Saturday, February 03, 2007

The "Scoop" On WHBC-FM's New Morning Man

We don't know if he'll debut as soon as Monday, and it may be a week from Monday, but it looks like WHBC-FM/94.1 Canton "Mix 94.1" has a new morning host.

He's "Scoop". (Hence, the pun in our heading.)

"Scoop" is most recently a casualty of the massive downsizing at Clear Channel's Cincinnati cluster, where he was a sidekick on the "Dawn Patrol" morning show and did weekend airshifts on rock WEBN/102.7.

He went to Cincinnati from a 7 year stint at North American Broadcasting rocker WBZX/99.7 "The Blitz" in Columbus, and he also has drive-time experience in Detroit on his resume.

But there are also Northeast Ohio ties for "Scoop".

He's listed production experience at WMMS/WMJI/WHK in Cleveland, when those three stations were co-owned in the OmniAmerica days (Carl Hirsch), as well as stints at Akron's WONE/97.5 and...yes, Canton's WRQK/106.9.

We don't know for sure, but believe that he'll join incumbent "Mix 94.1" morning show member Madison Woods, who's been doing the shift solo since WHBC-FM canned long-time program director/morning co-host Terry Simmons.

We also don't know what name he'll use on the air at his new Canton radio home. We wouldn't go to the betting window on him using "Scoop", though.

The choice is interesting, because his resume basically screams "rock radio", and WHBC-FM is in the process of basically figuring out which end of the AC universe it will live in.

Whispers in our comments section have said he's due to start at "Mix" on February 12th, though we're wondering if he'll hit the air before that - with new competitor WHOF/101.7 "My 101.7" set to launch morning host Gary Rivers this coming Monday...

24 comments:

Anonymous said...

Seems more and more like WHBC is taking their format to a harder sound....seems like they want to lose audience share to WHOF. Doesn't make sense, since the AM & FM are at the top of the rating heap.

Anonymous said...

Let's see Hunter the PD a former WMMS JOCK,NOW SCOOP A ROCK JOCK,HMMM AND WHOF IS ALREADY AIMING TOWARDS MIX'S AUDIENCE,LOOKS LIKE,SEEMS LIKE THE WHITE FLAG IS FLYING AND WHBC IS GOING HARDER YES FORMAT SWITCH. WHICH MEANS SO LONG JOHN TESH,AND MAYBE MADISON & KAYLEIGH TOO.

Anonymous said...

you people are IN-SANE with this "hard" stuff re: 'hbc. listen on monday and then come back and tell me 3 songs that were "hard." i can't wait.

whbc was slowly losing their audience with their old format...essentially the same format now heard on whof. if tested and true heritage listeners were sick of it on whbc, why would they tune in to a new, unfamiliar station to hear what they were bored with on whbc 6 months ago?

whbc sounds better every day. the music is better. the overall sound quality is better, technically. maddie has improved every morning and she'll be great with a sidekick. i had given up on them long ago and now i listen frequently.

Anonymous said...

to quote the above poster:
"the overall sound quality is better, technically."


I WANT TO SMOKE SOME OF THAT MAN! MUST BE GOOOOOOOD STUFF!!!
WHBC-FM has THE WORST audio, hands down, of any Canton station, perhaps any in Northeast Ohio.
It is loud as hell and completely distorted!
Memo to 'HBC: Louder isn't always better!

Anonymous said...

"Resume screams rock radio"..OK.

Hunter from WMMS...OK.

Wonder if these guys age like the rest of us, get some radio smarts about them, and figure that they ought to go to a station that's looking to pull in the bread butterers? Good luck to 'em, I say; as an above poster said, it sounds like someone's lit a fire in the belly of the ratings beast. Wait and see.
Oh, and Mike...I see you've not found your style guide yet.
Kisses!

Anonymous said...

Hopefully they will find a good co host for his guy. Maddie Woods just can't cut it. She belongs in Alliance. Maybe bring back BA or that other Madison that used to be in Canton a while back.HBC is changing for the better though. It's about time! Good Job Hunter!

Anonymous said...

Good to see "Scoop" back in NE Ohio. I remember him from "Big Al and Scoop" at WONE. He was always a good dude, and the far more talented half of the duo. I would be more than happy to fill the chair next to him in the studio, if Maddy is no longer a part of the equation.

Anonymous said...

Hmmmmmm Could that be the other Madison or BA ?

Anonymous said...

Madison Woods has been one of the more consistent talents on WHBC for a while now....she's been the one Mix talent that other stations have coveted..now with Simmons gone, talent there can finally flourish without fear of reprisals..

While both 'HBCs have been ''on top of the ratings heap'', that's only from a 12+ perspective.. their AM share has been eroding for the last three years or so..take a deeper look into the Canton ratings books..and their FM was stalled out and falling, while WKDD took their suburban higher income numbers with some excellent targeted marketing..

Its not like WHBC-FM is going to flip to Rock anytime soon..but ridding their format of shared music with the AM was the right move, and should have been done a long, long time ago..

Anonymous said...

Sensible and well said. Thank you.

Anonymous said...

I disagree with those who think the audio on 94.1 was bad.

It sounded very clean and not as compressed. Some stations tend to overdo it on the Optimod.

The commercials are a bit campy and the SFX are cheesy.

Anonymous said...

Why didn't they just hire a part-time personality to be Maddie's co-host, like Jake Matthews? And why did Terry get fired anyway?

Anonymous said...

Rock radio is undergoing a transistion period right now..and if anyone has been on the beach lately, as I have, you know what's out there is not what it once was..

Sometimes you have to head somewhere where you can at least get a paycheck, get your head together and see where you want to be in a year or two..makes sense on both ends here..

NextMedia has been able to get a couple of major market talents at a likely below market rate..somebody in Denver might finally be thinking clearly..

Anonymous said...

"Major market talents." Sigh.

Anonymous said...

anything will be better than the cheesefest on WHOF in the morning. granted, it's gary's first day... but just when you have hope, small market radio remains small market. good luck to 'em all!

Anonymous said...

Maddie has got to go! Gag me! Does she really think she is talented? She is coveted? HAHAHAHA!

Anonymous said...

Does this "Scoop" person have a name??

Anonymous said...

I agree with you on Maddie. Unfortunately she just doesn't have talent. I miss some of the "girl next door" natural talent that used to be in this area. Once the looks are gone whats left?

Anonymous said...

Maddie, I like you.

Anonymous said...

Thanks for the post Maddie!

Anonymous said...

Ah, the old "if someone says something nice about someone I don't like, I'll pretend it's the very person I don't like who's actually making the post." Clever. Not played out at all. Highly original.

Anonymous said...

Or.......Could actually be somebody trying to boast themselves up. You can look at it from either side of the fence. You pick which side you'd like to stand on today. Either way none of this has anything to do with the new morning man which this thread is about. Hopefully he will bring new life to WHBC with or without MS Woods.

Anonymous said...

Don't appreciate the combative tone. Interesting (implausible) theory, though. I'm sure this board is a great way to advance a a career by "boasting yourself up." Oh, you're an idiot, by the way.

Ohio Media Watch said...

This item is now closed for comments.

--The Management