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Tuesday, October 22, 2013

Fired!

Earl Stewart forced off the air at Seaview Radio by disgruntled competing car dealers who threated to pull their advertising if Stewart wasn’t muzzled
Earl Stewart, who has for the past seven years hosted the Seaview Radio show Earl Stewart on Cars with his wife Nancy Stewart – has been forced off the air by Seaview, bowing to threats from competing car dealers to pull their advertising from the station.  His show has been cancelled immediately, according to Seaview Station Manager Chet Tart.  The decision was made by Seaview owners Jim and Tricia Woods (correct?) in response to the threats to their advertising income.

Each Saturday from 9 – 10 a.m. on Seaview  (960 a.m., 95.9 FM and 106.9 FM), Stewart answered calls from listeners on everything from how to buy a car without getting ripped off, to how to service a car, get the most our of a lease, and other consumer oriented questions.  One of the most popular weekly segments is the “Mystery Shopper” where a listener visits a local car dealership and reports back to the audience on their experience.  From these experiences and listener feedback, the show developed a “good car dealer” and “bad car dealer” list.

Last week, one caller reported on a bad salesexperience at Ed Morse Toyota.  When the owner of Ed Morse heard about the unfavorable report on the radio show, he called the owners of Seaview Radio and threatened to pull his advertising from the radio station if Stewart’s show wasn’t cancelled.  He said that other car dealers would join him in this effort to silence Stewart by also pulling their ads from the Palm Beach Gardens-based radio station.  

Stewart has been a vocal advocate for consumer rights and has promoted changes in the way car dealers do business, leading a statewide effort to abolish or limit dealer fees in Florida, expose scams such as paying for nitrogen in tires, and more.  In September Stewart was featured on ABC Network news’ The Lookout as an honest car dealer commenting on unethical car deal techniques.


“It’s a sad day for consumers when a radio station cancels one of its most popular programs simply for telling the truth to the public,” Stewart said. 

2 comments:

  1. Jim & Tricia

    I will start off by saying how angry and disappointed I am in your decision to Fire honest people such as Earl and Nancy from the most popular and Educating talk program on Saturday morning.

    I am a 53 year old woman who lives in the Orlando area and speak from my own life experiences of buying cars from these car dealers like the Ed Morses “If the shoe fits wear it”.

    I guess I have to ask Seaview Radio and the other dealer complaining: Were you calling the Mystery Shoppers Lyres when you made the choice to fire Earl and Nancy? This was the best part of the show to weed out dishonest people from the lives of low-middle class hard working customers looking for a vehicle which is an extremely serious purchase in one’s life. This is a damn shame greed got in the way.

    I started listening to the show 5 years ago online and have increased my knowledge in terms of purchasing cars. The show also communicated many interesting facts, care of automobiles, helpful hints, referrals and details from other customer experiences.

    Great talk program of the past now! What were you thinking when you made this decision? Honesty or Greed!!!

    After listening to the morning talk show I was so thrilled with the show and Earls Car dealership that I actually traveled to West Palm beach to purchase my last 2 vehicles. What can I say…It was a good car buying experience for me. I will continue to communicate to co-workers, family and friends of Earl Stewart Toyota and the Honest man he is, but as far as your radio station goes, I will now boycott and pass the word on to 10 people who will pass along to 10 people and so on and so on. It will be like a domino effect.

    As a listener of Seaview Radio I feel like you did Earl and & Nancy Stewart wrong, because of your greed. I find it hard to believe that Seaview radio would fall for letting these people call your bluff on the threats of pulling their advertising! “It’s a sad day for consumers when a radio station cancels one of its most popular programs simply for telling the truth to the public,” Stewart said.

    Thank you

    Ex - listener of Seaview Radio



    ReplyDelete
  2. You can add my name & my wife's along with our friends and a loyal group of Earl Stewart on Cars Supporters that we are associated with.

    The Palm Beach area has a number of alternatives when it comes to similar listening ..and we will find other air ways to tune into.

    It's a sad commentary when the management and owners of station(s) such as the Seaview group lack the backbone and intergrety to stand up for what is right.

    In the end, whether for better or for worse ..the almighty dollar still rules! .

    Thanks, Ray & Colette together with our group.

    ReplyDelete

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