(February 8 - 9:11 a.m.) In the Doug McIntyre story of how he got the Red Eye Radio gig with Citadel (KABC here), he referenced the important and invaluable role that his agent, Eric Weiss, played in making it happen. The mention of agents prompted a number of readers to share their experiences.

One emailer thinks it’d be a cool story to solicit good / bad / worst descriptions of radio personalities’ dealings with agents. “I made the biggest mistake of my career hiring an agent two years ago,” wrote a Top 5 drive-time talent in Chicago. “Turns out I didn’t need one, but the guy still managed to make my situation worse, although I thought I was tied down for 5 years, my wills lawyer had a look at the agreement I signed and figured out I could dump the guy at any time, which I promptly did. It cost me legal fees, but well worth it.

“I thought an agent was key to me re-signing, and it was the exact opposite,” the Chicago personality continued. “Perfect storm with the economy dropping when it did. When I contacted the agent to tell him I was dumping him, and offered a small settlement fee [he was owed nothing] to be free and clear, he balked at it. Said he was insulted by the low offer, that he was owed more than 10 times the offer even on hours alone, and that a court would be sure to grant him even more. Funny, as our deal was a percentage-fee deal, so if I got nothing, he got nothing. No raise, no new contract, he is owed zilch. Two weeks later, the agent sends written notification that if I don’t accept his settlement counter-offer, he’d be forced to take legal action to get what is rightfully his. My lawyer sends him a two-pager detailing why he has no case, no backing, and now, no settlement.  If the agent wishes to sue me, he needs to go through the lawyer for all communication now. We haven’t heard from the agent since.”

Do you have any interesting stories about an agent/rep?