Saturday, October 28, 2006

Doc Warner: Man of Mystery

I am one of maybe three people in Rochester who dutifully tunes into NewsTalk 950's (WROC, 950 AM) On The Line Radio Saturday mornings at 9:00 am.

The past two weeks, however, I haven't been able to hear its host, Kenneth 'Doc' Warner, warble on monotonously for the better part of the hour. Last week, the show re-aired the production from October 15, and this week, the host who "works overtime so you don't have to" has been preempted by a show pimping longevity pills. At least it's better radio...

But that's just the beginning.

Warner, who, as far as anyone can tell, is not a "doctor" of anything. He also doesn't return emails - at least not mine. I've tried to connect with him, offering suggestions on how to improve the broadcast (like, kill the Three Stooges music, stop interrupting your interviewees...) but the good doctor apparently can't read, thinks his show is perfect as is, or is harboring a deep-seated resentment dating back to the mid-80s, when he almost became my partner in the wildly successful venture known in these parts as Downtown Magazine.

One thing we do know about the mysterious Mr. Warner is that he's a self-proclaimed "political operative" (read: paid shill) who was the driving force behind the election of Bill Johnson for mayor, a couple of times, as he used to remind us every week.

At the very least, I'd like to be able to heap blame on Warner for working so hard to promote people who have helped ruin the city, but he's MIA, ostensibly working overtime on something other than radio.

Thank goodness.

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