It's a sad day, my friends... For today marks the official death of talk radio in Los Angeles. Today at 5pm, CBS will be pulling the plug on KLSX - better known as 97.1 FM TALK. Adam Carolla, Teresa Strasser, Frosty Stilwell, Heidi Hamilton, Frank Kramer, Tim Conway Jr., Danny Bonaduce, and that bastion of integrity Tom Leykis will all cease to be heard on LA radio.
The business of radio is not always kind to the people whom it employs - it feels like it was just yesterday when KYSR's Jamie White, Jack Heine and Mike Roberts (aka Jamie, Jack and Stench) were conspicuously yanked off of 98.7's airwaves with no explanation. No goodbye. No "best-of" wind-down series for the affiliates. No contract buy-out for the talent. Nada. Ouch.
Unlike Clear Channel, CBS has been classy enough to give the talent two days to say goodbye to the listeners, and I've been faithfully plugged in listening. Yesterday, Leykis took the opportunity to thank his fans for their continued loyalty for more than 10 years, and, in a surprising show of humility, he exalted the brass at CBS as Great Employers who have always looked out for him - and have subsequently taken care of him nicely... Quite nicely, or so he alluded.
...And just how nicely are they taking care of good ol' Tom? Are they doing so well by him that the whole radio station went down in flames as a result? Could 97.1 have been saved if it weren't for the greediness of Tom Leykis?
Yes, if you ask Frank Kramer. In a gloves-off broadcast this afternoon, the second 'F' of Frosty, Heidi, and Frank blasted the misogynistic afternoon-drive host, saying
Tom Leykis KILLED this radio station. We were all asked to take a pay cut, and *everyone* said 'Ok, we'll bend. We'll follow in the footsteps of Barack Obama and do our part. We'll all take a pay cut to save this station.' And guess who WOULDN'T. So when you listen to his last two hours tonight about how much he loves the listeners and all that bullcrap, just know - he doesn't care about them; he never did. I don't care WHAT he says - that man killed this station. He is responsible.
Forgive me if you were also listening and find that what I've written here isn't 100% verbatim Frank's quotes - it's hard to transcribe when three people are talking at once - but this was the sentiment, the gist, the overall feeling of anger and hatred that poured out from the stereo speakers. He was serious. This was no radio shtick; no silly-DJ banter on the last day. Frank. Was. Pissed. For their part, Heidi and Frosty did their best to steer Frank back on the 'hey, we're on to better things' bandwagon - though they did divulge that they agreed to take pay cuts to save the station, as would Carolla.
For what it's worth, Frank eventually broke down in tears over the death over their show and station, and called everyone (Tom included) "family." ...But wow. Just plain wow. I guess if this is true - and the station could have had a reprieve if Leykis would've agreed to a pay cut - then that makes him the selfish, neglectful and arrogant father of the "family." And if it's *not* true, then Leykis will have a chance to clear the air and defend himself at 3pm.
I worry for the future of radio.
**UPDATE**
At 3pm, Leykis took a moment to address Frank's accusations, and his defense can basically be summed up in two words: "prove it." Tom ended it by musing that maybe Frank was just "jealous" of his contract and security in life, and then condescendingly offered Frank the opportunity to use his bandwidth for the FHF podcast, in exchange for "working on [his] ranch planting tomatoes and possibly grapes." Wow.
