# Everything Else > Arts & Entertainment >  KTOK shakeup?

## SoonerDave

Has been forever since I listened to KTOK regularly, but heard via the Twitterverse that apparently their long-time news directory Jerry Bohnen has been let go, along with the Eggman. 

Anyone have any more details?

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## OKCTalker

All eggman did was read national light news feeds and polls. He wasted an opportunity to dig into meaningful local issues, but squandered it. Hope that his replacement will be better.

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## SoonerQueen

Losing Jerry Bohnen is a real loss. Local talk as we used to know it is gone.

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## oneforone

I am wondering what's going on... All the clear channel radio websites are down.

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## FFLady

> Losing Jerry Bohnen is a real loss. Local talk as we used to know it is gone.


So is the America we used to know.......

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## Larry OKC

Read more: http://newsok.com/david-garrett-laid...#ixzz1qbwIwJjV




> David Garrett was laid off Thursday as KGHM-AM 1340 sports director as part of nationwide layoffs at Clear Channel Communications. ... In Oklahoma City, at least three other veteran on-air broadcasters were dropped, including KTOK-AM news director Jerry Bohnen, a 32-year news veteran; KTOK afternoon personality Eggman (Greg Moore) and KXXY-FM 96.1 morning personality Dan Stroud. ...Bill Hurley, Clear Channel market manager, could not be reached for comment.


Hmmm, maybe he got fired too???

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## kevinpate

of these folk, Dan is the one I will miss the most.

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## oneforone

Clear Channel already remote programs most of their stations including news from larger cities. It won't be long and technical people will be the only people in OKC.

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## RadicalModerate

In a statement, Angel Aristone, VP/Marketing & Communications, Clear Channel Media + Entertainment, tells RBR-TVBR: “We are constantly evaluating our organization and structure to make sure we are as well positioned as possible to continue to lead in the evolving marketplace. We’ve been looking closely at our business to ensure that we are properly staffed and operating as efficiently as possible with the right balance of services and personnel to meet the needs of our listeners/consumers. Like every successful business, our strategy continues to evolve as we move forward as a company and that creates some new jobs, and unfortunately eliminates others. In the process, some employees were affected. These are never easy decisions to make; we thank them for their service and wish them all the best for the future.” 

I look forward to the day when a holographic projection of Angel Aristone--rather than the more expensive version of Angel Aristone his or herself--will be delivering statements like that.

"....lead in the evolving marketplace."
What can that possibly mean but "have the most money"?
It certainly has little to do with the interests or desires of the local listeners to their near monopoly.
Thank goodness for the Internet.

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## Larry OKC

There you go again....

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## MikeOKC

Clear Channel is directly responsible for ruining the very business they're now sinking with. You reap what you sow. The unfortunate part is a lot of CC workers are having to pay the price. They gave pink slips to even 30+ year employees - all over the country. It's sad.

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## JohnH_in_OKC

News Directory Jerry Bohnen has been about the only thing that KTOK had that gave the station any presence.  Most of KTOK's talk show hosts spout garbage and hate (Except Coast to Coast AM & most of your weekend programming). The bean counter or supervisor who fired Bohnen should be fired and Bohnen should be reinstated with back pay. The best newscasters on radio & TV really care about our city and state. The best ones are usually not transplants from somewhere else or at least have long time roots here.  Bohnen probably gave half his life here in OKC reporting to us & for us. I've never met Bohnen, but he's a darn fine anchor and reporter.

Clear Channel: No wonder you're in financial trouble!

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## UncleCyrus

Well, I think a lot of people saw something like this coming.  It doesn't make it any easier to take when it actually happens though.  I wish Jerry, Dan, and Eggman the best.

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## oneforone

I wouldn't blame this entirely on management of Clear Channel. Terrestrial Radio is slowly dying because of technology. Everybody owns an iPod, mp3 player or satellite radio. That means fewer listeners and fewer advertisers which equals lower revenue. Then radio has done a lot to drive ppeople away.  Such as replaying the same songs over and over, too many commercial breaks and crappy morning shows that spend more time talking about nothing than anything else.

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## Soonerman

I'm sure going to miss Dan being on KXY in the morning.

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## Steve

No, you really can blame this ENTIRELY on Clear Channel. They went around gobbling up radio stations throughout the country with leveraged debt with the assumption they could cheapen the programming through a virtual monopoly stranglehold and that people would have no choice but to listen anyway (gosh - didn't see iPods and Sirius coming, did they?). With audiences nose-diving, and the CEO unwilling to give up multi-million pay packages, there was but just one choice left - to gut what was left of local operations and automate it as much as possible. Citidel was guilty of the same business model and went bankrupt. Clear Channel likely won't be far behind.

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## Lindsay Architect

They should have gave Mr. Bohnen a gratious exit at least if they can't afford a 32 year veteran or whatever the deal is.  That being said, eggman tried to hard to be funny and it was mostly childish, so not entertaining.  I like Reed Mullins hope they keep him.  I started listening to Neel Boortz on 1520 on the way home, thats an example of serious issues but its still entertaining.  Who is Eggmans replacement, the McCain Brothers?

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## Lindsay Architect

...or a gracious one.

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## Midtowner

> All eggman did was read national light news feeds and polls. He wasted an opportunity to dig into meaningful local issues, but squandered it. Hope that his replacement will be better.


Eggman was terrible.  I used to regularly listen to Mark Shannon, but Ron Black was probably the best local radio has had in a long time.  Wish KTOK would do whatever it would take to lure him away from his present employer (I believe CHK).

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## Steve

I liked Greg (Eggman), but I agree, he was best suited to be a second fiddle to a lead like Shannon.

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## MikeOKC

> No, you really can blame this ENTIRELY on Clear Channel. They went around gobbling up radio stations throughout the country with leveraged debt with the assumption they could cheapen the programming through a virtual monopoly stranglehold and that people would have no choice but to listen anyway (gosh - didn't see iPods and Sirius coming, did they?). With audiences nose-diving, and the CEO unwilling to give up multi-million pay packages, there was but just one choice left - to gut what was left of local operations and automate it as much as possible. Citidel was guilty of the same business model and went bankrupt. Clear Channel likely won't be far behind.


Absolutely. No doubt. Spot-on. +1. And all the other things that say, "I agree." You nailed it.

It's angered me so much I even removed my 'I Heart Radio' app from my iPad (it's owned by Clear Channel). *Tune-In* is better anyway.

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## metro

Eggman was no loss, now I don't have to listen to his anti-OKC diatribe on the drive home.

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## ctchandler

What is the status of Calvin Wright? 
C. T.

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## RadicalModerate

Shannon and The Eggman were great (back in the day).
Then Shannon continued to be great by himself.
Then Shannon and That Larry Guy were pretty darn good.
Then Shannon was great again.

I guess Mark Shannon would have to be considered to be the last great radio personality in the OKC Metro.
(although ron black was no slouch hisownself . . . not great, but no slouch.)

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## SoonerDave

> Shannon and The Eggman were great (back in the day).
> Then Shannon continued to be great by himself.
> Then Shannon and That Larry Guy were pretty darn good.
> Then Shannon was great again.
> 
> I guess Mark Shannon would have to be considered to be the last great radio personality in the OKC Metro.
> (although ron black was no slouch hisownself . . . not great, but no slouch.)


Sad thing is that the current radio trend seems to be specifically _against_ great radio personalities. I'm no big radio/pop music person myself, but it doesn't take a genius to realize the whole radio thing seems to be homogenized and decidedly non-local. I remember how cool it was as a kid to break out this big radio I had and listen overnight to distant AM radio stations after their broadcast pattern changed. I even picked up a California station once or twice, Chicago pretty regularly, and it was so cool to hear the different styles and stations. Now its just about all the same  :Frown:

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## OKCDrummer77

> What is the status of Calvin Wright? 
> C. T.


They mentioned him covering a story this morning, so it sounds like he's still there.

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## RadicalModerate

Up around Denver--home of KIMN: "The Denver Tiger" and several locally famous radio personalities--we used to be able to pick up KOMA late at night.  I liked the fact that KOMA's playlist wasn't EXACTLY the same as KIMN's.

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## metro

> Shannon and The Eggman were great (back in the day).
> Then Shannon continued to be great by himself.
> Then Shannon and That Larry Guy were pretty darn good.
> Then Shannon was great again.
> 
> I guess Mark Shannon would have to be considered to be the last great radio personality in the OKC Metro.
> (although ron black was no slouch hisownself . . . not great, but no slouch.)


 Shannon was as bad or worse than Eggman IMO. He was anti-OKC progress, often had his facts wrong, and like Eggman, would immediately hang up the phone with anyone who disagreed with him, often cursing or demonizing them while on hold.

Most recently, Eggman kept whining that the city was paying $32 million for a DT kids museum, I promptly called in to correct his facts in that they were trying to raise PRIVATE funds for it, and that the city had not committed to that money. He also whined about Devon taking up all the parking spots downtown, again I reminded him their parking garage was private, and I have no problem finding FREE parking DT every time I go DT. He just wanted to attack, discredit and hang up.

It's people like Shannon and Egghead that keep the negative self perceptions and attitude alive in OKC.

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## kevinpate

> ...  now I don't have to listen ...


Oddly enough, ya never did.  the little tune dial can be a great friend.

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## ctchandler

This is not directed at anybody, certainly not Metro but the above comment reminded me of a comment in TV Guide where a writer in the "letters to the editor" section wrote "Amazing, tell me more about this one channel television with no off button".
C. T.

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## corpsman

Used to listen to KOMA while in Navy boot camp in San Diego in 1968. Only at nite, though. 50,000 watt clear channel goes a long way.


> Up around Denver--home of KIMN: "The Denver Tiger" and several locally famous radio personalities--we used to be able to pick up KOMA late at night.  I liked the fact that KOMA's playlist wasn't EXACTLY the same as KIMN's.

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## boscorama

I would prefer local talk radio but Eggman was a waste of time. I stopped checking on him, instead switching between Boortz and 99.7 True Oldies Channel.

Eggman, if you're reading this, I liked you with Mark Shannon because I hated Shannon. Later, I liked Shannon. You're still a good guy, but KTOK afternoon drive just wasn't a good fit. It sux that True Channel had to do the deed.

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## boscorama

I would prefer local talk radio but Eggman was a consistent waste of time. I stopped checking on him, instead focusing on Boortz and FM radio.

Eggman, if you're reading this, I liked you with Mark Shannon, but I hated Shannon. Later, I loved Shannon. You're still a good guy, but KTOK afternoon drive just wasn't a good fit.  

{HUGS}

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## boscorama

I would prefer local talk radio but Eggman was a consistent waste of time. I stopped checking on him, instead focusing on Boortz and FM radio.

Eggman, if you're reading this, I liked you with Mark Shannon, but I hated Shannon. Later, I loved Shannon. You're still a good guy, but KTOK afternoon drive just wasn't a good fit.  

{HUGS}

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## RealJimbo

> I wouldn't blame this entirely on management of Clear Channel. Terrestrial Radio is slowly dying because of technology. Everybody owns an iPod, mp3 player or satellite radio. That means fewer listeners and fewer advertisers which equals lower revenue. Then radio has done a lot to drive ppeople away.  Such as replaying the same songs over and over, too many commercial breaks and crappy morning shows that spend more time talking about nothing than anything else.


Shows what you know.  Everybody owns an iPod, mp3 player or satellite radio?  Really?  This would really surprise a lot of people I serve every day.  Your post reads as though you have NEVER even listened to the station in question, KTOK.  Go gripe about conservatives on the political threads.  Bye now.

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## RealJimbo

> Shannon was as bad or worse than Eggman IMO. He was anti-OKC progress, often had his facts wrong, and like Eggman, would immediately hang up the phone with anyone who disagreed with him, often cursing or demonizing them while on hold.
> 
> Most recently, Eggman kept whining that the city was paying $32 million for a DT kids museum, I promptly called in to correct his facts in that they were trying to raise PRIVATE funds for it, and that the city had not committed to that money. He also whined about Devon taking up all the parking spots downtown, again I reminded him their parking garage was private, and I have no problem finding FREE parking DT every time I go DT. He just wanted to attack, discredit and hang up.
> 
> It's people like Shannon and Egghead that keep the negative self perceptions and attitude alive in OKC.


You never really listened to Shannon, OBVIOUSLY.

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## RealJimbo

I'm an unabashed radio lover from way back.  I had the privilege of living through the '50s and '60s when radio was at its best.  I dearly loved WKY, KOMA, KOCY, KLPR, KTOK and even KBYE back in the day, each one for its own distinct personality.  The know-nothings seem to gravitate to subjects about which they should remain silent.  Terry McGrew, Don Wallace, Ronnie Kaye (yep, he has been on radio THAT LONG), Dale Wehba (spelling?), Danny Williams, Tom Furlong, Bob Riggins, Big Ben Tipton, B. Mark Summers, and so many other DJs set a high standard in the OKC market.  When talk radio got going, Andy McCollum, Ed Hardy, John Dale, again Bob Riggins, among others made it interesting.  Remember the serials on radio, like The Adventures of Chicken Man?  KTOK has a rich history and I am so saddened to see Clear Channel cheapen it.  Times change and so do programming methods, tastes and social mores.  So long, KTOK.  It was nice to know ya.

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## happyday

If I was an unemployed talk radio guy, I would 'audition' nationally by creating my own daily or weekly podcast. Do it from home with only a microphone and an internet connection. A fairly unknown marketing guy in South Africa recently started his own podcast. Within two weeks he had an audience (subscribers) of over 30,000 downloads. That's way more listeners than these local stations. If nothing else, do your own affiliate marketing to Amazon and other places as your commercials.

There are endless possibilities for getting your voice out there, despite these mega-corporations who lock down the local market with their large footprint.

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## GaryOKC6

> Eggman was no loss, now I don't have to listen to his anti-OKC diatribe on the drive home.


I listened to Lee Matthews on the drive home yesterday.  I think that he does a good job.  I don't know if it is temporary or not.   I hope they keep him there.

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## Midtowner

> I listened to Lee Matthews on the drive home yesterday.  I think that he does a good job.  I don't know if it is temporary or not.   I hope they keep him there.


Agreed.  With Eggman, I'd resorted to NPR for the drive home.  Matthews covered relevant subjects, had relevant guests from both sides of the issue and did his homework.  What a concept!

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## SoonerDave

> I'm an unabashed radio lover from way back.  I had the privilege of living through the '50s and '60s when radio was at its best.  I dearly loved WKY, KOMA, KOCY, KLPR, KTOK and even KBYE back in the day, each one for its own distinct personality.  The know-nothings seem to gravitate to subjects about which they should remain silent.  Terry McGrew, Don Wallace, Ronnie Kaye (yep, he has been on radio THAT LONG), Dale Wehba (spelling?), Danny Williams, Tom Furlong, Bob Riggins, Big Ben Tipton, B. Mark Summers, and so many other DJs set a high standard in the OKC market.  When talk radio got going, Andy McCollum, Ed Hardy, John Dale, again Bob Riggins, among others made it interesting.  Remember the serials on radio, like The Adventures of Chicken Man?  KTOK has a rich history and I am so saddened to see Clear Channel cheapen it.  Times change and so do programming methods, tastes and social mores.  So long, KTOK.  It was nice to know ya.


I grew up listening to KTOK when John Dayle was parroting his fake moon landing theories, and Carlton Cordell was doing these hysterical comedy bits about Oklahoma being attacked by the Mexican Navy or the dangers of electrons falling out of your electrical plugs. The great thing is that callers would pick up on the joke(s) (although Dayle was deadly serious) and perpetuate it at the expense of people who thought it was serious. Those folks really knew how to stir up a radio audience. 

I remember KTOK's Ten-Spot Jackpot and HiLo games, and their Diamond Hunts that were run by Ed Sossen, who left OK under quite a bit of controversy relating to a child's home called the Genesis House. I remember Bob Durgin playing hangman on some evenings, and even Lou Staples (RIP) starting a sports radio talk gig with a guy named Al Eschbach (sp), which was arguably one of the very first radio talk shows devoted to sports nearly anywhere. There was an afternoon crew called "John and Debbie" (John McCormick and Debbie June Mann, actually, as I recall) who used to get in trouble for all kinds of racy double-entendre jokes, which was very surprising considering their manager at that time was Ken Gaines, a devout Christian who helmed a biblical/prayer hour on Sunday mornings with his wife (Barbara, I think?). 

Bob Riggins was as much an institution in OK radio as you can get. He was always "pouring a fresh cup of coffee" and you could just hear the smile on his face. B.J. Wexler used to do his "Telephone Poll" at lunchtime after Paul Harvey, and is still in this market on OETA hosting the movie club. KTOK was a great, great station in that era, an era that is, sadly, gone forever.

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## Dubya61

I also love local radio.  Do the commercials annoy me?  yeah, but it's good to hear local radio.  Naturally, I would prefer to not hear piped in or nationally syndicated stuff.  I want radio that's made to appeal to me, not someone from NY, WA, CA, FL, or even TX.  It is mildly distressing that local radio seems to be dying out.  Stephen King predicts and laments that he thinks local radio won't even exist in 50 years or less.  That would be sad.

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## RealJimbo

> I grew up listening to KTOK when John Dayle was parroting his fake moon landing theories, and Carlton Cordell was doing these hysterical comedy bits about Oklahoma being attacked by the Mexican Navy or the dangers of electrons falling out of your electrical plugs. The great thing is that callers would pick up on the joke(s) (although Dayle was deadly serious) and perpetuate it at the expense of people who thought it was serious. Those folks really knew how to stir up a radio audience. 
> 
> I remember KTOK's Ten-Spot Jackpot and HiLo games, and their Diamond Hunts that were run by Ed Sossen, who left OK under quite a bit of controversy relating to a child's home called the Genesis House. I remember Bob Durgin playing hangman on some evenings, and even Lou Staples (RIP) starting a sports radio talk gig with a guy named Al Eschbach (sp), which was arguably one of the very first radio talk shows devoted to sports nearly anywhere. There was an afternoon crew called "John and Debbie" (John McCormick and Debbie June Mann, actually, as I recall) who used to get in trouble for all kinds of racy double-entendre jokes, which was very surprising considering their manager at that time was Ken Gaines, a devout Christian who helmed a biblical/prayer hour on Sunday mornings with his wife (Barbara, I think?). 
> 
> Bob Riggins was as much an institution in OK radio as you can get. He was always "pouring a fresh cup of coffee" and you could just hear the smile on his face. B.J. Wexler used to do his "Telephone Poll" at lunchtime after Paul Harvey, and is still in this market on OETA hosting the movie club. KTOK was a great, great station in that era, an era that is, sadly, gone forever.


SoonerDave...Wow, I forgot to mention the Ten-Spot Jackpot, etc.  Yep, all those personalities you mention I remember well.  John and Debbie were a ton of fun.  How about Red Rover and Captain Jim Perdue?  Of course my friend Pam Henry started out doing her news reporting on KTOK.  And you are so right about Bob Riggins.  I'll bet he sold tons of Cain's Coffee just from the sound of the coffee pouring and his velvet-smooth "ahhhh, that's good".

First time I ever heard Al Eschbach it hurt my ears.  I couldn't stand him!  But he proved very shortly that he was a local Howard Cosell - he knows his stuff!

I ran into John Dayle once at a friend's place of business.  He was HUGE!  And intimidating!  But really friendly and gracious in person.  Thanks for the memories!

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## metro

> You never really listened to Shannon, OBVIOUSLY.


Sure did, MAPS3 anyone? Man that sure boiled Shannon's blood the thought of MAPS3 passing. He was pro-union.

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## oneforone

> I listened to Lee Matthews on the drive home yesterday.  I think that he does a good job.  I don't know if it is temporary or not.   I hope they keep him there.


Matthews is the program director for KTOK. He will likely stand in until they find someone else. Matthews stood in when McCarville left, then again when Gerry Vaillancort (Hornets Announcer) left and again when Shannon left. I believe KTOK was hoping Eggman would eventually come around and fill the void Mark Shannon left when he passed away. However, he stuck with cheese ball humor and factoids more then he talked about current events in the political world. Slowly one by one the listeners left. I stayed around as long as I could then I switched over to listening to Mike McConnell on podcasts from WGN on the drive home.

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## ctchandler

And how about the "footed mugs" that were given away for some reason.  I had one of those.  Also, on the morning drive, they talked about "the big swing is to Dennis donuts".  And don't forget Ed (Sossen) and Larry and the "Tuttle Shuttle" an airline flying from Tuttle to OKC.  And one of my favorites, Jackson Kane.  And, correct me if I am wrong, but I am sure I listened to Lou Staples by himself until they hired Al Eschbach to join in on the nightly show.  I was listening the night that Lou didn't show up for work.  The next day we learned what happened.
C. T.

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## Bellaboo

I thought Mark Shannon was a little obnoxious myself, and he looked like the Jim Boy dude on the Waltons.....didn't take much effort to turn the channel.

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## ou48A

She may be a very nice person but I can’t stand the voice of KTOK news reader Beth Myers. 
It’s her terrible accent.

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## RealJimbo

> Sure did, MAPS3 anyone? Man that sure boiled Shannon's blood the thought of MAPS3 passing. He was pro-union.


OK, so you apparently listened long enough to form an opinion, one to which you are entitled.  My opinion of Shannon was and is that he was an incredibly principled person whose views came through very clearly and, although I didn't always agree with him, I admired him in a big way.  I miss him very much still.

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## soonerguru

> Sure did, MAPS3 anyone? Man that sure boiled Shannon's blood the thought of MAPS3 passing. He was pro-union.


I supported Maps3 and I'm not opposed to unions. There can be middle ground on these issues.

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## Midtowner

The unions were involved in MAPS III because they wanted the city to spend more money on emergency services instead of capital improvements.  Shannon's motives were more Tea Party-esque.  It was more of a marriage of convenience than principal.

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## mrcritic

I guess now that we don't have to listen to the eggman, KTOK is going to cram Randy Renner down our throats. no pun intended.

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## cat62

My dad was let go around 1990 in the same manner as Jerry. It's about money,  not talent.

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## Bobdavid

> My dad was let go around 1990 in the same manner as Jerry [Bohnen]. It's about money,  not talent.


I reported news and anchored newscasts for KTOK Radio for nearly seven and a half years. I worked under your dad and/or Jerry Bohnen all of those years. I recall how KTOK dispatched your dad, Cat62.

I recently learned that KTOK/CCC dumped Jerry. I learned from an absolutely reliable source the disgusting, inhumane way KTOK/Cheap Channel Communications dispatched him. I won't go into details. 

I was in radio for nineteen years. During those years I was either witness to or victim of radio station dismissals. It's never fun to lose a job, but the sudden way KTOK dispatched Jerry, after thirty-three years, turned my stomach.

Yes, it's not always about talent. Radio is a business - but no one deserves to lose his/her job in the totally undignified, cold, corporate manner your dad and Jerry Bohnen did. I wish Jerry well.

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