[BC] Ditzy radio listeners and TV viewers

[Alan Kline]

One Sunday evening I was running MCR when I received a phone call, forwarded
from the newsroom, from a viewer who was irritated at something on that night's
"60 Minutes".  I gave him the number for CBS News viewer comments in New York
and suggested that he call the network.  The man got rather irritated, because it 
was a long-distance call.  Couldn't we call for him?  I told him, I'm not the one
who's upset.  My job is just making sure that we have picture and sound on
the air.  I then went over to the newsroom and strongly informed the producer
on duty that if the newsroom *ever* forwarded another viewer call to MCR, I'd
file a grievance...

Another time, about 15 years ago, I was at a small UHF station in San Francisco.
I was doing the overnight shift, editing the next day's dubreel, when the 
main office line rang.  In those days, the phone system was set up so that 
after hours, calls to the main number would ring at every phone in the building.
Thinking it was our security company, I answered, but it was some woman calling
to complain about an infomercial.  She had purchased some "GLH-9" (a product
designed to help follically-challenged people by essentially being spray-paint
for the head).  She hadn't received her order yet, and what was I going to do
about it?  What I did was give her the number for sales, and suggest that she
call during business hours.  I mean, like she was going to find anyone there
at 2AM on a Saturday morning who gave a rat's a**???  Don't bother me, lady,
it's almost time for "Hogan's Heroes"...  ;-"

ak


------ At 02:15 PM 2/20/2006 -0500, The Most Honourable Scott Cason wrote: -------
>Not just limited to radio.  Can't tell you the number of times I have picked
>up a phone call at master control where the person on the other end wanted
>to talk to Dan Rather, Oprah Winfry, Jerry Springer, Roy Clark or any number
>of other syndicated/network personalities.  These people are regular viewers
>of the station and they think all the shows originated at the individual TV
>studios so they'd call the newsroom, and the newsroom would pass them along
>to MC.