News

RADIO WARS: Tyrone Johnson Takes Responsibility for Hunter Brody Departure

By Kevin Kinkead

Published: Jul 11th, 2023 · 9:22 AM EDT

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There were a handful of layoffs at Beasley on Monday, which included 97.5 the Fanatic’s Hunter Brody, Eric “Coach” Camille, and some behind-the-scenes/support staff.

Opening The Best Show Ever? that afternoon, Tyrone Johnson spoke at length about the Brodes departure, saying this, in part:

"Anything bad that happens with this show is because of me." – @TyJohnsonNews opens about Brodes https://t.co/ySBXpTy7t2 pic.twitter.com/5yEHAUtBkD

— Crossing Broad (@CrossingBroad) July 10, 2023

Tyrone:

“Anything that goes bad with the show, you absolutely can blame me. And if I was more successful doing this job then I believe Hunter would still be here. But unfortunately, part of when you’re not winning is (that) changes end up being made. I didn’t win, and then someone was going to get cut from a show with this many people.”

Now that is some of the most honest talk you’ll ever hear. Credit to Tyrone for coming out and just saying it. You can like Tyrone or dislike Tyrone, and you can like that show or dislike that show, but you have to respect the frankness and lack of bullshitting there.

It is indeed true that TBSE? is not winning in the ratings. No show on 97.5 the Fanatic is winning in the ratings, and WIP has been running rampant for several books now. On the 2-6 P.M. afternoon drive slot, Jon Marks and Ike Reese had started to defeat Mike Missanelli consistently prior to his 2022 departure, and so TBSE? not only had the difficult task of replacing a veteran who went out in a pseudo-controversy, but they also inherited poor ratings and had quite a bit of work to do to make up ground on Marks and Reese, which has not happened now 11 months since launch.

You don’t necessarily need ratings to make money and run a successful station if you’ve got strong hosts with good sales skills that build good relationships with clients. There seems to be some of that going on at 97.5 right now, while WIP is crushing in the ratings beneath the umbrella of a company whose stock price has been in toilet for the better part of a year. It’s a pretty rough time for radio and the media business in general, though with Beasley it seems like we get a round layoffs every 9 to 12 months. It’s BRUTAL.

Good on Tyrone for saying what he said though.