If he got yet another call from a listener getting asked if they’d listen to him in mornings, we didn’t hear it on WTAM afternoon motormouth Mike Trivisonno’s show today. But we did hear something interesting.
Triv was ripping former Indians star Jim Thome for refusing that Indians offer a few years ago to keep him in Cleveland, and taking a larger offer to go to the Philadelphia Phillies while telling Triv and fans he wanted to stay in Cleveland…saying the current Chicago White Sox slugger “lied” to Cleveland fans, and Triv himself.
The afternoon mainstay on Cleveland’s “Big One” then told listeners that he had a leg to stand on in criticizing Thome…saying he’d gotten significant offers last fall from “two different places, two different stations” in what he called “a huge opportunity, making more money than I’m making here”. But Triv says despite that, he “stayed put for less money”, and turned down the offers, even though he believed he could probably get a lawyer to get him out of his WTAM contract…saying he was at “the place (he) wanted to be”…and on the station and in the time slot he wanted to be in.
Hmmm. How does all this play with the talk of moving to mornings?
If it’s within the Clear Channel family, though he’d be abandoning WTAM’s afternoon listeners, he’d still be within the company and still be talking to local listeners, just in a different daypart and likely on a different local CC station. And this could be yet another on-air negotiating ploy by Triv, as far as that “station and time slot” comment…along the lines of the spelling out of “double pay” on Friday.
About our comment that a Triv move to mornings would likely take place (in our opinion) on a Clear Channel FM station – consider this. There’s only one landing place that could even happen for him in the company’s firmament here. Look at the rundown:
* Oldies WMJI/105.7 – Unless he retires or leaves on his own, John Lanigan is about as close as you could get to a host being cemented in his current position. Like TV’s Dick Goddard (WJW FOX 8), Lanigan leaves when he wants to leave, period.
* Hot AC WMVX/106.5 – While not in the Lanigan category, the prospect of Brian and Joe getting replaced by Mike Trivisonno is about as likely as a UFO landing at Clear Channel’s World Domination HQ on Oak Tree. (Hmm, that’d explain Triv making it there in the first place, though…)
* CHR WAKS/96.5 – Triv replacing syndicated Valentine on a top 40 station? Where’s that UFO again?
* Country WGAR/99.5 – Umm, Triv on a popular country station? Another UFO stop…
That leaves, of course, only rocker WMMS/100.7 left on the Clear Channel Cleveland FM list. The station’s current morning show, “WMMS Mornings with Sean, Hunter and Cristi”, is about the 6th WMMS morning show in the past 5 years or so.
We don’t have access to WMMS’ ratings, let alone specifically for morning drive, but IF there is a Triv move to a Cleveland Clear Channel FM station in morning drive, WMMS is literally the only place it could happen for the above reasons. Again…IF.
There’s also the added bonus that WMMS’ format would presumably be compatible with Triv’s audience, and WMMS is an iconic presence as Cleveland’s legendary rock station. With WMMS matching up well against CBS Radio alt-rocker WXTM/92.3, beating it the ratings much of the time according to what we’ve heard, adding Triv in mornings and keeping the current rock format the rest of the day – especially with 92.3 adding talk in PM drive – could be a good move.
Once again, we feel the need to light up the giant THIS IS ONLY OUR OWN SPECULATION sign. We’ve heard rumblings that WMMS is behind the “would you listen to Triv in mornings” marketing call flurry, but we cannot confirm that. All of this could well fall apart, and not happen…and pretty much 95% of this entry is our own semi-educated speculation.
But if it happens, you can bet we’ll remind you that you heard it here first… heh.
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