Forum.RttP{Jay Severin off the air again}

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/bloggers/1492121/posts

Jay Severin may never do another show on any Boston radio station. Or he may. At this point it might be just way too much of embarrassment and somewhat of a credibility issue for the embattled WTKK 96.9FM afternoon host to face the music after this latest episode of embellishing his educational/professional achievements.

It now turns out that Severin never received a Master's degree from Boston University(story ink courtesy of the Boston Herald). Although his 'Best and Brightest' may not be the readers of the low-brow Herald or missed the original Globe story, the news about the talkshow host's inaccuracies is getting out there and competing radio station hosts who are always way too happy to mention and make fun of Severin's resume inconsistencies on their shows. Interestingly enough, Infinity has edited Boston University Master's degree out of their September 16th press release announcing Severin's new national syndication deal. While it was mentioned here that Severin may show up for the start of Fall ratings book last Thursday(9/22), he remained off air.

Severin's incumbent Boston station WTKK 96.9FM is apparently keeping him off the air for another week(Sean Hannity's synidcated show(3-6) and midday hosts Jim Braude and Marjorie Eagan(6-7pm) are covering 3-7pm slot).

Some say WTKK management may be waiting out and hoping for the noise about Severin's non-accomplishments to die down a bit. Other sources claim that Severin is being kept off the air because WTKK wants a deal from Infinity to retain him once he goes into national syndication on January 1st. [Ed. Note : That theory actually makes sense -- WTKK wouldn't want to be a lame duck outlet for the next three months if Severin is heading to another outpost in the market(very likely WBZ) after 6 years at 96.9. They'd rather pay him and keep him off the air than allow him to walk away to a competitor the day after his 96.9 deal ends.]

In any case, radio is a game of numbers, not of public relations strategies -- the longer Severin remains off the air on WTKK, the more likely his audience would be looking around for something else on the radio in the afternoon drive -- Howie Carr on WRKO would be likely get some sizeable traction from the vanished Severin on 96.9FM. Both talk show hosts share a good percentage of their listeners.