Considering Arlene Violet’s 16-year run on talk-radio in Rhode Island, not to mention her unmistakable local accent, the way in which WHJJ (920 AM) abruptly jettisoned her last week came as an unpleasant surprise. Then again, the fact that the station, owned by mega-broadcasting giant Clear Channel, would move to cut costs while replacing Violet with the nationally syndicated conservative ideologue Sean Hannity wasn’t really a shock at all.Broadcasting deregulation (which tends to be strongly favored by Hannity and his ideological brothers) has brought us to this point, a place where local flavor has been steadily bleached out of commercial radio, and Clear Channel and a few other giants own a disproportionately large number of stations.
For her part, Violet put on a brave face, citing a self-effacing belief that she had been living on borrowed time with her pronounced Rhode Island accent. She certainly mustered a lot more class than her employers — who, after leading her to believe that her last show would be on Friday, December 8, informed her after the December 7 program that the gig was up.
By Monday, Hannity had taken up residence in her longtime afternoon slot, and he quickly played to type, talking about how things in Iraq really aren’t as bad as they seem. You go, Sean!
Whether Hannity’s local tenure is temporary remains to be seen. Some speculate that WHJJ will move to hire another local host, perhaps outgoing Cranston Mayor Stephen P. Laffey or his childhood pal, John DePetro, who was recently fired from a talk-radio gig in Boston. Industry types consider it more likely that former Providence mayor Buddy Cianci, due to be released from prison in 2007, will land at WPRO (630 AM) than at WHJJ.
To some degree, WHJJ’s decision to ax Violet — who generally leans Republican, but remains independent in her thinking — was a local business decision. WPRO’s Dan Yorke has emerged as the local king of afternoon talk (a few disclosures: I’m a weekly guest on his show, and Violet and I are frequent co-panelists on WPRI-WNAC TV’s Newsmakers). Michael Harrison, the publisher of Talkers magazine, a trade journal, told the ProJo that replacing Violet with Hannity is “like getting a hit movie to play in your theater, as opposed to making your own movie from scratch.” With the possible exception of a Rush Limbaugh, though, Rhode Island talk-radio listeners would prefer to hear a local host talking about local issues.
The commercial radio industry’s increasingly barren complexion helps to explain why National Public Radio remains a runaway success, attracting more listeners than the combined audience of television’s cable news stations. In Rhode Island, it’s a definite plus that WRNI (1290 AM), after a series of cutbacks, has been able to regain a stronger footing.
Still, talk-radio in Rhode Island remains something of a communal water cooler, offering a snapshot of the vox populi and a source for political discussion. It’s a poorer place with the absence of Arlene Violet.
