This jackass also writes for the Boston Herald. :nopity: Is this one of those "frivolous lawsuits" the right is always yammering about?
LINKConservative WRKO-AM radio personality Howie Carr sued his employer yesterday, a day after he shocked station officials with the disclosure that he would move from his afternoon show to a morning drive-time slot on rival station WTKK-FM.
Entercom Communications, parent company of WRKO, gave Carr a matching offer less than 24 hours after learning of his intention to leave, according to a statement from Shepard Davidson , the company's outside counsel. But in a lawsuit filed in Suffolk Superior Court yesterday, Carr alleged a clause in his contract that gives WRKO the "right of first refusal" -- the right to match any offer from a competitor -- is illegal under state law.
Nancy Sterling, a spokeswoman for Carr, added that WRKO's offer was not equivalent to WTKK's, but neither side would disclose the terms of the competing offers.
The contract battle highlights the success of Carr's show, which was the leading afternoon talk show in the Boston market in the January-to-March ratings period, according to the research firm Arbitron.
Media buyers said that losing Carr to WTKK would deal a major blow to WRKO. "That's a huge hole that 'RKO has to fill, and to be honest with you I have no idea how they're going to fill that hole," said Carol Porter , vice president and account director at the marketing firm MPG.
In a statement, Carr, who also writes a column for the Boston Herald, cast his decision to switch stations as the next logical step in his on-air career. "I've wanted to be on FM for a long time and being on in the mornings is the greatest challenge in radio," Carr said in a statement. "I plan to bring fast-paced, 'felon-free' entertainment to morning drive," he added, in a dig at Tom Finneran, the former Massachusetts House speaker who hosts the morning drive-time slot on WRKO and will become a competitor.
Carr will take over the spot formerly occupied by "Imus in the Morning," the syndicated radio show hosted by shock jock Don Imus, who lost his show after he created a national outcry by referring to the Rutgers women's basketball team as "nappy headed hos."
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