UPDATE 5:10 pm: Sarah X. Dylan of the Rick Emerson Show on KUFO just confirmed via text that the RES crew was “let go.” Although Emerson himself has not made an official comment, [scroll down for Rick's updated, official comment] his Facebook page does contain a cryptic goodbye: “What’s the opposite of “shiny”? You are, as always, the best audience ever. Watch this space for updates. The Rick Emerson Show salutes you.” The news has hit the show’s longtime legion of fans hard—they’re already blowing up both Twitter and Facebook with angry comments and plans for possible coffee cup crusades (get the background on RES’ recent media kerfuffles and back-from-the-deal maneuvers here and here). If any group of radio lovers can make themselves heard—it’s them. Hell, they’ve already got an existing Save the Rick Emerson show webpage. Good luck everybody.
UPDATE 5:45 pm: Just heard back from KUFO’s Director of Marketing & Promotion Susan Reynolds. She has indeed confirmed that the entire Rick Emerson Crew—Rick Emerson, Sarah X. Dylan, Tim Riley and Greg Nibler—as well as Cort & Fatboy have been let go. She couldn’t tell me much about what the future plans are for KUFO in terms of on air talent. She would not comment on rumors that Seattle radio personality Ricker had been hired by KUFO. (Ricker, who, according to his 99.9 KISW “The Rock of Seattle” bio enjoys “Jaegermeister” and “Pamela Anderson,” could be a perfect fit if the station is aiming for the elusive giant douchebag demographic). “What I can tell you is that the station is a rock station and will continue to be a rock station,” Reynolds says. “Anytime there is a change in management you can expect this kind of thing—almost always. The real unfortunate part is that the station has suffered in the ratings. At some point [Alpha Broadcasting] has to take a look at everything as say ‘how are we gonna turn this around.’ …They paid a bundle of money for these radio stations and they have to do what they think is right.”
FYI, you can always send your thoughts about the mass firing of local radio personnel to Larry Wilson, the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of KUFO owner Alpha Broadcasting at Larry.Wilson@alphabroadcasting.com.
UPDATE 8 pm: Rick Emerson has posted a goodbye to “The Rick Emerson Show (v.6.3)” on his website (full text, here). Here’s a snippet:
There will be lots to say and much to address in the coming days. For now, we will simply note that it has been, as always, our pleasure to serve and entertain you…. I will also make this brief request: despite your initial inclinations or inborn desire to rattle The Man’s cage (a desire I share, by the way), please forgo the gathering of coffee cups, the mailing of human skulls, or the ritual animal sacrifice that you may have planned for the KUFO parking lot. There’s lots of folks whose jobs have been eliminated, and many, many families whose daily financial struggles are much more difficult than mine. Trust me—no one (especially no one associated with the show) has anything but the deepest recognition of, and respect for, your loyalty. That, my friends, is never in question.
Instead, we’ll pause, take a moment, regroup, and move ahead, as we have always done. We couldn’t have gotten this far without you, and we wouldn’t dream of leaving you behind. You are, and remain, our friends, colleagues, supporters, critics, and companions. You are the best.
••••••
Original post:
KUFO 101.1’s afternoon duo Cort & Fatboy (aka Bobby Roberts) were fired earlier this afternoon. It’s not the first big change that Alpha Broadcasting, who took over the radio station in August, made this week. On Tuesday, staffers were informed that KUFO programming director Chris Patyk was being replaced by a San Diego “Afternoon Drive personality” called Ditch.
Roberts confirmed the news. “We were sort of planning for this—getting our heads chopped off—because, well, we’re in radio,” he told WW. “We’re okay.” Cort Webber’s Twitter update, posted at 3:30 pm, reads: “Officially unemployed. Goodbye KUF-O (sung to Goodbye Yellow Brick Road).”
Goofily biting right to the end, Cort & Fatboy went down laughing…kind of. The pair posted a five minute podcast around 3:15 pm today that they taped earlier in the afternoon explaining that they were heading to a meeting where they guessed they were about to be fired.
Listen to the whole thing, here. [Update: Aaaand cut. KUFO killed the link the the podcast around 4:40 on Friday.] [Take 2: Mike Russell aka Culture Pulp has got that pesky podcast right here. Thanks!
The duo does promise to be back in one way or another, noting that they own their website and logo. "Those little stick figures? They belong to us," Fatboy told listeners. Also, the pair will continue their popular Midnight Movies series at the Bagdad Theater. "We'll be showing Raising Arizona at the Bagdad on Friday, Nov. 6. It's $3," says Roberts.
Fatboy asked fans to contact him at fatboy_roberts@comcast.net. You can follow Cort Webber on Twitter or Facebook.
I'll update the post with more info on what KUFO plans to replace Cort & Fatboy with once I get a call back from the station. [See updates above.]
- Cort and Fatboy: Just not enough hair on their chests for new KUFO. KUFO 101.
- Geek-alert! Rick Emerson Takes Over Carolla Morning Slot on KUFO. And the R
- UPDATE x 2: Rick Emerson Show Fans Want More Talk. CBS Radio Talks Back…and so does Rick. So, what’s
- Stop the Music: Rick Emerson Show Fans Fight for More Talk. Die hard
- Breedlove FM: Beau talks Sam (and more) on Rick Emerson Show What? You
Tags: Alpha Broadcasting, KUFO, media, radio
the link to the five minute podcast is already down.
Courtesy of Aaron Duran, here is a link to Cort and Fatboy’s podcast where they say farewell that was taken down by KUFO (classy move, Alpha Broadcasting):
http://www.facebook.com/video/video.php?v=160278799463
There is clearly nothing that fans can do about either show as far as KUFO and Alpha is concerned at this time. They’ve made their mind up and don’t seem to give the least of a damn what the audience thinks. Expect the replacements next week to behave as if they’ve always been on the station and the “old guys” to have never existed.
However, that doesn’t mean that RES and C&FB won’t have hope elsewhere, given time and an opening at other outlets. For the RES, perhaps stay tuned to the save-res.blogspot.com link or find the “Bottom Line Brigade” on Facebook to participate in anything that could be organized in the future to support the show.
And remember, it has always come back. It sucks, but it’s not gone forever.
As for what is replacing them? Well, a guy named Ditch from KGB (classic rock) in San Diego replaced Patyk as programming director effective immediately. Googling around a bit on him uncovered a description of his own show as “the thirty minute dirty joke” and “prank phone calls”.
Rumor is that a guy from Seattle’s KISW named “The Ricker” who broadcast his final show from KISW today will be starting at KUFO on Monday. That’s just a rumor, mind you, but an interesting coincidence if nothing else. I don’t know much about “The Ricker”, except that he is apparently well known for, among other things, “joking about shooting jews in Florida”.
Again, stay classy Alpha Broadasting!
KU-Eff You KUFO..
I never have liked their programming but
I always enjoyed Fatboy and Cort- they were so much more clever than
the average radio show.
I sincerely hope that everyone will turn out to support the midnigt movie @ The Bagdad on The 6th, they have brought so many great films to the screen and I want them to keep it up!
I hope a station is smart enough to nab them-and fast!
Best,
Nico Bella
Fleur de Lethal Cinematheque
How the hell does Susan Reynolds continue to have a job there? It seems that Alpha loves people that are willing to shank their supposed “Friends” just to keep the job..
[...] Kelly Clarke in Willamette Weeek. You never know where we’ll turn up next. Possibly related posts: (automatically [...]
What a loss. Alpha Broadcasting has managed to screw both my morning and evening commute in one fell swoop. Nice going! With the exception of Gustav, Squid and Greg, Portland area radio is rapidly turning into a wasteland of forgettable personalities and insipid programming.
Sorry to see y’all go, RES and C&F. Good luck to all of you in the future.
[...] has it, (and I am all about rumor control) that Ricker is heading just down the slow I-5 highway of tailgating death, to Portland Oregon and [...]
Damn, look at the photo of that Ricker guy in this guy’s blog post. Could he possibly try harder to be “hard core”? The guy apparently thinks he’s a rock star instead of a DJ.
Not that anyone turns to radio for music these days, but I sure hope this rumor is true and he’s coming to KUFO. That would be the most hilarious cherry to top everything off.
“Jagermeister gangster”, indeed. Grow up.
C&FB last hurrah is up on iTunes. KUFO F’d RES from the minute they made the transition from 970. Maybe now they will find a place to do THEIR show. Good wishes to C&FB. I only found them by trying to support KUFO/RES. This sucks in so many ways…
Bummer. I have been fired befor and it SUCKS! Life goes on and I hope the Emmerson crew and C&FB will be back soon. Its a bad economy and no one is safe, no one…..
Funny you guys all crying about some show hardly anyone listens to and complain about getting one of the best DJ’s in the Country. Ricker will be loved!! Why do you listen to a Rock station to hear a talk show shut up and play music. Nice story Kelly think you describe your target demographic when talking about Ricker! “”"The Rock of Seattle” bio enjoys “Jaegermeister” and “Pamela Anderson,” could be a perfect fit if the station is aiming for the elusive giant douchebag demographic).
Kelly was right, you are a giant douchebag!
I live in KISW’s broadcast range in Olympia Washington. I also podcast the Rick Emerson Show, for good reason: “Ricker” is a douchebag. And yes, those of you who enjoyed “Craig the Dogfaced Boy” will probably love him.
I eagerly await the next version of the RES.
KISW in Seattke has been in the toilet for years and now they replace good shows here with the crap from Seattle.
The only thing from KISW that would be a good thing, is if “The Men’s Room” came down from there, they were crude, but it was better than anything else in Seattle, and some things in Portland (Marconi).
I think I might be done with KUFO now.
This move is absolutely essential for KUFO. The PPM Arbitron is killing marginal talk shows and programmers are putting music back into there drive time slots. If rumour proves correct and they put Ricker on for mornings this is a smart move. And it has to be Ricker in mornings since he wouldn’t have left KISW in Seattle unless he got a nice upgrade in pay to a prime slot.
Ricker isn’t for everyone but he fits for target KUFO music fans. The guy makes me laugh AT HIM because he is such a douche bag. Perfect at 101.1.
I feel for the ones who were shown the door and for the fans of there shows but the present situation at KUFO is unsustainable. They may or may not get a ratings boost but they cut a bunch of overhead and get rid of shows that were going nowhere on that station. Perhaps the shows can find a better fit somewhere else.
guess i’ll have to take a look at my mp3s again. No more RES to make my early mornings enjoyable. Can’t wait till they find a new home.
When I was a kid doing a night shift at a rock station on the east coast I wanted to do a show like Ricker does. How he found programmers who’d put up with all the shenanigans is beyond me. I remember a guy who did “Ricker” at 98 Rock in Baltimore, got great ratings, and just flamed out. I’ve often wondered how it would work in morning drive. Now we’ll see.
He’s an exceptional talent. It’s like putting a train wreck on air. Howard Stern went home to a mansion with a wife and three kids. Ricker hangs out in titty bars, really loves skanks and whores, loves the format and sports a 21 year old “hood ornement” as his girlfreind.
Alpha has balls.
Balls. Really? It takes balls to put on yet another mouth breathing shock jock? People who support that crap are the reason radio is dead. Who seriously wakes up in the morning and tunes in eagerly to hear some guy do an offensively lame chinese accent and do prank calls and fart noises?
This was crazy and kinda scary to turn on the station today and hear the mother ship monotone countdown. Kind liked the mystery of it, this whole thing was definetly planned out. sorry to hear the cancelled shows., especially Cory and Fatboy.
But I will say if its the same “Riker” that I used to listen to down in the bay area. Guy is hilarious, and I will listen more.
Not “Riker”. It’s “Ricker”. Famous for joking about shooting jews and doing offensive impressions of chinese people. What’s really sad is that you say the stupid apple macintosh voice counting down the seconds on KUFO is mysterious and compelling to you. That kind of idiotic stunting is bout twenty years out of date and just plain retarded.
The more I hear from traditional KUFO fans, the more I understand why radio stations do this sort of thing. As much as you like to think people are above it, there is a HUGE “Ow! My Balls!” idiocracy contingent in America that eats this shit up.
Pathetic.
Oh God, I want to kill you.
[In Monotone Voice]
Another doucebag drone has been assimilated. Mission complete.
Way to have your shows’ back, marketing “guru.” If the best money-making idea you could come up with for two wildly popular shows was to stick a bunch of fat-asses in a truck for two weeks, perhaps you, too, should take responsibility for everyone’s firing.
“Pam Anderson?” Great, so he’s not just a douchebag but one from 1995. And judging from his artificially high cheekbones, he’s a desperate 45 yr. old still trying to look 30. And gay.
Funniest thing was yesterday morning I checked his bio on KISW’s station’s site and they had a section for people to leave comments following his farewell letter. This “enormously popular” DJ had only 4 comments, one of them was from an Emerson fan calling him a douche. Needless to say that section was taken down a few hours later.
His bye-bye letter is worth a read. For some reason he felt it necessary to mention his band, how he gave up the “parties and panties” to move to Seattle and the rest all reads like it was taken right from the liner notes of a Warrant album, or something similar.
I am very sorry for the fine talent of the RES. The show has been resilient and I hope they return to the air soon.
Listeners may ultimately benefit. The move from 970 to KUFO resulted in a severely shortened show that was moved to a poor time slot. With luck they’ll find a more suitable station soon.
Bill Prescott was the shit. I miss him too.
The RES was ruined with the move to KUFO and this is a blessing in disguise for true fans, really. I know it hurts now, but when it comes back it will be better than before.
And as for the new “talent” coming to KUFO, don’t unpack your boxes guys ’cause you won’t be around for too long, you bunch of unfunny cocksuckers.
Man, I miss Bill Prescott.
Bill Prescott is a 911 dispatcher in Lake Oswego. He was interviewed by his buddy Lars Larson (whose local show was just re-newed for 5 years by Alpha Broadcasting.)
The RES was always a bad fit at KUFO (and I’m a HUGE fan)…”so my take on Afghanistan is…whoops, here’s (insert d-bag artist). Stay tuned, or tune back in about 20 minutes”
Totally garbage that RES got popped from 970 to 101.1 – I had a feeling this was going to happen.
Oh yeah – fellow posters (Mark – Alpha Broadcasting employee). PLEASE learn how to spell, you’ll find it adds credibility to your point.
Hi thump. Havn’t worked in broadcasting since 2002 after a twenty year career. And I’m not an Alpha employee either. I’m just curious to see what happens.
KUFO is hiring apparently. And Lars Larson got a new contract as well. Somehow Larson gets to do his thing for a ton of money on AM radio while rockers scramble for gigs at low rated “butt rock” stations with better signals and HD capabilities.
Yep I got out of radio when I saw Howard and Rush make all of the bucks and damned to everyone else. So yes the only reason why I’m cheering the KUFO “douche bag” crowd is that it ain’t highbrow, lowbrow or any kind of brow. It’s local radio.
I’m not sure if you’re complaining or not? Why wouldn’t talk radio be where it’s at? You can get music anywhere at any time – and without the distractions or interruptions or crappy mix of songs on a radio station. People with compelling personalities and content, however, are harder to come by. People like Rick Emerson (and those you mentioned) are not something you can just throw together on your own on an ipod. You have to go to them through whatever medium they choose and get your content.
You make money by offering something only you can offer. If all you have to offer is music… well.. you may as well be selling ice at the north pole.
[...] 101.1’s newly kicked to the curb afternoon duo, Cort and Fatboy expanded on their “we just got fired” comments to WW last Friday in a frank, funny Q&A with Oregon Media Central. The entire Rick Emerson [...]
You appear to be the idiot listener that KUFO will be catering to. More AC/DC, less relevant, funny, smart dialogue. Good Luck, and sorry you’re not able to ride the rides at the state fair.
Thank GOD THERE’S Finally MUSIC!!! NO More D’BAG Disc Jocks! Let’s hope the new crew can turn some things around, & get some more original and diverse old and new herd! B/C Pandora sure has allot more to offer than KUFO NO DISK JOCKITCH NEEDED!
RES and C&FB were not disc jockeys. They were — especially RES — talk shows.
Additionally, if you want music, fire up Pandora. Get an ipod. Stream online. Why would you listen to a stream of crap someone else chose to play for you?
I have always thought KUFO has turned to SHITT ever since they got those Jack Asses on the air too much talk and not enough New and good old tunes. You can predict what there going to play by the rotation of the earth, It’s Fucking GAY. I Can’t wait to hear something fresh with some disk jock’s w/ some talent that are more than just some fat cat’s w/ their head so far up their as that they pas a movement just to say hello!!!!! KUFO GET US SOME TALENT PLEASE ROCK DESERVES IT!!!!!!!!
Ah, yes, you’re the D’Bag I was trying to reply to. Argh!
Wow, you’re a class act, Jennifer. Why am I not surprised that someone who doesn’t use a single piece of punctuation nor exercise the slightest bit of proper grammar in her post while also hurling out homophobic slurs is excited about the new changes to KUFO? Do you drink what plants crave?
I also agree that KUFO was a bad move for Rick. His brand of talk radio, while sometimes juvenile, likely flew over the heads of the cranked-up losers that listen to KUFO. I hope that he lands a job somewhere but he needs to finally dump Sarah X who lends almost nothing to his show. I guess he is loyal to a fault which is admirable but not good for his career.
I’m not even sure WTF you’re talking about. Sarah is an integral part of the show and has been for most of a decade, now. It wouldn’t even be the same without her contribution and temperment to the show. The trio is exactly what it should be — no more or less.
“Woosh! FM101…THE DOUCHE!”
Have you ever spent some time sampling the lady at KGON? How about Mark and Brian! KINK is full of themselves and the Brew is kicking ass while sounding pretty lame. Somehow some idiot wanted to compete with all of that over at KUFO.
Put on some attitude at 101.1. Don’t blame Alpha. PDX rock radio is boring. Shake things up a bit.
Larry Wilson is a slack-jawed pansy and he has just fucked with the wrong family.!
The Rick Emerson show wouldn’t be what it is without Sarah’s contribution. We love you, Sarah!!!! And Tim!!!! And The Nib Man!!!!
And Rick!!!! All you mehfugees!!!!
I love Cort and Fatboy, I for one am not listening to 101 anymore because i am mad they took them off, i guess its back to 94.7 and other stations
amen. fuck em. i say they get egged on halloween.
Fuck KUFO, they had the best afternoon show ever. I will never listen to that station again. I’m going to satalite.
Wow! I thought I’d give the new KUFO a shot. 2 minutes this morning with the DJ’s “interviewing” a call girl was all I could handle. On the drive home, I switched to NPR about 30 seconds into “The Ricker” handling a call and commenting on East Coast women with “big cannons”. I’m assuming Alpha did careful market research and realized they could alienate all female listeners and anyone who has any respect for women. Undoubtedly, it’s that elusive “mysoginists with loads of disposable income” market that they are looking to target.
May your station rapidly go down the financial toilet. Your programming already did.
I gave KUFO the benefit of the doubt and listened a bit today to see what the new format would be like. The “new guy” (Chris) tells a caller that the Rick Emerson Show was moved from a talk radio AM station to KUFO and that it wasn’t a good fit for a rock station. He then proceeds to talk for about ten minutes about some of the same stuff that Rick and the gang would normally cover on their show. (Talking about the 2 guys that were released due to jail overcrowding and later both overdosed.) He just got through saying that the new management wanted to play more rock and do less talk. Total hypocrites.
Also, every DJ I heard today showed little respect for the listeners that called in to the show. They talked down to them and politely insulted each of the listeners regardless of whether they liked the new format or not. I think if you don’t have respect for your call-in listeners you shouldn’t even answer the damn phone.
KUFO is going to a very bad place. I’m through with them and hopefully a better Portland Rock station will emerge somewhere.
Rick Emerson and Cort & Fatboy fans will be patiently waiting for their return.
Meanwhile, fans from Philadelphia, San Diego, and Seattle will flock to the internet stream for Massengill Radio at its best.
I gave a listen to KUFO today too and whoo… Oh my God they are gonna SINK in the ratings deeper than the Titanic. Just wait until Rick and Cort and Fatboy get back on the air. KUFO will be but broccoli fart in the wind.
Ughhh, these new on-air personalities are just horrible. They have zero personality and are just like every generic DJ in Anytown, USA. The morning guy was talking about how much money he’s spent on prostitutes over the years while he was talking to one on the phone. The whole phone call was uninteresting and droned on for way too long. The lunchtime guy was making fun of a mentally handicapped man… not in a satirical way, but just flat out making fun of him. Then the afternoon/evening guy (not sure if he was the same as the lunch guy) was just awful… I couldn’t tell if he was trying too hard or not trying at all to be competent at his job.
Needless to say, I really miss Cort and Fatboy. It blows my mind that they got axed. I was pretty neutral about Rick Emerson, but he is waaaay more talented than any of the new bozos.
On a positive note, at least the music didn’t change. I’m surprised the new guys aren’t playing Matchbox 20 and Hootie. KUFO should ditch the DJs altogether and just play music and commercials. That would be a good compromise instead of firing the good DJs and hiring mediocre apes.
Can someone please inform me, a 46 year old male who grew up on hard rock and metal, what exactly is the music format of KUFO? I mean they play stuff like 15 year old grunge rock (Alice, Soundgarden, Pearl Jam, eto.) and newer stuff that all sounds the same across the board.
KUFO wants to come across as a “hard as rock” “balls to the wall” station, but the new rock that they play is not heavy at all. On the surface it might sound heavy, but really it is just melodic rock with a heavy guitar sound.
What happened to REAL heavy bands of the 70’s and 80’s? Bands that could actually play their instruments and could hold your attention for more than 20 seconds. Is the crap that they play (Puddle Of Mudd, etc.) what they call “Nu Metal” or whatever? My god that music is horrible and is really just disposable crapola.
And not that I am some aging rock fan who pines for the days of Judas Priest and Saxon, as my tastes now tend towards Brubeck, Vivaldi, and Steely Dan, but it would be good once in awhile to hear some rock that really rocks.
Sorry, Rick, this is conspiracy theory:
Local radio cannot tolerate any alternative news source, even Tim Riley, who tried to be frivolous.
Breaking news especially is sensitive.
Riley alone had been fired less than a year ago. A message? Emerson brought on every unemployed journalist in town, and Riley was rehired. Now the whole show gets fired.
Thank god the RIck Emerson show has been cancelled!
What a bunch of leftist, bicycle riding bitches..
Thank you Alpha Broadcasting
Rick Emerson show sucked. Rick didn’t know how to talk into the mic. He neurotically pounded the same subject into the ground. He took the generic hipster view about every movie or event. Nothing was compelling. Sarah was alright, Tim was great. The show would have been better without Rick. Good riddance.
Last two posts – You guys obviously did not get what Rick and his show was about. Rick was constantly calling out bicycling zealots who don’t pay attention to the rules of the road. As far as Rick’s skills go he is an absolute professional. Not every moment of the show has to be rigidly executed. Part of the appeal of his show is he doesn’t take himself too seriously. That’s fine if that doesn’t work for you but you are in the minority in your opinions. Your hatred of Rick screams of bitterness and envy. Have fun wanking off to your new “Broskis”.
By the way, if there’s one thing Rick is not is a hipster. If you had actually paid attention when you listened to a show that you hated you would have heard Rick poke fun at hipsters for their douchebaggy snobbery any chance he got. Try a little Ritalin next time, for God sake’s grow a pair, and get a real job!
Used to live in PDX and dug RES when he had his afternoon show, back when Don and Mike were still on…that was a nice lineup. It just shows where radio is at…the medium itself is unappreciated and corporate radio is killing any sort of local programming, otherwise RES, one of the most original and entertaining programs I’ve ever heard, would still be in the air. It is too bad.