Media Frenzy

By Rob Holbert Managing Editor

Sean Sullivan fans, your long nightmare is nearly over.

The longtime WZEW morning show host is about ready to start his new gig mornings at WAVH 106.5 FM, “The Pirate.” Sullivan’s move to The Pirate was predicated by his step-father Donald Bigler’s purchase of the station late last year.

As part of his contract with WZEW, Sullivan was required to sit out a six-moth non-compete period before he could join The Pirate, or even have any dealings with the station at all. Sullivan, who has also been a regular columnist for Lagniappe since its inception, tells us he will officially join the station April 7, but may take a few days to get on the air.

“While I will start that Monday, it’s going to take a couple of days for me to remember the mechanics of being a DJ,” Sullivan said.

Sullivan said he will also work in a managerial role at the station, and expect to be rather busy once he straps on his eye patch and parrot and heads to work.

“I sold my social life and it closes April 6,” he joked. “I will try to outfit my office with a hammock.”

While it seems many are openly wondering if The Pirate will start to sound more like WZEW, Sullivan says the station is doing very nicely at this time. He indicated that the sound is likely to remain pretty much what it is now, classic hits from the last few decades with the occasional modern hit thrown in.

“I’m going to be on the air doing the morning show, and I don’t see any big changes coming. The station has trended in a positive direction and we’re really excited about it,” he said.

Currently, Kevin McLaughlin is acting as the station’s general manager. Sullivan didn’t elaborate on what exactly he will do when not on the air. He did say former WNSP morning host Wayne Gardner will join the station July 1. Gardner also left dot.com Communications, which owns WZEW and WNSP, to join The Pirate’s ownership, and is currently sitting out a six-month non-compete period.

Gardner has long been a major voice in local broadcasting. For nearly 30 years, he was on WKSJ’s morning show. He also served as programming director for the station and for a decade was the general manager. For the past six years, he has hosted “Morning Sports Center” on WNSP with co-host Lee Shirvanian.

Sullivan would only say Gardner will also be on the air when he joins The Pirate, but couldn’t elaborate, saying the non-compete has precluded the station from working out such details. Sullivan couldn’t confirm whether or not he and Gardner will work the mornings together once Gardner joins the station.

Bigler Broadcasting purchased WAVH from Barry Wood, an attorney from the Washington, DC area who has owned the station for 15 years. Wood also once owned WZEW, but ended up selling both stations after running them while under bankruptcy protection. Bigler purchased the station for $3.6 million.

Sullivan says he can’t wait to get back to doing what he loves and admitted the layoff has given him a newfound respect for his profession.

“I’m excited to get back on the air. You don’t realize how much you like doing something until you don’t do it for a while,” he said.

Media tanker support

Efforts to show support for the Air Force’s KC-45 tanker, which will be built in Mobile pending a protest of the contract by Boeing, have taken on a strong Web presence.

In a fine example of the way the Internet has changed things, Mobile County authorities quickly moved to create a Web site to help folks register support for the tanker, much as those protesting the selection of Northrop/EADS for the contract have commissioned their own sites.

Just six days into its existence, www.keepouttanker.com had already picked up more than one million unique visitors and had 10,000 people sign a petition supporting the tanker being built in Mobile, according to county officials.

In addition to the Web site, the county commission has also gotten other media involved in the public relations battle to keep the tanker in the Port City. According to county officials, Lamar Advertising donated 62 billboards across the region to support the KC-45, Clear Channel Communications has donated radio spots around the region and a coalition of Gulf Coast agencies has placed ads in the Washington Post and other key regional and military publications.

CC TV update

The proposed sale of 56 Clear Channel Television stations is back on after the San Antonio-based conglomerate agreed to drop its price by $100 million. CC agreed some time ago to sell to the private equity firm Providence Equity Partners, but the deal was in jeopardy after Providence balked at the price.

WPMI and WJTV are both local Clear Channel stations.

Eggstra, Eggstra

WPMI TV led its March 13 10 p.m. newscast with a rather tenuous story about how reporter Jenna Susko and a cameraman were “attacked” when they tried to interview 17-year-old murder suspect Jamal Lee in Pensacola.

According to the story, Lee attacked the news crew by throwing eggs at them. WPMI decided to lead off their broadcast with the story, which included interviewing their own employees and surveying the “damage” of egg shells and yolk on the news van.

The WPMI crew also filed a police report and attempted to get Lee’s $100,000 bond revoked.

Mea Culpa

In the last issue, I incorrectly reported that Charles Scott McKinney’s shows can be heard on WNSP. McKinney was arrested March 7 and charged with six counts of committing investment fraud. But his show, “Southern Sports Tonight” hasn’t been heard on WNSP for some time, according to station management. My apologies.

Rob Holbert is Lagniappe managing editor. Contact him at rholbert@lagniappemobile.com.

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