JAY SEVERIN AND WTKK

"Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, the shall he also reap." (Galatians 6:7)

For many years I listened to a LOT of talk radio. This became such a point of contention with several people who are very close to me (a few years ago) that I began cutting back on talk radio. I especially stopped writing on the blog about talk radio. But this bit of news is definitely worth posting. Radio talk show host Jay Severin has recently been "canned" by WTKK. The station management issued a statement citing Severin's repeated lack of civility as being the reason he was let go.

WTKK bagan as a Boston talk radio station in September of 1999 and Severin was doing the afternoon drive show (THEN called "Extreme Games") right from the beginning. Not SO much a "conservative" but rather a self-described "libertarian" and "libertine", Severin was a captivating host who built a large audience. Jay Severin's knowledge of and understanding of American politics is extraordinarily good and interesting. His bragging about the number of attractive, college-age females he's known in the Biblical sense, however, became tiring to listen to. Severin's been married for over twelve years and has had kids for the past five years. Despite that, for the show's first incarnation (1999-2005) he maintained that he was a swinging bachelor. It was also implied he lived in the Boston area. In fact, he was doing his show from his residence on Long Island, New York.

Jay Severin left WTKK in mid-2005 to do a national show. Initial reports indicated WBZ would likely be his Boston-area affiliate, but Severin inked a deal to put the nationally syndicated show on WTKK in a 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. time slot. WTKK then hired Michael Graham who had just been fired by a Washington, DC station. Graham never got quite the ratings that Severin had, but he did do a pretty fine afternoon drive talk show.

After one year, the plug was pulled on Severin's national show. Severin approached WTKK about coming back on board. I didn't mind that 'TKK rehired him, but a lot of Michael Graham's listeners (including me) resented that Michael Graham got bumped from the afternoon drive slot to make room for Severin. Graham was treated like Shemp of The Three Stooges and Severin was treated like King Farouk! Severin was paid an unbelievably high salary. He bought a large house in Manchester-By-The-Sea, Massachusetts, and now came clean about being married with children. The Jay Severin who returned was a somewhat kindler, gentler Jay Severin, who would occasionally slip and make cruel, off-the-wall, and/or inappropriate comments. In all fairness, Jay Severin DID do some great programs. I exchanged a few complimentary e-mails with him. But Severin was suspended in 2009 for making vicious and inappropriate remarks about Mexicans. The Jay Severin who returned to the airwaves a few weeks later was even kinder and gentler. He now had lots of guests on the show which was a radical departure from the old solo "Extreme Games" format. His latest on-air blunder was bragging that years ago as the boss of his own company he used to have intimate physical relations with the women who worked for him, just because he could do so.

One big winner in all this COULD be Michael Graham. I think it's time WTKK realized what a loyal "company man" Graham has been at 'TKK in comparison to Severin. I wish Michael Graham well. And "Bower" (or however you spell it) is an "OK" replacement on afternoon drive. Whether he will be a permanent replacement is anybody's guess.

Now: here is what I'd like to say to WTKK-

Hiring Jay back in 2006, paying him an exhorbitant salary, and then bumping Michael Graham from afternoon drive, was WAY out of line! I think many people could have told you that. You really brought all this trouble upon yourselves!

And: here is what I'd like to say to Jay Severin-

Jay, your knowledge of national politics is probably second to none. When you want to be so, you can be a very charming gentleman. But at other times, you're an arrogant, egotistical, foul-mouthed jerk. You COULD have become the most respected talk show host in New England, but you blew it, much as Tom Leykis did over fifteen years ago. It's time YOU started behaving like one of the "best and brightest"!

Well, that's my two cents on the subject. Think now WTKK will give ME my own show? Well, I'm not holding my breath...