Re: Feder: AccuRadio takes a Gamble on Bill

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: AccuRadio takes a gamble on programming retread : : Let�s face it: There�s never been anything fair about broadcasting. Some guys � no matter how talented or hard working they are � can�t catch a break. Others � no matter how badly or how often they bomb � just keep getting hired again and again. (Insert the personality of your choice here.) : Today�s sterling example of the latter is Bill Gamble, a veteran radio programmer and consultant who�s called the shots at six Chicago radio stations in the 30 years I�ve known him. He�s nothing if not a survivor. Gamble�s most recent gig, as program director of CBS Radio country WUSN-FM (99.5) and adult contemporary WCFS-FM (105.9), lasted eight months until he was fired earlier this year. And now he�s back. : On Thursday, Chicago-based AccuRadio announced it had hired Gamble to consult and program its 18 online country-music channels, known collectively as AccuCountry. They include customizable channels organized by decade as well as �New Country Hits,� �Country Love Songs,� �Women of Country,� �Married, But Not to Each Other� (songs about cheating) and �Country Heritage,� among others. In addition to overseeing AccuCountry�s music, talent and social networking, Gamble will serve as the company�s liaison with the music industry in Nashville. : I have nothing but the highest regard for AccuRadio�s Kurt Hanson and John Gehron, two of the smartest and most respected men in the business. So if they think Gamble is right for the job, who am I to question their judgment? �As we continue to grow AccuRadio, look for us to continue to partner with the industry�s top programmers,� Gehron said in a statement. �Bill�s experience and expertise will help us make the AccuCountry channels a primary choice for country music fans.� : Still I couldn�t help recall all that I knew from observing Gamble over the years. How he shucked and jived his way through Emmis Communications WKQX-FM (101.1), hiring and firing morning hosts at the drop of a ratings book. Think I�m exaggerating? Under Gamble�s programming leadership, Q101 went through seven morning shows in just four years � Robert Murphy, Mark Goodman, Bobby Skafish, Robert Chase, Heidi Hess, Lance Tawzer & Doug �Stoley� Stoll, and Wendy Snyder & Bill Leff. By the time Mancow showed up, Gamble was gone. : From there he landed at what is now Citadel Broadcasting WLS-FM (94.7), turning country WKXK into classic rock WXCD. Despite a promising debut, the format soon fizzled under Gamble, who changed the station�s call letters to WZZN and began spinning a roulette wheel of formats � from all-�80s to modern rock/adult-contemporary to alternative rock to active rock � all within a matter of three or four years. : At every step along the way, Gamble had a facile excuse for why his ideas weren�t working. Until he finally ran out of excuses. In 2006, he moved to Denver. His latest Chicago flameout � eight months at US 99.5 and Fresh FM � speaks for itself. : On Thursday I picked up the phone (like an old-school columnist) and called Gamble to ask a few perfunctory questions. To say it went badly would be an understatement. I tried to ask him for his middle name. He refused to give me an answer. I tried to ask him how old he was. He hemmed and hawed and refused to answer that, too. Barely concealing my frustration and disgust, I quickly terminated the conversation and hung up. : About 10 minutes later, Gamble called back to say he was 56. But I never did get his middle name. I�m betting it�s �Survivor.� : : About The Author : Robert Feder : has been keeping tabs on the media in Chicago for 30 years. A lifelong Chicagoan and graduate of the Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern University, he was television and radio columnist for the Chicago Sun-Times. At age 14, he founded the first and only Walter Cronkite Fan Club.

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