Is KLSD the most-listened to station among adults in San Diego?

From the San Diego Union-Tribune:

San Diego's first liberal talk-radio station – KLSD/AM 1360 – has made a big out-of-the-gate impression. Sources say the station was the most-listened-to outlet among 40 stations in the area among 25-to 54-year-olds during September. KLSD came on line Aug. 23, replacing KPOP/AM 1360, which played music from the 1940s, '50s and '60s.

The Arbitron Co., which measures radio listenership, publicly discloses data pertaining to listeners 12 years of age and older. Arbitron's figures say AM 1360 attracted 2.6 percent of the radio listening audience here during the summer quarter (July, August, September). As a result, KPOP/KLSD climbed to 17th place in the summer from 23rd in the spring. KLSD will have its first complete Arbitron quarter October, November and December.

Granted, it's tought to get full demographic information from Arbitron, but it's likely that KLSD did phenomenally well with certain high-demand demographics. I must say, not too shabby for a one month old station in San Diego. Now let's see how long it takes to go on up the road in Los Angeles.

Sirius Left announces Election Night coverage

From All Access:

Sirius is gearing up for election night with lots of special programming on their in-house channels, as well as from networks they carry, such as NPR and Air America. On Sirius Left, look for special election night shows with Alex Bennett, Lynn Samuels and the Young Turks. OUTQ is featuring it's new "OUTQuotient" index (in partnership with The Advocate) measuring the impact of gay voters, candidates, and issues, with John McMullen and Michaelangelo Signorile anchoring the coverage with News Dir. Tim Curran and analyst Corey Johnson. Oh, and their conservative channels are also planning special programming.

As I hear about any other special programming, I'll pass it on.

From the "Is this how rumors get started?" department

Supposedly, TWO CC stations are stunting in Salt Lake City: 105.7 and 99.5.

From AllAccess.com :

CLEAR CHANNEL Alternative KCPX (CHANNEL 105.7)/SALT LAKE CITY is in stunt-mode through ELECTION DAY as "ALL DEBATE, ALL THE TIME," according to today's (10/29) DESERT NEWS. KCPX is airing a loop of three presidential debates. On NOVEMBER 2nd, KCPX will start reporting local and national election results.

ALL ACCESS hears the format wheel will spin at KCPX late in the day on TUESDAY to an Adult format. Will sister Classic Rock KURR (ROCK 99) also be making a change? Stay tuned for more details.

According to a Utah message board, 105.7 is stunting with political stuff and 99.5 is playing U2 songs. There is this site, which may get some people wondering:

http://www.my995fm.com/

And no, I highly doubt Air America will find it's way on either station. Granted, I think AAR could make it, even in a conservative hotbed like Utah. But if it appears there, it will be on an AM signal, as I figure that businesses there may be lukewarm to support it on a big signal. A weak AM with nothing to lose could stay afloat with it. And keep in mind, Clear Channel recently flipped their underperforming AM, KALL (700) to sports. As for what formats will wind up on those two stations, it looks like 99.5 could be an older-skewing alternative station and 105.7 could go Spanish or Triple A (like KBCO in Denver)

If one of them flips to AAR, I'll eat my keyboard. But at least there's a place for Salt Lake City political junkies to keep up with election day news and information.

Isn't it fun to spread rumors?

Does Rep. David Dreier (R-CA) want a return of the Fairness Doctrine?

Also reported by All Access.com. You can also go to Raw Story.

A complaint to the Federal Election Commission by Rep. David Dreier (R-CA) through the National Republican Congressional Committee charges that KFI-A/Los Angeles afternoon hosts John Kobylt and Ken Chiampou should be criminally punished for "felonies" for doing shows advocating Dreier's defeat in his re-election campaign. Dreier is the target of John and Ken's "Political Human Sacrifice" campaign, which aims to make a Republican Congressman pay for not fighting illegal immigration strongly enough.

The team has done remote broadcasts from rallies outside Dreier's Glendora office, and Dreier used transcripts of the live broadcasts to claim that the shows violated Federal law by advocating a candidate's defeat, an interpretation rejected by Clear Channel lawyers, according to Kobylt, who tells All Access that "when we went after (former California Democratic Gov.) Gray Davis and supported Arnold Schwarzenegger and Dreier was Schwarzenegger's campaign coordinator, he didn't complain then. Republicans have had a free ride for 15 years from AM talk radio," Kobylt laughed, "and now one show goes after one guy over one issue, and we should be sent to prison." John and Ken spent much of Thursday's show skewering Dreier for the attempt to muzzle them.

Ironic politicos like Dreier have no problem with media people trashing people they don't like, but when it hits too close to home, they run screaming home to mommy. Dreier is the biggest wuss in Congress, and anyone who saw him walk off the set of HBO's "Real Time with Bill Maher" a few months back can attest to that. The man has no spine.

Ratings Roundup: Madison, Albuquerque

Madison's two progressive talkers make a fairly decent showing in the Summer ratings. WXXM (92.1), the only FM signal carrying Air America programming, moves up a couple notches, from 1.7 for the previous adult contemporary format to a 1.9. Whether this is related to the new talk format remains to be seen, since the switch happened only a few weeks prior to the end of the Summer ratings period. There is no relative ratings spike or drop here, unlike San Diego or Sacramento. Meanwhile, on the AM side, WTDY comes in a point below, at 1.8, up one notch. They refocused in more of a left-leaning approach around the time of 92.1's switch, so any ratings success remains to be seen. Stay tuned.

In Albuquerque, KABQ makes a showing in the ratings for the first time in a while, splashing with a 0.4 rating. KABQ picked up the format on August 30, so we have to wait and see as far as any real ratings success here.

Air America Station Knocked Off Air 'by Conservatives'

An amusing story from New Mexico where KABQ 1350 was knocked off the air and the regularly scheduled Air America was substituted with conservative talk! "It seems in this election year, everything is politicized. A transmitter power outage for radio station KABQ 1350 AM had some listeners worried. The station was off the air for 20 to 30 minutes Thursday morning. When KABQ is off the air, 1310 AM -- which carries conservative talk radio -- will bleed over. The outage caused listeners to call Action 7 News, saying the Republicans knocked the station off the air." Can you imagine the feeling of betrayal those listeners must've felt?

LTR Note: I wouldn't worry about Republicans sabotaging the station with right-wing programming. Quite often in radio, when a station is knocked off the air accidentally, often due to transmitter problems, there will be bleed-through from another station. This can happen especially with AM, but usually a station on the same frequency from hundreds of miles away may come in. 1310 came through likely because of the location of their transmitter. Albuquerque AAR fans can relax - this is not unusual in radio, and is often repaired quickly.

News Roundup - 10/28

RADIO LINES Rocky Mountain News, CO
Creative renewal and personal concerns fuel Steve Earle’s ... LA City Beat, CA
100 leaders and 40 families launch 911 Truth Statement YubaNet, United States
Franken to air Nov. 1 show from Portland Portsmouth Herald News, United States
Holding on to Objectivity, Richard Sambrook's Poliak LeMedia Bulletin, UK
Politicos jam radio, TV talk showsRocky Mountain News, CO
Entertainment and Politics Back Stage, NY
Al Franken: a political activist both on and off the air San Francisco Chronicle, CA
TCU INSIDER Fort Worth Star Telegram (subscription), TX
Franken for Kerry? What a shocker MSNBC

Ratings Roundup: Sacramento

Sacramento's KSQR-AM makes a huge leap in the overall ratings, moving from nonexistant in the Winter book, to 0.4 in the Spring (with less than a whole ratings period as an AAR affiliate) to a 1.6 overall for the just-released Summer book. Nice showing.

It's interesting to note that KSQR, along with WLIB in New York, are the only two stations where AAR still leases time, as opposed to the current, preferred barter syndication method. I wonder if another station will eventually offer to pick up AAR programming via barter, thereby negating the need to lease KSQR. There is a KLIB in Sacramento, at 1110 AM. Gotta admit - it would be kinda cool. But I don't see much for available AM frequencies there.

Portland advertisers see an opportunity in alternative to conservative talk radio

Insurance agent Tom Hasselstrom likes to call himself a red-meat-eating, gun-toting liberal. He never dreamed of advertising on any of Portland’s talk radio stations until the “progressive” talk format on KPOJ (620 AM) was launched last spring.

“The advertising is definitely paying for itself,” says Hasselstrom, whose commercials have aired since May on KPOJ. “I’m not a big advertiser, but I wanted to advertise on the station and give it some support.”

Hasselstrom, a retired chief warrant officer who served for 20 years in the U.S. Army, says his ads are attracting about three new clients a month to his Farmers Insurance Agency in Hillsboro.

(snip)

Last year, when KPOJ still was in its music format, total listeners numbered about 33,000, according to the Arbitron radio ratings service. Now, the station’s audience is almost 127,000.

(snip)

Ad revenue, which averaged about $25,000 a month before the changeover, now is in the $200,000 range, thanks in large part to election-year ads.

(snip)

If John Kerry wins the presidential vote, there’s speculation that Franken and some of the others might leave — figuring their job is done. Would listenership fall off as a result?

As one radio consultant explains: “George W. Bush winning didn’t hurt Limbaugh any. Talk -radio isn’t going anywhere no matter who’s in the White House.”

KPOJ is banking on it.

Who says liberal talk radio can't succeed?

Ratings Roundup: Portland, Rochester

KPOJ-AM in Portland is still going strong, increasing their overall number from 3.7 to 4.0 and seventh place in the market. However, they slide slightly in the 25-54 demographic, going from 3rd place to a still respectable 6th, behind a bunch of music stations, which traditionally do better during the summer. In that demographic, they are by far the top talk station in the market. Overall, they are behind sister station KEX-AM. All in all, they do the best of all the talkers in the so-called 'money demos'. Also worth mentioning is that they're beating KXL-AM, home of Randi Rhodes' nemesis Lars Larson. Bragging rights potential there.

In Rochester, WROC-AM is steady overall in the summer ratings, their first with a liberal talk format. They hold at a 0.7, which is decent considering Entercom blew the entire station up and started over with new talk hosts and a radically different political orientation. We'll see what happens here.

The Honolulu book was also released, but analyzing KUMU-AM's overall performance when all they have in liberal talk is Franken live in morning drive (this is Hawaii, after all) and Randi Rhodes on tape delay in the evenings would be migraine inducing. I won't even bother, except to note the overall rating slides a half point to 0.7. Honolulu is a terrible market for talk radio. Take the ratings for what they're worth.

Howard Stern Assails FCC Chairman On KGO

From Radio and Records:

The WXRK/New York-based syndicated morning host made a surprise phone call to Michael Powell this morning as the head of the FCC took part in an in-studio interview with KGO/San Francisco mid-morning host Ronn Owens. During the last half of the 9am hour, Stern phoned the station and immediately began a contentious conversation that included rants about, in his opinion, Powell's lack of credentials to be FCC Chairman. He also charged that Powell's father — Secretary of State Colin Powell — was responsible for the younger Powell getting the job, a charge the FCC chief "denied exceedingly" and called "a cheap shot." Stern said, "The commissioner has fined me millions of dollars for things that I said and consistently avoids me and avoids asking my questions, and I'm wondering how long he'll stay on the phone with me." He then asked Powell, "Does it make you nervous to talk to me?" He said no. Stern also accused the Powell-led FCC with "racketeering," saying that the commission forces companies to "pay up" or hold up a station's license renewal. Powell later suggested that what Stern really wants is unlimited restrictions to what he can say or do on the air. But he denied that the commission has singled Stern out in any way. The call by Stern is believed to be his first to another host's radio show; it marked the first time Stern and Powell have spoken. An audio excerpt of the exchange is available through noon ET tomorrow at www.kgoam810.com.

Thanks to Howard Stern's official message board, here's an MP3. Just right-click, and 'save target as'.

Eminem's 'October Surprise'

Who'da thunk that one of the most damning statements of the Bush Administration would be delivered by a mega-successful white rapper out of Detroit? Well, in this ever-intriguing election campaign season, anything goes. Eminem has come out with a slashing diatribe of President Bush and his handling of the Iraq War and the economy. And it is powerful stuff, even if you don't like Eminem or rap in general.

Here's a little background on the video:

VH1

Michael Moore, the "Fahrenheit 9/11" filmmaker who tried his hand at directing music videos with Rage Against the Machine (Ed note: I thought it was System Of A Down), would certainly approve of Eminem's new clip, "Mosh," which has just hit the Internet.

A scathing indictment of President Bush and the war in Iraq (see "Em Changes Targets From Jacko To Bush On New Track 'Mosh' "), the animated video begins with the jarring image of a commercial airliner flying over a school and then exploding offscreen. The point of view then zooms into the school, where Eminem is reading a children's book to a class in a scene reminiscent of the minutes following the 9-11 attacks, when Bush was at a Florida elementary school reading to second graders. Eminem is holding his book upside down.

From there, "Mosh" moves to Eminem's apartment, where the walls are covered with articles critical of the Bush administration and its policies. Filled with anger, he puts on gloves and dons a hooded jacket. Clips of Em rapping the track are then interspersed with scenes of domestic problems facing the country, such as racial profiling (an animated Lloyd Banks is harassed by police) and poverty (an inner-city family receives an eviction notice as their TV set shows Bush promising tax cuts for the wealthy).

"Mosh" portrays Eminem as a powerful rebellious figure who just by using his voice and music has the ability to mobilize people who are fed up with the president. With his following uniformly dressed in dark hoodies, the group looks to be storming toward the White House but actually end up signing up to vote. At the same time in the song, Em talks about the people assembling to disarm what he calls the real weapon of mass destruction: George W. Bush.

A pro-vote message is tagged on at the end of the clip, directed by Ian Inaba of the Guerrilla News Network, which is hosting the video at GNN.tv. Eminem's Encore is due November 16.

Here's a little about how the video and song came together, and matched up. The director was influenced by Greg Palast and various works that GNN was doing:

GNN

As a music video director, ideas for videos usually come independent of the song and are then adapted to fit the timing and lyrics of the featured track. I initially developed a concept for this video in June 2004 and contacted Interscope shortly after to find out what artists in their roster would be releasing albums near the election. The goal was to make a video that inspired young people to vote because they too often disregard it as a powerless exercise. To show them that political decisions do impact their daily lives and that voting is the most powerful act we all have to voice our opinion and effect change. And to educate and reiterate the point that whether or not people want to accept it, there are forces in play that attempt to suppress the youth and minority vote.

When I got the callback that our favorite conspirator of controversy, Eminem would be releasing an album in November, I knew we had the potential to
say something that would be heard by the masses. And after hearing the song later that month it seemed Mr. Mathers had also been in the lab concocting his own plans for the election and it was precisely the anthem I had been looking for. So with less than six weeks to deliver we put together a team and forgot about what it meant to sleep. In order to produce animation for a song that runs 5:20 in just over 5 weeks we were going to need a lot of green tea and mate and a little help from Marshall himself. This video was made possible by a team of artists who came together inspired by a song and video that might be able to effect the next four years of all of our lives.

Two years ago, this video would not have been approved by a single record label. A year ago it would never had the possibility of being played on television. But with the changing tide of public sentiment marked by the success of our last video for Chronic Future, an anti-war message that made it into rotation on TRL we think it might just have a chance.

But will MTV play it? You can vote for it on TRL by writing it in. I hope everyone sees it, it is a powerful video and song, even if you don't like rap.

You can see the video here:

Rap Basement

Or here:

Launch.com

C-SPAN: Political Talk Show Week

From the site:

In the remaining days leading up to next week's election, C-SPAN is simulcasting various talk radio shows around the country. On Tuesday, we have Michael Smerconish of WPHT 1210-AM Philadelphia and Lynn Cullen of WPTT 1360-AM Pittsburgh.

It looks like they're still fleshing out the schedule, but so far tomorrow, it looks like Lincoln Ware of African-American talk station WDBZ in Cincinnati, OH and conservative Denny Schaffer of WSPD-AM, Toledo, OH. I have also heard rumors of a simulcast of Thom Hartmann's show, but I'll keep you posted.

You can also check C-SPAN's site for more info.

Surprise! Sinclair Anti-Kerry Show A Ratings Dud

From DCRTV.com

10/26 - "A POW Story," Baltimore-based Sinclair's heavily hyped anti-John Kerry program, took 3rd place via Channel 45/ WBFF last Friday evening. "A POW Story" was seen in 32,000 Charm City area households at 8 PM. But, 14,000 tune-outs during the program caused it to drop to 4th place by 8:30. National ratings are not available. The Baltimore Sun has more. Also, Sinclair honcho David Smith denies that he's "a right-wing loony-tune conservative." He tells the DC Post that he rarely watches the shows his stations air.....

News Roundup - 10/26

Live, in Portland, it's Al Franken MaineToday.com
Reality Check for Women AlterNet, CA
Jon Stewart v. 'Perception Management' Consortium News
Reality Check for Women AlterNet, CA
GOP Disrupts the Ohio Vote AlterNet, CA
George Krenz letter: Work together for a strong America In-Forum (subscription), ND
Liberal Air America makes its Seattle debut Media Life Magazine (scroll down)

Deal is sealed on liberal talk radio

Here's a good article about Air America Radio, written particularly about their newest affiliate, KPTK in Seattle. Also some good background about the network in general. You can see the whole article by clicking the headline above. Here are a few snippets:

Air America has taken this long to establish a foothold in Seattle, Sinton said, because the network wanted to hit the nation's largest markets first, and Seattle ranks in the next tier down. He asserted, however, that Seattle is a "natural fit" for Air America, which is hustling to reach a critical mass for national advertising as quickly as possible. Also, he said, no Seattle stations earlier were clamoring to land the liberal network.

"The top 10 markets are really critical, but that's not to say if someone had raised their hand in Seattle and said we've got to have you, we wouldn't have been on the air in Seattle," Sinton said.
Air America has been able to expand quickly because it does not pay stations an upfront fee, and instead shares advertising revenue. In contrast with the Air America model, radio stations often take the spendier route of paying a national network for syndicated programming -- such as the Rush Limbaugh show -- and then augmenting that with their own, locally produced shows.

(snip)

John Hart, president and owner of Nashville, Tenn.-based Bullseye Marketing Research Inc., said the Northwest is an obvious fit for Air America.

"In the South, they'd be dead in the water," Hart said. "But in the Northwest, I'd be concerned they would draw some numbers if they were moving in across the street from me."
Ramsey said Air America is likely to make it in markets with what he calls successful "John Mayer stations," (in reference to the mellow rock singer) such as Seattle's KMTT-FM.

"The stations have similar granola ethos and attract the liberal-minded upscale sensibility," Ramsey said.

News Roundup - 10/25

Surprise, surprise! New York Daily News, NY
Should Sinclair Management Be Liable to its Shareholders for ... Findlaw.com, CA
Caribbean Programming Still On WLIB Hardbeatnews.com, NY
The Left Contemplates the Unthinkable Washington Post, DC
And Now a Few Words About Our Candidates New York Times, NY
Partisan programming forces more Waterbury Republican American, United States
JON STEWART GETS SERIOUS If You Interview Kissinger, Are You Still ... New York Times, NY
Four . . . More . . . Years? Washington Post

Good news for webcasting: ASCAP negotiates new deal with stations

This cleans up an old deal from a few years ago that threatened to kill webcasting, and prevent the new medium from becoming a force.

The whole licensing thing is still pretty screwed up and prevents a lot of great broadcasters from streaming their programming over the web. Hopefully, this is a step in the right direction.

Web radio gets $1.7 billion boost

The American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers announced Monday that it has reached a $1.7 billion deal with the Radio Music License Committee to let stations legally stream their on-air content over the Internet.

With the deal, the radio group said, its 12,000 member stations gain the right to program ASCAP-regulated music online simultaneously with their on-air signals. The two industry groups labeled the agreement as the largest licensing deal in the history of American radio.

(snip)

The groups said the agreement includes retroactive licensing fees for the years 2001 to 2003 and establishes a new guideline to be followed from 2004 until 2009. The deal replaces an existing system of revenue-based licensing fees with a royalties schedule for stations that will stream significant amounts of ASCAP-controlled content.

Like I said, it's confusing, especially when you factor in the RIAA's fingers in the webcasting pie. But at least things are cleaned up a bit with ASCAP. Hopefully, this will help boost webcasting as a whole. It would be nice to get real variety on the radio, especially with the coming of improved wireless capability.

Here's a little about a webcaster that was almost killed by ridiculous licensing:

http://www.somafm.com/about/

Newspaper Roundup: 10/23

KMPS-FM tops in Sound market Seattle Post Intelligencer, WA
The Media's Shrinking Free-Speech Zone Tech Central Station, OH
Sit and Spin Zone: Bill O'Reilly to publish erotica book The Wired Press (satire)
Byline: Day of the dead...ly important election North Shore Sunday, United States
O'Reilly accuser seeking deal? Big News Network.com, Australia
Best weekend bets ("Wellstone") The Capital Times, WI
Did I attend a Democratic fundraiser or a Harlem Globetrotters' ... Knoxville Journal Express, IA
The Fox News Factor: Why the Left is targeting Bill O’Reilly Michnews.com, MI
STATE OF THE ARTS BusinessWeek
O'Reilly made the wrong call, porn star says Cincinnati Enquirer, OH
Readings and events (Ed Schultz appearance) OregonLive.com

Ratings Roundup: Atlanta, Miami, Columbus

Not much to report here on three new progressive talkers.

Atlanta: WWAA (1690) hasn't showed up in the ratings yet, but this may be due to the late summer sign-on and a change of facilities location. The station was originally located far outside of the Atlanta market, and may have recently moved in to Atlanta. I have no confirmation on this, but if anyone has any information on this, let me know. The new signal covers the entire city, so we should be seeing some activity soon.

Miami: WINZ (940) is another new sign-on, switching to talk in late July. The station seems to be working hand-in-hand with it's West Palm Beach sister WJNO (1290), where they timeshift Randi Rhodes to run outside of her live show in WPB. Ed Schultz, who's timeshifted to evenings there is run live on 940. Confused? Anyhow, the station rises slightly in the ratings, and shows it's best overall ratings since last summer. We'll see how they do with talk.

Columbus: WTPG (1230) is brand new, coming on in early September. With only a few weeks in the ratings period, it's a bit too early to see significant ratings here, and the station holds steady with it's previous showing as an oldies station.

Again, no demographics breakdowns are available here, but if I run across them, I will share.

On Monday, look for the ratings book for Phoenix, among other markets. Keep in mind that KXXT changed to liberal talk on September 23, at the very end of the Summer book, therefore, KXXT's new format will not show here. Look for it in future monthly trend reports, though.

In other news...

*** The Randi Rhodes Show "Illegal" Archives has long listed KBME (790) in Houston as a future AAR affiliate. You can officially scratch it off the list, as they have officially announced a pending format change, only they're switching to sports as of January 1, 2005. No AAR coming to Houston at this time. Other 'coming soon' listings there are also fairly dated, such as

KBAC (610) Boulder, CO (AAR is actually now on 760)
KBZC (1300) Colorado Springs, CO (station flipped to sports instead)
WMQM (1600) Memphis, TN (this is an old rumor, and likely not happening)
WSNH (900) Nashua, NH (ditto)
KOOT (101.5) Santa Fe, NM (is actually KWRP, and programs a Spanish format. Cross this one off as well)

Newspaper Roundup: 10/22

Air America Radio lands here Monday Seattle Times, WA
Readings and events OregonLive.com
Winter's Wild Ride Daytona Beach News-Journal, FL
Comedian From ABQ Lands on His Feet as Liberal Talk Radio DJ Albuquerque Journal (subscription), NM
Politics play out on TV Wisconsin State Journal, WI
Air America grabs ratings Denver Business Journal, CO
Car makers add momentum to satellite radio Record-Searchlight (subscription), CA
Sahl's satire doesn't ride political fence Cleveland Plain Dealer, OH
Doug Moe: Madison music in 'Motorcycle' The Capital Times, WI
Editorial: Broadcast populist The Capital Times, WI

Seattle: AAR is coming to KYCW!

Country-music fans tuning in to 1090-AM next week are in for a radical change. As of 12:01 a.m. Monday, KYCW will be KPTK, Seattle's new home for the liberal Air America Radio.

The New York-based network, home of Al Franken, Janeane Garofalo and other left-wing talkers, made the announcement yesterday. Before adding the Seattle station, Air America's Web site (www.airamericaradio.com ) listed 36 local affiliates and XM and Sirius satellite radio, which carry its programming along with its Internet broadcast.

KPTK's owner, Infinity Broadcasting, didn't have much to lose by switching formats from the low-rated "classic country" to "progressive talk," said Dave McDonald, senior vice president and general manager of Infinity Radio Seattle. He said KYCW's air talent will all be retained in other positions among Seattle's four other Infinity stations, housed in Suite 100 at 1000 Dexter Ave. N.: KMPS-FM (94.1, country), KRQI-FM "K-Rock" (96.5, alternative), KBKS-FM (106.1, Top 40) and KZOK-FM (102.5, classic rock).

Here's the lineup:

3A-6A Morning Sedition
6A-9A Unfiltered
9A-Noon Al Franken
Noon-3P Ed Schultz
3P-7P Randi Rhodes
7P-10P Majority Report
10P-1A Best of Franken
1A-3A Best of Randi Rhodes

Station Info:

KYCW

50,000 watt signal that hits the entire area, though it fades a bit in the eastern suburbs due to bad ground conductivity. But coupled with KPOJ out of Portland, OR, AAR should be loud and clear the length of I-5 through most of Oregon and all of Washington up into British Columbia. Road trip, anyone?

This is a good move, and it marks Infinity's arrival into the liberal talk game. I should point out that Infinity is not keen on streaming of their product, and rarely does, so don't look for a seperate webcast. But this adds a new powerhouse company to the format. Will they be in competition with the likes of Clear Channel and Entercom to flip stations in various markets? Stay tuned.

Ratings Roundup: Denver, Minneapolis

KKZN/Denver doubles it's overall rating. Nothing phenomenal, as it's still just under a full share. But only a few weeks of it's new liberal talk are included in this book (format changed August 30). It's still the highest the station has been in over a year. Future books and monthly trends will tell a different story. Stay tuned.

In Minneapolis, it's the first and last book for KSMM/WMIN, as the "Straight Talk Radio" format has moved off the suburban rimshot simulcast onto it's own centrally located 24-hour signal at 950AM. 1530 and 740 log in just under a full share, the first showing ever in the ratings for these two stations. Keep in mind, 740 goes off the air at sunset, and 1530 reduces coverage to just a few square miles in the west suburbs at that time. The next book will undoubtedly be higher.

Again, you can go to the usual trade industry sites (like Radio and Records) for exact overall numbers, which I'm not allowed to publish here. If I hear of demographic breakdowns, I'll let you know. Keep in mind, demographic and daypart results tend to be higher.

Tomorrow, look for ratings reports from Atlanta, Miami, and Columbus, among other places.

Want to help bring Air America to Orlando? Here's a petition

From this blog:

http://airamericaorlando.blogspot.com/

I salute what they're trying to do, and I wish them luck, but I think they're going about it the wrong way.

The main problem is that they're targeting WDBO (580), which, according to the Arbitron ratings, is the #1 station in Orlando. Unless they want to give the program director something to laugh about, I would recommend not bothering them with it. As long as their ratings are through the roof, they won't do anything. Cox will stay put with this station.

I'm not sure how effective petitions really are, and I know it won't work with the big stations in the market (so scratch WDBO, WTKS, WFLF and Radio Disney off the list). Try some of the weak stations in the market, and do some research on them. If they're airing oldies or third tier talk shows off satellite, contact them. I guess it won't hurt. Though, looking through the listings of Orlando stations, I don't really see many candidates. Lots of religious and Spanish formats. But I am not at all familiar with the market, so if you're interested in helping to bring AAR to your market, go through these lists:

Radio Locator

TV-Radio World

From another blog: More Good Ratings for Air America

Also posted here:

http://nuisance.blogspot.com/2004_10_01_nuisance_archive.html#109830072265748013

Much of this has been covered on this site, as it pertains to the new ratings book. A few highlights, and some personal commentary:

No summer ratings are out yet for Portland, but a Clear Channel executive who spoke before Al Franken's recent live show in San Francisco said that the trends (preliminary ratings data released only to industry insiders) showed that the summer numbers for KPOJ were likely to improve on the blockbuster spring ratings. WHAT in Philadelphia carries limited AAR programming on a weak signal, and also had no AAR for most of the summer. It still doubled the low ratings number from the spring.

Hmm... This should be interesting. Will KPOJ take the whole market? The Portland book will be released on October 29, but the book is currently under what's called an 'embargo', meaning it is only being released to subscribers and not to the general public. This happens occasionally when a non-subscribing station uses Arbitron data in it's sales presentation, a serious no-no. What then usually happens is that Arbitron freezes everyone out, except for stations that pay for the service. Whether the books is unembargoed by next week is anyone's guess, but I'll dig up any numbers I can find.

The only exception was Albuquerque where KABQ showed no ratings change at all. I have no information on whether the key demographic numbers have improved.

So far, there has been no full ratings book showing KABQ-AM. There have only been trend reports. And there is also a KABQ-FM, which airs a music format. The AM did not show up in the ratings trend report, but it could make an appearance in the new one, also out on the 29th.

It should be noted that the ratings listed here are 12+, i.e. all listeners 12 or older. These ratings are available for free on the internet because they don't really matter. What advertisers look for is specific age groups, especially the 25 - 54 grouping. Arbitron publishes these numbers for paid subscribers only, but they aren't on the net and are difficult to find out; Arbitron doesn't like having them publicized. It is known that, generally speaking, Air America has so far done much better in the 25 - 54 demo than in the published 12+. Conservative talk radio has a large 55+ audience so does better in 12+ than in 25 - 54. So if you see an article
that cites the published 12+ numbers to prove AAR is failing, know you are being
spun.

That's the thing about radio ratings. Almost anyone can claim to be a winner. But demographics are what really rule radio. As I said before, nobody buys ad time based on overall ratings. They buy based on age or gender. So if they want to target guys, they go after rock and sports stations. If they want females, they go after stations with names like 'Mix' and 'Lite'. If they want younger listeners, it's CHR and hip-hop. Listeners over 55 fill out their diaries, and AM stations airing 'adult standards' do show some decent numbers, but ad agencies don't really covet this age group, making them a somewhat tough sell. And quite a few advertisers on older stations are a bit undesirable (restaurants often stiff on the bill). Conservative talk radio is slowly heading in this direction. Their listeners are little-by-little getting older. And they don't pull in much of an under-40 audience. Could AAR and liberal talk be changing this? It seems like liberal talk is a format that is actually pulling in some younger listeners. Over time, this could give them an advantage over conservative talk.

*** Incidentally, there is one AAR-related story in yesterday's ratings release. The Arbitron book for Springfield, MA (#81) was released, and shows WHMP/WHNP hanging in there. Their schedule is a bit of a mish-mash, with the station only airing Franken (on tape delay in PM drive) and 'Unfiltered' live. The rest of the schedule consists of live shows and syndicated fare like Bill O'Reilly. I've heard from a few people that Hannity is still airing on the station, but it is not shown on the station's website. The ratings have improved significantly since spring, when the two AAR shows were added. And where else can you hear Franken directly follow O'Reilly?

*** Speaking of Franken, he'll be on Howard Stern's show next Monday (10/25). Mark your calendar.

Newspaper Roundup: 10/21

Inqlings Talk gets louder in radio ratings Philadelphia Inquirer (subscription), PA

It's too soon to measure the local impact of Air America, the liberal talk network. WHAT-AM (1340) began carrying Al Franken and Randi Rhodes on Aug. 30, three-quarters into the ratings period (July 1 to Sept. 22).

Telecom Mogul Airs New Station As Right's Polite Answer to NPR Forward, NY
Bush: Beyond Reason Collective Bellaciao, France
Vietnam specter looms at campus rally San Antonio Express (subscription), TX

Left of the Dial: The Ed Schultz Show: Liberal, locked and loaded—and on in Utah

...The Ed Schultz Show—no affiliation with Franken and the lefty Air America radio network, he’s wont to point out—launched in January on a handful of radio stations, thanks to cash backing from North Dakota Democrats and the syndication muscle of the Jones Radio Network. The show is also available on both XM and Sirius satellite radio, lumped in with other liberal programming like, of course, Air America.

But, it’s probably news to most in Utah that Ed Schultz has been available on the good ol’ AM band locally for several months now, albeit via evening tape delay (the show airs live weekday afternoons) on a small, conservative station that, just over a decade ago, dropped the then-fledgling Rush Limbaugh Show because they thought he was a flash-in-the-pan poseur who would never go the distance (K-Talk 630). The station doesn’t promote Ed Schultz, and the local hosts rarely even mention the show, but it’s still hanging in there, 7-9 p.m. weeknights.

Schultz (nicknamed Big Eddie because of his 6-foot-2, 250-pound stature) may or may not be poised to start a talk-radio revolution the way Limbaugh did in the late ’80s, but there are similarities between the two: Like Limbaugh, Schultz is a former sportscaster with mucho on-air experience, something sorely lacking in today’s radio climate where right-leaning loudmouths are routinely handed their own shows with little to back it up beyond just being a right-leaning loudmouth.

Schultz’s show is a freewheeling good time, an entertaining blast from the left that’s free of NPR’s pedantic monotones and Air America’s self-righteous bluster. On today’s all-conservative-all-the-time airwaves, Big Eddie’s informed (if not always accurate, but that’s talk radio) jabs at the “righties” can be as refreshingly fun as El Rushbo was once upon a time, but he also provides a long-overdue alternative on the AM.

“Right-wing talk radio was spewing its propaganda relentlessly, decrying liberals as unpatriotic, angry, hateful and just plain loony,” Schultz explains in his new book (because every talk-radio guy, even a lefty, has to have a book), Straight Talk From the Heartland. “[And] the industry got vapor-locked into believing that progressive talk radio couldn’t survive and thrive in a nation split right down the middle between Democrats and Republicans. I’m here to prove that isn’t so. It all comes down to business and ratings. It doesn’t matter what your affiliation is. The big question is: Are people listening? We’re entertainers, not journalists. This isn’t brain surgery.”

(more)

Station Break: Top 35 Trends that say Kerry will Take the White House in November

Thought this blog entry was well worth sharing. Very optimistic for Kerry fans!

'Top 35 Trends that say Kerry will Take the White House in November' from Political Strategy.

1) Bush must lead by 4%: Professor Alan of the Emerging Democratic Majority shows that Bush must go into November 2 with an average of at least a 4% lead in such polls if he is to have any sort of hope for four more years.

2) The 'Cell Phone Polling' Phenomenon: Traditional polling relies almost exclusively on landline telephone. Unfortunately, according to Charlie Cook of the Cook Political Report, as much as 18% of the electorate don't have land lines and instead rely exclusively on cell phones. The Hill gives us a little something about this demographic. Anyone care to venture a guess as to how this demographic overwhelmingly votes? Yup. According to Newsweek (10/16/04), Young voters (18-29) favor Kerry/Edwards by 9 points.

3) Zogby is the Most Accurate Pollster: Zogby, which touts the most accurate polls for the last two presidential elections, calls for a very strong Kerry victory. He has referred to the race as "Kerry's to lose."

In 2000, Zogby was one of several pollsters that was only two cumulative
percentage points off from the actual, but it was the only one in that group
to actually choose Gore as the winner (which we all know he was). In
1996, Zogby hit the nail right on the head. Sure, everyone predicted a
Clinton victory, but Zogby predicted the exact percentage totals for
Clinton, Dole...and even Perot at 8%.

4) Kerry Has Large Lead in Swing States: Kerry is doing extremely well where it matters, leading Bush by 10% in the swing states. According to the Washington post.

5) PA Goes to Kerry:Pennsylvania is NOT in play! (and neither is New Jersey. Don't let the GOP Poll 'Strategic Vision' fool you.) That leaves Ohio and Florida as the next target.

Click the headline for more. A must read!

Ratings: Randi Rhodes claims supremacy in San Diego

Yesterday on her Air America show, Randi Rhodes claimed to have the #1 afternoon drive show in San Diego in the highly coveted 25-54 age bracket. I have no verification of her claims, but if true, that is quite an accomplishment.

The previous format (adult standards) didn't even register in that demographic.

As for market results to be released, there's not a whole lot going on today. The ratings for Washington, Baltimore, St. Louis, Cleveland, Providence, Springfield MA, and Fredricksburg VA will be released this afternoon. Unfortunately, none of these markets had any liberal talkers that would show up here, though WHJJ in Providence picked up AAR programming last week. The ratings book will cover pre-AAR. The books for these markets may make a few of the suits at corporate HQ ponder format flips, though, as has been rumored in Washington, DC a few weeks back. Stay tuned.

As for Thursday, look for books from San Francisco, Dallas, Houston, Minneapolis, Pittsburgh, Cincinnati, Denver, San Jose, Buffalo, and Monterey/Salinas/Santa Cruz. Of those markets, only Minneapolis and Denver have AAR affiliates. Too soon for their San Francisco/San Jose to be counted yet. The other markets have no affiliates currently.

News Roundup

New Charges Filed Against Fox, O'Reilly AP via Yahoo!
The only state to oppose Reagan flirts with conservatism. MSNBC
'BOOZY' BOAST New York Post, NY
Hot-97 and Kiss-FM steam up New York Daily News, NY
Stern shows strength New York Daily News, NY

And finally, here's something from a dumbass dittohead blogger who doesn't know much about Arbitron ratings:

Even in New York, They’re Selling and No One is Buying

Ratings Roundup: KLSD explodes in San Diego!

Day two of the Arbitron summer ratings book release shows a couple ratings successes for Air America affiliates.

KLSD has made a huge splash in the book by jumping a whole share in the overall ratings. It should be noted that the talk format has only been in place for the last month of the ratings period, but considering the previous adult standards format has been getting consistent mediocre ratings for the past year, the suddent jump must be due to the new format. This is big news, considering that San Diego has long been considered a fairly conservative market. KLSD is now the #3 AM station in San Diego! Perhaps this will influence station owner Clear Channel to decide if they want to put it on an LA signal, as has been rumored.

In Philadelphia, nothing spectacular with WHAT, which added AAR programming around the same time as KLSD. But ratings did double. The ratings are still not great, but WHAT is a somewhat weak signal, and I'm not sure what kind of promotion they're doing for it. Plus, WHAT is primarily a black-oriented talk station that carries only Al Franken and Randi Rhodes. Thus, one would have to look at daypart breakdowns to see what effect the station has in the ratings. This station may not be a monster ratings success anytime soon, but stay tuned.

You can go to the usual trade industry sites for exact overall numbers, which I'm not allowed to publish here. If I hear of demographic breakdowns, I'll let you know.

New book: 'Road To Air America'

Coming at the end of the month is a new book from Air America co-founder Sheldon Drobny. Here's a summary from Amazon:

At last, from the man who built it, comes the first-hand account of the rocky road that led us to our nation’s first liberal talk-radio network.

After years of listening to monologues from right wing radio ideologues, Sheldon Drobny had enough. He decided the public airwaves needed balance, and that the way to get that balance was by starting his own full time, liberal radio network--what would become Air America Radio.

In Road to Air America, Drobny tells the story of the obstacles he and his wife Anita faced as they tried to make their concept for a progressive radio network a reality. Their journey took them through a world of politics, money, and media as they were helped by some of America's most powerful political figures. Determined to get his liberal radio network on the air, Drobny sold his concept to a team of radio executives only to have it fall back in his lap, nearly undone, five months later.

Today, after a high profile and bumpy launch, Air America is growing and going strong, on the air in 31 markets nationwide. Road to Air America is a story of determination and creativity, and it gives a first hand account of what it takes to get a progressive voice heard in a time when the conservative right dominates the radio airwaves. Drobny, a Chicago-based venture capitalist, philanthropist, and political activist, also has plenty to say about the destructive self-interest of today's corporate-owned media, and how it inspired his concept for a more balanced public discourse.

The book is slated to be released on October 30, and at $13.97 for hardcover, it's a pretty inexpensive read. You can find the book by clicking the headline link.

Liberal talker Ed Schultz also has a new book out, Straight Talk from the Heartland : Tough Talk, Common Sense, and Hope from a Former Conservative, and he's on the road promoting it now. Check it out.

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0060784571/qid=1098194707/sr=2-1/ref=pd_ka_b_2_1/104-7830167-0200747

WLIB is hot in 25-54 ratings race!

Franken is inching toward Limbaugh!

From NYPost.com:

October 19, 2004 -- CRITICS said it wouldn't happen — but all-liberal WLIB is seriously challenging talk-radio rivals WABC and WOR.

According to Arbitron ratings released yesterday, WLIB thrashed WOR and nipped at the heels of top-dog WABC among the 25- to 54-year-old listeners advertisers chase.

(snip)

During midday, when both stations roll out their top guns — WABC's Rush Limbaugh vs. Air America's Al Franken — WABC is ranked 15th in listeners 25-54, followed closely by WLIB, which ranked 18th. WOR trails badly, finishing 27th in midday.

Newspaper Roundup - 10/19

Bush: Beyond Reason Consortium News - 10/19
Peers join together to honor Warren Zevon Pioneer Press (subscription), MN - 10/19
'BOOZY' BOAST New York Post, NY - 10/19
A&E Notes: Graffiti Rock Challenge now accepting entries Pittsburgh Post-Gazette - 10/18

INdTV: The next news channel revolution?

Found this via DU.

Yes, this is Al Gore's new network, the one that's slated to replace the great NewsWorld International. When I first heard about Gore's intention of creating a news channel for 18-34 year olds, I rolled my eyes. I thought, 'oh great, yet another news channel devoted to celebrity gossip and reality shows'. Not a very compelling reason to blow up a decent, if underwatched news network. But this one look different. The station may be geared toward younger people, but it looks to be a real 'reality' news channel with programming by young people, dealing with issues concerning young people. Kinda like MTV News in the early 90's, when they actually cared about that stuff instead of that Jessica Simpson/Real World crap.

Tough to explain what the hell this whole thing is all about, but it does sound better than it initially did. They state that it's not going to be about celebrity trials and screaming middle-aged pundits. Check out the link in the headline, and see for yourself.

Here's a little more about it, from their FAQ:

What is INdTV?

INdTV is a new independent media company founded by Al Gore and Joel Hyatt to develop an innovative television network with and for young adults.

Is this a political channel?

No.

How is Al Gore involved in INdTV?

Al Gore serves as Co-Founder and Chairman of the Board, and he is actively involved in driving the strategy and managing the business.

What kind of programming will INdTV feature?

Compelling, real-life stories created by and for young adults.

What kind of programming will DCs be producing?

A broad spectrum of programs from magazine to documentaries to reality to comedy and satire.


Some more info about it:

Looking inside INdTV Ron Russell, SF Weekly, 7-28-2004
AL GOREZEERA Brendan Bernhard, LA Weekly, 5-21-2004
Blogumentary http://blogumentary.typepad.com/chuck/2004/09/indtv.html

Summer Ratings: WLIB slowly on the rise

In New York, Air America affiliate WLIB rose slightly in the summer Arbitron ratings (ages 12+). Not a significant jump, but the station does show up in three other neighboring markets. In the Long Island market (#18), the station clears a whole share, doubling its spring rating. The station shows up for the first time ever in the Middlesex-Somerset-Union, NJ (#36) market, though not very high, and in Westchester (#60), the station is doing very well, climbing and almost tied with talker WOR. All in all, not a bad book for the NYC area. Ratings are on the rise.

Ratings books were also released for Los Angeles and Chicago. Unfortunately, there are currently no commercial liberal talkers. Yet.

Keep in mind that due to Arbitron restrictions, I am not able to give out exact numbers. They tend to be serious about this. There are resources on the web that you may refer to, such as Radio and Records and All Access. You can find the links for these sites on this page on the right column.

Also keep in mind that the ratings are overall, meaning ages 12 and up. Arbitron usually doesn't give out demographic breakdowns by age and sex, so they're a bit harder to come by. These are the important ratings. But given that the ratings are up overall should be a good indicator for WLIB. In fact, I wouldn't be surprised if the demographics look pretty decent. If I come across that information, I'll pass it along.

Tomorrow, look for ratings books from Philadelphia, Boston, and San Diego, among other places.

Stern #1 in NY summer ratings book

From Drudge Report:

HOWARD STERN HOLDS #1 IN SUMMER BOOK NYC... NUMBERS RELEASED MONDAY SHOW STERN TAKING MORNING DRIVE RACE WITH 8.0 RATING [12+ LISTENERS; 10.8 WITH AGES 25-54] FOR JULY-SEPT. WABC CURTIS/KUBY 3.8; WFAN IMUS 2.6...

More on ratings later this afternoon.

Arbitron summer ratings books to be released today

From AllAccess.com:

ARBITRON SUMMER '04 Books arrrive today for NEW YORK, LOS ANGELES, CHICAGO, NASSAU-SUFFOLK, WESTCHESTER, MIDDLESEX, and HAMPTONS-RIVERHEAD, NY.

Coming TUESDAY OCTOBER 19: PHILADELPHIA, DETROIT, BOSTON, SAN DIEGO, RIVERSIDE-SAN BERNARDINO, HARTFORD, ALLENTOWN, and AKRON.

The summer book will be the first full one for WLIB in New York, the flagship station for Air America. Other market summaries will give a good indicator for the format's success in other markets. I'll have more about this later, with a report on the New York area markets.

WXXM/Madison, WI dumps Hendrie, picks up Malloy

In Madison, WI, Clear Channel-owned WXXM 92.1FM has decided to replace Phil Hendrie's show with AAR's Mike Malloy, which will be broadcast live from 9-12 CST. CC also owns talker WIBA (1310), which airs local shows and syndicated fare like Limbaugh, Savage and 'Coast To Coast'.

Surprised that Hendrie was dropped, since the show is owned by Clear Channel's syndication arm, Premiere. But they probably saw Malloy as a better overall fit on the station.

WXXM, aka "The Mic", is also one of only a few CC-owned 'progressive talkers' that doesn't run Ed Schultz. WTDY (1670) scooped that one up as well as sister show Stephanie Miller in anticipation of a CC flip to AAR. The two stations were in a scuffle a month ago when WTDY started to use the term 'progressive talk', and even registered the domain name 921themic.com. Not sure whatever became of it, but WTDY hasn't been using the 'progressive talk' moniker much on the station (though they are on the website), and the station isn't exactly 100% progressive either, unless you consider Bill O'Reilly and Michael Medved to be liberals. Still, they air a decent amount of center-left leaning content, and a surprising amount of local shows, hence their inclusion in my links.

Speaking of WTDY, Ed Schultz will be in Madison tomorrow on his book/radio show tour. Here's the info:

http://www.wtdy.com/beta/Edinmadison.htm

Newspaper Roundup - 10/18/04

THE DEM SPEECH POLICE ... New York Post via Yahoo! News
Car commercials? Not on my satellite radio! Centre Daily Times, PA
My Fellow Non-Americans: British Newspaper Targets US Voters Men's News Daily, CA
Earle-y warning: Rebel rocker backs a 'Revolution' -- in more ways ... The Grand Rapids Press, MI

Ex-WHJJ talker John DePetro doesn't like his replacement

The death of 920 WHJJ

Posted 10/16/04 The Independent man leaves and the places goes to hell in a hand basket. Air America comes into Providence and kills a once great radio station. Who would put Jeff Charles on a talk station? Charles is a loser who can't survive without playing music. Nobody tunes into HJY to hear that pothead in the afternoon. WPRO becomes the only real talk station in Providence. One of the Independent Man's favorite people just got released from prison. Joe Pannone is one of the all-time great characters of Providence. A true original. Welcome home Joe! Listen as the Independent Man takes off in the Boston radio market. In Rhode Island, listen weekdays to 680 WRKO the Independent Man from 9-12noon.

http://www.depetro.com/report.php3

Newspaper Roundup - 10/16

Sundance defends Franken addition Chicago Sun-Times - 10/16
My Short Radio Career (If it were any shorter, you'd have thought I didn't even start) Always On - 10/14
Franken brings bash to Tampa St. Petersburg Times - 10/09

----------------------------------------

Coming Monday:

Arbitron ratings reports for Summer 2004 are released, starting with New York, Los Angeles and Chicago, and a few neighboring NYC area markets. Of course, neither Los Angeles or Chicago have a commercial liberal talk station (yet), but the New York area books should be interesting, given the success of WLIB.

WHJJ/Providence, RI Lineup

They're keeping some of their shows, so they're not officially a 'progressive talk' station. From what I understand, AAR likes stations to pick up a package of shows. Franken was originally the only show WHJJ wanted, but they accomodated to squeeze in a few others. In addition to Franken, WHJJ adds Morning Sedition, Randi Rhodes and Mike Malloy.

WHJJ 920AM Weekday Schedule

5:00am-5:30am America In The Morning
5:30am-10:00am IMUS In The Morning
10:00am-Noon "Morning Sedition"
Noon-3pm The Al Franken Show
3pm-6pm The Arlene Violet Show (local)
6pm-8pm The Randi Rhodes Show
8pm-10pm Geoff Charles (local)
1:00am-5:00am The Mike Malloy Show

WHJJ operates with a 5000 watt signal that hits virtually all of Rhode Island, and even gets as far as the southern suburbs of Boston. This site has more information about the signal and it's reach.

Newspaper Roundup

What the old media is saying about liberal radio and Air America:

Al Franken responds to Bill O'Reilly's sex scandal New York Daily News - 10/15

TV during the campaign: Occupied by politics, but also embroiled in it San Jose Mercury News - 10/14

Michael Moore wins The Pit, but the pendulum swings to Bush Albuquerque Tribune - 10/14

The Revolution Starts Now (Profile of Steve Earl) Mother Jones - 10/14

Air America now at 950 AM St. Paul Pioneer Press - 10/13

Bush Reveals Secret Debate Strategy To: "Keep My Foot On John Kerry's Throat" DNC Press Release - 10/13

US elections: media giants tread carefully Belfast Telegraph - 10/11

Conservative radio talk thrives in region Norwich Bulletin - 10/11

Pop culture puts spin on politics Lowell Sun - 10/09

Ratings roundup

Thought I'd check around at some of the ratings sites, just to see how some of the new Air America affiliates are doing. Some of this is old news, but I'm just catching up and filling in some gaps on this brand new site.

I wasn't able to get complete information, as far as demographic breakdowns, and some markets are embargoed (ratings reports not made publically available). I was able to get a little info on 12+ seasonal ratings and mid-book trend reports. Per Arbitron rules, I can't post specific ratings info, but they're pretty easy to find on some of the radio trade sites (Radio and Records, for one). Keep in mind that it will be some time before many of their affiliates start to show in the ratings, but the ratings reports that start to come out next week will give an interesting indication as to how AAR is doing.

Here goes:

Portland, OR - We all know about this one. HUGE ratings success story.

Honolulu - KUMU received a ratings spike when they first picked up AAR programming. They do not carry the format full-time, as of yet. Ratings are stabilizing, just under the line.

Miami - WINZ's ratings are starting to rise slightly, but the station is still pretty young. A work in progress.

Columbus - WTPG is rising slightly in the ratings, just about to hit a full digit.

Denver - KKZN is rising slightly.

New York - WLIB has experienced little change. Ratings have been pretty stable since the station signed on. Ratings are up significantly in the neighboring Long Island (market #18) and Westchester (#60) markets. The station has shown up in the central New Jersey (#36) ratings for the first time. So far, so good.

San Diego - Ratings for KLSD are fairly decent. Dropped slightly overall from the previous adult standards format (to be expected), but it is a format that is more attractive to advertisers. So far, the ratings are decent here.

Philadelphia - WHAT's ratings are moving upward, though they only run the format part time. They also run black-oriented talk shows.

Central Massachusetts - WHMP is up and down in the ratings. AAR is scattered throughout the schedule, mixed in with a few conservative shows. Simulcast on three AM stations.

Minneapolis/St. Paul - The old station simulcast (KSMM/WMIN) showed up in the ratings for the first time ever, just under a full share. This is remarkable, since both stations are located in the far-out suburbs and are daytime-only. Should be interesting to see what the station does on a new centrally-located signal (KSNB-950) that broadcasts 24 hours a day. For a short time, the station's schedule is a little mixed up due to contractual issues with the outgoing owner. This will be resolved shortly, and they may pick up more AAR shows besides Franken, Majority Report and Morning Sedition.

Sacramento - Ratings aren't off the charts yet, but this is the only market besides New York where they actually lease time. I don't think they promote this thing, and I won't be surprised to see the San Francisco station upstage it there.

As I said, there are a few markets that are embargoed, so I have no information on them. With the Summer ratings, we'll see how AAR did in markets like San Diego, Denver, Miami, Rochester, Phoenix and Madison, just to name a few.

The new ratings books should be coming out next week, starting with the New York and Los Angeles areas. I'll keep you posted.

WHJJ/Providence picks up Franken, other shows

(NOTE: Subscription required for link. I'll boil it down: )

WHJJ-AM is moving sharply to the left.

Starting this morning, the news/talk station at 920 AM will be airing a five-hour block of Air America in the 10 a.m.-to-3 p.m. time slot, formerly the home of John DePetro.

(snip)

"'PRO has the right wing locked up with Mr. Limbaugh. It will be interesting to see how long it takes Al Franken to beat him in the ratings," said Jim Corwin, market manager for the four Clear Channel stations in Rhode Island, including WHJJ. "I doubt it's going to take very long."

Starting today, WHJJ will begin with Imus in the Morning from 6 to 10 a.m., then a delayed broadcast of Air America's morning show, Morning Sedition, which normally begins at 6 a.m.
Then local host Arlene Violet takes over from 3 to 6 p.m., followed by Air America's Randi Rhodes from 6 to 8 p.m. and Geoff Charles from 8 to 10 p.m.

Editorial: Liberal talk radio

Liberal talk radio has come to eastern Massachusetts - just in time to add its volume to what is shaping up as the loudest presidential campaign in history.

Air America, the network that debuted in March calling itself the progressive alternative to a medium long dominated by conservatives, was slow to find an outlet here in what should be fertile ground for its liberal message. It has now found its voice on AM 1200, Framingham's WKOX, and AM 1430, WXKS in Medford.

(snip)

Politics is infecting all media in this most political year. Campaign talk dominates cable TV and political documentaries have now invaded the local cineplex. Rock stars are turning concert tours into campaign rallies. The Internet is awash with political news, views and rumors.

At a political moment, in a market as politically savvy as greater Boston, there should be enough ears for several distinct political radio voices. Radio has been a niche medium for years, and we see no reason why the flavors of political talk shouldn't multiply just as popular music has fragmented into dozens of formats. As long as there are buttons on the dial to hit when the host says something truly obnoxious, all voices are welcome.

What's going on in Chicago?

Thanks to Zecom for the info:

Buzzes in Chicago about the license transfer this Friday of three rimshot FM stations from SBS Spanish Broadcasting to Newsweb, Corp. Word has it that Newsweb was going to simulcast a rock format they just put on the air on another station (NINE-FM), but things have changed. Newsweb is owned by Fred Eychanner, a wealthy local Democrat and I had heard that negotiations were ongoing with AAR to operate on some, if not all of those station. However, now word is that Eychanner will sell all his FM stations (4 around Chicago) to Salem…the fascist broadcasters…who swapped stations to they could get a Chicago outlet for “The Patriot” and then would move “The Fish” to the Newsweb stations. Again, this story appears to change daily…but that’s not unusual with Newsweb that always makes the wrong move.

I'd hate for Salem to get these signals. They're the Sinclair of radio, but slightly less repulsive. The FM stations are located on 92.5 and 92.7 (dance music fans may remember the old "Energy" format). This would be a decent simulcast for a liberal talk format, as even tiny WNTD (950) showed up in the ratings with only a month of carrying Air America. The three signals cover most of the Chicago market, but may fade a bit downtown.

Clear Channel-owned WRLL (1690) has also been rumored for their fast-growing 'progressive talk' format. The station gets so-so ratings in a rather undesirablie format (adult standards/oldies). But they may be hesitant to flip this signal, depending on their contracts with current air talents. Who knows? Either way, with Chicago being an ideal market for this new format, and WLS' ongoing implosion, any station deciding to go with liberal talk would be making a smart move.