For regular listeners of the 710 KEEL morning radio show from 6 a.m. to 9 a.m., it's been a big mystery.
Week before last big Mike suddenly disappeared Wednesday through Friday (19-21 Aug.) on the show with Erin McCarty only saying, “Mike is off”.
Then last Monday (24 Aug.) the secret was out—Mike was ousted by corporate, and the show's name and format changed.
As of this past Friday (28 Aug.) the show had featured eight straight days of guess hosts, which presumably will be the new norm.
Writing this on Sunday, it's anyone's guess who will be the guest host on Monday (31 Aug) when this copy is read, but hopefully it will not be last week’s dud who was the first guest.
Listeners only want to hear a well-known local political analyst so many times in a week much less a month, and three straight days the week before last should be enough until Labor Day.
But such is the world where logarithms in faraway corporate headquarters decide everything from where the next Trader Joe’s will open and how many drive through coffee shops Shreveport-Bossier can support to major personnel decisions that are dollar driven with no sentimentality.
KEEL is owned by Townsquare media, the third largest radio group in the country.
Middleton has landed with Cumulus Radio, the second largest radio group in the country.
His drive to work from Broadmoor to the Boardwalk will certainly be shorter and presumably safer than the long hike on I-20 to almost east Texas.
Reportedly Mike’s role will be that of the radio version of local TV personality Rick Rowe.
The regular listening audience that has segued from Robert & Erin to Mike & McCarty to McCarty in the Morning will now have a Mon.- Fri. early morning surprise in a guest host, which could lead to a quick click to another radio station.
Having two regular radio hosts, one male and one female, was often boring, but boring is good when the change is a disaster.
Good luck to both Erin and Mike in their new radio worlds, and to the regular early morning listeners who must now endure the ups and downs of guest hosts.
And sympathies to Erin who must endure what is a major slap in the face after her many years in radio and who must recreate her morning show if she does not decide to hang up the mic.
John came to Shreveport in January of 1977 when he was transferred to Barksdale AFB.
He’s been active in Shreveport politics since deciding to make Shreveport his home.
John practiced law for 40 years and he now monitors local politics. He regularly attends Shreveport City Council and Caddo Parish Commission meetings.
John is published weekly in The Inquisitor, bi-monthly in The Forum News, and frequently in the Shreveport Times.
He enjoys addressing civic groups on local government issues and elections.