By Walter Sterling
Talk Show Host

NEW YORK — Cousin Bruce Morrow started on WABC from 6:00 pm to 9:00 pm this past Saturday. He will be on every Saturday. It puts a sugar coating on the station, a brilliant decision by Chad Lopez, Dave LaBrozzi and owner John Catsimatidis. As you know, Bruce Morrow’s on-air energy and connection to the audience is unrivaled in American radio. On the WABC schedule my local, live just-for-WABC show comes on at 9:00 pm, after Bruce. How do I come on after Bruce?

A longtime witness to the power of cume-based formatics, the job of coming on after Cousin Bruce was to capture a percent of Bruce’s audience. Bruce was gracious in offering to do a live hand-off. He performed a compelling hand-off. Later in the hour he came on again. He asked, “What are you talking about?” I said that I was talking about him and his impact on our culture. The phone calls were, “How does Cousin Bruce make you feel?” All lines lit, all show.

As a radio geek, we tapped into the 100th anniversary of radio and how was top 40 invented? Bruce Morrow is a comet and on that comet is Rock ‘n’ Roll. He landed on fertile soil and oceans that could support and sustain Rock ‘n’ Roll.  Rock records had been around since 1928 but the music needed the right comet and right landing to flourish. THAT’s what Bruce Morrow accomplished. That was the premise of the after-Bruce show which hopefully channeled the Cousin Brucie music show into a talk show that made “listener sense.” It was impressive that PD Dave LaBrozzi was at the station for both shows. He cares and is building a spectacular New York station.

Walter M. Sterling hosts a weekly, nationally syndicated Sunday evening talk show as well as a Sunday night show on WABC, New York. 

Tags: Chad Lopez, Cousin Brucie, Dave Labrozzi, John Catsimatidis, rock 'n' roll, WABC, Walter Sterling

Category: Opinions