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WHB is abusing its power
By JASON WHITLOCKThe Kansas City Star
Don Fortune’s one-day return to Kansas City’s radio airwaves is a shining example of why competition is a necessity in a properly functioning democracy.
Without competition, the power structure abuses its authority and takes advantage of the masses. A proliferation of one-newspaper towns is a big reason why my industry is struggling as well.
Sports Radio 810 WHB and Kevin Kietzman rose to power by exposing Don Fortune as out of touch and under-prepared. WHB and Kietzman told radio listeners that Entercom’s employment of Fortune as a drivetime sports-talk host was an indication of Entercom management’s incompetence, lack of respect for local sports fans and disconnection from this city.
Kietzman is on vacation this week, so he lined up a group of radio legends to fill in for him. Max Floyd and Bill Grigsby are two of the more appropriate fill-ins.
But today, WHB and Kietzman will hail Fortune as a radio legend and foist him on their listeners for four hours simply because they can. WHB does not have legitimate competition. It doesn’t even have illegitimate competition. It can abuse its power in the same fashion that Entercom did when its sports-talk “competition” was grumpy Scotch drinker and trivia buff Pete Enich on a two-watt, daytime-only signal.
Yeah, Entercom’s management was as incompetent, disrespectful and disconnected as Kietzman, Chad Boeger, yours truly and everyone else said throughout the 1990s. Ken Beck, Entercom’s “sports guru,” has a record of accomplishment in Kansas City that makes Carl Peterson seem like the second coming of the New England Patriots’ general manager.
But, in reality, is he all that different from Kietzman, the brains behind WHB’s rise?
This is the proper time to judge Kietzman’s and WHB management’s vision. Now that there is no competition, now that 810 has all the power and leverage, it appears they have abandoned all the philosophies, slogans and concepts that helped the station unseat Fortune and Entercom.
Powered by fans? Are WHB’s listeners, especially the hardcore listeners who helped build the station into a power, clamoring to hear Fortune reprise his clueless ramblings? I met many of these hardcore fans — MU Dog, JP, KC Casey, Paydirt, Wolverine Willie, The Real BC — and they believed all the bluster about WHB being different from Entercom’s 980, being creative, being grassroots.
Over the past five years, we’ve watched locally owned Union Broadcasting (810’s parent company) aggressively turn itself into Entercom, hiring most of 980’s former sports staff and putting out a show lineup with no diversity of perspective, appearance or life experience.
When the station was working its way up the ladder, it featured a black newspaper journalist, two former NFL players, a national radio star and a provocative former TV sportscaster. The shows all sounded different. The hosts tried to be creative and experimented with new ideas. The station held events that truly connected with its fan base, including a protest at a Royals game, a charity football game and remotes that were about interacting with listeners more than selling products. WHB brought in syndicated hosts such as Jim Rome and Scott and Sid for tour stops and big parties.
It was fun, organic and unpredictable.
It’s all gone now. WHB is as “conglomo” as Kietzman claimed Entercom was when it polluted the airwaves with Fortune’s misinformation and angry-old-man rants. Hell, Entercom’s 610 KCSP employs fewer middle-aged white men with mortgages than WHB.
That’s not a recommendation for anyone to listen to 610 — not if you respect your ears. KCSP is so embarrassingly awful that I don’t even enjoy making fun of it anymore.
OK, that’s not really true. KCSP’s big-budget, heavy-hitter, new morning show featuring 1970s megastar Roger Twibell pulled a 1.0 in the ratings, answering the question of whether it was humanly possible to find anyone in KC more boring than Neal (Bland) and Marty (Blander), KCSP’s riveting afternoon show.
And no, I’m not bitter or upset that I walked away from local talk radio in 2005. I worked for both organizations. I enjoyed my time at 1510/810. I made the mistake of jumping to 610 because I foolishly believed that Entercom was committed to putting out a superior product and because I couldn’t handle the grind of working in the morning after five years.
This column isn’t written to settle any scores. I proved my point in talk radio and as a media personality. I just didn’t have any more energy to waste trying to convince out-of-town decision-makers that I knew better than they did what would work in a battle against people who secretly want to be Don Fortune.
This column is a screed complaining that nothing has really changed in 15 years of local sports-talk radio in Kansas City. Fortune is still the standard when it comes to the power structure.
Radio listeners revolted against Fortune’s style of radio, overthrew him and are now being served a second helping of Fortune disguised as Kevin Kietzman. That’s sad. It’s a disservice to sports fans.
Fortune had big ratings numbers, too, similar to the ones that make Kietzman feel bulletproof. You just have to hope that some energetic, fearless young person will figure out a way to challenge WHB the way Boeger took on Entercom and Fortune.
If there’s no competition, WHB will never again live up to the ideas that empowered the station originally. We’ll be stuck with Fortune today and his prodigal son, KK, for the next decade, if not longer.