Michael Castner + Nightside = No More Castner On Nightside UPDATED
Posted By JM Bell on November 8, 2007
From Michael Castner.com, this sad news:
“I will no longer be hosting the Nightside Project as of today. More news coming. Thanks for your support. Feel free to drop me an email!
“I could not be prouder of the team I worked with and the show that I helped create. We had a great time and these guys – Paul, Ethan, Paul, Chase and Alex (not ever in the same order! lol)- have become like brothers. And of course Matt and Chelsea were part of our family. Nothing will ever change that. We started a year ago in Salt Lake and are now number one in the market (up from 12th when we first took over the time slot). The rating book just came out at the beginning of November and we were again number one at night. “
Is it just me, or does Castner look like he’s channeling the spirit of Don Johnson’s career in that picture? Anyway, Thanks, Michael, for making nighttime radio in Utah a lot more interesting. You know, listenable.
Polite Complaints:
Bonneville International Corporation
(801) 575-7500
55 N 300 W Salt Lake City, UT 84180-1109KSL Radio & Television
(801) 526-1036
55 N 300 W Salt Lake City, UT 84180-1109
Did anyone see this coming?
Is Castner leaving for greener pastures, or is the Nightside project going away?
Wow, what a shocker. I think they’re a pretty good mix; I hate to see Castner go.
They should hire JM Bell!
Politely, why don’t you fire Hannity? At least Castner was right half the time.
Well that’s not news I wanted to hear.
Castner is one of the greatest reasons I rediscovered my love for a good radio show.
Definitely an unfortunate loss.
Michael did a great job at Nightside. I wish him well.
Did he quit?
[...] Tuesday Night was, unknown to everyone, Michael Castner’s last night on NightSide, so, all the laughter feels a little strange to listen to [...]
They said budget cuts…..Yeah Right KSL. Michael was the center piece that held that show together. All of the people on the show are good – but the show was #1 because Michael has done it his whole life. Utah is not the biggest market in the country – Michael has worked in the biggest markets. He knows what it takes to get the show to #1 – which he was instrumental in doing. And then they pull the plug…not on the show but on Michael? That doesn’t make any sense. WHY would Bonneville and KSL (a RADIO station) which has a purpose of creating shows that will go to #1 pull the plug on a show that came from the bottom to the top in one year? That doesn’t make any type of business sense – or if it was a business move the person who made that decision must be on drugs or living in a different world that we are in. I get the sense the LDS Church (which owns Boneville, which owns KSL, which owns The NightSide Project) has something to do with it. The NightSide Project was not the typical KSL radio show because it didn’t choose only one side (The Conservative Republican side – the only side the LDS Church will back) on every issue, instead chose to take the side that was really going to benefit US, the people whom all of this political CRAP was SUPPOSED to be for in the first place. Obviously yet again, a religion has taken away something the people as a whole (The NightSide Project was #1 in the ratings books AGAIN) approved of because they listened – night after night. I can even say BOTH my father and mother, conservative Utah Republicans, listened to the show religiously(lol). They loved the show, and they loved Michaels point of view. The Church is soon going to find out they can’t keep supressing the voice of the people – the people truly have the control.
Way to go conspiratorial, NightSide Friend. Must have been that Nazi Hinckley that suppressed Castner once his Democrat friend Faust died. We should march on Temple Square with pitchforks and torches now! Grrr!
Wow, John, that was kinda douche baggy. Don’t get me wrong, NightsideFriend wend a little far afield but it’s not outside the realm of possibility that senior management put the kibosh on Castner because they didn’t like the un-Doug Wright-ness of the show.
No I would have to agree with “Nightside Friend.”
If it truly was budget cuts, why not just re-negotiate a contract with Michael (it seems they didn’t give him a choice), and find other areas to cut?
He clearly was the stability and real talent on the show. Why continue to pay Ethan when there are 100 “political anylysts” that can do what Ethan does for free? I am sure if they cared about keeping Michael they could have been creative and found a way to keep him.
The way this went down definately tells me he was the intended target for many other reasons other than money.
Some more info:
http://cityweekly.blogspot.com/2007/11/michael-who.html
I really miss Michael. He MADE the Nightside Project. I loved his sense of humor and the synergy of the whole group. With Michael gone, it’s now missing. I’ll bet the show’s ratings will fall.
I can’t stand Sean Hannity so I don’t listen to KSL in the afternoon. Now, I will have no reason to listen at night.
I can’t believe they let Michael go.
The show is definitely not the same and I’ve had to bring my books on tapes to work with me.
Give me a break. I loved listening to Nightside, but haven’t you all heard that timeless advice, “DON’T BITE THE HAND THAT FEEDS YOU?” Michael’s “edgeiness” (is that even a word?) sometimes put him over the edge. You can’t do that and work for Boneville International. Like it or not, that’s the way it is. Don’t sign up if you can’t sign on.
Dude. NightsideFriend, you started out right on track, but then you started to sounds like an idiot. I worked for Bonneville (KSLAM) for 2 years and your conspiracy theory is completely unfounded.
If you knew the station manager and the internal politics, you’d know that the LDS church had broad oversight, but nothing near the kind of influence on the station you assume. In fact…if you listened to the show last night, you’d know that, too.
I was with the company when they axed Star 102.7 and KSL went to FM. A lot of people lost their jobs throughout the company, not just the DJS. People in promotions & marketing, programmers, even senior management in the accounting department. The time came they felt like they could get along with fewer fixed costs.
KSL’s problem is that it operates like many other big corporations. They hire the best to take them to the top. Then, when they’re at the top, they let those employees (who they are paying well) go. There’s nothing more to it than the old cost-cutting routine of a big corporation. As far as negotiating with Castner, they might have tried–but why would he say “Ratings are up? Sure, I’d love to take a pay cut.” Doesn’t make sense.
KSL got the Nightside Project to where they wanted the ratings, then they cut costs (of which Michael was undoubtedly the biggest). They use people like many other big corporations, and then they drop them, and it’s too bad because the listeners are among the losers in the process.
I didn’t agree with Castner all the time, and sometimes he was over-the-top, but he was entertaining and had some unique and thought-provoking viewpoints. The “nightside project” is weak without Castner, I no longer listen.
Over the past year I’ve looked forward to taking an evening drive, because that meant tuning in to Nightside. I’m a regular KSL listener during the morning, and this show hooked me at night. I enjoyed the edginess, never thought it was over the top. The last time I tuned in the program seemed weak, like a Formula One car with a Cavalier engine. Then I learned Castner had been cast off. Beam me back to rockin’ oldies at night, Scotty.