I think this is a horrible decision. Buddy is the local folksy guy but 99% of his shtick is "Dean Esserman sucks". And can he carry his own show without Ron there?

When the sports station made their changes, going to Opie & Anthony in the afternoon, I predicted the station's death. I think this decision may be similar.

What I would like to know is whether Yorke is making this move kicking and screaming or he requested it, so he can have more family time before his child heads off to college. Either way, Dan's show is often informative and I find Buddy's show to be unlistenable.

So I guess this means that I now just have two stations to switch between, both sports, 103.7 and 98.5.

Bad, bad decision people...

How embarrassing for Dan Yorke. How can this not be the beginning of the end for him? His egotistical rants and arrogance finally did him in. Moving Buddy up does leave a lot to be desired. I got turned off of Buddy during the presidential election. His remark that " Obama is a corrupt politician who is apart of the chicago machine" seemed so self delusional and ironic that it left a bad taste in my mouth. Moving Hummel in wouldnt be a bad idea at all. Its clear that Matt Allen is the real talent on wpro and sooner or later that will be his spot.

Dan Yorke is a much better listen for working people getting out at 4 or 5 on the drive home. He has better political coverage, he is more informative, and frankly he is a lot more skilled at radio. Many of the people who call in to Buddy's show seem to be local hacks, elderly, or unemployed. Not sure why he is being moved to a "drive-time" spot. This is a bad move.

This will backfire on WPRO. I agree with Dan's comment. Yorke does his homework and offers genuine political analysis, which attracts the politically aware drive-time audience. Buddy just coasts on his undeserved reputation as an insider and power-broker.

The problem for Yorke is that he will now be up against Glenn Beck and Rush. I won't leave them to hear him.

This makes it easy for me to switch to Karl Wadensten's show on lean management.

The Big Show just gained a ride home listener...

Since he's been on the air I refused to listen to the Cianci show. I've no interest in helping reward thugs and crooks -- it would be one thing if he'd been repentant and reformed, but we know this is not the case.

It's also a sad commentary on Rhode Island and its civic culture that Cianci has a show, and a following.

I'm also VERY disappointed that Sean Hannity has him on -- doesn't his staff screen the panelists????

Dan Yorke tell the caller that he/she is an idiot, or a moron, or tells the caller that he/she is "dumb as a post" as he does on a daily basis? Lets face it Yorke is RUDE.
He does have great Call Screeners, when Yorke tells an obvious lie (about once an hour) rarely do callers who have a good argument get through (unless they lie to Yorke's call screeners) and if they get through, Yorke screams at them "GET OFF MY LINE YOU JERK" "GET OFF MY LINE YOU MORON, CLICK. Then he chastises his call screeners for letting the caller through.

Jeff's comment is typical of a modern American Leftist: anything he disagrees with is a "lie".

Huge mistake by WPRO management. I don't think they're making this move because of Dan's ratings which have been strong for a long time. I think they're making this move because they think Cianci will give them an even bigger number than Yorke.
Methinks WPRO management is in for a rude awakening.
Love him or hate him, agree with him or disagree with him Dan Yorke does his homework on the issues and brings facts to the table. He also does some really funny off-the-wall topics like that school sign in WW about the wedding.....errr school fundraiser. Hilarious!!
Dan is a pro's pro and I believe his audience appreciates what he brings to the table even if they don't agree with him.
Buddy Cianci brings none of those qualities to the table. Cianci brings his personal payback agendas, his dime dropping stool pigeon rumors, his poodle RonRon and his Providence is the center of my universe schtick to the table and that's about it. Cianci will not fly as a drive time host in 2010. Maybe in 1990 but not in 2010. He's too limited and far too boring to keep the educated audience Yorke has.
I should know because I'm one of that audience and will be listening to WPRO at 2:00pm a whole lot less in a couple of weeks.
Hello Big Show, hello Sports Hub, hello Sean Hannity, hello Ipod......

This change would seem to benefit Cianci more than Yorke, BUT: Yorke is a very smart guy and can no doubt adapt and grow within any time slot. The move of Cianci to the afternoon will likely be the death knell for the Cicilline crime family and police chief Esserman. I suspect the latter two are down at city all tonight taking whatever isn't nailed down.

Ron St. Pierre has probably hit another home run at WPRO radio with this change.

I think featuring Cianci is a continuing embarassment to WPRO, if not Rhode Island. Let's face it, he spent years lining his pockets at taxpayer expense.

It is not that I don't listen to him, it is that I won't listen to him.

Though I mostly agree with Dan Yorke on political issues, he really is an unlikable guy, and I won't miss him during drive time. His "I'm a tough guy from Jersey" schtick "got old" for me a long time ago.

That being said, some of the criticisms about Cianci here are spot on, especially concerning his perpetual rants about David Cicilline and Dean Esserman, and his "old guys from da old days" caller base (hearing "Joe the Barber", in particular, will cause me to change the station every time).

I'm not sure how Buddy will fare during drive time without his echo chamber, Ron St. Pierre. He also doesn't have that professional radio polish that Dan Yorke has, and doesn't seem to do any show prep at all; I can picture him waking up at 9:30 every morning and speeding over to the PRO studios with 30 seconds to spare before his shift starts.

I listen to radio all day long and find Buddy and "the male chauvinist" Ron to be boring and repetitive. Usually lasting only a few minutes before moving on.

To make up for the loss I pay $6/mo. for Savage. On national issues he is the best and I always feel energized (or demoralized) at the end of the previous nights show.

In the end, I won't catch much of Buddy at 10am or 2pm. But Dan was made for the 2-6pm slot because he does his homework.

Dan Yorke is intelligent and usually cognizant of details.He does,however,fly off the handle with the screaming and the tough guy routine.
It detracts from the quality of his argument.Sort of like when I go off on people here.I'm not making a living as a talk show host though.
Yorke actually admitted I was correct and he wasn't on an issue involving the press and Patrick Kennedy.I was a little surprised,but then Yorke and I have never had a contentious relationship on air.I don't listen to him that much because he covers a lot of stuff like school minutae that doesn't interest me at all.Also some of the budget discussions go right over my head.
He does a good job with the occasional three hour sessions with one person.Reminiscent of "In Depth" on CSPAN.And if you've never seen that,you're missing an example of television testing its true potential.The opposite of the sound bite mentality.Of course the person interviewed has to be someone you're interested in.
Buddy may be a convicted felon,but he doesn't whine about having done time-he's a man about it.He isn't as formally prepared as Yorke,but he's a very intelligent individual and he does certainly know local government.
He's spot on with relation to Cicilline and Esserman.They are a disgrace to public service and liars to the bone.
Being a Providence resident,I feel the direct effect of their miserable job performance.
If no one thinks Esserman's routine unethical use of his position to garner personal freebies and expedited treatment hasn't any effect leading to the current scandals,think again.
Leadership style sets a tone in police departments(as well as other organizations)and we're seeing the results now.
Cicilline lies through his teeth.Period.He's like a sociopath.He can do it with zero conscience.
So Buddy's "rants" are based on fact.
Buddy also is good at cutting through bullsh*t during interviews.
Yorke is good at it too.
The best political interrogator in the state is Jim Taricani.Too bad he's on at 6:30 AM Sundays.I try to catch his show every week.Newsmakers too.Donnis,Arlene,and Tim White complement each other very well.Donnis and I probably don't agree on much,but he's well read and not into histrionics.
Worst interviewer?Bill Rappeleye.Biased and unprepared.(I don't mean racially biased by the way.)

Hey Chris don't forget about Buddy's cellphone going off during the show and the 7 to 10 seconds of dead air that follow when the caller stops talking and Buddy's yapping on his cell ....DURING the show. That actually happened one day and that's the last Cianci show I listened to.
Just too professional a product for my taste. lol
Don't be surprised if Yorke quits WPRO by the time summer rolls around. If you were a real pro at your profession would you stay with your company if someone like Cianci was promoted over you?? I think not!!

Btw is Buddy still making daily references about Cicilline's "boyfriend"?? I'm shocked the gay community hasn't gone after Buddy about that. No other pol in RI gets that personal life commentary from Buddy other than the openly gay Cicilline. I'm no fan of Cicilline but that's not right.

Joe, Buddy is a terrible interviewer. He doesn't know issues unless it's Providence related. ZZZzzzzzzzzzzzz...
If your heard Buddy's interview with union hack Marcia Reback about the Central Falls teachers you would not claim Buddy cuts through the bull%^@# with his interviews. That was embarrassing!
Btw Yorke was highlighting Cicilline and Esserman's act while Buddy was still in prison. It's clear Cianci's issues with Cicilline are personal and when Cicilline leaves public office after he losses the Dem primary this fall (with Esserman to follow) Buddy will have a huge void to fill with his daily schtick. You'll have to let us know how he's surviving life without Cicilline and Esserman because many of us won't be listening.

I find this move utterly inexplicable. It probably should be added to the column of evidence that this state is doomed.

Dan should start podcasting his entire show.

Who really cares. Go out and buy a satellite radio so that you can avoid listening to these two insufferable drips. York with his wanna be tough guy attitude and fake anger is just horrible. WPRO should be embarrassed to have the felon/mayor in the line up to report on politics. What a lowly profession it is anyway. Just sitting around allowing people to wallow in their misery.

Joe, I'm not saying that Cianci is wrong in his criticism of Ciciline and Esserman, but it has become one long constant rant every day, day in, day out. I know he's a smart guy, still sharp as a tack, I wish he would focus a little more of his energy and talents on something else once in a while, goodness knows there is enough incompetence in this state to go around.

Clearly he misses serving as Mayor, (though he can only blame himself for messing that up) so he uses the bulk of his airtime dumping on the current occupant, and revising his own personal political history. You can almost imagine that his ultimate goal is to somehow make a second comeback and regain his office one last time.

BTW, I enjoy hearing you when you call both Yorke's and Matt Allen's shows, keep up the good work.

If you look at this in a systemic nuanced Dan Yorkey don't know what the hell he's saying but likes words like minutiae way it makes sense to move his show to the midday. Katz and Dan both use the most convoluted syntax and muliple negatives that trying to understand them results in exhaustion. So the midday shift will result in longer and more needed siestas. Reading Katz resulted of course in thaking Kat naps.

As rude and condescending as Yorke can be on air, and my agreeing with him about 10 percent of the time notwithstanding...damn, WPRO bitchslapped him. I much prefer his show to Cianci, whose show has become one constant whine about Esserman (even my nonpolitical son is laughing AT Buddy when I have it on in the car). Buddy's become obsessed about Shiny Badge in a pathological way...wash the stains out of your jacket first, Vincent A.
Let the Prince of Marinara and Shiny Badge have a Hell in the Cell match and destroy each other...the city's better without both of them.
I'd love to see the ratings of WPRO vs. the syndicated stuff on HJJ.
Tim, I wouldn't count on Cicilline losing the primary unless another Dem emerges. I don't think either of us really wants to see a Lynch on the ballot in November.

Phil-thanks-I KNEW I was spelling minutiae wrong,but I just couldn't think of the correct way-senile dementia??

Phil, do you think your comment is clever?

Only to a tiny mind. At least you admitted that Justin strains your limited reading ability.

Most of us here understand him just fine.

Rhody-do you live in Providence?From comments you've made I thought you lived in North Providence.What is it to you who is the mayor of Providence?I don't give a sh*t who the mayor of North Providence is.
Yorke coined "shiny badge"if you must know.

Joebernstein

I would continue to read your comments even if you were displaying the early signs of dementia which I do not believe for a moment. But some over here act as nervous as a long tail Katz in a room full of rocking chairs.

I don't give one about the mayor of North Providence, either. When Lombardi ran against Mollis, I left it blank.
North Providence will only get straightened out when it has a mayor unaffiliated with the Lombardi or Mollis factions (because I'm not of the right white ethnicity, I have no chance at all LOL). As for Providence, I don't like having a corrupt mayor next door (or the sad spectacle of these people begging for a convicted felon to save their city). Cianci's about as qualified a leader as, say, Roman Polanski.

I was never a Cianci supporter.I never voted for him.That said,as a talk show host he is very knowledgeable on the issue of Providence(and state)politics and he is right about Cicilline and Esserman.
I don't know Cianci personally,I just call in on certain subjects.
I don't find him to be that good on national/international issues.
I never heard his interview with Marcia Reback because I hadn't that much interest in the whole issue of how Central falls schools failed.I don't think there is a single causation there.

rhody, I get the sense that David Cicilline is not well liked outside of Providence and with everything that's gone on recently I'm not sure how well liked he is within Providence. Cicilline is going to have a great deal of difficulty beating anyone in a Democratic party primary nevermind the former chair of the party. People in this state don't like the guy. Not much to like.

Joe, I'm shocked that you believe what's going on at Central Falls High School is just about Central Falls High School failing. It blows me away that you don't see the tremendous big picture ramifications for public education in this state, particularly in the struggling urban cores like Providence.
Yes you are a fan of the Buddy Cianci show. Yikes!! lol

Tim-what I'm saying is that the failure of CF High School and other "urban core" schools is due to multiple factors-teachers,yes,but also parents,students who've never been to school in their own countries,poor programs,etc.
I have no expertise in this area at all.
I do know that I attended urban core schools in the 50's and 60's,and my HS was very racially mixed,with quite a few immigrant students.Mostly from the British West Indies,so no language issues.We did have Caucasian immigrants who were English language learners,however.
We learned USEFUL subjects without indoctrination from the 1st grade on up.
We got the basics and then some.We learned about the country and the world and real history.
We took state Regents exams in HS to get an academic diploma.
If academics wasn't your strong suit,there were also the general and commercial tracks.There were vocational HS's for various trades.Where did we lose our way?Im not qualifies to nswer that.

Tim-yikes!More typos!
Anyhow, I DO get a kick out of Buddy.It's not like I'm hanging with him on Meatball Mondays at the Sidecar.
His needling of pukes like Art Handy,Charley Bakst,and some other beauties is very funny.
He had Handy sounding more discombobulated than Robert Gibbs during an interview.He exposed him as a triple dipping liar.
Helen Glover has a really good show-way better than Depetro,on WHJJ from 7A-10A.

Very nice style and good subject material, very little else we require :D. Thanks So Much.