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Gossip Desk
Kelvin Mackenzie the former chairman of the Wireless Group (owner of Talksport) and former editor of The Sun has waded into the controversy surrounding the sacking of jock James Whale after an expression of support for Boris Johnson to become mayor of London, with Mackenzie in his column in The Sun saying "Talk about unsporting behaviour".
Whale was sacked by Talksport for supporting Boris Johnson despite having served the company for 13 years and having suffered a bout of kidney cancer whilst a presenter at Talksport.
Whale dropped his unfair dismissal case against Talksport, according to Mackenzie's column in The Sun because of a "lack of money" and immediately turned his invective on the current chairman of UTV (the new owners of Talksport) with Mackenzie saying:
"I don't wish Mr McCann well and I hope that when he gets his marching orders the company treats him in the same way".
But Whale's move to LBC during drive time may well be a blessing for the experienced broadcaster who will be broadcasting on FM not AM as was the case with Talksport and a drivetime slot from November. Whale has to compete against a feeble opposition at BBC London in Eddie Nestor, but will have to contend with the BBC Five Live heavyweight of Peter Allen the only real direct opponent.
Global Radio owners of LBC announced job cuts in July and many within the organisation greeted the news of Whale's appointment with surprise with one source saying "we are losing our jobs and the management brings in James Whale? The budget seems to be going on the big hitters at LBC like Ferrari but not on production or developing new presenters."
London media has been hit hard by the credit crunch with the main media groups including News International looking at making cuts in the near future.
photo credit: Speaks Agency
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