09-17-2009/Updated: 09-17-2009 THINGS SEEM TO BE GETTING PERSONAL BETWEEN NICK WRIGHT AND SOREN PETRO It looks as if things are starting to get pretty ugly---and personal---between rival sports talkers Nick Wright at 610 Sports and Soren Petro at WHB-810. So ugly that a very reliable tipster is telling BLC to tune into Wright's show at 9 a.m. today (9/17) to hear what he has to say about the situation.(UPDATE: Wright says he will discuss his issues with Petro at 10 a.m.) Petro's show will start at 10 a.m., but if he follows form, it is unlikely he will respond to Wright's remarks. One blogger has said that the two almost came to blows recently at the Chiefs' complex with Petro reportedly accusing Wright of trying to belittle him on his show. In reality, according to a reliable source who actually witnessed the incident, Petro called Wright a "two-faced c---k sucker" and put his fingers close to his chest, but the two never came close to blows. Ironically, both Wright and Petro are Syracuse University graduates. Wright interned at 810 and reportedly is bitter that the station did not hire him after his graduation. BLC profiled Wright, 24, in May. At the time he said he felt he was the best sports talker in Kansas City. "To be very honest, I don't think anyone else does a better sports talk show in Kanas City than me," Wright said in the interview. "I have the most unique talk show in the city and the more people hear it the better I will do." Wright has taken a number of potshots at Petro, who has been doing sports talk in KC for about 15 years and is reported the highest-paid talker in KC. Wright has accused Petro of selling out to sponsors and even accused Petro of a conflict of interest for voicing ads to sell tickets for the KC Chiefs, a team he reports on. One regular listener to KC sports talk shows finds the Wright-Petro battle humorous. "It is kind of funny that Petro is upset with Wright since these are the same kind of tactics he has used in his career to get ahead against his competitors," he says. "Wright is really just a mini-Petro and Petro hates it." KCSP, which trails WHB in the ratings, has taken a much more aggressive stand against WHB since the arrival of new Program Director Ryan McGuire (LINK). As an example, KCSP is running promotional spots this week quoting Wright who said last week that anyone who said Chiefs quarterback Matt Cassel would play in the Baltimore Ravens game was simply guessing. The spot is a direct slap at WHB owner/afternoon talker Kevin Kietzman, who had predicted Cassel would play in the game. He didn't.
Copyright 2009 Bottom Line Communications. BLC is a Media News Site that analyzes media and marketing issues. Please give credit or link to http://www.bottomlinecom.com when using any materials. Click on the FEEDBACK tab to send any media tips/comments/thoughts/ to us. We honor all off-the-record requests and will correct/clarify any information found not to be 100% accurate.
