OMW readers have known since last week that Media-Com talk WNIR/100.1 “The Talk of Akron” morning host Stan Piatt was headed for retirement after a 36 year run at the station.
Now, WNIR listeners know, officially.
The station aired a news story Monday, starting at 12 noon, that Piatt is indeed retiring “sometime between now and July”. (Yes, July. More on that later.)
The announcement was immediately followed by a call for “a funny person” to fill Piatt’s shoes on the station’s morning show, where Piatt’s replacement would sit alongside (still, presumably) incumbent co-hosts Steve French, Phil Ferguson and Maggie Fuller.
Those interested in auditioning were directed to E-mail the station.
OMW hears that the station’s official announcement of Piatt’s exit, combined with the call for auditions, was aired with good reason.
For one, we’re told that the station agreed not to “drag out” the process of Stan’s departure, which would make sense when you consider that WNIR is repeatedly calling for potential replacement candidates right now.
We’re also told that you probably shouldn’t expect to hear Stan Piatt on WNIR all the way into July 2014…and we’d be surprised he was still on the air in 2014 at all.
Piatt, as we’ve said before, is retiring for personal reasons…and will not pursue a radio gig in his new home area of Western Pennsylvania…
How can you be funny with French and Fuller weighing you down? The search begins for yet another untrained broadcaster.
Due to my current work schedule I rarely listen to the morning show on WNIR but I HAD listened for many years since I moved to the area in 1978 when I believe NIR was known as WKNT-FM. I recall the earlier days of Piatt’s tenure at the station when he did the show alone (plus a newsperson). Seems to me many years ago he had a problem getting to work on time but he got himself straightened out and the rest is history. I wish Stan the best and thank him for being a good local show host these many years.
Good for Stan! He’ll be missed but he’s also doing something Howie, Tom and Joe did not get a chance to do – enjoy retirement.
While Stan would like to leave ASAP, it sounds like he wants to help the Kaiser make the transition go smoothly, hence the “July 2014” departure. My guess is he’s gone by Thanksgiving.
I’m sure Stan will still be heard on WNIR via commercial endorsements.
So….the search begins….will it be Chad Zumock, Couchburner, Jim Traficant, The Boooshman, Ohio Media Watch, Jay Leno, Queen Elizabeth, or Larry the Cable Guy that takes over mornings on WNIR?
From the scuttlebutt I’ve been hearing, unless you have a college degree, might as well forget about applying.
In reference to the comment about hiring an untrained “broadcaster”, this is one of the many fruits of Mark Fowler’s deregulation of radio 20 years ago. It’s been a generation now and with the resulting disappearance of the small stations and the loss of thousands of jobs that continues in the industry, there is a very small pool of trained broadcasters left and many of them are as old as Stan. Young people are not entering the field because there are few jobs and little future for them so there is no longer a feeder system of trained broadcast talent. Stations are looking outside radio, at college professors, movie stars, night club comics, politicians, sports stars, callers and reality show peformers, as an alternative. They can be trained to run a board and follow what few rules are left, but they will not be “broadcasters” in the traditional sense of the word. Just sayin’!