Long-time iHeart Boston host Matty Siegel was back in his KISS 108 morning show chair Thursday, one day after the 71-year old said he was quitting after management told him to stop talking about Demi Lovato, who announced she was non-binary.
Siegel, who received national attention for his dramatic exit, insisted what he did wasn’t a stunt. In fact Siegel seemed a little perturbed that anyone would suggest that what he did was a stunt. You can’t fault anyone for wondering. Siegel didn’t miss any airtime and he received the kind of attention every radio station craves.
There isn’t a radio station promotions budget in existence today that could pay for the amount of free publicity Siegel received on Wednesday. All the local Boston media wanted to talk to him, which he obliged. And, as the day progressed it was clear Siegel would be back on the air Thursday.
Siegel opened the show discussing all the attention he reveived and he did mention Lovato again, said he won that battle with management. It could be that Siegel survived the episode because he has 40 years experience, pulls in strong ratings, and gets more leeway than a 3-year overnight host in Topeka would.
Many of you expressed an opinion on what took place in Boston. Here are a few of the comments that followed our story…
“I smell a stunt. I had to look up this “burning issue” to make sense out of this story. Just another thing to be outraged about that will be forgotten in a few days. File under “who cares?”
Neil Hever
“I gave up an eleven year morning talk show when I got tired of management pulling me into the office 2 to 3 mornings a week, right after I got off the air, to chastise me for a comment I made that led to a listener complaint. It is difficult enough to do a Local Talk show these days without having to deal with management that does not support the talent.”
Dave Graichen
“This is what radio needs – Good programming is hard to find… I believe in the long run Siegel would draw the ratings like Stern, Leykis, Bubba, etc… Simply because the listeners wanna know what he will say next… He’s not violating any FCC rules… So let him off the leash… It’s his career to rise or burn. Management needs to sell it, promote it and eat their PC egos because (I say again) This is what Radio is Missing and NEEDS. THIS IS ENTERTAINMENT FOLKS! and Millenials need to grow a thicker skin.”
Brian Spieker
There’s no doubt the tune-in factor was high Thursday, not only to see if Siegel would actually return but to see what he would say. He opened up the show with “I’m here, good morning.” He went on to explain he “just snapped” the day before and said iHeart begged him not to quit.
