XM's America Left changes lineup

An astute XM listener dropped a line wondering why he heard Alex Bennett's Sirius Left morning show on XM's America Left channel yesterday, in place of Stephanie Miller.

From the email:

XM-167 at the moment is airing Alex Bennett instead of a live Stephanie Miller, in normal XM fashion no update on their website. As of noon though Ed Schultz is on so doesn't appear that XM has taken Sirius Left's complete schedule. Hopefully someone will figure it out then ltr can inform the masses :)

Well, it looks like a makeover is going on at XM. Effective yesterday, a few shows have been shuffled around.

The first thing one notices is what's missing, namely Air America. The network has a significantly smaller presence on the new America Left.

The morning starts with Rachel Maddow's newly reconfigured radio show, running from 5-6A. Dial Global's Bill Press, Stephanie Miller and Ed Schultz run live from 6A-3. Then it's Randi Rhodes from 3-6P, Thom Hartmann from 6-9P and Mike Malloy live from 9P-12A. A replay of Sirius Left's Alex Bennett runs from Midnight to 3A.

All in all, it makes sense as a lineup. The schedule is heavy with stable shows. But perhaps they should have taken my advice on how to make liberal talk fans happy.

...Sometimes you gotta break a few eggs

Just a quick Monday update for all of you...

Don't freep me, bro!

You may notice that the Top Talkers poll has been relaunched. I was hoping not to do it, but there were a few problems with it. For one, I forgot to put The Young Turks (a.k.a. Cenk Uygur) on there. That was a glaring omission on my part. Sorry 'bout that. It's on there now.

I saved the results of the first 1,000 votes, and they will be factored in somehow. If you've already voted, you may do so again.

Furthermore, even after I asked that readers abstain from stuffing the ballot box, it happened anyway. I guess this time I should be a bit more specific - please don't freep the poll. I would prefer if people didn't 'skew' the results or encourage mass attacks to tilt the results. I agree that some fans tend to get a bit overzealous about their favorites, but come on!

Just a humble request. Let's keep this all fair. Please don't phony the results. Thank you.

Sirius, XM begin programming merger

Rolling Stone reports that recently merged satellite providers Sirius and XM will begin merging their lineups this Wednesday, November 12. The programming changes were announced on several channels on each service.

The merge actually started in the weeks following the XM/Sirius deal, as Howard Stern was added to XM’s lineup. Neither Sirius nor XM has announced the realigned station breakdown as of yet, though Sirius’ oldies icon Cousin Brucie will reportedly become available on XM, meaning XM’s own oldies station is in danger of becoming dead air. Other genres across the board will also face similar showdowns between their cross-radio counterparts.

Obama 1260 rolls on

From DCRTV:

"Freedom 570" For WTNT - 11/7 - DCRTV hears that Red Zebra righty talker WTNT is dropping its "McCain 570" moniker with the loss of the Republican in the recent presidential election. It'll now be known as "Freedom 570." RZ will continue to brand lefty talker WWRC as "Obama 1260." (No, it won't become "Socialist 1260," as some GOPers would probably prefer.) Says Greg Tantum, program director of both stations: "The election served as a huge focus group and we heard the overwhelming message the audience wants a choice in what they hear on the radio. We have a series of special events planned between now and the inauguration for both stations to keep the spirit of free and fair speech alive".....

Morning @#!$&!% You!!!

Finally, here's a lesson to be learned. Don't cuss in the studio. Ever. I'm guessing that MSNBC's Joe Scarborough has learned this the hard way:

Mid-week roundup

As I try to wrap my head around what kinds of hallucinogenic drugs John McCain must be ingesting, it's time to catch up with some of the big stories going on in the world of media...

Wilmington gets digitized

The plug was pulled at noon Monday, as Federal Communications Commission chairman Kevin Martin and Wilmington, N.C., Mayor Bill Saffo flipped a huge, symbolic digital light switch to end full-power analog TV in the market, making the market the first to switch to all-digital broadcasting.

The symbolic move, the latest prior to the nationwide switch to digital on February 17, 2009, had all of the market's major stations pulling the plug on analog at the same time. The market's station owners all agreed on May 8 to volunteer to become a test market for the FCC, becoming the first to go all-digital.

As expected, the switch did bring in a few calls out of the estimated 13,000 local households that receive broadcasts via antenna, with roughly 226 logged as of Tuesday. Surprisingly, only one call was from a viewer who was surprised by the switch, with most of them needing assistance in setting up their DTV converter boxes correctly (hint: Use the autoscan feature), reception issues or inquiring into the whereabouts of their requested $40 government-issued voucher coupons.

The Wilmington shut-off most importantly shows the importance of being prepared for the upcoming analog-to-digital switch, with only five months to go. If you don't subscribe to cable, satellite or other subscription means, and your television is several years old (without digital channel reception capabilities), you need to get a converter box. As you may know, Uncle Sam will foot $40 toward the cost of the box (which averages roughly $50-60 retail). Log in to dtv2009.gov to apply for up to two vouchers. For those of you with friends or relatives unaware of the change that still use an antenna, this is the perfect opportunity to remind them, and to give enough lead time to prepare for the conversion.

Regardless, many see the upcoming digital switch as a major pain in the ass. In reality, it shouldn't be. Digital channels should come in much clearer than their analog counterparts. The digital picture is clear - DVD quality. And many stations carry subchannels on their digital signals, which allows for additional programming. Most NBC affiliates carry Weather Plus, which carries full-time local weather updates. Many PBS affiliates have feeds of extra programming, such as the excellent PBS World. And others are carrying channels such as RTN, .2 Network or the upcoming MGM channel, This TV (to launch this fall in Chicago and Milwaukee so far), all of which specialize in classic reruns and movies.

Think of it as getting better reception and more channels. Not a bad motivation to pay $10-20 dollars for a small box.

The Sirius XM lovechild

As the nation's two satellite radio services proceed with their merger, listeners of either service will soon be able to hear programming from the former rivals, meaning that XM subscribers will soon be able to hear Howard Stern and NFL games, while Sirius subscribers will get Opie and Anthony, Oprah Winfrey and PGA broadcasts (golf on radio?).

The combined company announced this week a content lineup for Sirius XM's new "Best of Both" programming options. As part of "Best of Both" programming, most current XM customers will continue to receive their existing XM service, and be able to obtain select Sirius programming. Likewise, Sirius listeners will be able to access some XM programming.

In addition to their existing service, Sirius subscribers will have access to XM-exclusive sports such as the NHL and select college sports, in addition to Opie and Anthony's "The Virus," "Oprah and Friends," and XM's public radio offerings, including Bob Edwards. XM fans will be able to hear Howard Stern, Martha Stewart's "Living" channel, Playboy Radio and sports offerings from the NFL and NASCAR.

As you may have noticed, liberal channels such as Air America and Sirius Left are not on the list currently, a surprise, since the two channels are an obvious drawing card for their respective services.

Right-wing station sued for bias

An interesting item from Los Angeles, as Salem Communications owner Ed Atsinger is being sued for the obvious right-wing slant of local talk station KRLA. The Glendale News Press reports that the plaintiff, David Birke, who describes himself as a Democrat, is suing the station and its hosts, including Salem's Dennis Prager, Michael Medved, Hugh Hewitt and Mike Gallagher, KRLA local host Kevin James (link), TRN's Laura Ingraham and Westwood One's Dennis Miller. Birke alleges that the station defrauds the public and misrepresented itself to the FCC by featuring only conservative hosts and "Republican issues."

Birke's complaint alleges that KRLA "has never allowed a Democrat to host a show; uses call screening to 'suppress' calls from Democratic supporters; and violates "campaign finance laws by providing free media for advertising, attacks on Democrats, fundraising and promotion exclusively to GOP officials and candidates.'"

His attorney Johnny Birke (not sure if there's a relation) stated, "This a legal attack about the facts and law about what these defendants did and what they are doing on the airwaves."

The suit will likely go nowhere. The FCC has consistently declined to interfere in programming decisions since the abolition of the Fairness Doctrine and does not require stations to balance programming.

Personally, I have always held the belief that station owners should be free to do whatever format they want. We all know that Salem is a corporate media sinkhole propped up by the revenue brought in by the fundamentalist religious formats airing on many of their stations. And we all know that roughly 95% of the public does not listen to political talk radio of any kind, and most of it just preaches to the respective choirs anyway. I think too many make too big a deal of it.

Stephanie Miller out in San Diego

Speaking of KRLA, Salem and Laura Ingraham seem to have parted ways. She is off all of the stations that had aired her show, and in Los Angeles, she takes her show to rival KGIL/XESURF, which serve Los Angeles and San Diego respectively.

While most people here could likely care less about Ingraham, it is noteworthy in that her show will replace that of Stephanie Miller on the San Diego station, only a few months after being added to the lineup. Local liberal talker Michael Jackson is also gone in the shuffle.

Wait! Wait... Just Watch Me!

Are you a fan of NPR's hilarious weekly game show "Wait Wait... Don't Tell Me!"? If you are, you'll be pleased to know that it will soon hit the TV screen.

A TV pilot version of the show is being developed by CBS Entertainment, always on the prowl for new game show ideas. And unlike most of the crap passing for game show/reality competitions, nobody will be forced to run through obstacle courses, live with smelly, irritating roommates or eat live bugs. Or that terrible game show on FOX the other night which featured teams of people jumping through walls. It's just a fun little quiz show that's a bit more challenging than opening suitcases full of money. Think "Jeopardy," but with a bit more wit.

Host Peter Sagal and judge/scorekeeper Carl Kasell will appear in the pilot, with show creator/executive producer Doug Berman serving in a similar role for the TV version.

The hour-long show is produced by Chicago Pubic Radio in association with National Public Radio and is structured like a quiz show, focusing on current news subjects. No word on whether the show will air on the CBS network or via their syndication arm.

Article of the day

Finally, for those of you interested, the Seattle Post-Intelligencer has an article on local boy Ron Reagan, who just started a new show on Air America. His show airs from 8-9P weeknights. I haven't had the chance to tune in, but dedicated reader FSL claims that it's better than fried spam and mayonaise sandwiches, and more fun than Sarah Palin in granny panties. Check it out.

Clash (and consolidation) of the titans

Okay, so now it looks as if hell has officially frozen over, with two big industry transactions taking place within days of each other. And it looks like the book has been closed on each of those chapters, so I can actually make mention of them without being teased yet again by the boy who cried wolf.

First, after a year and a half of dickering around, and less than a week after the FCC finally threw their hands in the air, the Sirius/XM merger is now in the books. Yes, officially. The company will now be called Sirius XM Radio Inc. (traded on NASDAQ via the SIRI symbol, for those of you who keep track of that sort of thing). NOt a whole lot else is known yet, except for the fact that the combined company will be led by Sirius CEO Mel Karmazin, with XM Chairman Gary Parsons serving as chairman of the new company.

Sirius XM will be headquartered in New York, where Sirius is based. XM Satellite will now be a wholly-owned subsidiary of Sirius and will keep its Washington broadcasting headquarters.

Existing customers of either service will be able to retain their current service and existing radio receivers will continue to work, Sirius XM claims. Subscribers will also now have the option to pick from different packages of channels, known as a la carte programming.

Of course, what those programming choices will consist of has yet to be determined, though some suggestions have been made here.

In the other big broadcasting deal, Clear Channel stockholders have finally agreed, based on a preliminary vote, to go forward with the sale of the company to a private equity group led by Bain Capital Partners LLC and Thomas H. Lee Partners LP. Clear Channel initially entered into the merger agreement with the Bain/Lee group in November 2006. The parties now expect to consummate the deal on July 30. The new group will be known as CC Media Holdings Inc.

Nothing is known about the new company's plans, but if other venture capital investments are any clue, it will be mostly downsizing-related, to minimize expenditures and maximize profits. The concept of actually beefing up product rather than slashing it to pieces is often lost on these people.

A peek inside XM's retooled 'America Left'

Come Monday, fans of XM's Air America channel (ch. 167) will notice quite a few changes, as they ditch the Air America moniker and return to the original name, America Left.

After several weeks of speculation, XM has quietly unveiled their new lineup, with a few notable additions and a few subtractions as well. One theme that carries throughout is their attempt to air as many shows as possible by cutting off an hour on several of them. Unfortunately, they didn't go for my idea of setting up several devoted progressive talk channels. Yet.

First, Bill Press remains from the old lineup, but gets an hour shaved off. You can find him 6-8A ET.

The Young Turks, formerly of Sirius and Air America, return to the weekday radio grind after airing exclusively online since January. The new show, airing on America Left weekday mornings 8-10 ET, will actually be a replay of their online show from the night before (which will air 9-11P). At least the gang will be able to sleep in, given that they're based in California, and would otherwise be up very early in the morning to do their morning thing.

Stephanie Miller fans will be happy to hear that her show finally makes it to the XM satellites. She will air in truncated form from 10A-noon.

One personality who's show will not get sliced up is Ed Schultz, who will air live from noon to 3P. Ditto for Randi Rhodes, who's three hour show will follow in its entirety.

Rachel Maddow will air on America Left in truncated form, from 6-8P. Unfortunately, that means listeners will get that obnoxious MSNBC screaming pundits show that makes up the first hour of her show.

Thom Hartmann is still on XM, but only two hours of his show will air on delay, from 8-10P. As with many Air America affiliates these days, he'll get a replay from 4-6A.

In the late night hours, Mike Malloy comes on from 10P-midnight, followed by Air America's Clout from midnight to 2A and Jon Elliot in two hour form from 2-4A.

Speaking of XM, the proposed merger with Sirius, which was rumored many times to have been consummated by now, is still plodding along. In the most recent development, 16 state attorneys general have come out and criticized the merger, and are also on board the bandwagon that favors leasing part of the combined satellite radio spectrum to outside programmers.

How to merge Sirius and XM and make progressive talk radio fans happy

As the merger between the two satellite radio providers Sirius and XM drag on, it's starting to look like this thing could actually happen. After seventeen long months, this merger could finally be consummated.

The combined company will create more opportunities for programming choices by eliminating redundant channels (i.e. channels that air virtually the same type of content). They promise that this will allow for a wider variety of programming.

There are a few hurdles yet to be jumped, such as the issue over interoperable receivers that can pick up the signals of both providers. There's also the issue of all that bandwidth that they would have at their disposal. Sirius currently broadcasts using 12.5 MHz of the S band spectrum between 2320 and 2332.5 MHz. The XM signal uses the same amount of that band: 2332.5 to 2345.0 MHz.

They are also offering up the idea of a la carte offerings, featuring the best of both services, as well as special packages tailored to fans of music, talk or family-friendly programming, as a way of avoiding the gouging of subscribers and to mollify concerns of monopolizing a huge chunk of the broadcast spectrum.

In addition, there are rumblings from various parties, including the Congressional Black Caucus, to set aside and lease out several channels for minority-oriented, public service and educational and informative programming. As mentioned here the other day, what that would include is still very vague. So far, it could look like a total of twelve channels will be allotted for this.

Since I wrote about XM's planned retooling of its liberal talk channel the other day, there has been a lot of spirited conversation about the issue. Long-term, the question is what will become of the format on a combined satellite provider? Will there be more? Less? Will they make a play for fans of progressive talk, who subscribe mainly to get programming that they otherwise have a hard time getting? How can a combined XM/Sirius make them happy? After all, a merged company may just be desperate enough to do something to attract subscribers. One of these areas is liberal/progressive talk. Hey, it's why you're reading this blog, right? So let's talk about it.

First, let's take a look the political talk offerings of both providers. On XM, the primary news and information channel lineup looks something like this:

121 Fox News Channel
122 CNN
123 CNN Headline News
127 CNBC
128 Fox Business Network
129 Bloomberg Radio
130 P.O.T.U.S `08 (2008 Presidential Election News and Updates)
131 BBC World Service
132 C-SPAN Radio
133 XM Public Radio

The TV news channels listed are straight audio feeds of those services. XM Public Radio airs programming from smaller noncommercial networks such as American Public Media, as well as a morning XM-exclusive show from Bob Edwards. P.O.T.U.S '08 airs news and content concerning this year's presidential election, and is available on an XM receiver without a subscription.

XM politically-oriented talk radio programming consists of:

134 The Agenda (online only, loop of liberal talk show from Joe Solmonese)
165 Talk Radio (mostly conservative and self-help - majority of programming from Premiere Radio Networks)
166 America Right (conservative Talk)
167 Air America Radio (progressive Talk)
168 Fox News Talk (conservative plus Alan Colmes)
169 The Power (African-American Talk)
170 FamilyTalk (right-wing religious talk)

XM also carries most of the audio of WLW from Cincinnati on one channel, which features quite a bit of conservative talk and duplicates some of the offerings of XM Talk Radio. This is part of a deal they have with Clear Channel Communications, which owns WLW. The Power airs an African-American talk format, and is not all political.

All in all, that's four conservative channels to one true liberal channel. I didn't count FOX News, since I could spend an entire other entry talking about that one. We'll leave it out of the equation for now, but make a mental note of it, since it obviously has a blatant bias.

Now, let's take a look at Sirius. For news and information, they have much of the same stuff:

129 CNBC
130 Bloomberg Radio
131 Fox News Channel
132 CNN
133 CNN Headline News
141 BBC World Service News

They also carry:

134 NPR Now
135 NPR Talk
137 CBC Radio One
140 World Radio Network (WRN)

For political talk they offer:

109 Sirius OutQ
110 Indie Talk (all over the map)
144 Sirius Patriot (conservative talk)
145 Fox News Talk (conservative talk)
146 Sirius Left (liberal talk)
161 FamilyNet Radio

OutQ and FamilyNet Radio aren't really political talk, but we'll include it anyway, since they both feature opinionated political talk, in addition to non-political content. They also both kinda balance each other out. So, that gives Sirius listeners two conservative talk channels (plus FamilyNet) to one liberal channel (plus a few shows on OutQ). Conservatives also have FOX News Channel. Liberal listeners may also be attracted to the in-depth and international news programming on BBC World Service, NPR, CBC and WRN. Still, that's not really liberal talk.

Let's take a look at each provider's dedicated liberal talk channels. Here's what's on Sirius Left:

12-3A Thom Hartmann (replay)
3-6A Lynn Samuels (replay)
6-9A Bill Press
9AM-12P Alex Bennett
12-1P Thom Hartmann
1-3P Lynn Samuels
3-5P Ed Schultz
5-8P Make It Plain with Mark Thompson
8-9P Stephanie Miller
9P-12A Mike Malloy

Meanwhile, XM Air America (America Left) carries this lineup:

6-9A Bill Press
9AM-12P Lionel
12-3P Ed Schultz
3-6P Randi Rhodes
6-8P Rachel Maddow
8-10P Thom Hartmann
10P-12A Mike Malloy
12-2A Clout with Richard Green
2-4A Jon Elliott
4-6A Thom Hartmann

So, with the combined XM/Sirius (and let's assume these shows are still in the same place once the merger consumates), here's where we have a little fun. Yes, this is the moment you've all been waiting for. This is one man's speculation as to what could work as far as a decent progressive talk lineup for satellite radio, broken up into three dedicated channels (with half-assed suggested logos to boot!):

Channel 1: "Air America"

This channel would be a straight feed of Air America Radio. That is, if there's still enough people that want to listen to a straight feed of Air America. A dedicated channel would be advantageous to the powers that be there, as they haven't been doing so hot in affiliate clears lately outside of Hartmann and Maddow. They really need to negotiate some kind of deal here to stay relevant.

Channel 2: "Liberty" (or "Truth")

Sirius Liberty was originally the planned name for Sirius Left, intended to go along with conservative counterpart Sirius Patriot. The name was scrapped because the Sirius Left folks preferred the original name. Personally, if the tight-righty crowd likes the name "Patriot" so much (and the opportunity to wag it around in liberals' faces), I think naming this channel "The Truth" would be a pretty good in-your-face to them. This proposed channel would feature non-Air America syndicated talk offerings, mostly from Jones Radio Networks and Nova M Radio. As you can see. they would compliment each other nicely. Here's what a lineup would look like:

6-9A Bill Press
9AM-12P Stephanie Miller
12-3P Ed Schultz
3-6P Randi Rhodes
6-9P Peter B. Collins (the only other live syndicated show available in the slot)
9P-12A Mike Malloy
12-6A Replays or other programming

Channel 3: "America Left"

This would consist of satellite-exclusive offerings and content, along with other fill-in programming. And it would be an effective way of mollifying progressive talk fans turned off by the likes of Lynn Samuels and Alex Bennett. The concept would be similar to channels such as Sirius Stars, Oprah and Friends and Howard 100, which feature exclusive personalities. In addition, a show such as the one-hour Democracy Now could be used to fill in a gap. And the XM-bound Young Turks come full-circle, to the channel resembling their former home at Sirius. Here's the lineup:

9A-12P Alex Bennett
12-1P "Democracy Now" (or other hour-long program)
1-3P Lynn Samuels
3-6P The Young Turks (soon to be on XM)
6-9P Mark Thompson
9P-9A Repeat schedule, or fill with whatever

For weekends, the Air America channel is all covered. For the other two, replays and some original content might work (bloggers, podcasters?). Or go after Pacifica-style independent programming like "Counterspin." They could also seek out web-based ventures such as Head-On Radio or Taylor (gasp!) Marsh. I'm sure they could do it all pretty cheap, and that's the key to all of this - the syndicated outside liberal talk content is available on a barter basis, meaning that they don't have to pony up money for it. They do, however, pay their exclusive hosts such as Bennett, Samuels and Thompson. "Democracy Now" would probably cost some money, though, but that show does deserve a place on satellite radio.

As for the conservative channels on both providers, they can combine to an extent and create at least six channels. Hey, as far as I'm concerned, they could create twenty of these (and they probably could too). The more conservotalk channels there are, the more justification there is to carve out at least a few progressive talk channels. Just for kicks, here's what they would get:

Channel 1: America Right - Hannity, Levin, et. al.
Channel 2: Sirius Patriot successor - exclusive content, more syndicated stuff
Channel 3: FOX News Talk
Channel 4: Whatever's currently on XM165
Channel 5: WLW feed
Channel 6: A mish-mash of syndicated conservotalk also-rans

And then there's Sirius' Indie Talk. Not sure what the longterm concept of this one is, so I'm leaving it out of the equation for now. Let it germinate and see what happens. Sounds like a good idea, but it needs some work.

In addition, I'll leave OutQ, The Power and the religious channels as-is, though each of XM's and Sirius' fire-and-brimstone 'send dem librul heathens to hell' channels could probably be combined into one unlistenable channel.

So there you have it. I just created three liberal talk satellite radio channels and six primarily conservotalk channels. I gave the edge to conservotalk programming because there's just so damn much of it on the market. And it keeps the crybaby conservative crowd from bitching. I don't care, since I don't have to listen to it if I don't want to. Sounds pretty reasonable, right?

Now if you'll excuse me, I'm off to go pat myself on the back. Leave a comment and let the world know what you think of all this.

XM takes a 'left' turn, KIST takes a fall

In a not-so-surprising move, XM Radio is retooling it's "Air America" channel (XM167). Come July 14, the satellite provider brings back its former name - America Left.

The channel will still carry Bill Press, Ed Schultz, Randi Rhodes, Thom Hartmann and Mike Malloy. They are also adding Stephanie Miller and The Young Turks. Miller will likely take the 9A-noon shift currently held be Lionel. No word on what role the Turks, who left Air America earlier this year to do an internet-based afternoon show, play in this grand scheme. The show initially got its start on rival (and soon to be partner) Sirius. And there is no word on possible time shifts for the channel's current offerings.

Speaking of XM and Sirius, FCC chair Kevin Martin and other commissioners have indicated that they're willing to support the long ongoing planned merger between the two companies, with stipulations. Senior members of the Congressional Black Caucus are angling for concessions, such as allocating 4% of the combined company's broadcast spectrum, or twelve channels, to use for programming run by minorities and women. This proposal has been bandied about for awhile, and is quite vague at this point.

Meanwhile, on the left coast, R & R Radio, LLC is selling KIST (1340AM) in Santa Barbara to California Lutheran University for $1.44 million. The school, which owns local noncommercial NPR affiliate KCLU, will convert the station to noncommercial status, according to AllAccess.

The station was sold by Clear Channel a year and a half ago to Rincon Broadcasting. KIST was then spun off to its current owner. Throughout all the ownership changes, the popular progressive talk format remained, most likely due to its strong ratings. Since debuting in early 2005, the 650 watt KIST has been a mainstay in the top ten among stations in the market.

As for whether a station will pick up KIST's successful soon-to-be abandoned progressive talk programming, there is KBKO (1490AM), which is owned by Rincon and is currently in format limbo, duplicating the format and signal of conservotalker KTMS (990AM). There is also KZSB (1290AM), which airs mostly locally produced, block-programmed talk shows hosted by local residents.

Midweek roundup: Rhodes to XM, Newsom to the radio

XM fans may be able to satisfy their Randi Rhodes fix soon. Orbitcast is reporting that Rhodes, who left Air America earlier this month for Nova M Radio, is in talks to return to XM Radio's so-called Air America (ch 167) channel.

An announcement can be expected in the coming weeks, according to sources.

In addition to Air America programming, the channel also carries Nova M stablemate Mike Malloy and Jones Radio Networks' Bill Press and Ed Schultz.

And coming in a few weeks is a new radio show. Chris Mason of KKGN (Green 960) in San Francisco dropped a line to let you all know that they reeled in none other than the city's mayor, Gavin Newsom, who will do a local Saturday afternoon show starting May 3 at noon (PT).

Green 960 Program Director John Scott says "We're really excited about this, and we jumped at the opportunity. Most programs of this type are normally done as part of an existing show, with a regular host. This is Gavin Newsom, on his own, no rules, his passions and his interests. He'll be doing interviews from across the country (when he's traveling) as well. It's going to be a great way for him to engage with his constituents and fans. The test shows we've already done have been really compelling!"

The show will feature interviews with local personalities, newsmakers, and cultural icons, in a relaxed, intimate conversational format; and live phone calls as well.

Contrary to previous reports, the show will not be on Air America. It is strictly exclusive to Green 960. Of course, the station does stream across the country, so anyone interested can tune in via webcast.

Cleaning out the closet Part 1: The industry shell game

Quite often, there are many little goings-on in the radio and media world that are difficult to really flesh out into individual articles. Or there is quite a bit that I may have missed over the course of a few days or weeks or whatever. Over the past month, there were a few items that fell by the wayside. As I write this, I found that I had so much to talk about that I actually had to split it up into three parts. Let's play catch-up, shall we? Here's part one, in which we touch base with happenings in the broadcast industry.

First, there's been a lot going on in the industry. The Sirius/XM merger got closer to reality, as the Department of Justice gave their stamp of approval to Sirius' $5 billion buyout of its satellite radio rival. despite the hurdles thrown out by the land radio-based lobbying group National Association of Broadcasters, regulators felt that the merger is not likely to substantially hurt competition or consumers. The merger still has to pass FCC muster, but it looks like it will get the green light from Chairman Kevin Martin, a notorious fan of overly-consolidated radio.

Although the merger of the only two satellite radio companies will basically create a monopoly, the move could be good for listeners who have had a difficult time choosing between the two. Sirius honcho Mel Karmazin has been floating around the idea of a la carte packages, available for as low as $6.95 a month, to make it go down smoother.

Though detractors claim that the satellite radio merger will create a sanctioned monopoly, all parties involved may see a new kind of competition, from the phone companies. AT&T and Verizon were the big winners in the recent FCC spectrum auction, in which chunks of the 700MHz broadcast spectrum were sold to the two telephone giants. In addition, the conditions of the sale will also allow third parties, such as Google, to participate in one form or another. What's to become of the so-called "C Block"? Likely, we'll see some form of the much-promised Wi-Max technology, which will bring more wireless internet service to portable devices. And with that, people could simply listen to internet radio or more personalized services such as Pandora. with much more efficiency. Nobody knows what exactly will go on with this reallocated spectrum, which is currently being used by television channels 52-69 and will be vacated next February when the country switches full time to digital broadcasting. Which reminds me, have you antenna heads requested your DTV tuner box coupons yet?

While Sirius, XM and the telecommunications industry have something to smile about, the same could not be said for Clear Channel, a company that saw its fortunes skyrocket during the Bush Era. Unfortunately, those same fortunes turned to dust as the Bush Era economy has gone down the toilet. With banks currently afraid of lending money to anyone, this bodes poorly for their proposed sale to a pair of venture capital firms. What comes around goes around...

Elsewhere in the radio industry, the HD Digital Radio Alliance only wishes it had the problems of these 'Masters of the Universe' (borrowing a line from Tom Wolfe). Yes, HD Radio is still around and they're still peddling this poorly-promoted technology, which as of late seems to have fallen off the face of the earth. The cure for this ailment? A new marketing campaign, of course.

They're claiming that consumer awareness of HD Radio is high, at around 77%. But let's get real here - the Alliance's bungling has made it too difficult, expensive and confusing to actually obtain a radio capable of hearing it. Granted, a few auto manufacturers have signed on, most notably Ford and Volvo. But just try finding an after-market audio unit that doesn't require a separate tuner (bringing back the dreaded days of the old FM converters for AM factory units back in the 70s). The earlier generation HD Radio units had their flaws, and seem to have disappeared from the marketplace. Retailers have no clue how to sell them. And where are the portable units? People don't listen to radio that's plugged into a wall socket, unless they're at work, and broadcast signals often have problems penetrating those big glass cubes that house many of these workers. HD Radio has potential (except for the AM part of it, which is a really bad idea), the side channel concept is a really good one, and the technology has room to grow. But it's simply not ready for prime time, and until the Alliance becomes less concerned with collecting royalties off it and becomes far more focused on attracting consumers, it may go the way of AM Stereo. Such wasted potential.

Arbitron ranks the satcasters

Who listens to what on satellite radio?

The answer to that question became clearer yesterday when radio ratings service Arbitron released the first-ever ratings report covering the individual channels of XM and Sirius during the Spring 2007 ratings period. Here, all the individual channels go up against each other, on a rather level playing field, and provides a rather interesting glimpse at the listening habits of subscribers. There were some obvious outcomes and a few surprises.

Not surprisingly, Sirius' Howard Stern came out on top of the heap. "Howard 100" was the most-listened to satellite radio channel of them all, and the only channel on Sirius to break 1 million listeners in cume, with over 1.2 million listeners total. The average quarter hour (AQH) audience, which is the average number of people listening every 15 minutes and is the main measure used in those 12+ ratings reports Arbitron releases publically, was 96,700. "Howard 100" is one of two channels devoted to him on Sirius, and is mostly a replay of his daily radio show. Behind it is "Howard 101," which consists of a delayed West Coast feed of his show, as well as other hosts including Bubba the Love Sponge and Scott Ferrall. "Howard 101" came in with 502,000 total cume and 30,700 AQH.

XM's only channel to break the 1 million mark was their "Top 20 on 20" hits channel. Further down on the XM rankings was their flagship morning show, the oft-controversial Opie and Anthony, which airs on "The Virus" (XM202), and is partially syndicated in a much tamer version by CBS Radio. They pulled in 216,800 cume/20,800 AQH, still good to make the top 10 overall in satellite radio. By comparison, "XM Comedy" does twice that.

Music programming was strong for both services, with Top 40 hits, country and decades channels finishing especially high. Sirius also hit well with niche channels consisting of 50s hits, heavy metal and classic country. XM's biggest performers were mostly standard radio formats like hits, adult contemporary and new country, though "Willie's Place," which plays old time country, is one of the provider's most popular channels.

As for other talk radio, XM's "Talk Radio," which has recently undergone a great deal of shuffling, is tops, with a 154,000 cume/8700 AQH. The channel features Coast to Coast AM, Bruce Williams, Dave Ramsey, Glenn Beck and others. "America Right," which features conservatives such as Sean Hannity, Laura Ingraham and Mark Levin, nabbed 132,400 cume/5000 AQH. XM167, which is home to Air America Radio, Ed Schultz, Mike Malloy and others, finished very close behind in cume, with 109,600, but ranks significantly higher than "Right" in AQH, with 7200. Oprah Winfrey's channel is slotted in between the two in cume, but has a rather low AQH. "FOX News Talk," which consists of the radio shows of everyone's favorite FOX Noise blowhards, was much farther behind, with 64,000 cume. In short, about the same as they do on terrestrial radio, which is rather dismal. The audio feed of the TV cable channel did significantly better on both providers.

On Sirius, "Sirius Left" (59,100/3000) tops both the right-wing "Sirius Patriot" (46,800/1700) and "FOX News Talk" (29,800/800). NPR does well with their two dedicated channels, pulling in 82,600 cume and 1400 AQH.

Overall, XM has a weekly cume of 10,332,900, while Sirius has a cume of 6,595,000. The satellite ratings were for persons ages 12+, based on approximately 466,000 in 300 markets during the Spring ratings period (April-June). Granted, some may take exception at Arbitron's rather outdated survey methods, but until something better comes along (Arbitron's Portable People Meter (PPM), perhaps?), this is what we've got.

Top 10 lists for each provider (and total) can be found on MediaWeek's site in a PDF here. You can see how each individual channel did at Radio-Info, in a rather concise PDF.

Malloy finally joining XM lineup

Updated 7/09/07

One of those little things I missed as the Independence Day holiday popped up is an update of sorts. After months of rumors and promises, Mike Malloy fans will finally be able to hear his show on XM Radio starting next week, July 9.

XM's "Air America Radio" channel (ch. 167) will slot the first two hours of Malloy's show from 10PM-midnight ET. Thom Hartmann's delayed airing (well, two hours of it anyway) will precede Malloy, from 8-10P, and "The Air Americans" will be on from midnight-4A, via delay. Got all that?

Although XM calls ch. 167 "Air America," they do break away from the network's feed to air other shows. Most notably, they carry Ed Schultz live in the noon-3PM ET slot, displacing Thom Hartmann to the midnight-3AM shift. They also carry some alternate weekend programming, including Left Jab, Jackie Guerra (formerly of Air America), and "The Agenda with Joe Solmonese."

Malloy coming to XM Radio

The comeback juggernaut of Mike Malloy is still chugging along, as the Nova M Radio-syndicated nighttime talker has added XM Radio to his growing list of affiliates.

Malloy's show will debut on XM effective March 1. What is not known is what channel he will be on, but the assumption is that it will be on XM167, aka the "Air America Radio Channel". The online on-air roster for XM167 currently omits all Air America shows airing after 9PM.

The addition of Malloy's show to XM167 is another step by XM in fleshing out a distinct lineup to go along with the Air America Radio programming. Yesterday, they moved Ed Schultz' show to a live slot there, bumping Thom Hartmann. As of now, no further changes have been publicly announced, though rumors have been flying about what XM will do, if they do anything at all, about other liberal talk shows, from the likes of Bill Press and Stephanie Miller. Some are saying they'll be added to XM167, which will further wipe out Air America programming on the channel. Still, there are no details available regarding any kind of contract Air America has with XM, as far as exclusivity and the direction of the channel.

Could there be a second liberal talk channel added, to accomodate the JRN programming (Press, Miller, Schultz) and other talkers like Lionel? After all, XM currently has two full-time conservative talk channels, with a couple more that incorporate conservative talk shows throughout their respective lineups. And there certainly appears to be enough shows to flesh out a second channel, with some rather creative scheduling, but as far as we all know, there are no plans for a second liberal talk channel. First and foremost in everyone's minds is the recently announced merger proposal that will unite XM and Sirius. However, considering all of the government agency approvals this bid will go through, and the technical aspects of the merger, a union of the two companies will not happen until later this year at the earliest.

In addition to picking up XM, Malloy gains two more affiliates, as KGOE in Eureka, CA and KTNF in Minneapolis both pick up the show. On KGOE, his show, which runs from 6-9PM on the West Coast, would replace or displace either Clark Howard's personal finance show or Jeff Rense, currently on from 7-10PM. KTNF will air him on delay from Midnight-3AM weeknights. As for future affiliates, one could possibly be KPOJ in Portland, which is currently running a replay of Sam Seder's show in the 6-9PM slot. Considering they are already running Seder in the late morning slot, this would appear to be an obvious place to add Malloy's show. They are hinting at further changes, so who knows?

XM/Sirius agree to merger

Sirius Satellite Radio Inc. agreed to buy larger rival XM Satellite Radio Holdings Inc. for $4.57 billion in stock to combine the only pay radio companies and stem billions of dollars in losses.

Mel Karmazin, chief executive officer of New York-based Sirius, will be CEO of the combined company, and Gary Parsons, chairman of Washington-based XM, will continue as chairman, the companies said today in a statement.

Sirius and XM faced pressure to merge after losing a combined $7 billion to attract subscribers over the past eight years and signing talent including Howard Stern and Oprah Winfrey. The merger will face antitrust scrutiny and must also be approved by the U.S. Federal Communications Commission.

Under the terms of the accord, which the companies describe as a merger of equals, XM investors will receive 4.6 shares of Sirius common stock for each share they own. Shareholders of each will own about 50 percent of the combined radio company.

The new company's board will consist of 12 members, including Karmazin, 63, and Parsons, 56, four independent members named by each company, and one representative from each of General Motors Corp. and American Honda. Hugh Panero, 50, CEO of XM, will continue in his role until deal closes, which both companies expect this year.

Sirius and XM will operate independently until the deal is completed, the companies said. The name of the combined company and the location of its headquarters will be decided later.

No fooling: Springer's show joins AAR lineup April 1

CINCINNATI - More people will be able to hear trash TV host Jerry Springer under a deal announced Wednesday to take his radio program nationwide.

Springer's show will go live weekdays on the Air America Radio network beginning April 1. The liberal all-talk network currently broadcasts on 51 radio stations and on the Sirius and XM satellite networks.

Springer will be heard on about 45 of those stations initially.

"I said when I started the show that I am committed to making this radio program work, not only because I enjoy it, but because we need to hear progressive voices as well as conservative voices in our conversation today," Springer said in a telephone interview from Chicago.

Note: Springer's show airs from 9AM-12N ET, the same time as the floundering 'Unfiltered'. No word as to the fate of the show, which recently lost co-host Lizz Winstead.