Riter out at WGR

[BillsSabresB.C.T. Fan]

WGR evening host Brad Riter has been let go by the all-sports station. Greg Ried, the general manager of WGR and all Entercom stations, confirmed Riter no longer works for the station.

Ried declined to say why Riter was let go, but a source said Riter was fired after he failed to show for a Monday morning program after he was previously warned about it. For now, WGR will use staffers to fill in for Riter, who primarily works the evening shift.

On a separate matter, Ried said he would be willing to talk with former Channel 7 sports director John Murphy if Murphy’s deal with Citadel Broadcasting, the owner of Bills station 97 Rock, would allow him to work for both radio companies.

“He’s got a lot of name recognition and equity in the marketplace,” Ried said.

However, it is doubtful that Citadel or the Bills would allow Murphy to work for a station that regularly bashes the NFL team. — Alan Pergament

http://www.buffalonews.com/291/story/166052.html

Riter was the only positive guy at WGR, Murphy would never join WGR he's to much of a :homer:

[Michael82]

Ugghh, they fired the wrong one. Other than Howard Simon, he's the only WGR guy that I enjoy listening to.

[TheGhostofJimKelly]

From what I hear, he was suppose to be in for a show and never made it. He wasn't fired for being a bad radio host, but for being a bad employee.

[Nighthawk]

Riter was an idiot and it is a common theme at that station. They need to revamp the entire lineup and bring in some different personalities.

[Ingtar33]

riter was funny as all hell the few times i heard his show.

but then I've not lived in buffalo in a long time. and i only heard him in small doses... or over the internet.

[Ebenezer]

I liked him but if this was over being a bad employee then shame on him.

[Night Train]

An audio test of the Emergency Broadcast System is more entertaining than WGR.

They need a complete makeover of on-air personalities.

[RockStar36]

Jeremy White is good too.

[djjimkelly]

WGR had officially become unlistenable if thats a word SCHOOP is the worst idiot ive ever heard radio. he knows little to nothing about sports except stats. and to me that is meaningless considering memorization is the lowest form of intelligence.

bulldog has become a company line guy

WGR shoves the sabres and sabres only down people throat and thats great we all love the sabres but the bills are what is in everyones heart

[hydro]

You know Schoop and the Bulldog have been doing talk radio for too long when callers asking them "how they are doing" and it annoys them. Give me a break, its your job to entertain the listeners, not belittle them...

[djjimkelly]

way to go guys. you guys got rid on the only guy on your station beside the early morning guys that are listenable.

brad riter was maybe the only one who actually had a semi intelligent comment on the nfl.

thank you for allowing me to listen to sirius radio full time now.

because id stick a knife in my own head before listening to schoop and the bulldog talk about the BULL **** they talk about anymore. no one wants to hear about your driving route to tenniswith your wife, schoop we all in fact hope you get hit by a semi so we dont have to hear your idiotic "not knowing ****" sports talk


i just sent that email to wgr they are a joke now

[don137]

I think most of the WGR hosts especially Schoop and Bulldog do not respect Buffalo sports fans and look down on them. They act pompous and get more annoyed with the fans instead of appreciating them.

[THATHURMANATOR]

Riter was honestly the only good host they have. What a shame.

[chernobylwraiths]

I think the problem might go deeper. Riter openly lobbied for the time slot between Simon and Rome (currently a syndicated show hosted by Colin Cowherd). He even went as far as to give the station's general manager's email address on the air and told listeners to email him to let him know that we want him in that slot. I don't mind Cowherd but he is a bit of an ESPN homer and is a big market whore. He only talks of Buffalo usually when he has something bad to say. He does say we have passionate fans, but that's only because there is nothing else to do here. (somewhat true) I would be willing to bet that Riter might have given the station an ultimatum since they would screw with his schedule by making him work Mondays after football and then go back to working nights the rest of the week. Plus he has the post game show after hockey games. I just don't think he was fired because he missed one show.

[patmoran2006]

yer absolutely 100% spot on. Yes

[Michael82]

I think the problem might go deeper. Riter openly lobbied for the time slot between Simon and Rome (currently a syndicated show hosted by Colin Cowherd). He even went as far as to give the station's general manager's email address on the air and told listeners to email him to let him know that we want him in that slot. I don't mind Cowherd but he is a bit of an ESPN homer and is a big market whore. He only talks of Buffalo usually when he has something bad to say. He does say we have passionate fans, but that's only because there is nothing else to do here. (somewhat true) I would be willing to bet that Riter might have given the station an ultimatum since they would screw with his schedule by making him work Mondays after football and then go back to working nights the rest of the week. Plus he has the post game show after hockey games. I just don't think he was fired because he missed one show.
Good point. I remember that campaign of his. I voted for him to take that slot too. :up:

Cowherd is a ****ing douchebag! He doesn't give a **** about Buffalo and his show is a waste.

[don137]

Good point. I remember that campaign of his. I voted for him to take that slot too. :up:

Cowherd is a ****ing douchebag! He doesn't give a **** about Buffalo and his show is a waste.

Agreed. I will never listen to Cowherd again. First of all he is annoying and not that interesting and goes off on these rants that last forever. Secondly last week he went through what teams are interesting/ fun to watch in the NFL. He listed the top 17 teams and why he ranked them. He then said 18-31 fall under the same group (Detroit, Carolina, Tampa, etc) but then said number 32 is Buffalo. He said they are at the bottom all by themself of most entertaining teams to watch and ripped into them. Between not being that interesting and then that comment I won't listen to him again. I rather go without listening about sports then listening to that guy ever again.

[Ebenezer]

um...don and mike...just because he bashes buffalo doesn't mean he is not a good host...he actually does a good job...and almost everything he said about this team is true...they lack identity and they lack a star...most people around the country, except for bills fans, could care less about the bills.

[jack1022]

Sorry to hear your gone Brad....

PS Brad, start your own Sports Radio... we'll support it over WGR55 and bring J. White with you...

[RockStar36]

Cowherd is horrible. I can at least deal with Rome, although he isn't my favorite, my Cowherd makes me want to steer my car into oncoming traffic. He is absolutely the worst host.

[Mr. Pink]

Cowherd is a Rome clone with less sports knowledge and less smack.

He goes off on ridiculously stupid tangents like today he was trying to belittle some caller by saying that since he makes 800k a year he lives a lavish lifestyle very similiar to Donovan McNabb so he understands McNabb's lifestyle better than some random schmuck caller.

Riter was right about wanting the time slot...it woulda been much better than listening to Cowherd. At least they pre-empt Cowherd's last hour of the show to go over to Rome. But it's still 2 hours too many to ever listen to that chump. Hire Murphy and have him do the 10-noon time slot.

[Michael82]

Cowherd is horrible. I can at least deal with Rome, although he isn't my favorite, my Cowherd makes me want to steer my car into oncoming traffic. He is absolutely the worst host.
Exactly! Right when Cowherd comes on, my radio gets changed to something else. I can't stand the guy. He's a horrible host and no Eb, it's not just his bias against Buffalo. He's a blowhard and acts like he knows everything when he really doesn't know ****. Horrible host! :ill:

[don137]

um...don and mike...just because he bashes buffalo doesn't mean he is not a good host...he actually does a good job...and almost everything he said about this team is true...they lack identity and they lack a star...most people around the country, except for bills fans, could care less about the bills.

The fact that he was not interesting, not entertaining and bashed Buffalo is why I will not listen to him anymore. If he bashed Buffalo and I enjoyed listening to him I would still listen. Heck most people in the media bash Buffalo but I still listen. The bashing of Buffalo was just the straw that broke the camels back. To single them out and tell me a team like Tampa, Minnesota, Atlanta are more interesting to watch I don't buy it. They may be about at the same level but not below them. He is a waste of air space as far as I'm concerned.

[RockStar36]

I'll listen to the morning show while getting ready and driving to work. Sometimes I listen at work but I'll shut it off at 10am. Very rarely will I listen to the afternoon show unless something is going on that I wanna hear about. The morning show is carrying that station.

[BillsSabresB.C.T. Fan]

Guys it doesn't matter, WGR will be gone in a couple of years the way Sirius is growing with subscribers and now they're going to merge with XM. Radio as we know it will be a thing of the past:sadwalk:. Sattelite radio is going to be the thing of the future shure you'll have to pay a subscription to listen:down: but it's worth it you get less commercials :up: and more channels :up: to listen to.

[chernobylwraiths]

Radio should be free, like it always has been. GR is one of the top rated sports radio shows in the entire country and has been rated top several times. I don't think they're going anywhere.

[carybillsfan]

I went to High School with Brad at WSE, he's a good guy. Sorry to hear he was released by the station. I wish him the best in the future.

[Bmax]

Guys it doesn't matter, WGR will be gone in a couple of years the way Sirius is growing with subscribers and now they're going to merge with XM. Radio as we know it will be a thing of the past:sadwalk:. Sattelite radio is going to be the thing of the future shure you'll have to pay a subscription to listen:down: but it's worth it you get less commercials :up: and more channels :up: to listen to.

I disagree...Local radio will be around just not in the same capacity...Look for more local and college sports....Music wise i see your point .. But with digital coming on stations will be able to provide more divirse formats .. to o satisfy listeners...Local radio problem is they still are to reluctant to play local music..That's where they need to go a lot more to satisfy the local market...


Bmax

[churchinski]

WGR evening host Brad Riter has been let go by the all-sports station. Greg Ried, the general manager of WGR and all Entercom stations, confirmed Riter no longer works for the station.

Ried declined to say why Riter was let go, but a source said Riter was fired after he failed to show for a Monday morning program after he was previously warned about it. For now, WGR will use staffers to fill in for Riter, who primarily works the evening shift.

On a separate matter, Ried said he would be willing to talk with former Channel 7 sports director John Murphy if Murphy’s deal with Citadel Broadcasting, the owner of Bills station 97 Rock, would allow him to work for both radio companies.

“He’s got a lot of name recognition and equity in the marketplace,” Ried said.

However, it is doubtful that Citadel or the Bills would allow Murphy to work for a station that regularly bashes the NFL team. — Alan Pergament

http://www.buffalonews.com/291/story/166052.html

Riter was the only positive guy at WGR, Murphy would never join WGR he's to much of a :homer:

good he sounded like a 15 year old and a dumb one at that

[lordofgun]

You guys are nuts. Cowherd is hilarious.

[henrybacker]

Agreed.


Cowherd is horrible. I can at least deal with Rome

I fail to see how anyone could ever make this statement.

[churchinski]

I cant imagine why anyone would listen to Rome

[churchinski]

Guys it doesn't matter, WGR will be gone in a couple of years the way Sirius is growing with subscribers and now they're going to merge with XM. Radio as we know it will be a thing of the past:sadwalk:. Sattelite radio is going to be the thing of the future shure you'll have to pay a subscription to listen:down: but it's worth it you get less commercials :up: and more channels :up: to listen to.Don't count me among those people .
There is very little in the sattellite radio lineup that could compel me to pay for it.
I don't think sattellite radio is much of a threat at all to traditional radio.