In a move that had been predicted for the past few months, KDXE in Little Rock has dropped its mostly liberal talk format, as the station's lease-management agreement (LMA) with Nova M Radio has ended.
Gone as a result of the switch is the regionally-syndicated Pat Lynch and the co-syndicated "Arkansas AM" with Grant Merrill. Both shows were dropped by the station Tuesday, but will continue on other affiliates throughout the state. Programming from Air America Radio rounded out the rest of the day.
According to Lynch, the owner of the station has assumed control once again, and with the departure of Nova M, returns the station to its former ESPN Radio sports talk format.
KDXE is owned by Simmons-Austin LLC, a division of Salt Lake City-based Simmons Media Group LLC, and has been managed by Nova M under an LMA since last April. Aldous Tyler of Nonstop Radio reported on his podcast in December that there were problems regarding the agreement and other issues, that Nova M would not be renewing their LMA, and the station would be changing formats. Partly because of that, and mostly due to technical problems, the station never carried any of Nova M's syndicated offerings, such as Mike Malloy.
Tyler also claimed that WPYR in Baton Rouge is in danger of being flipped soon, as the station's owner, Clear Channel Communications, had struck an agreement last year to deal the station to another company, Pamal Broadcasting. The station will likely change hands by April. As for the format, nothing is known, but Clear Channel plans to keep the progressive talk format for as long as they own it. When Pamal officially takes over, who knows?
Obviously, right-wing bloggers who don't know any better will crow about this and blame it on Air America's recent issues, but this move is independent of that.
Wednesday, March 14, 2007
KDXE/Little Rock switches to sports
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Eureka, CA 
3 comments:
That's a shame. I would listen to the Little Rock stream over the internet if, for some reason, AirAmerica's stream was having problems.
Sports talk is overrated. I listen to it in my car only because (A) I can't stand commerical music radio and (B) there's no AirAmerica in western Arkansas.
Arkansas' liberals and progressives lost their voice. Hopefully someone will step up.
This is very curious.
First Mike Newcomb disappears.
Then the Little Rock LMA ends.
If a station owner is getting his rent, he has no reason to take back a station.
Station leases usually run longer than this.
Did Nova M break the lease? Fail to pay their rent?
I smell trouble at Nova M.
Perhaps you should read the articles before commenting.
The decision to not renew was made months ago. I heard about it in December. The people that are truly in the know are being mum about all of this, so all we have is speculation. However, I've heard rumors about technical issues with the station's facilities.
It was a one year lease. And yes, they paid their rent. It expired, and Nova M declined their option to renew or purchase outright. Stop reading so much into it.
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