The Weekly Rant:"The outright dismissle...errr...retirement of A radio legend"{Feb. 1

[jiggyjaguar]

February 10th, 2004 REPRINTED


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I have been on and off air for some months and I have saw it all with Kobe Bryant,Martha and Jacko on trial and Opie and Anthony with the whole Sex thing and let's not forget Janet at the Super Bowl and the 911 and gas explosion in Hutchinson Kansas. The whole Iraq war and also several thing happening in the personal and professional life of "The Jiggy Jaguar" and The Jiggy Jaguar Radio Network. The whole wars with David Goe and Alternacast and then my mini war of sorts this past summer with KDK and The Des as far as internet radio goes. The problems with bringing the program back on air like we did a few years back. However for the last few months I have been following the whole situation with "Mr. Weekly Top 40" himself, Rick Dees. Well what I red today and listened to this evening absolutly made me sick. I have never been a big fan of Clear Channel radio and personally in the word of Helen 'Mama' Boucher in the Waterboy, "Viacom is the devil!" Now what I am making refernace to is the downright outsting of Rick Dees today from his Top rated morning program at Kiss FM.
Now for those who don't know who I am talking about, Rick Dees is the voice of "The Top 40" in many markets around the country Rick counts down the hits. He also had a top rated program in the morning on KISS FM. Now many people remember Rick from his one hit wonder of the 1970's called "Disco Duck". Rick was often compared to a circus clown but he has done it all in radio in the USA. The Weekly Top 40 is a well produced and run program and his morning program is a staple in the LA area. What I figured is eventually with most personalitys on the radio or TV. They are allowed to step away on their terms. What comes to mind is Tom Brokaw with NBC, Brokaw is planning on stepping down next fall and let CNBC's Bryan Williams take over.
What angers me is the way Dees was treated by those assclowns at Clear Channel, and the way he was forced out. The story started several months back when Clear Channel notified affliates of his Nationally Syndicated radio morning show that he would no longer offer it. Well I figured it was more of a notion of competion from other morning shows and also Rick wanted to connecentrate on his local listener base. However, then Rick was rumored to step down from his show several weeks back to do other things, it's like Barbara Walters stepping down at ABC News to concertrate on the View and her specials. However then when Dees made his announcement, he said he would be moving to a new studio. The problem is now Dees has been forced out and he has been replaced by American Idol's Ryan Seacrest. To listen to Rick's retirement speech go to http://www.rick.com and download this.
Ryan Seacrest, came to the national level of broadcasting hosting many low rated and short lived shows. Now this punk, and believe me I have watched his rise to the top of the broadcasting food chain for awhile now and he is nothing but a hyped version of Carson Daily. Now Seacrest I am sure is a good guy but he seems to be moved along by whatever hype machine that thinks he is the new man on the block. First off his apperance as interviewer and reporter for the TV program, "Extra" was short lived and he never did much but act like a troll. Then he went on to become co-host of the Fox show "American Idol" but once the second season came in to view, guess what Seacrest became full host of the show. Well he would eventually move onto some other shows for Fox including host of the Billboard awards. Once summer came, Ryan Seacrest came and stole the "Amercian Top 40" from Casey Kasem. Now Casey is still doing his Top 20 show which was always the better of the show. Seacrest was rumored as replacement of Dees on his program. That came and went as rumor but then Seacrest got the Fox Syndicated TV show known as "On-Air" which is like a MTV TRL show but for people who don't get Cable and hate music videos. It's a Entertainment Tonight for teens and up plus the TRL interviews and performances. Now Seacrest comes in and snages the morning program from Rick Dees. I believe Ryan Seacrest will become either like the old MTV VJ's they are all over the place and eventually burn out and drop out of public view. The other option could become like Carson Daily, he is on MTV in special spots and has his Late night show but he is not far from burn out.
To sum this up and put a final stamp on this thing, I hate the way Rick Dees was forced out and Seacrest is being shoved down everyone's throats. However, I hate the fact Ryan Seacrest will become hated for this and he is just a victim of the hype machine. I view the fact that Dees and Kasem and others that Ryan has become the slayer of. However, I think they should have done at Clear Channel like was done on the old Tonight Show with Johnny Carson. Carson was not forced out but he has Leno and Letterman to be introduced by listeners and viewers so when Johnny did step down it was like, well he is retiring see ya. What I am seeing more and more in this society is the lack of respect for athletes to broadcasters. Dees is forced out by Seacrest and then in the NFL just in the last few seasons. Jerry Rice was forced out of the 49ers only to go to the Raiders and then Emmitt Smith forced out of the cowboys organazation to the Phoneix Cardinals. Finally let me say this Rick Dees was sagging in the ratings and could not compete anymore on the national syndication level with shows like Kidd Kradick, Mancow,Howard Stern,etc. but to just force him out like they did is just disrespectful and dirty pool.

-The Jiggy Jaguar-

Editors Note
The Jiggy Jaguar Show can be heard Monday Nights on Kjagradio.com

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