In early June of this year I was nearing a year and a half as a talk show host on the local talk upstart KHRO 1650 AM. To be honest, waking up at 5 a.m. every morning or earlier to do a one hour show was wearing on me. The grind of having the same callers saying the same things every day was starting put me to sleep.

I was not paid to do the show, but felt it was an opportunity to put my name out there and promote my writing for Newspaper Tree, for which I am (sometimes) paid. The show also brought me some strange bedfellows looking to influence public opinion. Some of those relationships will develop into consulting gigs, others will just be a supreme waste of my time. It all evens out.

Most of all, the whole situation was wearing me and my marriage out. My wife was tired of not seeing me during the week because I’d go to bed at 8 p.m. and wake up hours before her in the morning. She also didn’t appreciate some of the attention we were getting from some very sick people out there. She didn’t laugh off emails and notes wishing her a miscarriage because of the things I said on my radio show.

So when Abel Rodriguez, Director of Promotions for Entravision (owner of 1650 AM) called me to say that he had given my phone number to former talk show host Greg Freyermuth, I was optimistic there would be a change coming.

Freyermuth did call me early that June and set up a meeting with me at my office. I assumed we’d be talking about talk radio. I was wrong.

When Freyermuth showed up to my office he wanted to talk about building a housing development. He had a concept for “green” house that would blow everyone away. All I had to do was design and develop the land and he’d consider letting me and my firm in on 15 percent of the profits. It was a laughable deal. We’d be putting up 85 percent of the resources for the project. Only an idiot would then settle for only 15 percent of the profit. I gave him the benefit of the doubt and figured that he didn’t know exactly what the development costs would be.

Before leaving my office we did talk about radio. He never said that he listened to my show, but yet he never said he didn’t. Either way he explained that his idea was to go to a station and buy his time slot from them. After purchasing that time slot he’d sell the advertising at his price and keep the profits. This is not unlike what is done in many places. All he needed was a taker. I suggested he go talk to David Candelaria, the head honcho over at Entravision.

Over the next week Freyermuth and I met a few more times to talk about his housing concept and how he could pull it off. Those conversations invariably would turn to KHRO and his new goal of moving us into the drive time slots and making some dough. Part of us being on the radio would be an opportunity to promote this “green” home concept.

Freyermuth and I agreed to keep the fact that we were plotting this “coup” of 1650 a secret. As far as anyone would know Freyermuth was thinking all of this up on his own.

Part of the plan was to pay me $2,000 a month to take over the 4–6 p.m. slot. In the name of “formatics” having conservatives opening and closing the day would ensure the targeted audience opened and closed each day. The idea being that when the listener leaving work shut off his car at the end of the day the radio would be tuned to 1650 and when he woke up in the morning and got into his car he’d automatically be tuned in yet again to 1650. And when he got into the car to leave work … well you get it.

When Freyermuth did get an audience with Candelaria things went well initially, Freyermuth told me.

Freyermuth’s pitch included either getting rid of the Strelz or moving him to some innocuous spot during the day where he’d have a small audience and do the least amount of damage. He suggested that I move to the afternoon drive time, but nobody was biting. Candelaria hadn’t listened to my show in months and had written me off as unworthy of such a slot. He was, however, hot on Gene Savard. Freyermuth reached out to Savard behind my back and found that Savard wanted something outrageous for a two hour show. So Freyermuth was back to me.

The other parts of the deal included switching the station signal from 1650 over to the stronger signal on 1150. Instead of Freyermuth buying time on the station they decided to split all ad revenue.

Meanwhile the station was abuzz about the changes to come. Strelz, not realizing that I was in on the whole deal, kept telling me that Freyermuth was out to get me and that Abel and David were throwing me under the bus. Freyermuth was telling me the exact opposite about the Strelz saying that he was out to get me. Freyermuth did, however, indicate that Abel and David were throwing me under the bus.

Then the communication stopped. Freyermuth couldn’t get a decision from Candelaria about the deal. Freyermuth wanted to start fresh July 1, but Candelaria had shut down. No calls, no communication to Freyermuth and he was freaking out calling me twice a day to see what the deal was.

Freyermuth was telling me in the meantime about the thousands upon thousands of dollars of advertising he had all lined up for his show. He claimed that Strelzin was a major barrier for him. His advertisers didn’t want their money spent on Strelzin’s show. He told me that he was still pulling for me to get the afternoon spot.

By mid June I was in Houston when Freyermuth called me and told me that a deal had been struck between he and Candelaria and that I’d be on from 4-6 p.m. I’d be paid for my work. I told my in-laws and other applicable family members in El Paso. They were ecstatic and drank even more than they usually do.

It was a lie, I guess.

I had given up my slot to Freyermuth on a lie. I went without a fuss. I finished out my couple of weeks with the promise from Freyermuth that he would get me on in the afternoon no matter what.

The deal had the Strelz moving to the 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. slot. Strelzin fought the changes as much as he could. He had no idea that I was in on the deal from the beginning and that I knew all the details long before he had. He spent each morning after my show and before his railing against what he considered to be the ultimate disrespect.

As the day that Freyermuth would take over not just as a morning show host, but as the station’s defacto manager got closer, Strelzin fought harder and louder. He took shots at Abel Rodriguez and David Candelaria that embarrassed them greatly. Strelzin made asses out of those two and just about everyone else who he thought was responsible for the changes. I wondered why Abel and David took such disrespect and abuse from an employee. It turns out they were, and still are, extremely scared that Strelz would sue them. Freyermuth told me all about their meetings and how both Abel and David were extremely wary of Strelzin’s lawsuit happy past.

Candelaria took a big chance on Strelz after his falling out at the last station. If Entravision was to get sued by the Strelz, Candelaria would be out of the job as fast as corporate could get a hold of him. Candelaria had to sit there and take the abuse from Strelzin and his callers and there wasn’t a thing he could do about it. It was the most embarrassing thing I had ever witnessed in the corporate world to date.

Candelaria eventually caved and put Strelzin in the afternoon drive time slot. Strelzin had Candelaria on the ropes and was looking to throw what little weight he had left around.

Candelaria also brought Barbara Perez back. A host who could only make it to the studios a couple times a week in her previous run with 1650. She has started pulling the same crap already in her new slot missing most of last week.

On my last day before Freyermuth was to take over he sat down during the last few minutes of my show and told me that I could keep my time slot after all. I declined. I had been told so many different things over the previous three weeks that all I wanted to do was leave. Apparently Freyermuth didn’t want to wake up early enough to cover my early spot.

Freyermuth and I remained in almost daily contact. He was still pitching me ideas about the “green” house project and I was giving him my analysis of how I thought the change was coming along. I was already making guest appearances on 750 KAMA on Charlando Con La Gringa.

Freyermuth was getting frustrated about the fact that they were not yet simulcasting on 1150. He was also doing his best to meticulously document all the problems the Strelz was causing the station in hopes he’d get him fired. Freyermuth was still telling me that our plan would go into effect just any day.

I noticed none of the advertising that Freyermuth had told me about was airing on the station. In fact, a lot of what he promised wasn’t happening.

Three weeks ago Freyermuth contacted me with an offer to do my show at my old time slot for $25 an hour. Freyermuth was confident this was going to lead to me being hired on for the afternoon slot just as soon as he could get rid of Strelzin, who was proving to be resilient.

I accepted with only one condition. They put it in writing. That offer was made on a Wednesday and by Friday he hadn’t given me anything in writing saying they’d pay me to come back. For some reason Freyermuth announced that Friday on his show that I would be on the air on Monday before his show.

Bad move. On Sunday he called me asking me if I was going to be in on Monday. I told him that I would not be on because I hadn’t received anything in writing like I had asked. He was pissed and told me that the offer may not be on the table if I was to not show up on Monday. I didn’t show up. Freyermuth looked bad and a guy with an ego that big doesn’t like looking bad. Needless to say he was pissed at me and made that known.

Candelaria called me on Monday and told me he’d get me the letter. I started on Tuesday and was abruptly fired the very next Tuesday for writing a piece for Newspaper Tree about DTV that was inconsistent with Entravision view on the issue. I guess they weren’t scared of me suing them.

I’m pretty sure they won’t be offering me the afternoon slot yet another time.

To this day Freyermuth hasn’t produced any of the advertisers he promised, but somehow weaseled his way into the Sales Manager spot at 92.3 the Fox. Word is that Strelzin is unhappy and he’s looking for a better offer. I can’t imagine Barbara lasting much longer she’s already missing lots of days and she hasn’t been on a full two months yet.

I, on the other hand, have landed on my feet over at 750 KAMA where Lisa D holds court on her show Charlando Con La Gringa from 4-6 p.m. Monday through Friday. I will be hosting Mondays and Fridays for Lisa D because she’s got responsibilities with some magazine she has to edit.

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You can listen to DavidK on Charlando con La Gringa on KAMA 750 AM, Mondays and Fridays from 4-6 p.m. Call the show at 915.880.5262 or email David at davidkshow@gmail.com.