Madden + WXDX = not quite what the listeners want?
Pittsburgh:Bob Smizik feels that Mark Madden wasn't the right fit for Clear Channel owned WXDX (105.9). Madden returned October 13 after a 4 month period of silence after being dropped from WEAE (1250). Smizik feels Madden's shtick is pretty much the same and mixed with other elements it's probably disappointing listeners. The fact is, Clear Channel refused to give up on the music format entirely and figured that many of Madden's fans probably liked the music. But the listeners probably want to hear more Madden and less music in that afternoon drive slot.
Smizik gives the example that in the first hour during a recent show, Madden had 24 minutes of airtime, 14 minutes of spots and 22 minutes of music. A format that should theoretically please two audiences probably satisfies neither.
One change is that Madden cannot take live calls on the air. This is Clear Channel's way of weeding out bad calls - record the calls off the air and play them back later.
Meanwhile, over at 1250, Paulsen, Crow and Logan seem to be gaining some momentum as 3 guys just talk about sports. But Smizik feels it just doesn't have a strong sports presence.
Meanwhile, over at 970, Joe Bendel gained some audience members over the summer while Madden was silenced.
Readers’ Forum
They need to allow Madden to do all the talking. He is better off that way, and it makes for a more enjoyable show. Paulson and Crow would be fine if they were by themselves, but I turn it on and I hear Logan talking. It just doesn’t seem to be the greatest chemistry in the world. There just seems to be a huge void in Pittsburgh sports radio right now. Move Junker on with Crow and Paulsen and let Stan do his own show. Maybe that would be good.
Dave - November 18, 2008 at 12:15 pm
The other day Paulson, Crow and Logan were interviewing Brian Engblom from Versus regarding the recent trade with Dallas for Philippe Boucher.
When Logan got his chance to talk, he pronounced Boucher’s name like ‘Bow-cher’.
There was some silence from Engblom, then he finally realized Logan was talking about Boucher, he moved on and didn’t skip a beat…..Priceless…!
Now playing for the Pittsburgh Penguins, Phil Bowcher!
He needs to get to some hockey games.
Bob - November 20, 2008 at 12:18 pm
Mark Madden having a radio show is nowhere near what this radio listener wants, but that’s one man’s opinion.
Mike Logan’s mangling of Phillipe Boucher reminds me of the night KDKA-TV had Pirates’ Phil Garner do the weekend sports report and he butchered Kiki Vandeweghe while doing college basketball highlights.
Of course, none of that will ever top the night WICU’s weekend sports anchors called Blue Jays center fielder Jose Cruz “Johz Cruz.”
Rick - November 24, 2008 at 9:17 pm
I remember Bill Burns destroying the names of Bjorn Borg and Joaquin Andujar on KDKA years ago, and Rocky Bleier got in a few for WPXI, too. As far as Mike Logan, I’m not sure what even qualifies him to be on the radio. The time he spent with the Steelers was barely long enough for a cup of coffee. I guess any jock will do. I bet that any of us have more sports knowledge than he does.
PWN - November 25, 2008 at 1:28 pm
And who can forget the day Patti Burns corrected her father off-camera after Bill butchered “Lynnard Skynnard?”
Rick - November 26, 2008 at 4:15 pm