12-11-2009 SHANIN & PARKS CELEBRATE THIRD ANNIVERSARY Although we were admitted skeptics (see below) who felt the match-up of veteran Kansas City radio icon Mike Shanin with former news director Scott Parks on an afternoon radio talk show might not succeed, the duo proved us wrong and will celebrate their third on-air anniversary today. Pitch Weekly's Alan Scherstuhl (12/11) says "Shanin and Parks can be too polite, at times, coming off like Chip & Dale (or NPR hosts) rather than talk-radio entertainers." The "Shanin & Parks" show began Dec. 11, 2006 and has proven to be a ratings winner for parent company Entercom Communications. In January of this year the duo took over the afternoon time period vacated by Bill O'Reilly and have continued to produce strong ratings weekdays between 2-6 p.m. Shanin's former on-air radio partner for years, Jerry Fogel, has been experiencing some health issues these days, but is doing well (LINK).
BOTTOM LINE VIEW from 2007)... On Tuesday (12/11/07) KMBZ-980 afternoon talk show hosts Mike Shanin and Scott Parks celebrated the first anniversary of their show. They bravely asked their loyal listeners what grade they would give them and whether they deserved a second year as a team. As expected, callers gave them fairly high grades. As fairly regular listeners we would give the duo a "B" and let them have a second year to try and elevate the program. In reality, whether they stay or go is based purely on ratings and not based on callers' feedback. The teaming of the pair seems forced at times.Shanin is the ultra-right wing conservative of the group, and Parks, the former news director at the station, is also a conservative who pretends to balance out Shanin.He really doesn't.... ...Overall, it is a strange pairing.Only time will tell if the duo will make it another year.
12-11-2009 "When Parks is on Nick Haines' superb "Kansas City Week in Review" (on KCPT) he gets lost beyond the talking points that get the phones ringing; no real depth just a radio talking head. Even when talking about his symbiotic relationship with Funkhouser he gets flummoxed beyond the headlines. Shanin worked best with Jerry Fogle."
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