You Want Me – Axe Them

Did Hannity, Carlson, Ingraham Scum-Out Fox News For Screwing Judge Jeanine?

WHAT’S THE GOOD OF HAVING A BIG VOICE IF YOU HAVE LITTLE COURAGE?

Did Anyone At Fox News, And I Mean Amongst the Talking Heads, Rush to the Public Defense On Air of Jeanine Pirro, in a Meaningful Way, who was Unjustly Reprimanded, Shamed & Suspended . . . Just For Asking The Truth?

Like Everything Else I “Tell” You . . . This Is An Absolutely 100% True Story Without Any Embellishments.

In 1997 . . . The Vice President & General Manager of CIQC AM-600 (Radio Montreal), asked me to be a Talk-Show Host on CIQC . . . I Said No.

Anne and I had a Wonderful Business (Promar Media Group), which after Years of Trials & Tribulations was Finally Ticking like a Swiss Clock, which was Earning more Money for Anne & Myself than the Media was Going to Pay . . . And if I was going to do a Media Gig – I wouldn’t have much time to Pay Attention to our National Advertising Agency, Meaning that in Reality, we would Make Less Money.

Hence . . . Thank You For The Offer – But No Thanks.

ALSO . . . Even though I spent a Great Deal of Time Giving Radio & Television Interviews over my Socio/Political Activism, I had ZERO Broadcast Knowledge as a Host of any Kind, and Actually had an Aversion to the Media Limelight.

CIQC used to be Called CFCF (Canada’s First Canada’s Finest), which was the Radio Station Powerhouse of Montreal as I was Growing-Up from the 1950’s. But over the years, because of Bad Management, Better Competitors & Changing Times, CFCF fell on Hard Times, was sold as a Package with their Popular FM Sister Station (CFQR) & Morphed into CIQC . . . into many Different Formats, of which None were Successful.

Finally . . . CIQC Decided To Try News, Traffic, Sports & Talk.

When I Joined CIQC September 2, 1997 . . . the Station’s Quarter Hour Listening Average was about 7,000-People Tuned Each Quarter-Hour. CIQC’s Average Non-Duplicated Weekly Listening Audience (CUME) was Under 80,000 People Tuned . . . With Both Numbers Representing a Joke in the Montreal Radio Industry.

Even though I Said No . . . CIQC Asked Again, but this time Sweetening the Pot, not with More Money, but Rather, With Programming.

CIQC offered me the Coveted Morning Show. And for someone like me, a True Blue Montrealer, who NEVER had any Illusion of being a Player of any kind Anywhere, even though I became “Big-Stuff” as a Rights Advocate . . . being the Morning-Show Host on a once Revered Radio Station in the City of my Birth . . . Became A Very Difficult Offer For Me To Turn Down.

So This Was My Counter Offer.

CIQC’s Offer For Salary Was $50,000 Per Year . . . with a $10,000 Bonus ($2500 Per Quarter) over the Year, if I improved the Numbers (Ratings) of the Time Slot they Put Me-In, to which I agreed – PLUS . . .

1 – I Wanted to have my own Paid Sponsors, such as – This Portion of Galganov In The Morning Is Brought To You By . . .

2 – The Show had to be Broadcast from our Office on our Horse Farm in Saint Lazare Quebec (an off-Island Bedroom “Village” 20-Minutes North/West of Montreal, Famous for their Horse Community).

I would Set-Up the Broadcast Studio in my Personal Office, Located Directly Beside our Horse Paddock . . . While CIQC would Set-Up the Broadcast Electronics.

This Way . . . When my Broadcast was Done, I Could just Revert Back to Running the Advertising Agency with Anne, which was the Plan that Didn’t Really Pan-Out.

3 – I Didn’t Want a Producer to Set-Up the Content of the Shows or to do any of the Information Research. That, I wanted to do for Myself.

4 – I Didn’t Want ANY DELAY WHATSOEVER on the Broadcast from my Voice, the Voice of Guests or the Voice of Callers to the Audience. Whatever would have been said, would have been Heard.

5 – I didn’t want any Callers Screened, which meant that None of the Callers would be Asked what they were Calling About. And each Caller would be Aired in the Order of their Call. And the only Callers to be Blocked, were to be Callers I Instructed my Technician to Block, because they were Jerks and had Nothing in my Opinion Worthwhile to Say.

6 – I also wanted to Travel at my own Personal Expense (Mostly For Promar Business), to wherever I wanted, and the Station (CIQC) would Make all the Broadcast Arrangements at the Station’s Cost wherever I happened to be . . . Which I Did Extensively, but Hardly for Promar Media Business.

I Broadcast from Soup Kitchens, Homeless Shelters, the SPCA, from Moving Busses by Cell phone, Shopping Centers by Cell phone, Parliament Hill, Outside the Prime Minster’s Residence by Cell Phone, Washington DC by Cell Phone, from Air Canada at 35,000 Feet by Air-Phone, and one time, over Marine Radio for One Hour from the Wheelhouse of the Rainbow Warrior, 30-Miles Off-Shore from Prince Edward Island, as I Participated in Trying Stop the Seal Hunt in the Atlantic Ocean.

This Was On Paul Watson’s Ship (Co-Founder of Green Peace), Sponsored by Self-Made Billionaire John Paul DeJoria (Paul Mitchel Hair Products) who was also on the Ship, and one of the Executive VP’s of one of Canada’s Largest Broadcast Networks, and one of Canada’s Leading Constitutional Lawyers (For Both Of Whom I Paid All The Costs), because I Fully Expected to be Arrested for Approaching the Seal Hunt, and wanted a Lawyer Present, and a Respected Executive of the Canadian Media to Represent me when it Hit the Fan.

In The End, CIQC Agreed . . . I Agreed – And This Is How It Played-Out.

At One Point – Even Before My Broadcasts, one of CIQC’s Major Advertisers, Brault & Martineau (Furniture), who were Ethnocentric Quebec Nationalists, who Also Weren’t Afraid to make their Racist Views Known, went to the VP General Manager of CIQC/CFQR, and Threatened to Pull all their Ads off Both Stations if I went on the Air.

In Reality . . . Brault & Martineau was Using this Threat to Squeeze the FM Sister Station (CFQR – Number One Music Station In Montreal) for Incredibly Cheap Rates.

And when I was Told of this by the VP General Manager, my Response was . . . No Problem, I Won’t Hold you to our Agreement, and I Won’t Go On-Air.

To Which The VP General Manager Said . . . It’s OK – We Made the Deal with Brault & Martineau & Your Show will Go-On as Planned. I think the Reason for the Deal with Brault & Martineau, was that the Owners of Both Stations (CFQR & CIQC) were concerned with how the CIQC Audience would React to the Cancellation of my Show, even Before it Began.

I Started the Morning-Show in their Studio, on the Same Morning Howard Stern Began his Broadcasts in Montreal on a Competitive FM-Station. So, when for the First Time . . . My Microphone Went Hot At 6-AM, my Opening Words to my Co-Host, who was a Hardcore Radio Veteran were . . . “OK, We’re On The Air – What Do We Do Now”? . . . . To Which my Co-Host Responded – “This Is Your Show. Don’t Ask Me”. So I Began To Talk & Have Never Stopped Talking Since.

The Early Ratings Came Out After A Week Or Two . . . which Really Interested all the Montreal Broadcasters, English & French Alike, because the Entire Industry Thought that Howard Stern was going to Blow Everyone out of the Water . . . Which Stern Did – WITH ONE EXCEPTION. While Everyone Else’s Ratings Took A Bath, Mine Went-Up By 10%.

Here’s Where It Got Interesting . . .

After Doing A Few Months Of Morning Drive, I got Fed-Up with getting-Up at 4-AM to be Ready to do my Show before 6-AM, I Told CIQC that I was Leaving, that doing the Morning Show was Literally Stealing My Life . . . To Which CIQC Responded With – “Pick Another Spot . . . Any Spot – But Stay On-Air”.

I Responded With . . . 1-Hour At Noon & The Rest Of Our Deal Stays The Same . . . & Galganov At High Noon Was Born.

IN THE SPACE OF ONE YEAR . . . My Audience went from 7,000-Listeners Tuned Every Quarter Hour, to More than 40,000-Listeners Tuned Every 15-Minutes. And the Station went from Approximately 80,000 Weekly CUME (Non Duplicated Listening Audience) to Between 150,000 To 180,000 Weekly CUME.

SO DURING A COMMERCIAL BREAK ONE DAY . . . After all the “Numbers” were made Public, And as I was Waiting for the Commercials to be Done, I Heard a 30-Second Spot For Brault & Martineau.

I Called the Program Director and simply said; “If I Hear Brault & Martineau Ever Again On My Show, Make Sure You Have Another Broadcaster Standing-By, Because I Won’t Come Back On-Air”.

But They Bought A Package . . . I Was Told. My Response – “That’s Your Problem Not Mine”. Brault & Martineau Never Came Back On My Show.

At Another Time . . . I was severely Admonished by the Radio & Television Broadcasters Association, because they didn’t like how I Spoke, the Words I Used and the People I Insulted. So, I called them LIVE-ON AIR, and told them where to Go.

And when they Realized that our Entire Conversation was being Broadcast Live, they had a Bird. And that was the Last Time I Heard from them.

When the CRTC (Canada’s Equivalent To The FCC) were discussing how to Remove me or Censure CIQC for the Things I Said & How I Said Them, more than 3,000 People Who Tuned-In Daily To Galganov At High Noon . . . Flooded the CRTC with Letters Telling them to Keep their Hands off my Show.

And One Time . . . While Flying Home, at 35,000-Feet over the Province of Saskatchewan from doing a Western Sweep of Broadcasting, I Called into my Show as Planned – to Speak with my Guest Announcer, who told me that I was just Publicly Censured by the CRTC, my Response was . . . “At Thirty-Five Thousand Feet, What Part Of They Can Kiss My Ass – That They Don’t Understand”?

During all the Time I was on the Radio, I Never Cursed. Not Even Once. One Caller Called me an F-ING Jew – And That Was It.

Galganov At High Noon Raised Tons Of Money For Serious Causes, such as Shelter for the Homeless, Defense for Animal Rights, Free Food for Hungry School Children . . . AND FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION FOR ALL CANADIANS.

I Was Never Rich . . . In The Final Analysis, I was just a Working-Stiff with a High Profile, who Grasped the Media Platform to Make a Real Difference.

One Day . . . The CIQC News Director Refused To Run With A Legitimate Story, That Would have Promoted CIQC and an Activity I Created. It was such a Major Event . . . that even our Media Competitors Grudgingly Ran the Story. But our News Director thought it was Unbecoming for CIQC to Promote Itself, even if the Self-Promotion was Honest & Warranted.

I Made it Clear to the News Director & to the Program Director . . . That If the News Director Doesn’t Run the Story, I Won’t Come Back On-Air. They Called what they Thought was my Bluff . . . AND I DIDN’T COME BACK ON-AIR.

So Where’s The Media Heroes To Defend Judge Jeanine When She Needed It Most?

Best Regards . . . Howard Galganov