Russ Johnson out at KVOR
Hat tip to Mike: Russ Johnson appears to be gone from KVOR (740 AM). The brash talker lasted less than a year at the news-talk station.
A couple months after Johnson started, I got a call from a group that was trying to get him fired. Not surprising, since he went out of his way to rub people the wrong way. Still, I haven't heard that he did anything especially egregious last week. Maybe it was just ratings? KRDO has been climbing and has won the last two books in mornings 25-54.
I wonder if they'll stick with an afternoon talk show or go with something newsier.
posted by AndyW @ 5/19/2008 09:13:00 AM
30 comments
30 Comments:
I heard that he called his boss an a..hole. You don't to that and stay employed.
I too called KVOR and the seemingly sympathetic woman who took my call said, "all I can say, he's no longer with KVOR."
Personally, I figured his days were numbered for two reasons; making fun of our local right-wing nuts, despite himself being clearly right-of-center; and related to the first, not consistently right winger enough. Entertaining callers who aren't said right wing whack jobs without overtly insulting them and denegrating their opinion like Joseph Michelli used to do, and Richard Randall does regularly, just not as smoothly.
speaking of local radio...what is going on KVUU ? some new radio show on in the morning..and did the KVUU show go to Jet 107.9, as did CK? andy , ,what's going on out there??
As a talk show junkie, I used to turn KVOR off when 4pm came around. Johnson was obnoxious and clueless. Personally, like anyone, I wish him well. But I hope he learns from all the mistakes he made on KVOR for the last year.
"steve in co"...
Get a life, son.
Four "right" refs in two sentences.
Take a breath, and redetermine who the "whack job" is.
well, i just ?? wrote him an email about the stimulus plan,and he never emailed me back there??odd?? ididnt know that russ was out and talking about ?? the arbitron ratings?? i dont quite understand here. im a arb rating guy here.i sent in my books in with my family?theres got be something Wrong with the books??for the am stations here. i picked kcmn am and kvor am NOT! krdo with dave ramsey. that my opinion there. must sent the diaries to the wrong arbitron addy! or something . krdo am SUCKS!!sorry folks..
regarding that last post there?? i sent in my books ?? there?? here?? but someone there hit me in the ??head with a shovel?? there just my opinion?? here...ouch head hurts??
As much as I enjoyed listening to Michelli, I thought Russ was a nice change of pace. Like "Steve in CO" mentioned, I think the fact that he didn't let the far right/very religious folks have soapbox (unlike Michelli who would let them chatter on for a while) probably contributed to he departure.
I am glad he's gone. I turned off KVOR a few days after Russ Johnson went on the air. I was told he was gone and Richard is back for now. What a breath of fresh air.
i still like russ johnson . im sorry that some dont like that. ill listen in on krdo. what a wasted effort for kvor am.
Russ Johnson was ill-read and obnoxious. The show where he tried to discuss what was Ramadan's colours in the same discussion as Christmas, Hanukkah showed his lack of knowledge. He also raved about Google as his new discovery when every kid in elementary school has used it for a long time. Political bias is one thing, but blatant ignorance coupled with his arrogance made me turn KVOR off and listen to 850 KOA.
i agree with that last post..when i first heard Russ, i thought he must be close to senior citizen status, given his relative unfamiliarity with any kind of current technology..he even seemed baffled by his own studio and completey unaware of pop culture--then i saw a picture of him on th website and was ahocked because he seemed to be much younger than i would have guessed. come on KVOR--not everyone who listens is a grouchy white guy in their 60s-70s!
i still like russ there. he speaks his mind than booring richie randall.that a shame that good talent has to go at kvor -am.
I was a member of "Team Johnson" in Kansas City. I was happy to see him arrive in Colorado Springs. I didn't always agree with him but I did enjoy listening to him. I hope he lands an even better job.
here, here. so long russ , hope u find a better job than booring colorado springs radio. thanks!
For all those who said that Russ Johnson is ignorant must be ignorant people themselves. All Russ did was challenge you to think about your opinion and justify why you feel the way you do. Yes sometimes he was harsh in the way he made you think, but today’s society is too sensitive. I am sorry to see him go. He was a fresh voice to this boring place that is called Colorado Springs. He has a way of challenging both sides when they are wrong. If you are too shallow to understand that he made you think then you need to move on to some other poor excuse of a radio station. KVOR was a better radio station with Russ Johnson on board. Nothing against Randall, but Russ is ahead of this closed minded community.
I am however getting VERY tired of all the schedule changes.
And I am REALLY Burned out on Jim Arthur. The morning show is just a repeat from one hour to the next with nothing new. And I think if he says "okay" one more time as he explains something...I think I will SCREAM! OKAY? I want the Handy Man show back on for 2 hours on Saturday morning!
I liked Russ to a point...Sorry to see him go. As for KVOR on a whole...
I am getting VERY tired of all the schedule changes.
And I am REALLY Burned out on Jim Arthur. The morning show is just a repeat from one hour to the next with nothing new. And I think if he says "okay" one more time as he explains something...I think I will SCREAM! OKAY? I want the Handy Man show back on for 2 hours on Saturday morning!
I can't blame KVOR for bring back local news in the 8AM hour.
KRDO-AM-FM is truly making inroads in the market and News Press & Gazette has made KRDO the news station that it should have been back in the 1990's. You can thank Harry Hoth's bean counting daughter Patti for that.
However they either need to drop Glenn Beck or Michael Savage and run either show for three hours from 6PM-9PM. The 9AM hour should reverte back to a local talk program. Spliting Beck up from 9AM-10AM and then from 8PM-9PM is really bad programing.
I don't blame KVOR for staying competive with KRDO NewsRadio, but they need to place the talk programs better.
KVOR needs to bring Chuck Baker and his On the Carpet radio show back.
Sam Adams
Russ Johnson was a refreshing voice in the afternoon and I'll miss him. Agree or disagree with him, you always knew where he stood on any given subject.
ok, so i just went to the VOR webstie..now it is Rush 10-1, glenn beck 1-4, and sean hannity 4-7--so the only local show is now the morning show with Jim...and wendy?...and they are getting beat by KRDO-radio? yikes! if all you have local is mornings..PUNCH up the mornings! come VOR don't die a slow and painful AM radio death...though maybe there is no avoiding it at this point..
The morning show is dull as dish water! The new schedule change is just bizarre as I turn to a Pueblo station at 1:00pm to here Sean.
I'm confused. You have the #1-3 rated shows in the Nation on your station and you air them at #1,
#3, and #2. How retarded is that?
Bring back the Handy Man show on Saturday's to 2 hours and Richard can come in at 6am instead of those dumb bowel cleaning half hour ads.
I would really like to SLAP the program director. Please FIRE them and get someone with a BRAIN!
I'm glad to see Russ Johnson go. He was annoying, ignorant, and too full of himself to objectively listen to other people's ideas and opinions. He mocked people while they were talking, and after they hung up. He was rude. Colorado Springs deserves better.
i think you meant you turn to the pueble station to "HEAR" sean..but really, what difference does it make what ORDER they are aired in? rush, glenn, sean..all basically the same..50 plus white males ,regurgitating republican talking points--stuck forever in the past of reagan..trying to spin the bush mess and conveniently forgetting their collective attempts to stop the mccain candidacy. it would be nice to see some LOCAL programming there but this is the plight of many AM news/talkers around the country..sadly..
i think you meant you turn to the pueble station to "HEAR" sean..but really, what difference does it make what ORDER they are aired in?
Really? You're going to correct HERE/HEAR, but misspell Pueblo and ignore the proper uses of upper and lower case letters (i vs. I, lower case letter starting proper nouns, etc.)? Get a grip.
But, to your point, I basically agree with you except that I don;t think you can accurately lump Beck in with Rush and Hannity. Rush and Sean are mouthpieces to a fault, at least Beck will disagree with the current administration on a regular basis.
I also agree that KVOR really needs a local program during the drive-time slot of 4-6 PM.
hey peeved guy you are right..i did misspell pueblo.(sorry if i was going for localism, i should have spelled it PEEEEEebbblo).and did purposely avoid proper use of caps and grammar..for effect..to YOUR point of glenn; i agree --his previous radio background( jock i think) gives him a much more refined sense of humor than either rush or hannity..so, as citadel(the company that owns VOR) may be jettisoning hannity in june anyway (or at least some speculation exists that they might)..PERFECT time for a new local afternoon show! again sorry for the pueblo thing...
No need to apologize (to me anyway), I just get fired up at people nitpicking at little things like that when it has nothing to do with the "argument" being debated, so I thought I'd call you out on it. :-)
I'm happy to hear that they may be dropping Hannity. While I consider myself fairly conservative, I cannot stand to listen to him... too much vitriol and blind faith in the Republican party to be of use to me.
To be honest, I rarely listen to KVOR anymore, in the mornings I've taken to listening to Peter Boyles and Caplis and Silverman in the afternoon on KHOW.
First Johnson, then Hannity...who is next? ABC/KVOR your "Fairness Doctrine" is showing.
russ would say anything!not necasarrily what he felt,just trying to pick peoples brain.
inside he is a teddy bear,compassionate,sweet.cute.funny and witty just to name a few!
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