Yes, it’s true: my “Con Games with Michael Conniff” show is no longer on KNFO FM and that saddens me greatly. But it also true that the program will continue and will remain widely available, with links to Huffington Post, Aspen Post, Aspen Public Radio, FaceBook, Aspen’s GrassRoots TV, and other sites. We will also begin streaming audio and video of the program and make it available on national sites as well, not to mention putting together an iPhone/Pad app for the show. Finally, we are talking to local radio and television stations about further distribution. That could also be in the cards.
KNFO, of course, said not a word about my departure Thursday morning other than the news that there will be “exciting new changes” at KNFO. What’s the biggest change? A fourth hour of the interminable “Imus in the Morning” program where I used to be from 8-9 AM, an hour now miraculously devoid of original content—a compendium of laborious Imus interviews already heard moments before on the program.
So what happened to “Con Games” and yours truly? And why did NRC Broadcasting pull the plug on its only local show just one week short of the start of my seventh year on the air? Why would NRC toss out “Con Games,” the top-rated local radio program in Aspen and Vail—and the only local show on the entire station? Why would NRC allow the show to grow from one hour on Sunday morning (9 AM), to one hour on Monday afternoon (3-4 PM), to two hours in afternoon drive (3-5 PM), to its final destination in morning drive (8-10 AM)—and then say sayonara?
First a few salient facts, particularly the fact the NRC Broadcasting had not paid me a nickel to do the show since October 2009. One of the many problems with that position is I had attempted to buy the station when they said they could no longer pay me, and very nearly pulled it off until the deal fell apart at the last moment. That was in December 2009, and from that point forward I’m afraid to say that my show—always underappreciated and frequently unloved—became an out-and-out target of station management. They tried to move me out of morning drive, the best slot in the schedule, to afternoon drive; then they tried to move me out of morning drive to 1-3 PM, the worst place in daytime radio.
Why would you want to treat a popular show like that, one that literally made the station hundreds of thousands of dollars over the years? (Though they amazingly claim to this day they made no money.) Why would you want to treat your host (me) like that, a guy who always showed up ready to rumble and never missed a day to sickness in six years?
Who the hell knows, but I was not unwilling to compromise to stay on the air. In a moment of weakness I said I would move to 1-3 PM, and I also said I was willing to work for no pay from NRC—but… if they weren’t going to pay me and they were going to put me in the worst slot in the schedule, then I was not going to do so without a contract so they would at least stop jacking me around. As listeners to the show know, there’s a limit to the amount of abuse I will take.
This contract was promised by NRC for months but somehow never made it to my mailbox. The idea of working without pay in the worst time slot in the schedule and going without a contract started to seem like behavior that was beyond insulting to the point of depravity, either mine or theirs. Keep in mind that NRC has put almost nothing into my show over six years. Example? When was the last time you heard a “Con Games” promo on KNFO? I can tell you when: over five years ago. When was the last time you heard me on another one of their twelve stations? Answer: over five years ago.
I could go on and on about non-support but the issue came to a head when I moved my show to a remote location, buying my own equipment to do so. About two weeks ago station management committed to contributing to a solution in the form of a black box. Translation: for the first time in my six years on the air, they were going to spend a tiny bit of money to fix a fixable technical problem. A week later station management said they would do no such thing—why would they put any money into their top local show?—and proceeded to berate me for the technical problem that had committed to eradicate a week before.
You get the picture: dysfunction at the junction. I refused to return to the studio because of the problem they refused to fix, and they took “Con Games” off the air Thursday morning in favor of the scintillating fourth hour of “Imus” that many of you will get to hear twice in the same day. Lucky you!
Unlike Imus and Howard Stern, I never once had a bad word to say about NRC on the air, despite their unfounded fear that I would do so in the end. I worked with many great people there including Sam Scholl, David Bach, Rochelle Obechina, Sara Gutmann, Jake Keubler, Josh Michaels, Mike Connolly, Jill Merriam, Jamie Lynn Miller, Jodie Jacobsen, and especially Bill Haden. “Con Games,” first suggested by Sam, bless him, turned out to be the luckiest break I ever got in my career and will continue to be the straw that stirs the drink in my professional life.
There is one thing that I’m particularly sad about. For two hours a day, people on the Western Slope of Colorado, “the best audience in talk radio,” got to hear and be heard. Nonprofits by the dozen had an open door and an open mike. Local businesses and charities had their say, and so did marginal and mainstream voices from every angle of the political spectrum. It’s tragic, actually, that a station owned by conservative billionaire Phillip Anschutz—a station that, trust me, coins money—never saw the value of their only local show. Keep in mind all such stations operate with a license that is really a public trust.
NRC actually does not own the station: you and I do.
As for me, I was thrilled to read this from Alan Levey on Facebook when he heard the news: “Wow, that really pisses me off. While I only agree with about half of what you say, you are the only forum that I have heard on radio that is open to a full discussion of the topic that you are covering. I hope that you can use this as an opportunity to move up to a larger audience, maybe on a national level. I look forward to your blog and I hope to hear you on a local feed, or maybe a webcast. Keep us informed above and beyond Aspen Post.”
I could go on (and on) but I think it’s time to sign off. I’m Michael Conniff, the host of “Con Games,” and I’ll be right back after this break.
All best,
Michael Conniff
PS Keep those cards and letters coming in to Steve Wodlinger, CEO of NRC Broadcasting (swodlinger@nrcbroadcasting.com) or call him at 970-331-6565.
Feel free to ask him why NRC deserves to keep its FCC license. And tell him the Con Man sent you.
He who controls the media controls the “truth.”
In some ways I am not surprised. Thinking honest people, with differing opinions (left, center and conservative) in marked contrast with the liars, simpletons and those in an intellectual torpor, is outside the tunnel message of “truth” and pee pee, yellow snow and doo doo, the owner(s) and management seek to promulgate. Heil Coughlin, heil Limbaugh, heil Beck — the king is dead long live the king, king of idiots, stooges and morons.
I guess I’ll tune in to turd swimming 7th grade jokes — just kidding. I’ll never listen to that crap.
Sorry about the loss of your Mom and your show. The valley is in loss with you.
Sincerely your friend,
Edward Troy
It has got to tell us something that KNFO would rather have its listeners hear a racist, rude, arrogant over-the-hill cocaine whore and ego maniac, Don Imus, over—yes, it is me saying it!—someone who is intelligent (albeit slightly pudgy) educated, appropriately provocative, utterly competent and an asset to the community.
Exactly what it tells us is, however, is a mystery.
Maybe the station is saying, F-you, people!
Mike McGarry
Don’t look back.
I just tuned in to KSNO just to listen to your interview and explanation. I don’t know what happened or why, but regardless they should have done a lot more to keep you. They may replace you with another winey conservative like Glenn Beck, but they will no longer have me as a listener. I hope your show will find another home on the radio because radio is still the most accessible media source.
Michael,
I believe you got what you had coming to you. Despite what you think, you over talk people with opinions that differ from yours or hang up on them. There really is no room for discussion on your program because you berate and belittle those of us that have a clear grasp of what is really going on with this borderline communist administration. Nobody wants to listen to your rhetoric and I would rather listen to Sean, Rush, or Don more than one time in day than hear you spew your socialist garbage!
Socialist garbage?
You saved the best for last. Had I only been a bleeping Teabagger defending the gun lobby from the predatory Obama Administration, you would have perhaps felf differently.
As for the competition, I guess you would say Rush, Hannity, and the usual suspects are not in the belittling or the berating business.
Maybe you just did a little belittling of yourself. Sure hope you deserved it.
Best, Con Man!
Michael,
Sorry your show is gone, however, I did not think it would last much longer. People are tired of politics, tired of the pointing of fingers, the name calling…
I failed to listen to your show for a solid year, for knowing that I did not want an argument and did not want to hender a good relationship with you. I called your show a few weeks ago, after thinking long about what I may talk to you about that would actually be productive and not an “argument”. My answer to this productive approach was to ask you three easy questions and for your reply to be ‘yes’ or ‘no’. The questions were: 1 – Do you believe the Government run Health Care will be cheaper to purchase than prior to passing of the Health Care Bill; Your answer: Yes. 2 – Do you believe that the National Unemployment Rate is somewhere between 9.7% & 10% as is stated; Your answer: Yes. 3 – Do you think that American tax payers can afford more Government expansion; Your answer: No.
Michael you need to revisit your answers, because they contradict the truth and your own
stance on politics. Which, to me, tells me that if you had not rehearsed your position on your belief you could easily be caught off gaurd, and further I made a point in not engaging you in an argument, which had a more productive effect.
People need answers, people need change, we need logic injected into politics for resolve. What America does not need is politics as usual.
Which brings me to another point. You should consider debate on a talk show, a counter point, a host with a differant view point, and be open to resolve; not politics. This may trully be why your show does not air any longer.
By the way I think Aspen Post was a good move.
Print Media is DEAD!
Best Wishes :
THXONETHREE8
Michael,
It shows a lot about a person when they don’t even thank the people that say nice things about them and take the time to defend themselves against a sniveling little twenty something that understands more about the direction that this country is heading than someone who supposedly well versed in world history and can’t read the writing on the wall. I never claimed that Rush, Sean, or Don (especially Don) don’t berate or belittle people but they rarely if ever hang up on someone and at least allow a semi-civilized conversation to ensue. You are more along the lines of Mike Rosen, a childish host who has no need for the views and opinions of the other side. I would join the NRA just to spite you but I can’t afford it because of the Obama stricken economy!
Best of luck,
Kati
Oops didn’t mean Mike Rosen! I meant Jim Rome (the sports caster)
mike maybe it was the use of the word teaba#ger.I listened to other shows and people call up saying teabagger and the host said if your refering to a sex act i have to bleep you because thats a violation. listening to your show you said you knew it was a sex act and continued to use it many times.in fact you used it again in a comment. if thats the case then thats a lot of violations and fines.i guess the tea party wins this round.
I’m actually a fan of Imus: I worked in 30 Rock when he was there almost thirty years ago. (Had to walk by him and Charles behind the plate glass on the mezzanine to get to the bathroom.) But he has been flagging for a long time, and his latest affair with Fox Business Channel means the conservatives have taken over yet another venue.
Listening the other day at 8:30 AM, when “Con Games” used to be on KNFO, I heard this sequence:
– Imus saying: “I’m buying gold.”
– Imus saying: “Coming up, Deidre Imus.”
– Imus introducting some forgettable song from the 1950s.
People can make their own judgments, but that’s not exactly hall-of-fame talk radio.
Best, Con Man!
Note to kdirder:
I’m a big fan of Jim Rome!
From the Aspen Times:
Dear Editor:
Sadly, Michael Conniff, the “Con Man,” has been removed from our airways. His refreshing and accurate viewpoints were a counterbalance to the garbage the station spews from the Tea Party members, Neocons, Limbaugh and Hannity.
Michael’s old station is now unlistenable (if there is such a word). Did Fox (lying) News buy those airways?
I recommend we all listen to 107.9 FM. It’s the local weather report; while usually wrong, they do take a stab at the truth.
Richard C. Goodwin
Snowmass