Mongo? No...close but.
The ego has landed
January 28 2003
Stan Zemanek's back, unfazed by his failed Melbourne foray and ready to
lend Lawsie a hand. Sue Javes reports.
Stan Zemanek would have you believe he's something of a white knight on a
crusade to save 2UE from the infidels at 2GB. "It's going to be a long hard
battle," he has told all and sundry. "2GB has the lead now, but we'll see
if we can change that now I'm back. Lawsie has been working hard to hold up
the station. Now I'm back I'll be able to give him a hand."
He says his premature departure from Melbourne's 3AW was simply the result
of a request from Southern Cross Radio to go where the company most needed
him. "They came up with exactly what I wanted. I'm going back very highly
paid. 2UE are also sponsoring my yacht. I'm delighted with the arrangement."
Zemanek is not so comfortable discussing the barrage of criticism he
received while presenting the drive shift in Melbourne, the lack of support
from on-air colleagues who believed he was dragging the station down, the
speed with which 3AW management cleared his office at the end of last year
and his former resolve never to return to night-time radio.
According to informed sources, he joins 2UE tomorrow night on the same
income he had at 3AW, with two years to run on his existing contract, and
some compensation for having to relocate.
Melbourne was Zemanek's second attempt to prove he could do more than
ratbag radio at night. His first attempt in mornings on 2GB in 2000 failed
when it quickly became apparent he didn't have the pulling power to draw
listeners from John Laws at 2UE.
His year at 3AW is harder to judge. In his first few months he was
outrating his predecessor, Steve Price, but ended the year five points
down. On top of that, his time at the station coincided with 3AW's worst
overall results in 10 years.
Southern Cross Radio general manager Graham Mott says "it's absolute crap"
to blame Zemanek. "Last year 3AW had six good surveys and then two ordinary
surveys. The audience began falling away from 9am onwards, not just in the
drive shift."
Even so, Mott says he knew months ago that Zemanek would be better back on
2UE. "It's not a matter of whether he's right or wrong for 3AW. His best
position is on 2UE. He's more accepted by the Sydney audience. I don't
think people in Sydney took Stan seriously. Melbourne is a bit more
conservative, and listeners were used to a serious current affairs person
in that slot."
A less flattering analysis is that Zemanek doesn't have what it takes to
sustain a large audience in primetime. Strip away the rehearsed bluster and
right-wing slogans and there's not much substance. But it's a formula that
worked at nights on 2UE for nearly a decade in the 1990s and 2UE management
is hoping Zemanek can lift the 9pm-midnight shift from its current 8 per
cent share to 11 per cent by mid-year. It's also hoping Steve Price will
benefit in breakfast if more listeners leave the radio tuned to 2UE overnight.
2UE general manager Ian Sheppard described staff as being "over the moon"
by the news of Zemanek's return. He seems to have forgotten the very public
slanging match between Zemanek and drive presenter Mike Carlton three years
ago. Carlton revealed on-air that the most-complained-about man in radio
was about to jump ship to 2GB. An angry Zemanek called for Carlton to be
sacked and investigated by the Australian Broadcasting Authority for
"irresponsible journalism".
The "debate" degenerated over the next few days with Carlton calling
Zemanek "a little twat", "a village idiot" and "a stunted runt" and Zemanek
calling Carlton a "a turd" and "a ponce" with "his head up his backside".
Listeners can look forward to more of the same. Carlton said this week, "I
don't withdraw a word of anything I've ever said about him. I think he's a
moron."
http://smh.com.au/articles/2003/01/27/1043534002664.html
