Key phrases from Wolfe's blog entry:
“he and I could not agree on the terms I believed we had ironed out in the beginning”
“we couldn’t have been any further apart from getting a deal done”
“the terms that I offered to Greg upon inception of this project . . . will still be on the table in the same form until further notice”
Sounds like an early handshake deal, a “let’s see how it goes” deal. It apprently goes good (according to Your Plainsman's commenter Anonymous, HeeHoo "sounded better than he has in a long time"). (Thanks to Anon for the report.)
Comes time to settle on more permanent terms. Turns out, there’s no agreement. Either there was an honest misunderstanding at the outset; or J.C. Wolfe is reneging; or HeeHoo is trying to leverage his good reviews into a better deal than the one he had agreed to in order to get his foot in the door.
We can’t know the right and wrong of this situation. Maybe the emerging talk of possible syndication of the show suggested to HeeHoo that the handshake deal needed to be enhanced. Maybe some HeeHoo behind-the-scenes unpleasantness suggested to Wolfe that he take some steps to minimize his risk. And maybe there was just a plain old misunderstanding.
One thing I don’t see in Wolfe’s account is any talk of an agent or a lawyer involved on HeeHoo's behalf. An agent eager to get his client back into live radio might have been expected to counsel his client that he was no longer commanding the attention of program directors at major metropolitan radio outlets (who don’t have a lot of mad money themselves these days), but instead was sitting across the table from a guy who is trying to make a go of a 1-kilowatt AM that only reaches about 23 of HeeHoo's old fans.
Somebody in this little drama is deluded. I join most – although, I sense, a declining percentage – of the P1 Nation in wishing HeeHoo the absolute best and an eventual return to broadcasting to something other than open prairie. But just like you just gotta start somewhere, sometimes you just gotta re-start somewhere.
I'm impressed, your biopsy of the situation is damn near perfect. From the sidekick contest, to the manager, to the "Gig Em" Greggo after test run and terms agreed to.
ReplyDeleteI hear his over grazed gfriend is new managment, and she and JCW got into a spat over either a piece of pizza or a few hundred grand. Nonetheless, JCW told Greggo to take his heifer and get the hell out of his office.
Funny thing, no one has mentioned that JWolfe spent one hundred grand building Greggo his state o the art private studio in Fort Worth, Tx. Wichita Falls/KSEY was just a drop in the bucket for what was brewing. It would have worked, and Greggo and lard ass blew it.
Insider, whoever you might be, your report has the ring of truth. Many thanks for sharing it.
ReplyDeleteI agree that if HeeHoo were to remain clean/sober, he could be a potent competitor to The Hardline. I keep a running list of topics, and one of them was "Greggo syndication a threat to Hardline?" Your news about capital improvements to the Fort Worth studio suggests that you and I aren't the only ones to whom this has occurred.
Can you imagine Greggo and a decent co-host and an honest-to-God big-city broadcast signal going head-to-head with The Hardline? It would make Conan/Leno/Letterman look like a tea party.
I agree the kid gloves would be off for this one. Funny how the hadline still depends on the greggo drop. A man who once remained nameless is occasionally discussed in passing conversation. I honestly prefer the Hardline give him the occasional nod, rather than completely leaving him off limits in passing conversation. Imagine the ratings war! The dirt would really be dished then. Unfortunately for Greg, I think this is Karma biting him on the ass. A guy who was so disdainful of drug users, secretly (or not so secretly) had his own problems. Still wondering what kind of $$ he is still getting or if any. If I recal correctly his salary was well into the 6 figure with the ticket. Obviously he isnt hurting. Maybe him and Russ Martin should get together... nevermind Russ is a tool.
ReplyDeleteRWhitt brings Greggo down. It's almost unlistenable.
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