

Oct 13, 2010 18:57:36 GMT -5 BlowMeUpTom said:

If someones good their good, Im not a non conservative, im absolutely not a liberal, I just dont find him entertaining, im sure he's a great guy and all, just nothing there hits me, I like Mancow, I like Beck, I really love Savage, just not that impressive of a show!

Yeah, like I said, I don't think he was the best radio broadcaster. On that we'll agree. My like of Lonsberry has much more to do with his fascinating backstory and his sense of humor than his on-air presentation.

Mancow I kinda like, but he's a bit too A.D.D for me. Beck may well be the best entertainer on radio today (all politics aside). I find Savage's negativism too much for my taste.

[BlowMeUpTom]

Savage is so great cause he's such a loner, he doesnt seem to have a friend in the biz, and thats just fine with him, he doesnt care if he pisses off every last person in radio, he's not out to make friends, and I think thats unique!