For executives at Reno's
long-time number-one radio station, 50,000-watt KOH, it
was just a basic business decision. But for
lots of fans of afternoon talk-show host J.R. Reynolds,
his Aug 2 firing was betrayal, or worse. 
Some fans and friends of Reynolds
went so far as to track down the president and operating
officers of KOH-owner Citadel Corporation, in Montana and
Utah, to complain. Reynolds himself said he didn't
expect the response he received Wednesday when speaking
at the weekly meeting in Carson City of the Nevada
Freedom Coalition. "I was so surprised at the
tremendous warmth that these people exhibited, saying,
'What can we do? Whatever you want us to do, we'll do it.
How can we get you back on the air? You are our voice.
You're the only one we can depend on.' "That really made me feel quite
good," said Reynolds. "It's a nice thing to be
wanted, but when you're needed, it's kind of
special." Speaking of KOH management, Reynolds
said, "The only thing that these people don't
understand right now is that firing a DJ is one thing.
The people will miss him for a little while, but the
music still remains. "But when you fire a very
popular talk show host, now you've got people -- I didn't
realize it but -- you've got conspiratorial theorists
coming out of the woodwork, saying, "Omigod, the
Voice of Freedom has been SILENCED! Pick up your
guns!" They're going nuts out there." From the point of view of KOH,
sources tell Electric Nevada, the basic problem
was simply that Reynolds' three-hour weekday afternoon
slot was not pulling in the number of listeners desired,
keeping advertising revenue from the show low. Reynolds acknowledges that his
Arbitron audience ratings, "from the beginning, have
been pretty much of a rollercoaster ride. "I tend to think that in talk
radio, it goes [that way] until you stabilize and then
you stabilize hopefully [in] a little bit of an upward
trend." He also argues that ".. the
fact of the matter is, this particular radio station in
this market time slot, has never done anything. "Nobody's ever been able to
sustain this show. My show, for this two-and-a-half-year
period, is the longest-running show in the history of
this radio station. They go back to, like, 1928." KOH Program Director Dan Mason
would only say "With J.R. there were philosophical
differences in how the show should be done that we were
unable to resolve. And we chose to part ways." Reynolds said when he was fired
Mason had referred to a job performance report Reynolds
had been given earlier, on July 22. "In that report were some
pretty ridiculous things," said Reynolds, "like
I had booked Harry Browne, Libertarian candidate for
President on 
my show without prior approval. Pat McMillan
was another one; he's running for Congress. It mentioned
him in the same breath.
"And they also mentioned one
day when I was talking about the gay marriage issue, I
mentioned that I personally find a woman's vagina
extremely pleasurable, or something to that effect. And I
said it for shock value. I mean, it was just something
you do as a talk show host, and certainly I could have
said it any number of different ways, but it wouldn't
have had the impact."
Reynolds also said he had sensed a
shift of attitude in KOH management back around the end
of May.
"Things got a little bit weird
about three months ago. That's when I got the feeling
they were trying to wrench editorial control of the show
from me. They started [saying], "Well, we've got to
approve guests" and that sort of thing. And slowly
but surely, rather than suggesting news items and things
that are hot to be talked about, it was more of a
dictatorial attitude."
"I could almost go along with
to a certain extent," said Reynolds, "except
that, as a talk show host, when [doing] preparation for a
show, you have to have a certain degree of autonomy, as
to what you're going to talk about. I have to be
comfortable, as a talk show host, where I'm coming from,
and how I'm going to present that."
Mason declined to respond to
Reynolds' statements, saying "I'm not going to
engage in a debate with J. R. in the press."
He did say station executives are
sticking with the basic concept of a conservative-hosted
talk show.
"Basically, the show isn't
going to change; we are just getting a different
host," said Mason.
"It's still going to be an
issue-driven, caller-driven program. The premise or
format of the show will not change."
He said the new host will start on
the air Tuesday, August 13, and his name is Brian
Maloney.
Coming to Reno from Santa Cruz,
California, Maloney "is a real conservative,"
said Mason.
"He's been officially condemned
by two Democratic Party organizations in Santa Cruz,
[and] he has managed political campaigns in
California."
A former securities trader, Maloney
trained for the Olympics in the hammer throw until 1989,
when he had to quit because of an injury, said Mason.
Maloney, until recently, was doing a
Saturday afternoon show on a Santa Cruz station.