"Clout" comes back

According to AllAccess, "Hollywood Clout! with Richard Greene" has been resurrected and will continue via independent syndication. The show will air weeknights 9-10ET.

WCPT Chicago is the first station to pick up the show.

The show left the airwaves following the demise of syndicator Air America last month, and is one of several from the network to live on. "Ring Of Fire" moved to Westwood One and Nicole Sandler is offering her show via webcast and independent syndication.

"Hollywood Clout!" does not have its own website thus far, but can be found on Facebook and Twitter.

Breaking news, fun and frivolity, always on LTR's Twitter Page. If you have Twitter, please follow.

I'm retiring

Well, it's been a long, fun stretch, but now's the time to hang up my jock. I have decided to retire from this thing.

But wait! Brett Favre's back? Do tell! Well, that settles it - I'm back!

Hey, if an over-the-hill primadonna quarterback can suddenly come out of a three week retirement (how many has that been so far?) for buttloads of money and a guaranteed starting job with his biggest nemesis, then why not little 'ol me? Therefore, this entry is dedicated to the Master Indecider, the one and only Brett Favre, who is doing his damned finest to screw up whatever legacy he still has. Only things left are steroids, dog fighting, knifing his wife and gambling on his own games. The only ones screwing up more are the Minnesota Vikings, for pursuing this whole Brett Favre nonsense.

Now, with that out of the way...

Hartmann returning to Air America?

Well, not exactly.

But there is a rumor, and one he mentioned on his show last week. Word has it that he will soon be heard (if not already) on WZAA (1050AM), the station Air America operates in Washington, DC. Likely, it will be on delay status, as the station currently shows nothing on their schedule for their late-night hours. We shall see...

Obama hits the airwaves

Since taking office seven months ago, President Barack Obama has been perhaps the most visible commander-in-chief we've ever had. Seems like he's been everywhere, whether it be in television interviews, webcasts, televised prime time press conferences, on the road and wherever else. And he's got a few radio appearances coming up, as he continues to counter all the right-wing lies about his proposals for health care reform. And what better place to start than where all the bullshit is coming from - right-wing radio.

Dial Global's Michael Smerconish will interview the president Thursday August 20 (that's tomorrow, folks!) directly from the White House. The show will show live noon-3P ET, and the 20-minute Obama interview will air at 1:10P ET, the first radio interview on the grounds of the White House in the Obama Administration.

"I am honored to be the first radio broadcaster to interview the President live from the White House," said Smerconish, who, incidentally supported Obama in last November's election. "My listeners have suggested many pointed questions that I look forward to raising with dignity and respect."

But first, Obama will hit the webcast waves, with an online webcast special featuring a discussion by the religious community of the his administration's health care proposals.

The President will appear on "40 Minutes For Health Reform,' appearing on Blog Talk Radio this afternoon at 5P ET. And no, Obama will not take calls on the show, but a White House spokesperson will be on hand to answer questions submitted by the public.

Okay, I'm retiring again

I hate training camp. I'm too old to sleep in a college dorm. Unless she's cute.

No changes for WCPT

The FCC has rejected a petition from Newsweb, owner of WCPT (820AM) in Chicago. The petition was for reconsideration of the 2005 denial of a proposed dual community of license change for the station, currently licensed to Crystal Lake, IL and another station they own, located in the northwest Indiana suburbs of Chicago.

Newsweb had applied to move WCPT's city of license to Addison, IL, which would enable them to co-locate the stations' studios. The FCC, however, decided that the benefits to such a move did not outweigh the loss of local service to the former communities of license.

Keep in mind, none of this behind-the-scenes stuff has anything to do with what they're currently putting out on the air. It's just that news is slow, and I needed something to put here.

I'm back

Okay, I guess I'll stick around, so long as I don't have to go to training camp. Let me just hop right in and start.

Wendell filling in for Rhodes

KTLK/Los Angeles talker Johnny Wendell will be filling in for the vacationing Randi Rhodes on her syndicated show today (Wednesday) and tomorrow. Just so you won't wonder what happened to Randi.

Time to hang it up again

I do have a concern with that shoulder injury that makes it hard to type all this goodness that you read here. I'm goin' back to Mississippi to ride tractors. But first...

Real-life goodbyes

Two notable media figures have ventured off to the Great Beyond recently. First, we say goodbye to a television news legend, Don Hewitt, who passed away today at the age of 86:

Hewitt was best known as the creator of the venerable "60 Minutes" in 1968, and oversaw the show until 2004. His career in journalism spanned over 60 years, virtually all of it at CBS. As a young producer/director assisting at the birth of television news, it was usually Hewitt behind the scenes directing legendary CBS News reporters like Edward R. Murrow and Walter Cronkite, using a playbook he had to write himself. He played an integral role in all of CBS News' coverage of major news events from the late 1940s through the 1960s, putting him in the middle of some of history's biggest events, including one of politics’ seminal moments: the first televised presidential debate in 1960.

And we also bid farewell to a less distinguished media personality, conservative commentator and nasty curmudgeon Robert Novak, who died yesterday at the age of 157. But do vampires ever really die?


Okay, I wanna come back


But only if you fork over $12 million. I can't have the money? Well, I'll stick around anyway. I'm back.

Hartmann, Medved to duke it out in suburban Chicago event

For those of you in the Chicago area, you may or may not be able to snag tickets for a rather interesting event tomorrow night, as liberal talker Thom Hartmann debates conservative counterpart Michael Medved in a live event.

The two stations sponsoring the event, Hartmann's affiliate WCPT and WIND, which carries Medved, will offer podcasts of the proceedings. iPhone users will also be able to listen as well.

Both stations dub it "The Great Debate." Okay, it's a bit overblown, though it would be kinda cool if they could throw in a steel cage with barbed wire or something. The event in Rolling Meadows, scheduled for 7:30P tomorrow night, is sold out.

Hartmann and Medved, who are both considered rather mellow figures in their respective talk radio genres, do have a friendly history. Hartmann had guested on Medved's show many years ago, and he even credits him for the inspiration to feature guests who disagree with the host's opinions, which makes for more spirited discussion.

First news roundup of the year

As we start the new year, this is a good opportunity to tie up a few loose ends...

Nova M completes Phoenix move

As of January 1, Nova M has completed its move down the dial in their home market of Phoenix. KNUV (1190AM) is now known as "1190 Nova M," and is the sole progressive talker in the Phoenix market. Former home KPHX (1480AM) is no longer being leased, and is now programming an adult standards format called "Martini In The Morning." In addition, it appears that former KPHX host Mike Newcomb is back on the station, in the 4-6P local slot. Hmmm...

The station also has a new web address, 1190novam.com.

Former Nova M station falls silent

Pssst. Hey - wanna buy a radio station in Little Rock?

Attentive observers may remember a little station in Little Rock, KDXE. They were one of two stations leased by upstart Nova M a couple years back (along with KPHX). After the one year lease, the company quickly fled the run-down tiny AM outlet, washing their hands of the whole Arkansas thing.

And now, Simmons Media, owner of KDXE, has announced that it is turning out the lights at 1380AM. Simmons informed the FCC that it has "suspended operations due to financial reasons." They'd like to remain dark for at least 180 days (though they could’ve asked for a full year) and are "currently seeking business alternatives to resume the station’s operations speedily."

Supposedly, a $675,000 deal to sell the station to a local owner that was filed last summer never closed, and wasn't likely to.

Chicago changes

With WCPT's programming expanding to the FM dial a couple months back, the three FM signals now have new call signs. WCPT-FM (92.7FM) is located in the north Chicago suburbs; WCPY (92.5FM) is in Dekalb and covers Rockford, Aurora and places west; and WCPZ (99.9FM) is located in the south suburbs.

For fans of the three signals' former Nine FM format, some message board postings are claiming that another Newsweb-owned station, WKIF in Kankakee, south of Chicago, has dropped the wall-to-wall CNN HLN feed and is now airing the "we play anything" format.

Schultz out in L.A.

Upstart talker KGIL (1260AM) is still tweaking its schedule. And in their latest change, Ed Schultz is off the schedule. In his place is Glen (shudder!) Beck and Monica (double shudder!!) Crowley. Yikes!

The station, which once boasted of it's on-air ideological balance, is now wall-to-wall wingnuts, with the exception of Alan Colmes, who's still on at 7P.

More SoCal changes

Down the coast, at San Diego's XEPE (1700AM), it appears Air America is back in town. Kinda.

The station, which dropped Stacy Taylor a few weeks ago, has now let go local morning guy Mark Larson. In his place this morning was Air America's Lionel, according to Radio and Records. Not sure if this is permanent.

The pending radio apocalypse

A sign of things to come, perhaps?

The radio landscape these days is quite brutal. Listeners are turning away. Ad revenue is in the toilet. And radio owners are responding by cutting back even more, further thinning their product.

CBS, to their credit, still owns quite a few AM signals that are heavy on live programming, 24-7. Most notable of these is WCCO (830AM) in Minneapolis. Since the early 1920s, the station has so far resisted virtually all syndicated programming (aside from sports, "60 Minutes" simulcasts and some low-profile programming). They even programmed live, local talk in the overnight hours. Now, an era is slowly coming to an end.

In addition to a number of station staffers, including news staff, the station has dismissed longtime late night talker Al Malmberg, replacing him with an out-of-town product, Jon Grayson from sister station KMOX in St. Louis. Grayson's show will also air on CBS-owned WBZ in Baltimore and KDKA in Pittsburgh. The good news is that Grayson bucks the trend of typical talk radio, in that he's not a mouth-foaming wingnut. In keeping with WCCO's tame nature, the show is nonpolitical, and more pop culture-centric.

It may not sound like much, but the addition of syndicated talk programming is definitely a momentous occurance at a station that has long prided itself in being live and local around the clock.

WCPT hits the FM dial

Fans of Chicago progressive talk station WCPT (820AM) can rejoice come Monday morning, as the station will be heard via three FM signals in the metro area.

NewsWeb will simulcast WCPT's signal on three of the company's Chicago-area FM stations. WKIE (92.7FM), located in Dekalb, serves the area far west of Chicago, including Rockford and Beloit, WI. WDEK (92.5FM), licenced to suburban Arlington Heights, can be heard from Downtown all the way up to Kenosha, WI. And Park Forest's WRZA (99.9FM) has a 50,000 watter signal serving areas south of Chicago, such as Joliet, and parts of northwestern Indiana. The new FM trimulcast will displace the Adult Hits format known as "9 FM."

The move extends the reach of WCPT's programming to northern Illinois, Southern Wisconsin, and Northwest Indiana.

WCPT, a daytime-only operation, will still run from sunrise to sunset on 820AM. When the AM station signs off, progressive talk programming will continue on the FMs until 9A,when "Dance Factory," carried over from the 9 FM lineup, will take over until 5A. But the three FM stations will air progressive talk programming from 5A-9P.

"Breakout stars like Rachel Maddow, Ed Schultz and Stephanie Miller illustrate the enthusiasm that exists for the progressive Talk radio format," NewsWeb VP/Group Station Manager Harvey Wells said. "We're thrilled to be able to offer even more outstanding programming to the Chicago area."

With the move, there will be some schedule shifting. Mike Malloy has been dropped and replaced by the Air America shows of Rachel Maddow and Ron Reagan, which fit in more effectively slot-wise with the start time of "Dance Factory" (which is brokered programming that is a guaranteed revenue earner).

WCPT shuffles the deck, adding Maddow, local Hartmann hour

Well, it looks like Air America Radio's American Afternoon has lost a big affiliate.

While the network is still trying to figure out its longterm afternoon thing, WCPT in Chicago is dropping the show as of Monday and returning Rachel Maddow to the daily lineup, where she will air live 5-8P CT. The station is also moving Thom Hartmann from evening delay to the earlier 2-5P timeslot.

"As a native of Lansing, MI, it’s great to get back to my Midwestern roots and be able to talk to the people in Chicago in my new time period," Hartmann said, while Maddow added, "I am thrilled to be back on WCPT. Chicago is a wonderful city and I look forward to helping WCPT listeners make sense of this very unique time in which we live."

Since Hartmann will continue to be heard on delay on WCPT, he will air an exclusive Chicago-only live hour at 4P Fridays. "Thom Hartmann's Third Hour Friday Live" starts May 23.

The station continued to air the network's post-Randi Rhodes offering in the afternoon shift, but hinted at future changes. Considering that the station is owned by Democratic activist Fred Eychaner, a well-known supporter of Hillary Clinton's presidential aspirations, and taking into account Rhodes' obvious vocal dislike for Clinton, the likelihood of returning Rhodes' Nova M Radio show to his station was a bit of a longshot.

Super Tuesday Quickies

Oh, there's just so much stuff that goes on when one is out of town for the week. So much to talk about. And since today is Super Tuesday, we shall celebrate with an extra-long wrap-up entry.

Green revolution

First off, the move by KKGN ("Green 960") in San Francisco to interrupt two hours of Stephanie Miller's morning show there was even more ill-fated than New Coke, Windows Me, the spaceship-looking third generation Ford Taurus and that terrible "E.T." video game on the old Atari system. This time around, the local morning show featuring Operations Manager John Scott lasted less than two weeks, as Miller's fans revolted very loudly. listeners flooded the station with emails and phone calls, and even voted overwhelmingly for Miller's return in an online poll on the site. Claimed Scott, "The netroots feedback we have received is unlike anything I have ever seen for any show, in any format, in my entire career. It was real, it was raw, and it was passionate. The bottom line: Our audience loves her."

Scott said in Radio and Records that he's not offended that listeners didn't want him on the air, saying the events "energized me like few things have." He adds, "I'm sick of columns that say our business sucks. This is a good reminder that perhaps we need to market our products and look for listeners."

Scott's local show ended as he welcomed Miller back via the phone, she promised to sleep with every fan who voted yes in the online poll. Miller made a local appearance this past Friday night in neighboring Redwood City. No word on whether she made good on her promise.

Springer's Super Tuesday and Whad'Ya Know?

Remember Jerry Springer? Of course you do. Best known for his former Air America morning show, "Dancing With The Stars," "America's Got Talent," his own opera, and yeah, that trailer trash 'fight club' he does every day on TV, Springer is returning to talk radio. Sort of. The Chicago-based Springer will provide a live and local 'Super Tuesday' primary wrap-up (I know, I need to make another endorsement) for local station WCPT (820AM) this Wednesday (February 6) from 6:45A (when the station signs on) until 11A CT. Co-hosting will be Dick Kay, former political editor of local NBC affiliate WMAQ-TV (Ch. 5).

They'll look at results from all 24 state primaries taking place Tuesday, and if there's time, may even feature spurned lovers flashing their mammaries and beating the crap out of each other. Just kidding about that last part. No word on whether Steve Wilkos will be there to provide muscle. Listen for it Wednesday morning.

Speaking of WCPT, as a daytime-only operation, the station faces issues on their ability to actually do a local show without displacing popular syndicated hosts such as Stephanie Miller and Ed Schultz. But they do get a bit closer, as they sealed a deal to pick up "Michael Feldman's Whad'Ya Know?" from Public Radio International. Okay, it's not exactly local, but the oft-funny weekend quiz show, based in nearby Madison, WI, has been a fixture on Chicago non-commercial for many years. The show was dropped from its longtime home at Chicago Public Radio's WBEZ earlier this month after 22 years on the station. If WCPT adds the show, it will air without commercials. If all goes as planned, the show will be on Saturday mornings at 10A.

This is not the first time that WCPT's owner, Newsweb Corp. has aired public radio fare. Prior to WCPT's debut, the frequency aired "World Cafe," then also carried by PRI.


KTLK shakes it up, minus Schultz

Things have been quite chaotic at KTLK (1150AM) as of late. it appears the station has settled on a post-Mr. K lineup, and made some changes.First, they become the flagship station for Phil Hendrie's syndicated show, which will air from 9P-1A live. The station also adds Mike Malloy live, as will also slot in Rachel Maddow's two hour show into a three hour afternoon drive shift. How does that work? Air America is expanding the show to three hours, effective March 10, adding David Bender for the last hour. The first hour of Hendrie's show will be local to KTLK. Oh, and "Clout" with Richard Greene will air from 1-3A for the insomniacs.

Lost in the shuffle is Ed Schultz. He previously held down the 6-9P shift. The reason given by station PD Don Martin (who I'm sure is not the late, great Mad Magazine cartoonist) is that the station wants a mostly live lineup, meaning as little tape delay as possible. But EdHeads shouldn't worry too much. Paul Woodhull, president of Media Syndication Services, told Radio and Records that Schultz had been approached by another station in Los Angeles (KGIL, perhaps?). He says, “Out of loyalty to our broadcast partner KTLK, we declined that offer. Now that we have fulfilled our obligation to KTLK we look forward to competing against them in Los Angeles very soon.”

Speaking of the deposed former Mr. K, Marc Germain is back, doing a thirty minute podcast via his website.

"Indie Talk" comes to Sirius

Seeking to reinvent the rotting corpse that ego-driven talk radio is quickly becoming, Sirius Satellite Radio claims to be doing something different. Enter "Indie Talk," which they promise will "give an equal voice to individuals from any affiliation or background, target the blogger generation, and be a platform for listeners across the country to react to breaking news, issues and buzz." The most prominent personality on the channel will be veteran actor Ron Silver, a self-described former Democrat who became a Republican after 9/11/01, obviously in awe of what the Bush Administration did to prevent the terrorist attacks (hint: nothing). Nonetheless, Silver's hosting a call-in show from 9-11A (of course). No word on the other voices for "Indie Talk," but I'm sure there's got to be a left or two in there, lest Sirius listeners decide to just give the middle finger to the whole venture.

Radio Free Bellingham

Naysayers keep claiming progressive talk is dying. If that's the case, why are so many stations signing on with the format as of late? This week, we welcome to a new progressive talk station. This one is in Bellingham, WA, up by the Canadian border, as KBAI (930AM) drops oldies and picks up the likes of Thom Hartman, Rachel Maddow and Alan Colmes. A local voice, Joe Teehan, has also been added. No website exists for the station, dubbed 'Radio Free Bellingham,' as of yet. KBAI is owned by Saga Communications, which has had success with the format in several East Coast markets.

WCPT doubles the power

As rumored earlier this week, WCPT in Chicago will be giving its listeners an early Christmas gift as they move from the current 850AM down to the more powerful 820AM frequency. The move will take place November 26.

General manager Harvey Wells, in an email sent out to listeners today, claimed that "while that might be three small steps on the radio dial, it’s going to be one giant leap for Progressives all over Northern Illinois, Southern Wisconsin and Northwest Indiana."

The new 820AM dial position literally doubles their broadcasting power, increasing from the 2500 watts of 850AM to 5000 watts at 820AM, which currently carries the WAIT call letters. Instead of the current transmitter location of suburban Crystal Lake, IL, WCPT will broadcast directly from the city of Chicago. Upon the move, WCPT will cover a lot more ground, including the entire Chicago market all the way north to Milwaukee, WI and south to Springfield. Station management hopes that the new signal will enable the relatively successful progressive talk format to be more on par with other Chicago talk stations. Even with signal limitations, WCPT has beaten several talk rivals on much stronger signals.

What will not change is the station's daytime-only status. Both 820AM and 850AM are licensed as daytime-only, and 820AM has to sign off a little after sunset to protect WBAP in Dallas, per FCC rules. The station at one time did broadcast at night, but its signal was drowned out terribly by WBAP. The 820AM signal, however, does have the benefit of being allowed to stay on the air slightly longer than 850AM.

Even given its daytimer status, 820AM has had its share of success in the past, most recently in the 1990s as the original location of the successful sports talker WSCR (since moved to 670AM).

The move takes place as Newsweb, the owner of the two signals, two other brokered AM stations and adult hits Nine-FM, informed WAIT's current inhabitant, Relevant Radio, that they would not renew the lease on the signal. Relavant Radio recently picked up another local signal in the market.

The WCPT call letters will also make the move down the dial, with 850AM becoming WAIT.

Rumors, soundbytes and whatnot

Seems like forever since I actually wrote about liberal talk radio. As news was a bit slow in that department, and with so many other things going on, I got a little sidetracked.

So, after a week devoted to a 1938 radio drama, the pending Hollywood writers strike, Don Imus' semi-triumphant return and a Clear Channel/Bruce Springsteen boycott story that wasn't, it's time once again to return to what we do best. So, here goes.

First up is WCPT (850AM) in Chicago. And this one is not even up to rumor class yet. So far it's mere speculation, but Robert Feder of the Sun-Times is pondering it, so I will too. Anyway, WCPT is still chugging along and doing quite well, thank you. They are owned by Newsweb Corporation, headed by Fred Eyechaner, a well-known activist and fundraiser for the Democratic Party. The company also owns several other small stations in the area, including four FM outlets, three of which air an eclectic format called "Nine FM." They also own several AM stations, all but WCPT are leased out to Starboard Broadcasting, which runs a Catholic-oriented religious format called "Relevant Radio." Relevant Radio recently picked up another Chicago outlet, WNTD (which some of you may remember as the original Air America Radio affiliate in the Windy City for about a minute or two).

Well, the new signal came at just the right time for Starboard, as Newsweb informed them that they would not renew the lease on one of their stations, WAIT (820AM). The frequency will be vacated on November 25. Evidently, they're taking it back for their own purposes. Does this point to a possible move of their relatively successful progressive talk format to the much-stronger 820AM? An early Christmas gift, perhaps? At a robust 5000 watts, the 820AM signal does pack twice the punch of 850AM, with a centrally-located signal that covers the entire Chicago market and other nearby areas such as northwest Indiana (as far out as South Bend), Joliet, Rockford, Bloomington and even up into Wisconsin, as far north as Milwaukee. The 820AM frequency has had some success in years past, particularly when they were the original home of sports talker WSCR back in the 90s.

The hitch? While WAIT does have a much stronger signal, like 850 it's still a daytimer. While WCPT shuts down after dark for KOA in Denver, WAIT shuts down at sunset for the strong signal of WBAP in Dallas. That's part of the peculiar nature of AM radio and FCC regulations. Newsweb has been trying to get FCC approval for a 1500 watt nighttime signal for a while now, but so far have been rebuffed. Still, that daytime signal looks quite nice, and would allow WCPT to cover the entire market and then some. Milwaukee could actually get that progressive talk station they've wanted for so long.

Again, don't even think of quoting me on this, as if it were gospel or anything. I need to make this clear. It is still officially unclear what will become of WAIT, and if anyone does know, they aren't saying anything. But it sure looks like they have plans for it, and WCPT's progressive talk format, which has been doing decent in local ratings considering how weak their current signal is, must obviously be a consideration. It's either that or leasing it out to another entity, ala Relevant Radio. This situation merits keeping an eye on, and if I hear anything else about it, I'll let you know. Again, this is not even a rumor yet.

In other WCPT news, belated congrats and best of luck to Scott Foval, a blogger and writer who took matters into his own hands a few months back and is currently employed as a sales rep for WCPT and Nine FM. So if you're in the Chicagoland area, own a business and want to reach out to like-minded folks, let him or anyone else there know.

Elsewhere, I've been working on yet another entry about KLSD (1360AM) in San Diego. Yes, they're still doing progressive talk, in what has become perhaps the most drawn-out format flip in radio history. Rumors began to swirl back in August about a possible flip to sports. Station personnel even acknowledged it. And the most recent rumors pointed to a flip date of November 1. Well, it's November 2 now, and nothing's changed. This could be due to the chaos of last week's devastating wildfires, which seems to have upset many things around the area. Now the flip is rumored to be November 15. Adding fuel to the fire is morning host Stacy Taylor moonlighting on sister station KOGO (600AM) weeknights from 6-7PM. Whether this fits into his future plans is unknown at this time.

For the past couple weeks, I've had parts of a future KLSD entry in the can, but the fires of last week, the other events of this week and uncertainty about the fate of the station has kept it under wraps. In it, I'll fill you all in on the latest in regard to that HD Radio signal they've threatened to dump the programming on, plus a profile of other area stations, some that could possibly pick up the deposed format. I'll probably put it up over the weekend. I tend to keep many fragments of entries stashed away (ScribeFire for Firefox is a wonderful thing!) for future use, and in this case, I'll actually try to unleash it.

Finally, the fine folks at KUDO in Anchorage, AK have dropped a line to inform me of their revamped website, and what appears to be a revamped on-air lineup that consists of three local shows. Filling out the roster is the standard syndicated fare, including Stephanie Miller, Ed Shultz, Air America and "Democracy Now." And they've even added a webstream, too, so we can all get some of that 'northern exposure.' I'll add their local shows to the listings on the left, once I figure out the difference between Alaska time and Eastern time. Of course, with Daylight Savings Time coming to a close this weekend, and some states not recognizing it, such as Arizona, I'll also have to figure out what KPHX and other stations plan to do with their lineups.

Be patient, and set your clocks back an hour Saturday night.

Malloy invades the Dairyland

It has been nearly a year since Mike Malloy got the axe from Air America Radio. Since then, he's rebounded with Nova M Radio and landed his show on radio stations in markets such as San Francisco, Miami, San Diego, Seattle and Chicago.

And now, Malloy has landed the mother of 'em all... KENOSHA!

Kenosha?

Yes, Kenosha, Wisconsin. Smack dab on the border between Wisconsin and Illinois. The rough midway point between Milwaukee and Chicago. Hometown of Orson Welles, Don Ameche and the guy who invented the answering machine (Joseph Zimmerman). A town that still has streetcars (yay!). A town ranked by many as a desirable place to live. And unlike the crappy crime-infested ghetto that is it's neighbor to the north, Racine, Kenosha is indeed a nice little town.

And now, Kenosha radio listeners can stay up late and listen to Malloy on WLIP (1050AM) from midnight to 3AM.

WLIP is a little 250 watt station owned by NextMedia, a fairly decent-sized company that owns a bunch of stations around the outskirts of Chicago (Kenosha is considered part of the Chicago radio and television markets). WLIP has just flipped formats, de-emphasizing the previous solid gold oldies format while adding more talk shows.

The bad news is they're not flipping to liberal talk. It looks like Malloy is it. The good news is that, hey, at least they've got Malloy. And they're not cramming the schedule with a bunch of typical conservocrud. Currently, WLIP has a generous amount of locally-oriented programming (very generous for a low-powered AM station in a small market). They're adding a few syndicated shows as well. In addition to Malloy buried in overnights, 'Dr.' Laura will air in afternoons and Jim Bohannon will air evenings 9-midnight, if that's your cup of tea (okay, probably not).

The miniscule 1050AM frequency might not sound like much, but it does cover some populated areas. The signal basically stretches from Chicago to Milwaukee (though with static in those two cities). And they put out a city-grade signal from Racine to Waukegan, Illinois. For listeners in the northern Chicago suburbs, unhappy that the city's progressive talker WCPT (850AM) signs off at night (per FCC rules), this at least gives them some kind of alternate for after-dark listening.

Malloy's addition to the WLIP roster marks somewhat of a return to the Chicago airwaves. Years ago, he was on WLS, prior to their liberal purge. And with WCPT, his show is mostly confined to their 24/7 webstream, as they sign off early in his program.

So there you go. If you're driving I-94 between Milwaukee and Chicago in the nocturnal hours, at least you've got something to listen to. Malloy's show airs on delay from midnight to 3AM weekdays.

Ratings Roundup Winter 2007: Part 1

Well, it's that time again. Over the next week or so, Arbitron ratings survey reports for this past winter will be released. And the results for some of the biggest markets have already come out.

In New York (#1), WWRL is holding steady, dropping from a 0.8 to a 0.7 (yes, I would consider this 'holding steady,' given the usual margin of error). This is similar to where the station has been since becoming the flagship for Air America Radio last September, and is not bad considering the signal drop-off after sunset, which comes much earlier in the winter months. In the Long Island (#18) market, this early sunset seems to be a factor, as they slide from a 0.7 to a 0.5. In Middlesex, NJ (#39) they dip a tenth of a point from 0.5 to 0.4.

The verdict is still out on whether the recent changes at KTLK in Los Angeles (#2) will result in stronger ratings. The station dips a fifth, from 0.8 to 0.6. In mid-March, KTLK completely overhauled their schedule with the addition of popular local talker Marc Germain. It's too soon to tell what effect these moves will have.

WCPT in Chicago (#3) rises a tenth of a point, from 0.7 to 0.8, only a fifth of a point behind CBS-owned FM talker WCKG (which this week dropped the "Free FM" moniker from their on-air branding). Salem's strong-signalled conservotalker WIND falls a fifth of a point from 1.2 to 0.7, virtually half their audience, dropping it behind WCPT. Hoffmania points out that conservotalk, so far, has taken a beating in the recently released ratings books, with even WLS, dropping almost a full point in the last year. It should be noted that WCPT carries no local programming. Incidentally, WCPT, with a suburban daytime-only signal, again beats their FM sister station, Nine FM, which covers almost all of the Chicago market via three suburban frequencies. Which begs the question, why not WCPT-FM?

WDTW in Detroit (#10) has been showing signs of life as of late, and this past winter, has risen from a 0.5 to 0.7. In the last year, their audience has almost doubled. Like WCPT, the station does not carry any local shows.

In Boston (#11), the duo of WXKS and WKOX have completely dropped off the ratings chart following their switch from progressive talk to "Rhumba." Ironically, Arbitron survey methods tend to be rather favorable to Spanish-language stations. Obviously, in the case of these two stations, it hasn't.

KLSD in San Diego (#17) has consistenly been one of the more successful progressive talk stations, thanks partly to a larger local presence. The station jumps from 1.9 to 2.2 as every conservotalker in the market drops considerably.

And in Akron (#73), WARF rises slightly, from 0.6 to 0.8 for its final book as a progressive talk station.

You can catch up on market ratings at Radio and Records or at Stationratings.com. New markets are added daily at around 5P ET. Stay tuned here as well for updates.

Ratings Roundup: Phase 2 Winter trend, part 1

The second of the Winter 2006 Arbitron ratings trend reports is being released over the next week or two. This rolling trend report survey period covers this past December, January and February. It is the run-up to the official Winter ratings books, which will be released starting later this month.

While there really isn't a whole lot earth-shattering to report progressive talk-wise, there are a few interesting tidbits. First off, WWRL in New York (#1) seems to be adjusting well to being the new Air America Radio flagship. They hold at 0.8 overall, which may not sound like much, but given the station's limited and interference-enhanced signal at 1600AM and the dearth of competition, they are pretty close to the numbers achieved by predecessor WLIB, whose ratings dropped in half following the departure of Air America and the switch to a black gospel music format. Even with the signal limitations, WWRL does make a small showing in the books for Long Island (#18), northeastern New Jersey (#39) and the Hamptons (#260).

In Chicago (#3), WCPT is making a strong showing, considering its own limited suburban signal. So, what's so significant about a 0.8 share? Well, considering the station only airs during the daytime hours, transmits from the northwest suburbs and has ratings equal to Salem's strong-signaled conservotalker WIND, I would consider that to be pretty damn remarkable. They are also close to equaling the 1.1 share of WCKG-FM, a CBS-owned talk station airing the company's Free FM format. Speaking of Free FM, in San Francisco (#4), KQKE beats KIFR, which broadcasts on one of the strongest FM signals in the Bay Area.

If Clear Channel was hoping to find better ratings by flipping WXKS and WKOX in Boston (#11) to a Spanish-language format, well, they didn't. Both stations are completely absent from the ratings survey. The long-awaited new tower and transmission facilities for WKOX are currently under construction, but it is doubtful that even this will save the stations.

And in another market that recently lost a liberal talk station, KRXA in Monterey/Salinas/Santa Cruz (#80) has shot up significantly in the most recent trend, jumping from a 0.8 to a 1.3 share, likely helped by Air America-affiliated KOMY's recent switch to oldies. In addition, KRXA is now tied with KOMY's sister station, conservotalker KSCO. Incidentally, a casual listen to either station shows that KRXA appears to sell a lot more advertising than KSCO. So congrats to the gang out in the Monterey Bay area.

More trend reports for other markets are on the way. If you want to see the overall (12+) numbers for yourself, you can check them out at Radio and Records or StationRatings.com.

Radio stations do the post-Franken shuffle

Latest update 2/13

Following the announcement last week of Al Franken's pending departure from Air America Radio, stations carrying him have begun making plans for the post-Franken era.

So far, KTNF, WROC and KYNS have announced some or all of their schedule changes, with Thom Hartmann and Ed Schultz being the big beneficiaries.

Starting February 19, Randi Rhodes fans in Chicago will be pleased as WCPT will give her a live clearance, from 2-5PM weekdays, in place of the delayed Franken. The nine-hour morning-early afternoon bloc of JRN programming, featuring Bill Press, Stephanie Miller and Ed Schultz remains unchanged. Following Rhodes will be a delay of Thom Hartmann's show. Since WCPT is a daytime-only station, the station signs off at sunset. However, they do program their webstream during the off-air hours. And with this, they'll add Mike Malloy live from 8-11PM, giving Malloy another stream for his fans to hear him. In addition, as the warmer months and longer days of summer approach, Chicago area listeners will be able to hear the early part of his show on 850AM until sign-off.

At KPHX in Phoenix, Franken is gone from the schedule as of next Monday (2/11). The station will Hartmann live in middays, followed by Rhodes, Peter B. Collins, Mike Malloy and a delayed airing of Miller's show in the late night hours. The station fills out the overnight/early morning hours with EcoTalk, Rachel Maddow and Bill Press.

WPEK in Asheville, NC has acknowledged Franken's departure, but the well-rated daytime-only station has made no scheduling announcements. It is very likely that the two hour shift currently allocated to Franken will be turned over to Rhodes, who is currently on for only the following hour.

Franken is almost completely gone from the schedule of WNYY in Ithaca, NY. They are carrying Hartmann live in the midday slot. Although the station carries Press and Miller, they do not air Schultz' show, which airs on WENY (1230AM) in nearby Elmira.

Portland's KPOJ hasn't set their lineup yet, but are taking suggestions on their website. Same goes for WROC in Rochester, which will move Schultz into the live slot being vacated. KPTK in Seattle will move Rhodes into Franken's delayed 5-8PM shift, followed by Malloy from 8-11PM. No word on the 11PM-2AM shift being vacated.

Nothing is really known about KOKE in Austin. The sole remainder of the Texas Pro Radio network, which once had stations in San Antonio and Dallas has a website that is currently under construction, and rumors abound that they will move away from syndicated programming, including Air America, and add more local liberal talk voices. We'll keep you posted on further changes. As for other liberal talk stations in Texas, they don't seem to be taking the format seriously. KCCT in Corpus Christi does not have a website, and has reportedly preempted Air America shows with infomercials. They do, however, carry some local talk shows. And KHRO in El Paso, which had been rumored to be dropping the network a few months back, is still airing it (allegedly). Their website consists solely of a link to Air America Radio.

WVAX in Charlottesville, VA is carrying Hartmann in place of Franken. They also air Rhodes and Maddow live, followed by an evening delayed broadcast of Schultz in the evenings. The station carries quite a bit of live programming, as it also airs Mark Riley, Press and Miller in the mornings and Lionel at night.

WKVT in Brattleboro, VT will replace their delayed airing of Franken with a delayed airing of Miller, from 7-10PM ET.

And KTNF in the Twin Cities, which last week announced that they would move Hartmann to afternoons and add Rachel Maddow to the roster, responds to listeners' demands and adds a delay of Malloy's show to the 12-3AM shift, starting February 19.

Denver's KKZN will carry Hartmann, and the relatively successful station is also looking to add another local host, in addition to current morning talker Jay Marvin.

WMLB in Atlanta, which carried the entire Air America feed under its former WWAA call letters and retained only Franken after a format change last year, will not replace his show with any other Air America programming.

Over at XM, Schultz will be moved over to the Air America Channel (ch. 167), meaning that Thom Hartmann will not be cleared, at least not live, by the satellite radio provider. Whether this has something to do with Hartmann's deal with and (partial) clearance on Sirius Left is unknown. And whether this will ruffle feathers with Air America, who currently have an exclusive deal with XM, is also unknown. And then there's that vague "Malloy coming to XM" rumor...

As for other stations that are still carrying Franken, including the few remaining stations that carry the straight Air America feed, it is likely that they will just carry his replacement, Hartmann in that slot. Some stations could go with Schultz, who airs at the same time.

Air America sale: What's next?

Two days have passed since the official announcement of the sale of Air America Radio to Stephen and Mark Green, as well as Al Franken's announcement of his departure from the network. Since then, many people, both inside and outside the political spectrum have weighed in, as well as quite a few in the industry.

The wingnut bloggers have been sounding the same silliness, questioning why anyone would want to invest in a 'failing' network. Which is ironic, since quite a few conservative media ventures have had far less success and lost way more money. The irony seems to be that these so-called 'conservative' critics don't really understand the way business works, or that they really aren't champions of entreprenural achievement. Or they're incapable of looking at the color of their own pot. In their eyes, free enterprise is only acceptable for people named Weyrich, Scaife or Murdoch. Not surprising.

People in the industry are also chiming in about the sale. Paul Woodhull, speaking to the New York Daily News, gave his assessment. "I hope they can make it viable," says Woodhull, president of Washington-based Media Syndication Services, which creates and produces radio shows. "But it won't happen unless Mr. Green listens to people who understand how radio works."

Air America's original network plan, says Woodhull, "was based on the idea they could control programs 24 hours a day, seven days a week, on someone else's station. That's just not the way it works."

"The idea that Air America is a 'network' is a myth anyway," says Michael Harrison, editor of the trade magazine Talkers. "As a syndicator, it could work."

What radio insiders don't realize though is that Air America could be considered comparable to full-service syndicators like ESPN Radio, FOX Sports Radio and Talk Radio Network, all of which offer a full schedule of programming around the clock, but allow individual affiliates to pick and choose programming, or just leave it running full-time. In essence, they help fill out station lineups. Think of it as the radio equivalent of 'Hamburger Helper.' Since signing on almost three years ago, Air America, which had initially tried to force affiliates to carry the entire slate of programming, has since given much more leeway to affiliates in structuring their schedules, even allowing some of them to drop Al Franken's show for Thom Hartmann, or to carry programming from other syndicators. Several Air America affiliates even carry programming from conservative talkers such as Rush Limbaugh, Neal Boortz and Bill O'Reilly.

Both Woodhull and Harrison agree that the programming has to be worth listening to. Woodhull agrees that progressive talk is no different than any other type of talk radio programming, in that it has to actually be good. "It has to be entertaining and compelling. It can't start with a political agenda. It can't start by trying to get somebody elected," says Woodhull.

Harrison thinks there is a niche for liberal talk, and there will always be. He also disagrees with the notion that talk radio is dominated by conservatives. "It's not," claims Harrison. "Conservatives have a niche, and it's a very profitable niche — but it's still a niche. You also have NPR, you have 'shock jocks,' you have sports talk. There's room for all of it.

"None of those shows succeed because the hosts are well-intentioned. They succeed because they work as a business."

Air America will need to strengthen it's affiliate base, which is chock full of many weak and non-supportive stations, as well. "To build a radio network you need to start from a solid base and then expand," says Andrew Ettinger, media supervisor at EarthQuake Media in New York, speaking to Media Life Magazine. "Rush Limbaugh, Dr. Laura, Sean Hannity, etc. did not appear overnight as dominant radio personalities. Rather, they built their following one station at a time, one market at a time. By doing so they grew from strength, not artificial station clearances."

In the other big Air America story, Franken's retirement from radio has gotten the predictable snide reaction from the wingnut media. Some say he's giving up, or that he's jumping off a sinking ship. Keep in mind that Franken never intended to do radio forever, as he initially signed a one year contract with then-owner Progress Media (as they were working under the provisional name Central Air), and had previously hinted at not making radio his life's work. Considering his other jobs such as writing, comedy and soon, possibly politics, his departure is no surprise. And his official announcement and the network's immediate naming of Hartmann as his successor should remove quite a bit of distraction from their operations.

In regard to his future plans, rumored to include a 2008 run for the Senate from his home state of Minnesota, Franken and his people have been mum about it. Franken has admitted that he is strongly considering challenging Norm Coleman for the seat, and has hinted that he could formally announce his intentions on-air in the runup to the end of his show February 14.

Some of Air America's affiliates have already announced their intentions for life after Franken. KTNF, fresh off a rather remarkable Fall ratings book, was the first, as they announced yesterday the move of Hartmann from the station's evening delay to the afternoon slot being vacated. In his place, KTNF will expand it's local "Minnesota Matters" show by an hour (to be 5-7PM) and add Air America's Rachel Maddow to evenings, 7-9PM. Entercom-owned WROC in Rochester, NY will give Ed Schultz a live clearance, moving him in to the 12-3PM slot, and soliciting listener opinions to fill the 3-6PM shift.

Meanwhile, up the road at WROC's sister station WWKB, the schedule on their recently updated website is a bit vague. At this time, the on-air schedule for this week omits local midday host Leslie Marshall and shows two daily airings of the syndicated shows from Stephanie Miller and Ed Schultz. Whether this will be permanent remains to be seen. Previously, the station aired a rerun of Marshall's show in the evenings. WWKB recently lost a competitor when Air America affiliate WHLD switched to gospel, so there are indeed more programming options available from which the station could choose from.

KPTK in Seattle sent out an email to listeners enlisting their help in making adjustments to the daily lineup. WCPT in Chicago will announce their intentions shortly. Other stations have yet to announce their replacements for Franken, though it's expected that many will just continue with Hartmann, such as KYNS in San Luis Obispo, CA. In the past few months, some stations already have already moved Hartmann into the slot. Some stations that currently carry only Franken, including WMLB in Atlanta and WWWI in Brainerd, MN could possibly pass on replacing him with any other Air America offering.

And no word from Air America on how they'll handle overnight and weekend replays of Franken's show.

Speaking of KYNS, in an unrelated move, they will add Mike Malloy to their schedule, airing it on delay from 8-11PM starting next Monday.

Ratings Roundup Fall 2006: Part 1

As Air America Radio is going through growing pains, and conservative bloggers and radio flacks everywhere have been circling the liberal talk radio format like starving vultures, there is some encouraging news for the format in regard to Arbitron ratings for stations carrying the format.

This past fall was important for the format, as the national midterm elections heated up. And it seems that a few liberal talk stations enjoyed some pretty impressive success. Many others at least maintained their current level of listeners. Granted, the only ratings reports released to the general public are often only the overalls, which consist of all listeners ages 12+ in all dayparts from 6AM-midnight. These numbers, while not as important to advertisers as demographic and daypart breakdowns, do at least give a glimpse of how the format is doing.

In the first of several reports, Part 1 will cover the midwest region of the country. In future installments, LTR will take a look at other areas.

Last Friday, Ed Schultz lashed out at Sean Hannity for comments he made about the liberal talk format, which he claimed was dead. Schultz made it a point to openly remind Hannity that in the most recent ratings book, he actually beat him in several large markets, including Portland, Seattle, Denver, San Francisco, Miami and Albuquerque (mp3). The most notable win was in ranked market #16 - Minneapolis/St. Paul, where Hannity, as well as Rush Limbaugh, took quite a beating. Schultz beat, tied, or came close to clobbering Hannity throughout all the demographic breakdowns of the latest book. Schultz' affiliate, 1,000 watt independently-owned suburban liberal talker KTNF, finished with a virtual tie against Hannity's 100,000 watt FM affiliate, KTLK-FM, which has been heavily promoted over the past year via a $1 million advertising campaign by its owner, Clear Channel Communications. KTLK-FM also serves as the Twin Cities affiliate for Limbaugh's show, though he wasn't much help, since he finished virtually tied with KTNF's Al Franken in the midday shift. Schultz was eager to remind Hannity of the ass-whuppin', and to rub it in the face of his longtime nemesis, Clear Channel regional VP Mick Anselmo, who he blames for trying to stall his radio career.

KTNF more than doubled its overall share (all dayparts, ages 12+) from a 0.8 to a 1.7, for 15th place, finishing a mere fifth of a ratings point behind KTLK-FM. The station did well with its morning drive combo of Bill Press and Stephanie Miller, obtaining a 1.9 share, tied for 15th place and beating both local talk stalward KSTP, and more than doubling the ratings of KTLK-FM. KTNF was also the only talk station in the market to actually improve its ratings from the Summer ratings period. The Twin Cities market is saturated with news/talk stations, ranging from the mostly conservative KTLK-FM, full-service legend WCCO, locally-oriented KSTP, Salem conservotalker WWTC, female-oriented WFMP-FM and Minnesota Public Radio's KNOW. Considering the dearth of competition, a much smaller local presence and the limitations of its signal, KTNF has much to be proud of this time around. Congratulations.

Elsewhere in the midwest, WCPT in Chicago (market #3) has been somewhat of a success story. They're a suburban AM station that signs off the air during the nighttime hours, but they have been making a dent in the lower reaches of the local ratings. For the Fall book, the station is up a fifth of a point, to 0.7. Putting it in perspective, that's not too far behind CBS' Free FM station, WCKG. Across the state, WKBF, which was recently flipped to a Christian-based format by its new owner in December, was tied for tenth place in its final book with a 1.7 share, up from a 0.8 in the Spring book.

Ohio has been a bit rough for liberal talk as of late. The format was dropped on stations in both Cincinnati (#28) and Columbus (#37), both part of the same Clear Channel regional cluster. In Cincy, WSAI ends its progressive talk run with a 1.0 rating and a 19th place finish, while WTPG ends with a 0.8 share. In Akron, sister station WARF slides a bit, down from a 1.0 to a 0.6 share. The station, however, is still optimistic about the format, and recently tweaked the schedule in hopes of future success. The station also marks its first appearance in the ratings of neighboring Canton (#128), clustered with various Cleveland and Akron stations near the bottom of the book at a 0.4. Nothing earth-shattering here, but it is notable in that this is the station's first appearance in the Canton rankings.

In Detroit (#10), WDTW, hampered by a rather weak signal and heavy competition, holds at a 0.5, just a tenth of a point behind high-powered Canadian talker CKLW (the local George Noory/Art Bell affiliate). They're also a tenth of a point ahead of Salem's conservotalk WDTK. In nearby Ann Arbor (#147), WLBY comes in with a 1.5 share, in a six-way tie for 17th place, with local talker WAAM and several Detroit FM stations, including the local affiliate of CBS' struggling "Free FM" talk format.

UPDATE: In several late-arriving market reports, Duluth/Superior's KQDS, a tiny AM with no web presense and virtually no promotion whatsoever (like many other stations in the market), makes a rather impressive jump from a 0.9 in the Spring to a 2.1 share for the Fall. WXXM in Madison, recently saved by grassroots supporters, holds somewhat steady with a 3.4 share, down slightly from 3.7 in the ratings period that ended in mid-December. And in Grand Rapids, WTKG is still just under a share.

Note that ratings surveys do not take into account listeners to online streams. Also, the way ratings are reported will change considerably in the coming year, as Arbitron is moving toward doing away with the old 'pencil and paper' diaries and moving toward electronic means, such as online reporting and 'peoplemeters'. The hope is that this will give a more concise figure as to radio listenership. Arbitron also plans to include non-commercial stations, such as NPR affiliates, community and college stations, and non-commercial religious outlets in the overall rankings. Currently, the publicly-released figures include only commercial outlets, though they do track non-coms and include them in some breakdowns.

This is only the first in a series of pending ratings reports you'll see here at LTR, as there are so many stations to report, and not all markets have gotten their Fall '06 books yet. In future installments, you'll see how stations in other parts of the country fared.

A little of this, a little of that

There aren't any really big stories to report, so this article will cover a bunch of little ones.

First up, Aldous Tyler checks in with the latest on WXXM in Madison (92.1 The Mic):

Here we go...We have a final push this week.The Petition to save The Mic 92.1 has almost 5000 signatures. It has only been up a month. That is incredible!! In fact, 5000 signatures was the original goal set for it, but with one more week until it will be presented, the goal has been raised.Help us meet it.We need just over 2000 more signatures to hit the new goal of 7000. This will then be presented at the rally at the High Noon Saloon, at 7:00 pm on Tuesday, December 12th.I know this can be done. There will be no way that the demand for local Progressive Talk can be denied once we complete this.

http://www.thepetitionsite.com/takeaction/720087508 has the petition. I'm #14, and I recognize names both below and above me in order. I am so very proud of each and every one. Now we need to get numbers 5014, 6014 and even 7014... so pass this on to everyone you know who supports local, alternative voices in Madison, or Progressive Talk in general.Oh, and if you miss Lee Rayburn and Jodie Shawback's "The Pro Show" make sure to catch weekly brand-new podcasts being recorded live every Tuesday until Christmas at Escape Coffee (916 Willy Street) from 7:00 am to 9:00 am, or listen to the recorded podcasts on http://mortymadcat.libsyn.com/

Let's go. Spread the word. Get the signatures. Let's show everyone that the airwaves DO belong to the people!

Aldous Tyler,
"TLYMAWYA",
The Liberal Your Mother Always Warned You About

And listeners to WKBF in the Quad Cities were taken by surprise this morning at 10:47 when, during an airing of The Stephanie Miller Show, the station's signal abruptly went dead, and soon returned with the sounds of holiday Christmas music as "Truth 1270" took to the airwaves. This format flip was expected, since Mercury Broadcasting (Clear Channel operated the station for them, but were required by FCC rules to divest of it) sold the station back in October to a new owner who planned to program a Christian-based format. The station, which initially picked up progressive talk in April 2005 will air the sounds of the season all the way through Christmas. Bill O'Reilly would be so proud!

Vague rumors of the demise of Boston's liberal talk simulcast of WXKS/WKOX have circulated around for the past week or so, but have died down a bit in recent days as "Boston's Progressive Talk" decided to shuffle their schedule a bit, dropping Al Franken's show for Thom Hartmann. Now, they seem to be second-guessing, as they have now asked the listeners' help in determining their mid-afternoon lineup. Since Ed Schultz will begin airing his show live in the 12-3PM ET slot starting next week, the station asks its listeners who they should put on. Should they air Schultz live? Go with the recently added Hartmann in the slot, or put on Franken (who they announced last week as being dropped from the station). Decisions, decisions. So take your pick, and vote here.

Jerry Springer, who yesterday announced his departure from radio, did his last live show today, and will air in reruns to finish out the week. Chicago's WCPT will waste no time replacing him, as Stephanie Miller makes her Windy City debut tomorrow. Look for Miller and her sidekick Jim Ward to make heavy use of their mock 'Chicahhhgoh' accents. Springer's other main affiliate, WSAI in Cincinnati, will announce their future plans later this week.

And speaking of left-leaning low-brow TV talk show hosts, remember Richard Bey? Well, the former TV talker has been filling in for Alex Bennett on his Sirius Left show, though Bennett's fans have mixed opinions of him. Look for Alex, whose San Francisco morning radio shows of the 80s and 90s made for some of the funniest moments in the history of broadcasting (yes, it's true!) to return tomorrow.

Springer to end radio show

The writing was on the wall.

As part of an on-going shift in the liberal talk radio landscape, and three months after a schedule alignment at Air America Radio that saw him scuttled off to the secondary syndicated feed, mid-morning host Jerry Springer announced on his show today that, due to a heavy schedule of outside commitments, he is leaving his radio show effective Friday December 8.

Springer has offers of a movie role and a possible Super Bowl commercial, partly thanks to his exposure on Dancing With The Stars. "These things are not going to come around again, particularly at my age, so I might as well take advantage of them," said Springer, 62.

He's filming a Bud Light commercial next week, which may air during the Super Bowl. And he recently taped a guest shot on ABC’s George Lopez sitcom, as a boyfriend for Lopez’s mother, and was asked to become a recurring character, he says. In February, he’ll play a rabbi in a feature film called God Only Knows. With all of that, a daily radio show, and a still-popular daily TV show, fitting everything into his schedule proved difficult.

"Radio is a full-time job, and I just couldn’t do it," Springer said.

He will be live on the air through at least Wednesday, but scheduling conflicts may result in best-of shows on Thursday and Friday.

Springer's departure was rumored last week, as one of his few remaining affiliates, WCPT in Chicago, announced that they were dropping his show, effective December 8. No word on what his other high-profile affiliate, WSAI in Cincinnati, will slot in his place, though an announcement regarding the station's future will be made later on this week. Recently, the website for his radio show was taken down, and now redirects to AAR's official site.

Springer, the former Cincinnati mayor most known for his outrageous, trashy TV talk show, made his radio debut on January 17, 2005 on WCKY in Cincinnati (eventually moving to WSAI), with the intent of taking "Springer on the Radio" into national syndication. A month later, he was on WDTW in Detroit, and a couple more stations followed, most notably WTAM in Cleveland, which airs mostly conservative talk. By April 1, Air America took over syndication of his show, and added him to their daily schedule, replacing Unfiltered.

Things went well for Springer. Though his lack of radio talk experience was initially noticeable, he added more affiliates, particularly stations that were airing the straight AAR feed. But there was a new presense to be dealt with, namely the rapidly-rising Stephanie Miller, whose breezy, humorous take on the liberal talk genre was quickly winning her affiliates, listeners and ratings in the same time slot. Springer's show hardly stood a chance.

As time went on, more and more affiliates began replacing the morning AAR programming with Miller's increasingly successful show. And AAR was looking to make even more changes. Following a turbulent August 2006, which saw the firing of night host Mike Malloy, the departure of evening co-host Janeane Garofalo (due to outside demands of her own) and rumors of a pending bankruptcy, AAR announced a revamp of their on-air roster, which saw Garofalo's co-host Sam Seder moving to the network's mid-morning shift. Springer, rumored to be dropped by the network, was shuffled over to and buried in a secondary syndicated feed, available to any affiliate that opted to carry the show. As a result, many of Springer's affiliates were gone, leaving WCPT, WSAI and perhaps a few other stations still carrying his show. The outcome of this was that Springer seemed to rebel against his syndicator, enlisting exiled hosts like Malloy and Mark Maron as vacation fill-ins. But with the loss of his affiliates, and the conflicts with his other gigs, the demise of Springer on the Radio was inevitable

Radio was certainly not Springer's main job. Initially, he fit in the radio gig with tapings of the TV show on Mondays and Tuesdays in his home base of Chicago, and commuted back and forth between there and Cincinnati. In recent months, he was in Cincinnati only once, due to his hectic schedule. "I did one show in three months from Cincinnati. That’s absurd. That’s not fair," said Springer.

He also recently appeared in Season Three of the hit ABC show Dancing With The Stars, which he took on in part so he could learn how to dance for his daughter's upcoming wedding.

Springer's name was practically a household word due to his long-running television show (provided, of course, that the household in question was either a single or double-wide). And he was an actual former politician. While a mere two years in radio is hardly enough time to create a legacy, Springer did manage to accomplish a few key things. First, he helped bring a more mainstream, commercial feel to the genre, as his show was produced by Clear Channel and syndicated in partnership with AAR. Predominantly conservative talk stations like WTAM briefly picked up his show, then unheard of for AAR. Fill-in hosts consisted of unpredictable choices like longtime Cleveland radio morning host/recovering Republican John Lanigan and Clear Channel-Cleveland exec Kevin Metheny (a.k.a. the venemous boss "Pig Vomit" of Howard Stern's book and film "Private Parts"), who was, surprisingly, not bad (though I kinda expected him to sound like Paul Giamatti). He also sought to prove that the 'ringmaster' of trash TV was indeed capable of serious thought.

The Jerry Springer of radio was considerably different than the Jerry Springer of shlock TV. And believe it or not, he was more outspoken on his much more toned-down radio show. Keep in mind that on his TV show, Springer often just steps back and lets the chairs and fists fly. He doesn't really inject a whole lot of opinion during the course of an hour. In the radio studio, it was all him, talking about the liberal and Democratic issues he was concerned with, and speaking his mind freely. His goal was to distance himself somewhat from his rather silly TV show and prove that he does, in fact, have something to say. And he did.

Air America negotiations go into overtime

So, I assume you were all waiting with nervous anticipation to find out the fate of Air America Radio, right? Today was supposed to be the day, with representatives of the network in a corporate pow-wow, followed by a court hearing this afternoon, supposedly to announce a deal to guarantee the fledgeling network's survival.

Well, we'll all have to wait.

According to All Access, Air America is deep in negotiations with a potential buyer and may have an announcement possibly by the middle of next week about plans to continue the network's operation.

The network has sent an e-mail to affiliates from VP/Public Relations Jaime Horn about a "plan to take us into a future beyond bankruptcy... we appreciate your patience and dedication to Air America through this difficult period, we know that we continue to exist because of your faith in our programming."

AAR had been given an extra week beyond the original court-imposed November 22 deadline to find a buyer, but the negotiations have gone into overtime and the network continues to receive financing while the deal is negotiated.

Meanwhile, in a few moves that will likely see Brian Maloney having triple orgasms (eeeewwwww!), his best friend Al Franken, who's future in radio has been the topic of many rumors, has been moved or altogether dropped by several stations, a couple likely due to Ed Schultz's move into direct competition with him effective December 11. Franken's weekday show has been dropped by WXKS/WKOX in Boston, as well as WARF in Akron, OH. At WCPT in Chicago, Franken and Schultz swap timeslots. The three stations are likely hedging their bets against Franken's rumored departure from his radio show. The move in Boston can be partly attributed to the recent success of timeslot competitor Thom Hartmann, whose show actually beats 800 lb. radio gorilla Rush Limbaugh head to head in Seattle.

Stations start shuffling lineups, Springer might leave radio

In the wake of The Ed Schultz Show moving to an earlier timeslot, the first station to adjust their schedule in response is WCPT (850AM) in Chicago, which has announced a lineup change, as reported by the Sun-Times' Robert Feder.

Effective Dec. 11, the daytime-only station will air Bill Press from sign-on to 8AM (CT), adds Stephanie Miller (previously heard on weekends in best-of form) from 8 to 11AM, Ed Schultz from 11AM to 2PM, Al Franken on tape-delay from 2 to 5PM, and Randi Rhodes on tape-delay from 5PM to sign-off.

It should be noted that the move of Schultz's show to middays may not affect all of his affiliates, since Jones Radio Networks will offer a refeed of the program during his original slot (3-6PM ET), for stations that can't air him in middays or are unable to record his show for later airing. As a result, it's likely that not all stations will choose to follow his move immediately.

One name missing from WCPT's new roster is Jerry Springer, whose radio show has been airing from 8 to 11AM local time. Springer will exit the Newsweb-owned station for now -- and could be stepping down from radio entirely. This would not be a surprising move, since his show has been losing serious traction in the past year. Currently, Springer airs only on a few stations, most notably WCPT and WSAI (1360AM) in his hometown of Cincinnati.

The late-morning time slot is a difficult one, due mostly to the fact that on the West Coast, this is morning drive, and quite a few stations there carry their own local programming. Of course Springer has also struggled against one of the highest-rated talents in the format, namely Stephanie Miller, who's show airs at the same time and has picked up many affiliates. Add in Air America Radio's roster realignment this past September, which had Springer shuffled off to a secondary feed and Sam Seder taking his main network timeslot, and it was evident that Springer's days were numbered.

Springer, who's experience has been in Cincinnati politics (as former mayor) and television, has done a respectable job as a radio novice, but never really caught on with progressive talk listeners, who feel he's a bit bland. As the format shakes itself out, and the fate of Air America could be learned today, Schultz' move and Springer's departure could be just the first shoes to drop.

And special thanks to Bob, who posted a comment about WKOX/WXKS in Boston, which will drop Franken and replace him with Thom Hartmann. Schultz will remain in the 3-6PM slot, via the delayed feed. This also seems to contradict rumors that the two stations will change formats in the near future. I expect local Clear Channel management to make a decision on the future of "Boston's Progressive Talk" once the pending power upgrade to WKOX is complete, which could see at least one of the stations changing format, as WKOX's new 50,000 watt day and night signal should clear up their current reception issues. The new signal will improve on WXKS' better city coverage, making the two signals redundant. And as updated, it looks like the two stations are changing formats anyway, so this is all a moot point.

Hartmann has also recently replaced Franken on KQKE in San Francisco and new affiliate WCMI in Ashland, KY/Huntington, WV.

The Central Massachusetts trio of WHMP/WHNP/WHMQ has dropped Randi Rhodes and has replaced her with Schultz. However, she may be brought back via evening time delay if Franken decides to leave radio. Franken's decision could happen as soon as Tuesday December 5.

And WINZ in Miami will carry Schultz live starting Monday December 11, bumping Franken to the delayed 6-9PM ET slot. As a result, Randi Rhodes' show will air live 3-6p ET. Rhodes is no stranger to success in South Florida, as her current radio show got its start on WJNO in West Palm Beach, located just north of Miami.

Washington, DC's WWRC is adding Bill Press to morning drive effective next Monday, displacing The Young Turks. Schultz gets a live clearance in the nation's capital from 12-3PM, and Franken will air on delay from 3-6PM.

In the Twin Cities, KTNF (950AM) will give Schultz another live clearance, moving hometown host Franken to 2-5ET. From December 18 through the end of the year, while Franken is in reruns while he's touring with the USO in Iraq, Hartmann will air during that timeslot.