The fight for Progressive Talk on the nation's airwaves

Aldous Tyler has written an article for OpEd News, discussing the current grassroots movement to support liberal talk radio. Here's an excerpt:

When Phoenix lost its Progressive Talk station at the end of February, 2006, we teamed up and fought with them to get them back on the air. By April 6th, they had a new station and were broadcasting.

When Madison's "The Mic" 92.1 FM was scheduled to be flipped to Fox Sports Radio, we stood tall with Valerie Walasek and forced management to reconsider, keeping the station's format continuous. We are now involved in the fight to get the local shows back on the air, either on The Mic or elsewhere if we must.

These two tales are hardly isolated. Boston, a city that boasts having voted over 70% Democrat in November, has had their Progressive Talk station switched with no warning to Hispanic/Latino programming. Nothing wrong with that on its face, until you realize that only 14% of Boston's populace is Hispanic or Latino.

Even if you were to assume that there are no Bostonian Hispanics or Latinos who are also Progressives, switching formats cuts your potential audience to 1/5th its original size. Considering the excuse to flip it was a lack of advertising sales and listenership, this move makes no sense at all. Oh, and THEN they went and cranked the signal power up on the station.

In Columbus, OH, they were told on December 21st that at 9:00 am on Tuesday, January 9th, their Progressive Talk station was going to be flipped to conservative talk programming. In short order, a grassroots movement formed and put together a petition that collected over 2,300 signatures in the short week and a half of its existence. They planned a rally for the day before the format change, Monday, January 8th, that would be broadcast over the airwaves via the Stephanie Miller Show. Mary Jo Kilroy, the County Commissioner, and a number of others lined up to speak.

That morning, John Crenshaw of Clear Channel Columbus flipped the switch a day early so as not to broadcast the rally over Columbus' airwaves via the Progressive Talk station, which carried the Stephanie Miller Show. His excuse? "The Buckeyes are playing tonight, and we felt we should offer pre-game programming." As of this moment, if you call Clear Channel Columbus at 614-486-6101, they offer to take your name and number to be "called back" about the decision.

As of this writing, there are at least thirteen more markets that have either flipped from Progressive Talk recently, or are about to be. Knowing we can help reverse this trend, we have formed the NonStop Radio project. Based out of www.NonStopRadio.com, the project has the following three core purposes:

1. To discover and assist grassroots movements in keeping threatened Progressive Talk stations on the air for their communities,

2. To assist grassroots efforts in re-establishing Progressive Talk stations where they have been canceled, or set up new Progressive Talk stations for markets not yet exposed to it, and

3. To act as a clearinghouse of information so that activists everywhere can come to the aid of threatened and canceled stations, and to also distribute tips and tricks so that any non-threatened station can be made less vulnerable by its supporters.

Given that many of these decisions to flip Progressive Talk outlets have come since the 2006 elections, it becomes clear that there is an effort afoot to quash the format. DNC Chair Howard Dean credits Air America, one of the most prominent broadcasters of Progressive Talk, as being the deciding factor in at least eight congressional wins for Democratic candidates in 2006. This effect cannot have escaped the notice of the conglomerates who own many, many of the stations Progressive Talk broadcasts on. These corporations, such as Entercom, Clear Channel and others, donate heavily to Republican candidates. It must have hurt to see their boys lose and realize that some of their stations, the ones that carry Progressive Talk, helped that happen.

But don't for a minute think this is being done out of revenge. No, the concerted attack on Progressive Talk has far more to do with fear. After all, right now, the balance of power in the Senate is tenuously in the Democratic Party's control. In 2008, 21 of the 33 Senators up for re-election are Republicans. The last thing these GOP-supporting corporations want is to let another 8 (or more) seats fall out of Republican control! Their only hope of regaining control of either house of Congress lies with destroying the ability of Progressives and Liberals to communicate en masse.

Don't let this happen. Join with NonStop Radio and fight for the continuation and proliferation of Progressive Talk.

Yours in the Cause,
Aldous Tyler,
NonStop Radio

Playing catch-up

Well, the chaos of the holiday season is now behind us, and it's time to get back to the everyday grind and start 2007 off right.

Nothing earth-shattering happened over the holidays, save for the New Years Eve stroke-of-twelve Saddam drop that happened a few days early, and the ensuing bloodlust that followed as Drudge and his ilk raced to spread the snuff film footage across the tubes. Oh, and we lost much better men in James Brown and Gerald Ford over the holidays. Our condolences to them.

Obviously, we can't forget the 3,000th U.S. casualty lost in Iraq, which is very sad. Let's hope this new Congress coming in Thursday can bring the rest of them home. In one piece. Oh, and was that a giant "IMPEACH" sign at the Rose Parade? NBC cut away from that one pretty quick, didn't it? Perhaps the fans of Michigan's football team want to impeach their coach after USC handed them what's left of their asses in the Rose Bowl.

So, enough chit-chat, time to bring you all up to speed. And we start off with the flurry of grassroots efforts taking place in Columbus, Boston and the longer-running effort in Dallas, by listeners who want their progressive talk back. All efforts have petitions up and running, and have also been very agressive in their efforts.

Perhaps the most aggressive of the groups is the one in Columbus, where they currently have a petition with 1,600 signatures so far. One WTPG fan even called the Ed Schultz show, guest hosted by Norman Goldman, to promote the group's efforts. This prompted Schultz himself to immediately call in from his vacation time to give his encouragement to the effort.

Of course, WTPG's owners aren't balking yet, and in Columbus, account execs at WTPG are turning down advertising. At least advertising from Ohio Majority, who attempted to purchase ten 30-second spots to promote their cause. Management said no way. And disenfranchised advertisers are proceeding to purchase time further up I-71 in Akron, advertising on the webstream of co-owned WARF. Currently, the group wants to negotiate with WTPG management to give the format at least one more month. They also are planning a rally, or 'intervention', as they call it.

Aldous Tyler, a major figure in the effort to save WXXM in Madison, debuted a new website, NonStop Radio.com, devoted to promoting grassroots efforts to save progressive talk formats in a variety of markets. He also debuted a podcast as well. Tyler also reports that two markets could lose their progressive talk formats in the coming months. In Baton Rouge, Clear Channel is selling WPYR, and the sale could be sealed by April. And in Little Rock, station and facility issues at KXDE will likely prompt Nova M Radio, which has been leasing the station, to pull out of that situation. No exact reason is known, but the station has been having some technical issues as of late. Nova M is no longer promoting KXDE on their website.

As various groups try to save or bring back progressive talk to their towns, another group is still plugging away trying to bring it to theirs. Air America Milwaukee sent out a newsletter, which talks about the efforts in nearby Madison (which they supported) and similar efforts in Phoenix earlier this year:

This turn of events is being hailed as a national precedent, and a high-water mark for progressive talk radio in America. It's a success that should inspire our campaign to bring progressive talk to Milwaukee.

But there's one key difference between Milwaukee, Madison, and Phoenix. The other two cities already had a base of loyal listeners and advertisers, and organizers were able to build upon that. For us, it's more of an uphill battle. The majority of Milwaukeeans have never heard Air America, Nova M, Democracy Now!, or any of the rest.

That means it's up to US to spread the word, to share progressive radio with others – whether via internet streaming, podcasting, or satellite radio – and, most importantly, by getting involved with the Milwaukee Air Force. We have a number of exciting plans for the New Year. We'll be beefing up our web presence, and we hope to offer original local progressive talk programming there. Ultimately, our goal is to get progressive talk on an over-the-air station in the Milwaukee metropolitan radio market.

A tall order. Which is why we need your help. We need you to get the word out about progressive talk radio to your friends, family, and acquaintances. Just send them to our site at http://AirAmericaMilwaukee.com. Urge them to listen to a few shows, and encourage them sign up for our email list. Then tell them to spread the word. We need to steadily grow our movement, so that a multitude of Milwaukeeans will demand a sane radio alternative to radical rightwing rubbish.

Our core group of organizers will be meeting just after the first of the year to work out the next steps. We will keep you in the loop along the way and let you know when specific help from you is needed. You can continue to check for updates at http://AirAmericaMilwaukee.com for now. But also watch for our brand new site, coming soon. And in the meantime, spread the word about progressive talk radio to everyone in the Milwaukee area who will listen.

And, on an unrelated note, Mike Malloy has picked up a new radio affiliate. Effective last night, he will now be on WINZ in Miami. The station also picks up Lionel's show for a delayed airing in the overnight hours.

Stephanie Miller gains a new affiliate, as KTRC in Santa Fe, NM picks her up, displacing Sam Seder. Thom Hartmann will do middays and the rest of the schedule is straight Air America.