Boston Globe columnist Joan Vennochi absolutely nails Howie Carr and Tom Finneran today. She writes:
Other than the late Boston city councilor Jimmy Kelly and the ailing former city councilor Dapper O’Neil, I can’t remember anything nice Carr has ever said or written about anyone.
His critiques go far beyond differences over ideology. His commentary is often rude and personal and he takes adolescent delight in mocking physical characteristics. His unflinching meanness undercuts an admirable willingness to take on the powerbrokers. But from a marketing perspective, Carr obviously knows what he’s doing, as proven by the bidding war for his services.
At the same time, Finneran’s long-winded odes to every establishment figure and cause in town cry out for an antidote. Finneran has the pol gene, which makes him congenitally unable to find fault with one of his own. Boston Mayor Tom Menino, Suffolk District Attorney Dan Conley, the Boston firefighters or the Boston police — they are all heroes no matter what.
Vennochi predicts that Carr, who’s been off the air since September, will eventually see the light and return to WRKO (AM 680), whose management has so far refused to let him out of his contract. She may be right.
I had thought that ‘RKO would eventually let Carr move to WTKK (96.9 FM) in return for huge piles of cash. But there may be no pile large enough to compensate for what ‘RKO would lose if Carr is allowed to take over the morning shift at ‘TKK and compete head to head with the likable but hapless Finneran.
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It’s a sad commentary on the number of bigots and general lowlifes in Boston that Carr has commanded such a large following, and that advertisers don’t seem to mind associating their businesses with Carr’s garbage.Sad, but not surprising.
One has to wonder about the tactical decisions made by his attorneys in attempting to claim that a law which says radio performers cannot be held to non-compete agreements somehow also means that a company doesn’t have a right to exercise a contract provision allowing it to match another offer. The two concepts couldn’t be more different. It was not the legislature’s intent in passing the non-compete law to void contracts in which Employer A was given the option to match an offer from Employer B. A law enacted to prevent one employer from forcing a person to be unemployed after his contractual obligations to that employer are concluded cannot be compared to the option that Carr’s employer was given in his contract to renew him at a rate established by the market.This advice is costing Carr a bundle and as the judge pointed out all he had to do was shut up and wait until the RKO contract expired before signing with WTTK.The complaints about whether WRKO’s window to exercise the option were properly extended, however, is quite another matter. If Entercom blew it, them there ought to be red-faced lawyers on both sides of the table
If there’s one thing Joan hates, it’s a doctrinaire idealogue, heh heh..
Is there any idea whether WTKK withdrew its offer to Carr after the prospect was announced of WABC syndicating a Don “I’m an ass” In The Morning show, probably in the same time slot? Inquiring minds want to know.–raj
She’s wrong on Howie.He’s written some really warm and fuzzy stuff about folks who have lost relatives to drugs, crime or war.He pops a good one in every once in a while.