Skip to content

The Ticker: A day of flip flops and promises in Alabama

You never know what’s going to happen in your world on a given day. This morning several things have occured that will no doubt continue to feed my belief that 2007 will be an incredibly interesting year.

The Crimson Tide get their man

sabanforweb.jpgThe biggest flip flop of the day award goes to Nick Saban, who according to reports posted on ESPN.com, will be accepting the coaching position at the University of Alabama after spending much of the last month denying interest.

After repeated denials, Saban takes Bama job, ESPN.com, 1.3.2007

Many will say that Saban is returning for the money; the contract is rumored to be in the neighborhood of $35 – $40 million over 8-10 years. I would argue that he’s probably returning for the love of the college game more. For all of the media hype and focus on the games and the millions of dollars spent on the programs, there is still a draw of teaching individuals skills and methods that will always be more of a pull than anything else possible. The extra money doesn’t hurt though.

The Radio Carousel: The “inventor of pizza in a cup” and partner go country

rbforweb.jpgComing in second are Rick and Bubba, who decided to leave Citadel Broadcasting Corporation’s local soft rock station Y94.5 for Cox Radio’s country station WZZK 104.7 FM.

Rick and Bubba morning show moves to WZZK, The Birmingham News, 1.3.2007

The station switch is the latest in what can only be described as a carousel of periodic moves among the major players in the business here in Birmingham, Alabama. It is unique in this case since Y94.5 had basically retooled their format in the last year to center around the nationally syndicated show, calling itself “The Rick and Bubba Station.” The jump appears to have caused little if no setbacks for Citadel while it determines what to do about the station format. Rick and Bubba’s press release (in PDF format) referred to the main issue that links all of these changes together, all the way back to the first “shot” fired; money. There were no hard feelings from the hosts towards the station, only a desire to do right by their employees and their families by providing more.

The idea that all of these changes are tied to the likes and dislikes of listeners is only partially true. The listeners must still be able to provide revenue generating opportunities for the station.

The Junction may jump yet again, and sooner than some thought

logo_topforweb.jpgSome of the biggest news from yesterday was the promise from U.S. Steel that they would develop an industrial park on the old Ensley Works site as part of a deal that allows for the de-annexation of property from city limits on the city’s east side.

U.S. Steel partners with city, The Birmingham News, 1.3.2007

The Ensley area has recently warranted a great deal of interest from several parties and several business owners are willing to be pioneers out in the area. Hopefully in the next week we’ll be able to take a look at some of those businesses. The infusion of potential customers on either side of the commercial area only strengthens the resolve of those already investing and encourages other to take that leap with them. As we’ve recently suggested, people will have to be patient with this development, knowing that the long term benefits will be incredible.

We’ll have more later this evening. Enjoy the day.

Cheers.

Published inCommentaryEnsleyradioThe Radio Carousel