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Take a Hikey, Mikey
While I agree with your first statement, it is easy for your to pick one sentence out of all of my posts and label it as "that of a 13 year old girl." I agree that I could have stated it better, but my point was that there are many, many Mikey Show fans that agree with me. And actually, your entire post is wrong. The majority if the current fans that were listening to the Mikey Show felt that the current show and crew were even better than before, when he was on 105.3. They created a connection with us that was not there at the old station. The problem was, when he went to 105.3, they already had a ton of listeners. Most of the younger crowd here in San Diego listen to 105.3....the 6-10am timeslot was already established because of Howard Stern, so when Mikey went in there he kept most of that crowd (which was why he was #1 most of the time on 105.3.) When he went to 94.9, it took months for a lot of people to even realize he was back on the air. Us fans of his knew it because he announced it on his page, but the casual listener did not. The ratings before him on 94.9 were not that good, so it was an uphill climb from the very beginning. While his show was even better, they just could not garner the ratings that they did before because most young people listen to 105.3 on the radio in the morning, and the old show kept a lot of those younger listeners. A lot of the Mikey Show fans are older, and while they would listen on the radio on their way in to work, most of them were listening via the internet at work, via the ipod app, or via podcasts later in the day. Again, he had more people listening to him than any other morning show, just not on the radio where the ratings are looking. Just look at the Mikey Show facebook page (which is still up)...it has almost double the fans of any other morning show page in San Diego.— March 22, 2012 9 a.m.
Take a Hikey, Mikey
Ken, everytime you choose to respond to this article, you look more and more like a moron. You aren't even making sense in this response, and you completely ignore what actually happened. I have tried to be respectful, and not resort to name-calling and cheap responses, but you make it impossible. Tom Johnston, who made comments above, actually makes more sense than you do. You completely ignore the fact that 91x was advertising their "non-commercial" weekend, DIRECTLY AGAINST the Mikey 28 hour show (and its 28 hours, not 48 hours like you list above....and Im sure that was a typo because of the wonderful investigative reporting that you have exemplified, like not even bothering to actually research your articles before you submit them..i.e. R Factor on Fox 5). Anyway, 91x has 364 OTHER days in a year that they could choose to run a non-commercial marathon, but they chose to do it during his 28 hour show, directly taking listeners away from his attempt to raise money for children with autism. If someone is listening to 91x for that time, it is potentially a time when they might be flipping through the channels, land on 94.9, and hear Mikey discussing Rady Children's Hospital. We will never know how many potential donors did not donate money because they were listening to 91x instead. Competition and ratings is one thing...directly campaigning against a good cause is hellish. It should be very obvious why Mikey was upset when he found out about this live on the air. Quit being an idiot and ignoring common sense and facts. You are making yourself look ignorant and close-minded, which is the opposite of what a "journalist" is supposed to be. You only hold this against him because it is Mikey. If it was one of your buddy DJ's, you certainly would make every effort to defend them if they did the same thing.— March 18, 2012 4:24 p.m.
Take a Hikey, Mikey
What I have been trying to explain to you Tom, is that this is more than just another "radiojock" getting kicked off the air. Most of us have not only been listening to Mikey for the past 2 years...a majority of us, including me, have been listening to him for over 8 years, since he first went to mornings at Rock 105.3. You keep unfairly referring to all of the times that Mikey has been fired, but most of those were early in his career when he was an alcoholic and was always breaking limits on the air. That is not him anymore. He had his job at 105.3 for almost 6 years, and his departure from there was different than the other instances. There is a LOT of emotion wrapped around the Mikey Show...its not just me...there is an entire "M1 Nation" that is wrapped up in this thing right now, waiting to hear from Mikey as to what really happenned. You have no "horse in the race", and that is fine, but dont judge me for having emotion because you know nothing about the situation. I understand where you are coming from, and what your points are. I responded with emotion because this is a very emotional situation for us. Mikey made us a part of his life...he wasnt just on the air "talking" about BS. Him and the rest of the show would discuss everything about their lives. When Mikey's son was born, he made us a part of it. When they found out his son had autism, they made us a part of it. When his twins were born, we were a part of it. When he found out that his mother has alzheimer's, we were a part of it. When the contract with 105.3 ended, and he was off the air, and the rest of the show stayed, it was just as emotional as this (this is actually a little worse because we havent heard from Mikey). We are part of his extended "family". So it's only fair that we are wrapped up in this thing emotionally. It's not really something you can understand, and I really dont have anything else to say about it. We have different opinions and viewpoints of it, and that is fine. And of course, yes, life goes on. Its not like I am sitting in my house wrapped up in a blanket in the corner and rocking back and forth crying (aren't I?...lol)...but he was a big part of our mornings, and he will be missed.— March 17, 2012 11:33 a.m.
Take a Hikey, Mikey
sorry dude...that sucks. whoever it was said some pretty messed up stuff.— March 16, 2012 7:08 p.m.
Take a Hikey, Mikey
What are you talking about Tom? Arent passion and emotion the same thing? If you have "a passion" for something, arent you also showing "emotion" for that thing you have a passion for? That is just a silly point to make. You really aren't even close to getting it, and I really dont know why you are bothering to comment about a show that you never even listened to, and have never even heard of before this. Yes, he has a history, and yes, he lost this job as well. Ok, so what is your point? I would respect you a lot more if you actually listened, and didnt like the show, than someone from the outside commenting about something that you have no clue about. You cant knock my passion, or emotion, or my love for the show, when you dont even know what you are talking about. I wasnt circumnavigating anything. For us, it is all "rolled up in one big ball", as you said. I wish everyone on the Mikey Show Facebook pages that agreed with me would comment here. We would take up all of the San Diego Readers server storage space. And who cares if him being off of 94.9 wont be felt outside of San Diego...who gives a crap? You could say that about any local radio station show in any town in the country! It is felt strongly here, and thats all that matters to us...you are just making points that dont even matter.— March 16, 2012 7:07 p.m.
Take a Hikey, Mikey
There might only be 6 people commenting on this page, but hundreds of people have read this article and the comments. There are several Facebook pages for the Mikey Show and M1's, both closed pages and open to the public. There has been several conversations with a lot of comments about this article.— March 16, 2012 6:57 p.m.
Take a Hikey, Mikey
I dont think there is anything wrong with trying to get more money. The man has a family to take care of...just like any of us that would try to get a raise. At the time, they were the definite #1 show in San Diego, and (I dont remember the exact numbers) they were not making #1 money. He was negotiating for the whole show, not just himself (which was a big issue with the "others"). But his real goal at the time was to force Clear Channel to meet or exceed the offer from another station so that he could stay on 105.3, but of course it ended up blowing up in his face.— March 16, 2012 6:49 p.m.
Take a Hikey, Mikey
Tom, I do respect your opinion. Like I said before, this is a different case. Mikey is different, and his fanbase is different, and it just isnt my "viewpoint" as a fan. I would like to address one point that you made, where you said "ratings dont lie". Actually in this case, they do. The Arbitron ratings are based on who is actually listening on the radio, on the frequency, during that timeframe. Mikey had a HUGE fanbase, #1 in San Diego, but a majority of them did not listen on the radio. 94.9 has an ipod/ipad application, as well as a link to "Listen Live" on their website, as well as there were daily podcast of the show. Because of the large "M1 Nation" that follows Mikey (from all over the country), the fan's would listen at work, at home, onboard Navy ships, everywhere; even overseas in Iraq and Afghanistan (he has a large military following). Many would listen to the podcast later in the day if they could not listen to the show live. Now I understand ratings, and advertisement dollars, and how the fanbase that doesnt listen live, on the radio, doesnt matter to Lincoln Financial Media or any other station owner. But your dismissal as this is "not any big deal", is actually misguided. The Mikey Show was not just your daily, run of the mill radio show.— March 16, 2012 3:45 p.m.
Take a Hikey, Mikey
For sure Ken. You are absolutely entitled to your opinion. But many, many of us disagree with you saying that he was "counterproductive" with his testimony....but then again, there are some people that agree with you as well (we hear about them all the time on the Mikey Show page and 94.9 page). Mikey was a polarizing figure. It would make for a great article.— March 16, 2012 12:45 p.m.
Take a Hikey, Mikey
Hey Tom. I'm not gonna bash you, and would encourage everyone else to not bash you as well. You are more than entitled to your opinion, and I understand your viewpoint as well, because of not having listened to the Mikey Show. If you read my post above, the Mikey Show is very different. They connected with their fanbase in a way that no other morning show does. The reason's that Mikey was fired from some of his early stints as a radio show host was because he used to be very "Howard Stern-like". He struggled with substance abuse, and was constantly pushing the limits of what he was allowed to do on the radio, and frequenly crossed those lines. A few years ago he accepted Jesus Christ, changed his life, and became COMPLETELY different. He created an amazing show that really connected with people, and he made an incredible impact on many, many lives. I wont take up any more of your time and bore you, but I encourage you to go to itunes and download some of the podcast from the Mikey Show. You can find them by searching for "M1 Site Daily Archives". Trust me, it is not a preaching show.....he does not preach or even discuss religion very often. It is a normal morning show where they discuss things in their lives as well as current events. There are about 300 episodes there on itunes. If you do get a chance to listen, let us know what you think!!— March 16, 2012 12:42 p.m.