The Josh Innes Show - 97.5 The Fanatic Job Update Day 2

Episode Date: May 13, 2025

Well, it's day two of the Fanatic boss being back from vacation. Here's the latest on that front. Also, I share a story about getting jerked around by a radio station. I don't think I've shared this story. Perhaps I have. If so, I'm sorry. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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So I'm laying around right now doing the podcast and, um, I was in here and then Ross decides to run in here and do something I've never really seen him do, but he's all like, like basically knocking my ass off the bed while I'm trying to do this podcast now so take that into consideration but this dog sprawls out everywhere he's like not a huge dog but he can make himself a long puppy is what he can do. But any who and today damn near like he tried to jump up and play with some older guy and this older guy was not having it and we're walking and we're walking by these people because they were walking slow. They were older types not like ancient, but you know probably in their 60s too fat people and we try to

walk past them and Ross jumps up and barks and I'm like shit. He's never done that before at least to another person it's kind of how he plays you know and this guy was like and his wife was like oh can we pet him and he's like no we cannot like I mean he's not a bad boy he likes to be pet and he's good he's just you know he's a big time like he can leap he can jump out the gym it's wild how this dog can jump. Like he jumps high. And like when he chases things in the yard,

like he like, he has this weird hop about him, but he can get up, man. And when he gets really gets to playing with a person, he jumps up and he's like, eye level with you. Yesterday, he must have seen something out in the yard through the door and like jumped up. And like, it was like he was at human level it was ridiculous but he's a good boy he's just laying on me right now like a total putz but anyway he's a good boy

let's play a couple commercials and let's get into some stuff Wendy's most important deal of the day has a fresh lineup pick any two breakfast items for four dollars new four-piece French toast sticks, bacon or sausage wrap, biscuit or English muffin sandwiches, small hot coffee, and more. Limited time only at Participating Wendy's Taxes Extra. So I got asked by a person on Twitter a little while ago if they think I'm going to be in Philadelphia. They're like, hey, what's the latest on the Philadelphia job? What's the latest on Philly? And I'm like, listen, today is Tuesday, and I told you I'd update you

as long as there was something to update. Today is Tuesday. I applied for that job, I think, two Fridays ago, and I told you that I talked with the program director via an email once, and I was like, hey, can was like, hey, can we talk about this? And he's like, I'm going on vacation, but I'll reach out. I've got 100 people that have applied for this job, so I'll reach out to you and we'll have a phone call. So he said he was going on vacation. That was last week, so he should be back, as we talked about yesterday.

And it is Tuesday. It is Tuesday at 12 39 p.m. Currently and I have not heard anything From this program director now again could be going through the hundreds of people that have applied for this job Which as we discussed is probably not even a good job like it is a dead-end situation. It feels like a no-win situation But I still I don't have a job and I think I can go there and be successful. I say successful. What is your definition of success? Being competitive, right? Can you go be competitive with WIP? Can you keep it, you know, at least interesting? Can you make it more interesting? Can you make news? What can you do, you know? And I think I could do those things. Like I think I could make things more interesting. I think I can get people invigorated and at least have like some sort of fun doing it. But then there's another big part of me, and we talk about this all the time, is do I want to go

back into that world? I got a message from someone actually because people email me and people that listen to the show and they'll message and everything and somebody asked me if they if I felt that I really want to go back into that world. Do I want to go into that universe? Do I want to be in the world of the horrible topics and the angry people? And we talked about this in an earlier episode today, but there's that part of you that says yes, but then there's the other part of, do you really want to go back deep into that world of of people being angry all the time? Do you want to go back into the world of social

media ruling your life? Do you want to do that? And the legitimate answer is I don't know if I'm being completely honest with you. Now, if 97.5 came to me and said, here's what you're going to make. We really want you, let's go. Like I'm sort of easy in that way, right? Like I enjoy being wanted by people. And by that, I mean, I enjoy when they think I'm good at something and they want me to be part of their universe and they want me to, and they truly believe that I can help them.

Right? Like I'm easy in that way. I like to be wanted by people and I like to think that people enjoy what I do. Like there was a long stretch here in St. Louis for the little bit of time I was here. Like I didn't really feel like they even wanted me here and like I got that vibe. I think I've told you guys this story, but we were planning this kind of big t-shirt thing because these St. Louis people, they buy all these Kashi t-shirts. We were going to do a thing where we had basically love Josh Ennis t-shirts or hate Josh Ennis t-shirts. We were going to give incentive.

If we sold more love Josh Ennis t-shirts, this is the reward. If it's more hate Josh Ennis t-shirts, we'll move him to overnights or some stupid bit like that. And that was the plan. We were going to do this bit. We had planned, we started talking about it. I want to say in April of last year, May of last year, maybe a little bit later than that. I'm not sure.

I mean, I got fired in April, so it could have been much later. So it's either March or April maybe of last year. And we had a big meeting with the people in promotions about it and the program director and that's what we were going to do. Like that was kind of a cool deal and it was going to sell a bunch of t-shirts because I saw the way I was able to help them. You know, I sold one day one

afternoon I sold like $18,000 worth of K-She merchandise in one afternoon. So they were like, wow, you kind of have this ability to get people going. I'm like, sure. So that was their idea was to do this bit. And we had planned to do it probably like in August or whatever. I don't know when it was. But it was a big deal. Everybody was gung ho. We came up with the logos. We came up with the concept for the two shirts, how we were going to sell it, how we were going to present it, all

that. And then months went by and I never heard anything again. I heard nothing. And I was like, this is kind of weird because not only did I hear nothing like, oh, we're going to move it back. It just kind of went away. I heard nothing. And I was like, this is kind of weird, because not only did I hear nothing, like, oh, we're going to move it back. It just kind of went away. It just disappeared. There was nothing. There was no talk of it. It's like it never it was erased from existence as you know, Doc Brown would say it was erased from existence. And that's kind of what it was like, it just went away. And I started

thinking that before I got fired, I was telling Julie, you know, it's kind of strange that they had this big plan to do this back in March or April and it's been a couple of months now and I've heard nothing about this at all like that's weird to me like that was their big selling point because they do it quarterly right like they have to come up with a big thing to sell each quarter basically so like I guess it would have been quarter two would have been the sunglasses and they sold a bunch of those because of me. And then quarter three, which starts in July. So it would have made sense that maybe July would have been around the time that they'd

start trying to do that. And not only did it not happen, I just never heard about it again. It just didn't exist. It was poof gone. And that was kind of one of my signs that they had just completely lost interest in me and that I was probably on the verge of getting fired there. Like I felt it. And you can always feel that turn. Early on they're glad to have you. Then they want you to go do what you do. Then you start doing what you do and they start getting

the blowback and some people don't like it and then people's opinions turn on you. Then if things don't sell well, then the salespeople don't really like you all that much and you can feel when it goes from oh boy we're excited to have this guy here to like shit this guy is just a burden on us and we don't like him and I've had to I've had to talk with clients and clients don't like the new direction of the radio station so like you can feel that and then you can also feel when the people that are above like those people are not really on your side and I started to feel that eventually kind of like, you know

This was a bad idea, but I tell you that to tell you this that Like I always like to be in a situation Where you can tell the people you're working for or working with are people That truly want you there and believe in you like Like, I was talking to a buddy of mine, he's like, why don't you just take a job in a smaller place or something to go work with people that just really want to have you there? And I'm like, well, I'm not getting calls from those people either. But like, I'm not sitting here hell bent on going to some big city to work. Like I'd like to work and I'd like to have fun doing it.

I would prefer, I guess, to be in a city that's got a little cache about it, a bigger city because that probably means there's more money and all that. But like I'd go work at some smaller place. Like I told you guys this and I won't tell you where it is, where it was. But in November it was Thanksgiving. I was in Memphis. My dad and Cindy and everybody were there and Julie. So I went to have Thanksgiving with them at the Peabody Hotel. And I was having back and forth conversations with somebody in a smaller town, not like a tiny town. It's like a top, you know, 100 top 80 ish type town, something like that. I mean, it's not huge, but it's a good

town. And you know, good radio and all that. They were all fucking gung-ho about me. They were like, we want you here. Our morning show is kind of old and tired and we want something new and we think you're great. Cool, we were texting all day during Thanksgiving. It was like, hell, we're texting during Thanksgiving. They must like me. They like what I'm about.

Then months would go by and I didn't hear anything, a couple months. Then I reached out and I'm like, hey, about a month I guess went by and I'm like, hey, do you want to have a phone conversation? We had a phone conversation. The person on the phone liked me then. And then maybe about a month or so goes by after that and I don't hear it. I don't get a text, I don't get a call, whatever. So I send, you know, I try to find a way to initiate the conversation without being a weirdo. So I send a text. I'm I'm like hey did I ever send you my new audio for you to check out you know just to kind of reignite the conversation and I get a message back and it's a text hey buddy sorry man we just we can't really find anything for you here and we're gonna stick with the show that we have now remember this is

the show that they told me was old and tired and they didn't really like it they wanted something new and fresh and whatever they're like like, we're going to stick with this. You know, it turns out it did a little bit better this last book than we thought it would. And we're just going to, you know, stick with that for now, man. And we didn't want to just bring you here to be somebody folding t-shirts or something. I'm like, all right, fine. What the fuck ever. Like, again, I told you, I'm the king of that. I'm the king of getting jerked around for, you know, I got jerked around by 97.5 once. Like, I told you I'm the king of that. I'm the king of getting jerked around for you know, I got jerked around by 97.5 once like I just get jerked around by people. I don't know

why but I just do you know, but back to 97.5 again, I haven't heard from them. I had a guy never called me. I fully me and Jilly both say like he ain't gonna call even though I've talked to the guy on the phone before I know him he and I have shared many emails and phone calls I wouldn't call him a friend because I mean like that's we're an acquaintance we're not enemies or anything but a friend is a friend this is not a friend this is just a buddy like a pal a child you know something to do chummy with and but I do not get the vibe that I'm ever going to get a call back from those people or an email back from those people and I

don't feel that they're going to hire anybody with any sort of pulse for any of these jobs anyway. I don't know. It's hard to read what the situation is when they work for a company that literally every single day someone's either getting laid off or retiring. Like they're owned by Beasley Broadcasting. I just saw one from Beasley Broadcasting today.

I saw one that some guy that had been in some city for X number of years finally was like I'm gonna hang it up and retire. Did you really retire or did Beasley go hey you're in a small town and you're making money and in our small towns we don't want anybody making money so we're just gonna fire people. Like I honestly don't know. Let me actually look at what the story was to see where this was. This was a person who... where were they? Kent Dunn announces retirement from Beasley Augusta. Let's see how long Kent Dunn

was at Beasley in Augusta. After much thought and reflection I made the decision to retire and begin the next chapter of my life Oh, he was there in 1991 he was the VP market manager there They're like listen, we don't need anybody that's been somewhere since 1991 because that means that person probably makes a couple of bucks Therefore we will not do that. Like so that's a scary proposition. We told you the other day. They let the big piece of the precedent Steve Morning show, they just canned them because corporate

didn't want to pay them anymore. So if they're doing that for that show, what are they gonna do for 97.5, the Fanatic, which is the station they've shown absolutely zero interest in for a billion years. So why would that be a good situation? I don't know you know you want to be wanted you want people who think you're good but you know we're in a fucking industry that's really kind of fucked like more and more people are getting whacked and this is why I made

the mistake of getting off the ship at I heart because as much as I heart get shit from people if you're on the boat and you're doing multiple things for I heart you can probably survive. I made the mistake of going elsewhere. So that was the mistake I made. Went to Hubbard. They said it's all great. I get whacked in 15 months. And I'm trying to get back on the boat in other places.

So, but the latest in all of that is no call, no text, nothing is coming yet. Now in fairness, it's still day two of this dude being back from vacation, but I was asked about it and I will continue to tell you until they either call me to tell me to fuck off or they don't call me or they hire someone. I'll keep providing you updates on this. So that is the latest.