Everything's Gone Green

I don't care if I'm Irish, I usually don't do much to celebrate St. Patrick's Day. To me, it's just a day where all you non-Irish people (who normally would be directing hostile and idiotic insults toward people like me about my ancestry and family's religious background) go out, get plowed at the local watering holes and make fools out of yourselves. And on top of it all - you tell everyone you're Irish! No wonder us 'real deals' get such a bad name!

Hey, I don't go 'round telling people I'm Italian on Columbus Day. Or tell people I'm Jewish on Yom Kippur. And I certainly don't claim to be African-American on MLK Day (I don't think they'd believe me). Leave us Irish folk alone!

So, not much to report, but I'll do it in green text, just to make it look festive. Drive safe!

The Air America mystery wheel lands on... Nicole Sandler

So far, there's an opening at Air America for what was once their highest-profile time slot. The network has, in typical fashion, refrained from naming a permanent replacement for the recently departed Thom Hartmann. David Bender filled in the past two weeks, and this week, you can hear Nicole Sandler, formerly of WINZ Miami, on the network from 12-3P.

Beyond that? Who knows?

I do, however, know of at least one experienced and respected radio host that's available for a gig...

Montel's first affiliate?

Speaking of Air America, the network may have found at least one new affiliate for incoming mid-morning host Montel Williams. Robin Bertolucci, PD of KTLK in Los Angeles, is keeping her options open.

"I am definitely interested in hearing his radio show," said Bertolucci. "At this point we're trying to see what's going on with Randi Rhodes and such but I am excited to hear him," she said in an e-mail to the Orange County Register.

But Williams' new show would air live on the West Coast from 6-9A, the same time as Stephanie Miller, who's show airs from KTLK's studios. Not to worry - KTLK will not lay a finger on Miller's show.

A more likely time would be 12-3P PT. Currently, the station is airing Nancy Skinner in the time slot, but this doesn't sound permanent. And given that Skinner's 'network' is an unknown entity at this point, it may not be a long-term thing.

Randi update

Most of the emails I get concern either Nova M Radio (or what's left of it) and their former afternoon host, Randi Rhodes. The same Orange County Register article quoted above has the only thing close to an update on the status of her show. Here's what they say:

She has been off the air since she left her syndicator. Word is if and when a deal is worked out with a new company to distribute her program nationwide, she will return to the air.

And yes, that is all I know too. Randi and her people aren't known for telling anyone much about her or her show, and they most certainly don't tell me anything, so for now, it's all speculation. Same as it ever was.

ESPN Radio ups its affiliate price

So, all you radio management types that thought running a syndicated sports radio feed off the board would be a stupid-proof way to rake in some ad income, right?

Wrong.

And for this, I turn to Sports By Brooks:

...A source told me that ESPN is planning to charge some non-ESPN owned and operated sports radio stations fees to carry its radio network programming. For big markets (Top 30), the annual charge to stations is as high as $100,000.

Even in good economical times, that move is a serious horse pill to ingest for local sports talk radio stations.

My reaction, as a former sports radio program director and on-air personality for 16 years (including on ESPN radio affiliates), is that very, very few (if any) Top 30 markets would pay a six-figure sum to air ESPN network programming.

So, let's do the math. Cost to run ESPN in a large market: $100K/year.

Cost to run an all-syndicated progressive talk format: Zero, aside from ceding aside some ad time to the syndicator.

Then again, radio doesn't operate on the common sense plan.

Not green - gangrene

I was going to mention something yesterday, and even started an entry, but I got a bit distracted by reality and didn't get a chance to make a clean entry out of it all. Yesterday saw Don Imus announcing that he has stage II prostate cancer, and we also saw the announced passings of both Ron Silver kicked the bucket and yet another major city newspaper, which has bitten the dust. Pretty grim, huh?

Well, it's not like either of those two guys will get much sympathy from the types of people reading this blog, particularly Imus, if all the stories that I've heard from first-hand sources regarding his personality are true.

Probably not much love from the left for actor Ron Silver either, particularly given his ideological turnaround in recent years, as he became one of those "9/11 Republicans" that think the best way to protect our country from terrorists is to support the people who let the attacks happen (i.e. Bush and Cheney). Nonetheless, Silver had a passion for what he did, and he was a very actor, particularly in roles where the audience is supposed to really hate the character. It was too bad Jeremy Irons blew everybody off the screen in "Reversal Of Fortune", otherwise Silver's role of Alan Dershowitz would have been remembered even more fondly.

Sure, the guy came off sometimes as kind of a creep, and does anyone really believe that he was more or less 'blacklisted' from Hollywood, especially since staunch right-wingers like Robert Duvall and Adam Sandler still get lots of work? As for his political bent, who cares? Misguided or not, he was what he was.

And finally, yet another newspaper has folded. The Seattle Post-Intelligencer is kaput after 146 years and shift to an online-only presence, yet another victim of the rough economy.

This move comes less than two weeks after another major daily, Denver's Rocky Mountain News, also ended its run altogether. The Tuscon Citizen will likely shut down this Saturday.

Hearst, which owns the Post-Intelligencer, put the paper on the market in January, warning that it would close down the printing presses if a buyer didn't come forward.

In addition, as yet another sign that the newspaper industry is hurting due to modern technology such as the internet and the lousy economy, Hearst has also made noise about selling or even shutting down their highest-profile paper, the San Francisco Chronicle. Tough times indeed.

Time magazine recently published a column on their website, claiming that the newspaper shuttering could go even further. They cite 24/7 Wall St. with an article that says venerable dailies such as the Chicago Sun-Times, the Minneapolis Star-Tribune, the Boston Globe and the Miami Herald might not make it to the end of the year, unless things turn around.


Okay, enough of the gloom and doom. Have a safe and happy St. Patty's. And by all means, if you're not Irish, don't tell people you are. Sheesh!

As the turkey thaws...

Okay, so we've been slacking a bit here...

Well, quite simply, news has been a bit slow post-election. Aside from that new progressive talk station in Boston, there really isn't much to talk about.

In addition, I've been preparing a rather juicy Thanksgiving feast for all of ya. Yes, it's the return of the "Turkey of the Year," 2008 edition. Kinda like last year, but there's enough turkey around to bring Zimbabwe out of famine. Well okay, it's pretty close. There are so many Turkey candidates this time around that much of the time has been spent cutting the article down to a manageable length. It's almost complete, and you can look for it here sometime Wednesday.

In the meantime, the news...

Mr. KGO?

Listeners of KTLK in Los Angeles may remember Marc Germain, a.k.a. Mr. KFI and Mr. KABC at previous gigs. He was cut loose at the end of last year, along with many other Clear Channel personalities across the country (or what they call "overhead").

But Germain is keeping busy, and this past weekend, he filled in for Dr. Bill Wattenburg at ABC/Citadel talk station KGO in San Francisco.

For those of you needing a further Germain fix, he is currently online, hosting a weekday evening show from 11P-1A ET (8-10P PT) at TalkRadioOne.com. Podcasts of his shows are also available.

Chinese Bureaucracy?

Okay, Guns n' Roses has virtually nothing to do with the typical fare discusses around these parts. But really, what does?

Besides, I have long been trying to find a way to incorporate the title of their new, long-awaited album "Chinese Democracy," into a blog entry, or even as a headline. And this is the best way I've been able to do it. Sorry.

But since this is a holiday week, why not some rather silly news. This one concerns The Axl Rose Band, er, Guns n' Roses, which finally released his their new album at Best Buy stores across the land yesterday, 16 years since GNR's last release, more than a decade since recording on it began and at least 2-3 years after everyone even remotely interested in it had already heard it illegally on the internet. Believe it or not, this 'lost album' has been released, and there is actually photographic proof of its existence. I'm still not convinced, but I'm just a natural skeptic, I guess.

And people can actually hear it legally online too, via the band's Myspace page.

The album, curiously, has been getting some decent reviews. However, the Chinese government is giving it a thumbs down. At least the title, anyway. A newspaper published by China's ruling Communist Party is blasting the new album as an attack on their country.

How dare they call it a democracy, dammit!

In an article headlined "American band releases album venomously attacking China," the Glocal Times said unidentified Chinese Internet users had described the album as part of a plot by some in the west to "grasp and control the world using democracy as a pawn."

The album "turns its spear point on CHINA," the article said.

The Global Times article referred only to the title of the album and not to specific song lyrics. The record's title track makes a reference to the Falun Gong meditation movement that was banned by China as an "evil cult" and warns "if your Great Wall rocks blame yourself," in an apparent message to the country's authoritarian government.

In a 1999(!!!) interview on the making of the album, Axl Rose gave his reason for the title. "Well, there's a lot of Chinese democracy movements, and it's something that there's a lot of talk about, and it's something that will be nice to see. It could also just be like an ironic statement. I don't know, I just like the sound of it."

Whatever that means.

And don't expect to hear or be able to buy "Chinese Democracy" in China, since national censors maintain tight control over films, music and publications. They also maintain an iron grip over the internet, so good luck there, Chinese readers. But it's likely Chinese street vendors have been selling bootleg copies for the past five years or so anyway, so there.

Another day, another Rachel

Finally, we've had a bit of a dry spell of these lately, but for all Rachel Maddow fanatics, there is a new article up, this one from NBC rival CBS. You can find it here.

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.

Middle-of-the-month soundbytes

In this edition, we look into The Young Turks' life after Air America, the apparent demise of a pioneering online liberal talk outlet, and, will the next big progressive talk star be... Morgan Fairchild? Read on.

1. The continuing evolution of the Turks

Today marked the last day of The Young Turks' show on Air America Radio. Last month, head Turk Cenk Uygur announced that the show and network had decided to part ways. Uygur and company planned to take their act online, via their own multimedia site, as well as in projects for the Brave New Films website, a venture backed by documentary filmmaker Robert Greenwald ("Outfoxed").

The new show, which will air from 3-5P ET (12-2P PT), will stream from The Turks' website, will include only 12 minutes of advertising per hour, as opposed to the radio standard of 22 minutes, and will include a four-hour free-wheeling 'rolling post-game' show, which in essence sounds like a rather informal online video chat. The new time slot will obviously be easier for Uygur and company, given that their West Coast location forced them do their Air America show live from 3-6A PT. One would guess that this will allow them to have a somewhat normal sleep schedule.

As for what Air America will replace them with in morning drive, the most recent word is that they will not even bother to syndicate another morning show. Will the webstream be silent? Will it be a replay of a day-old show from another host? Will they go outside and merely slot in a local morning show from one of their affiliates (such as Richard Bey on WWRL in New York, Nicole Sandler on WINZ in Miami or Lee Rayburn from WXXM in Madison)? Or will they go in-house? Obviously, giving fan favorite Sam Seder the slot would mollify die-hard fans. There's also new weekend host Charles Binder. Not much is known about Binder or his proposed new show, except that he's a prominent New York lawyer with an as-of-yet unknown timeslot. Whatever Air America plans to do with their vacant morning shift, they'd better do it quickly. Many of the stations that formerly carried The Turks have replaced them with Jones Radio Networks' Bill Press, who picks up new affiliates this week, with XM Radio and stations in Seattle, Detroit and other markets being added.

UPDATE: Rayburn's show will be relayed via Air America from Madison for the next few weeks as a fill-in.

2. KTLK looking for a host

Following last month's departure of Marc (Mr. K) Germain, Clear Channel's KTLK (1150AM) in Los Angeles is still looking for a replacement. They've already had weekenders Johnny Wendell and Mario Solis-Marich holding down the shift, but it appears they're looking for a long-term local solution. This week brings us an odd pairing - former Boston Globe columnist Thomas Oliphant and Morgan Fairchild. Yes, THAT Morgan Fairchild. Only in L.A...

You can hear the show today and tomorrow on KTLK from 3-7P PT (6-10P ET).

3. Non-religiously speaking

First came "Freethought Radio," a small weekend show on WXXM in Madison, WI that found its way onto Air America's national slate. Now comes a similar show from the nearby Twin Cities. A group called Minnesota Atheists has signed a six month contract with local station KTNF (950AM) to do a show on Sunday mornings from 9-10A (CT). The format of "Atheists Talk" sounds rather similar to "Freethought Radio," with an array of interviews and special guests, news reports, round-table discussions and call-ins.

"We want a seat at the discussion table," said program founder August Berkshire. "This is our way of doing it."

Berkshire said the nonpartisan show will try to dispel myths about atheists - no, they're not a bunch of grumps trying to outlaw religion - and warn people about what concerns them: a supposed erosion of the separation of church and state, and the government's discrimination against nonbelievers.

Hot topics will include anti-gay-marriage laws, restrictions on embryonic stem-cell research and creationism in schools.

Occasional special segments will cover atheist history, science and book reviews, and there will be short interviews with local atheists.

It won't be a rant-fest, Berkshire said.

"We're not trying to convert people," he said. "We're trying to engage them in a discussion. We want people to realize atheists are their neighbors, family, nice people, and that they should get to know us."

The group has an initial six-month contract with KTNF. They'll have to sell their own advertising, and have already sold half of their ad spots.

4. RadioPower.org signs off for good

A departure that completely slipped by the nose of LTR is that of webcaster RadioPower.org, a progressive talk radio pioneer which apparently shut down last month after five years of operations. Currently, the former four stream service is down to one, airing ambient techno music. Which means, the formerly popular progressive talk channel is no more.

Since 2002, long before Air America and progressive talk became big, owner Shelby LaPre gave a spotlight to progressive talkers, in addition to music webstreams featuring techno, punk and ambient music. LaPre claimed last year that listener donations helped the service to operate for 5 years, reaching on average between 2.5 and 3 million listeners per month with their various music and talk radio streams. RadioPower was also one of the first streaming services listed on iTunes.

Originally, the talk channel merely relayed the feed of the old I.E. America network, which carried shows from the likes of Mike Malloy, Thom Hartmann, Peter Werbe and others. When I.E. America folded in early 2004, LaPre continued on without them, and even served as the primary streamer for Hartmann's show before he was picked up by Air America.

Defections were common over the years. Old shows were replaced with obscure local and online shows of the time, such as The Young Turks and Guy James. Most recently, after merely piggy-backing other streams, they aired a slate of mostly original shows from the likes of Tony Trupiano, Kacey Sherrod ("KC Live!) and Henry Raines ("American AM').

But it's hard to compete as a small player in a world with many options. Air America's the most widely-known name. Nova M Radio has Mike Malloy and a wide variety of weekly shows from various up-and-comers. And Head-On Radio Network has aggressively built a rather impressive online-only operation. Not to mention, as opposed to 4-5 years ago, progressive talk can now be found on many AM stations in many markets. Many of these stations stream their signals. All of this meant that RadioPower became an afterthought.

This is not the first time RadioPower has been in danger of going kaput. Last year, LaPre claimed that the high costs of running an online service would lead to its demise. In addition, bigger names like Malloy, Hartmann and The Turks had since moved on, and competition was obviously stripping RadioPower of listeners and supporters. Still, RadioPower was a voice when a voice was difficult to find, and one can only reflect on the importance of RadioPower to the history of modern progressive talk.

Post-holiday soundbytes

UPDATED 1/4/08

Here it is, the year 2008, and it's time to do a little post-holiday cleaning of some stories that have been missed. I didn't get a chance to write about any of this stuff,

1. Mr. K is Mr. Gone

In anticipation of their sale (again, it isn't to Mitt Romney), Clear Channel has been cleaning house at stations nationwide, slashing overhead and staff. Funny, I thought that usually happened after he corporate raiders took over. The sole progressive talk victim is at KTLK in Los Angeles, where Marc Germain, a.k.a. Mr. K, gets his walking papers. In the interim, weekenders such as Johnny Wendell are filling in. No permanent replacement has been named.

2. Stacy Taylor starts new gig today

Down the coast in San Diego, as previously reported, Stacy Taylor starts his new job today, doing the afternoon shift at XEPE (1700AM). You can hear him from 4-7PM PT (that's 7-10PM ET). Thankfully, "San Diego 1700" streams, so you can check out Taylor's show here. Like taylor's former home, KLSD, XEPE offers podcasting. Whether Taylor's show will be archived in whole, in parts or at all is unknown. And you can read a really good article about Taylor in San Diego CityBeat.

3. Apple bets on HD Radio

Earlier last year, I claimed that HD Radio would at least have a chance of surviving if two things were to happen. First, a portable device (i.e. one that runs on batteries) needs to be introduced. Second, Apple would have to get involved. Well lo and behold, Ibiquity, the bumbling company behind HD Radio, has indeed teamed up with Steve Jobs and company as Apple is getting ready to roll out HD Radio-compatible boomboxes and iPod docks at the Macworld Expo in San Francisco later this month. The new receivers will have tagging capability, which enables songs played on HD-equipped radio stations to be 'tagged' and pulled up on iTunes later, for preview and/or purchase. So far, many of the big radio station owners are working at encoding the music at their end to make it iTunes compliant.

Ibiquity has stumbled badly with HD Radio over the past few years, with product rollouts being mostly mediocre, unwieldy or overpriced. It seemed the company was more concerned about intellectual property than with putting product in peoples' hands, which has slowed down the rollout of HD Radio and gotten them some horrible press. HD Radio does have some technological issues, but all new innovations do. Those get ironed out. HD Radio in itself is not a bad idea. I've heard it and think that, with some simplification of the product, that it could work, even if Ibiquity does their best to shoot themselves in the foot. Apple knows how to create and move products that people don't realize they want. The iPod wasn't the first high-capacity MP3 player, but they soon dominated the market. Last year, they got people to pay $500 for a cell phone! Needless to say, Apple knows how to do what Ibiquity obviously doesn't. And that's pushing new technology. Ibiquity should stop being so overprotective, step back and see how it's done.

4. Goin' digital

There's only a little over a year to go until our TV dial goes completely digital. Come midnight on February 17, 2009, all full-power television stations are required to turn off their analog signals and broadcast in digital-only. if you've got an older set with rabbit ear antennas pulling in signals from the air (imagine that!), you'll get a lot of static. However, if you go out and buy a special converter box, you'll get all your local channels and then some, in crystal-clear digital (depending on where you live in proximity to the stations). January 1 was the first day that the public was able to apply for $40 vouchers good toward purchase of these converter boxes (slated to run $50-70). So, where are the converter boxes? Look for them in your favorite electronics store next month. In the past two days, the government has gotten over half a million requests for vouchers.

So, are you all confused by this? Don't feel bad, you're not alone. To boil it all down, if you already have cable or satellite service, do nothing. You won't notice anything. If you bought a new set within the past year, it's probably already DTV-compliant.

Why is the government switching off analog? The analog spectrum takes up a ton of space in comparison to DTV (not to be confused with HDTV, which is only a part of this whole technology). The rest of the world is currently in the process of doing this upgrade, and much of Europe is moving quickly to change over as well. The advantages are many, with clearer pictures and sound, multiple channels (many NBC affiliates are already carrying local "Weather Plus" side channels and public television stations already have a wide array of subchannels as well. In the near future, expect to see other stations adding more channels as well.

If you are going out to buy a new television (and the prices for DTV-compliant sets are dropping like mad), be aware. All new sets manufactured since last March are required to be compatible, but there may still be a few older units that aren't. They'll be tagged as such, but ask a sales associate to be sure. If you see older sets at too-good-to-be-true prices (like those portable $10 B&W jobs at Walgreens), chances are you'll need that converter box by next February lest it become a paper weight. See the government's site, DTV2009.gov, for more information and to apply for a voucher, or call their hotline, 1-888-DTV-2009 (1-800-388-2009). You can see an earlier article I wrote here that describes the digital switchover in more detail.

Oh, and if you have one of those portable radios that pick up VHF TV feeds, they won't pick them up at all come next year. So far, there are no similar radios being made that will have that same function for DTV channels.

5. DeFede's got a brand new gig

Jim DeFede, former columnist with the Miami Herald and Miami New Times and former morning host at WINZ in Miami is back on the radio. AllAccess says that DeFede has been hired to do 4-7PM ET at WFTL in Fort Lauderdale/West Palm Beach. The new show starts January 7.

"I’m thrilled to be back with my own show and to be working for WFTL," said DeFde. "I came here because no other station in South Floida is as committed to local talk as WFTL. And let’s face it, living in South Floida, we all should be committed."

6. Open up the pipes

And finally, some good news for readers who would like to leave comments here but don't want to sign up for Google accounts. As part of a reconfiguration by Blogger, OpenID is now configured for LTR. Meaning that you can sign in and leave comments via OpenID-enabled services such as WordPress.com, LiveJournal, and AOL Journals, or even with an AOL/AIM account. You can read more about OpenID here.

Stuff I missed while sleeping

Been a while, huh?

Yeah, I took a little time off. A week to be exact. In doing a blog such as this, I feel it is a wise idea to back away from it once in a while and recharge my engines. I'll even go so far as to go out into the real world. So, please do not be alarmed if this place gets a little quiet once in a while. All in all, it makes for a much better reading experience overall.

And no, I wasn't sleeping, but I thought it would make for a cool article title.

So, in the meantime, Dan Rather grew a set and rightfully filed suit against his former bosses at CBS, Bill O'Reilly realized he couldn't make a go of radio, O.J. Simpson switched from knives to guns in his hunt for the real killers er his sports mementos, and Congressional Democrats wimped out and rolled over as the Republicans turned their war on free speech into a wedge issue in condemning the recent MoveOn.org criticism on General Petraeus. And in this little corner of the world...

First on the agenda is a big story/non-story from last week, this one concerning Cenk Uyger of Air America's The Young Turks (or is that The Young Turk, since everybody else left?). He claims Comedy Central's Stephen Colbert stole a joke from him and used it on The Colbert Report, and, just like O.J. Simpson bum-rushing a sports memorabilia swap meet with guns-a-blazin, he's out for blood. Well, okay, $65 million. I was really tempted to make mention of this last week, but it all reeks of a silly publicity stunt.

And what was the joke? Something about Klingons. Yes, you heard that right - Klingons! Sorry, but a Klingon joke isn't worth 65 cents, let alone $65 mil. Cenk's obviously a sharp guy, and I just wished he could come up with a better publicity stunt. Hiring Mike Stark was a cool move. This, unfortunately, is not.

Hey, people crib my shit all the time. All I ask is a return link and the whole 'fair use' thing. But if anyone wants to kick $65 mil my way, contact me and we'll talk.

Radio listeners in Washington, DC, saddled by the horrible signal and questionable programming moves of local progressive talker WWRC, now have another option. In this overcrowded talk radio market, the newly reformatted WWWT (3WT) is mixing it up a bit after ending its "Washington Post Radio" endeavor. This new talk station pledges to carry conservative, liberal, middle-of-the-road and nonpolitical talk. We already knew that Stephanie Miller's show, currently on WWRC, would be joining the station. Well, that's forthcoming. In the meantime, Air America's Randi Rhodes is part of the station's lineup in afternoon drive, 4-7P ET. WWRC does not currently carry her show, but does carry other programs from Air America. And ESPN's Tony Kornheiser, who hosts a pretty good nonpolitical show (when he's actually on, of course) that isn't really about sports, is on weekday mornings. Of course, tuning in for progressive talk options also means occasionally tuning in for the likes of Bill O'Reilly (until his show buys the farm), Neal Boortz and eventually Glen Beck. But hey, at least they have a great signal. And are on both AM and FM, on 50,000 watt 1500AM in Washington (with a signal reaching Baltimore), 107.7FM in Northeastern Virginia and 820AM in Fredrick, MD. Should be interesting to watch.

Many people have emailed me about the recent changes to Air America's schedule. As stated before, The Air Americans has crashed and burned. Replacing it is Richard Greene's "Every Breath You Take" er Clout. The show airs from 8-10P ET. Following it is now Jon Elliot's show, followed by a repeat of the previous day's Lionel show. But wait - wasn't Bree Walker supposed to get a show on Air America? Well, that was the original line. But evidently, that did not come to fruition, for reasons nobody really knows, including me. She still has her weekend show on KTLK (1150AM) in Los Angeles.

Progressive talk station KOKE (1600AM) in Austin will soon be under new ownership. The station, along with two other local AM stations owned by Border Media Properties, will be sold to Jose J. Garcia for $5.5 million. BMP will keep their five FM stations in the market. No word on what this means for the future of KOKE. It could be nothing.

And remember KOMY? That little AM station outside of Santa Cruz owned by the rather colorful Zwerling family? The same ones that added Air America programming to the station and spent more time trying to kill it and threaten to remove it than actually try to make it work? Well, the Zwerlings are hanging it up. Michael Zwerling announced that they're cashing in their chips and selling both KOMY (which now programs a golden oldies format) and conservotalk station KSCO.

I do have to confess. After writing the final "pulling the plug" article, Zwerling himself sent me an email, and actually had a good laugh as I ripped him a new one. I gotta say, I respect him for that. And in the day and age of bland, corporate radio, perhaps a few eccentric local broadcast owners, no matter how irritating they can be, is overall a good thing. Best of luck to Michael and his mother Kay in their future endeavors. It's been a ride, I'll say that much.

And as a change of pace, I will open up the comments below in this article to an open thread. Normally, a common pet peeve of mine is when posters go off topic on an article to post their own stuff (such as the cut-and-paste astroturf jobs by our resident freeper, raccoonradio). You know, stuff that has absolutely nothing to do with the article. In this instance, and this instance only, post whatever you want in this article, and this thread only. Got a scoop? A rant? Whatever, just add a comment below. All I ask is no flame wars, no personal attacks, etc. Keep it rational, kids.

"The Air Americans" are grounded

In a not-so-surprising move, Air America Radio is ditching The Air Americans.

The New York Daily News is reporting that the two-month old show will be dropped by the network, and replaced with two new shows. Taking its place is longtime broadcaster and Air America weekend host Richard Greene and KTLK Los Angeles weekend host, TV anchorwoman and Texas ranchland owner Bree Walker. Green will take the 8-10PM ET slot, with Walker's new show will air 10PM to Midnight ET. The moves will be effective September 4.

Mark Riley, the devoted host of The Air Americans who has been with the network since the very beginning, has also gotten the axe. Air America president Mark Green indicated it was largely a financial decision to release Riley, an original network host.

In other moves at the network, All Access reports that four more staff members out of the existing 48 are being released. "We are continuing to cut costs and consolidate functions as we dramatically reduce our expenses and move toward profitability," said Green. "I'm especially grateful to Mark Riley, who has been an exemplary and loyal Air American since the very start of the network three years ago. From Mark and his producer Ron Dodd to the four staff members, all are consummate professionals who have done their jobs exceedingly well. Air America's commitment to continuously lower costs does not reflect at all on their skills and contributions."

When The Air Americans was announced as a show back in May, there wasn't a whole lot of enthusiasm for it from listeners. Basically, the concept of the show was radio host gumbo, various Air America personalities thrown together and allowed to simmer for four hours every night. Riley was the ringmaster, and Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., Mike Papantonio, David Bender and Laura Flanders were also thrown into the mix. And that's about it.

As could be expected, they didn't find many affiliates to pick it up. WXXM in Madison and KOKE in Austin were among the most notable. Air America's own flagship station, Access.1-owned WWRL took a pass, opting to rerun their locally-produced morning show in the slot. XM Radio decided to time shift the show to the wee hours of the night. The show was a non-starter.

First of all, at a time when many of the network affiliates were working to establish their own identities, apart from Air America. No way in hell were they going to carry a show called The Air Americans. In addition, many affiliates use the evening time slot to time shift daytime programming, such as Ed Schultz, Randi Rhodes and Thom Hartmann. Some air local programming or non-Air America shows like Nova M Radio's Mike Malloy. And offering a four hour show is asking a bit much, when affiliates are more willing to go with 2-3 hour shows, which are easier to slot.

So, how will the new kids fare? Greene is an established broadcaster and professional speaker, with a lot of experience in public radio. He should add a bit of professional polish to the network. Walker also has a great deal of experience, and this move could placate relations with their Los Angeles affiliate, though it is not known yet if and when KTLK will carry her, which airs in the same time slot as the time-delayed Ed Schultz show. I'm guessing they will.

No word on the fate of the show's other hosts. Flanders, Kennedy and Papantonio all host weekend shows. This move will leave Bender, former host of the network's Politically Direct, without one. Tonight's The Air Americans will be guest-hosted by WXXM's Lee Rayburn.

Talking Radio has more.

KTLK's Walker buys Sheehan's Crawford, TX land

Bree Walker is slated to be George W. Bush's new neighbor.

The Brad Blog is reporting that the progressive talk radio host will be purchasing "Camp Casey," Cindy Sheehan's five acre property near the Bush ranch in Crawford, Texas.

Walker, currently a resident of San Diego, was previously a television news anchor in Los Angles and New York. She confirmed to Brad Blog that she intends to keep the property "as a ground for freedom and peace" and is considering erecting a memorial there for troops killed in Iraq. She hopes to create a meditation garden on the grounds and to keep it open to the public.

"I'm cashing out my capitalist corporate stocks and buying into a legacy of peace," she said. Sheehan will be selling the property for the same price she purchased it for so as not to be seen as profiting from the sale, Walker explained.

Walker is currently a weekend host at KTLK in Los Angeles, where she has a show on Saturdays from 2-4PM PT. She was formerly married to NBC and HBO sportscaster Jim Lampley, whom she currently runs a production company with. Lampley has also dabbled in progressive talk radio, occasionally filling in for Ed Schultz on his radio show.

Sheehan will make an appearance in studio with Walker for the entirety of today's broadcast where, Walker says, she'll "give Cindy the check (reportedly around $87,000), and Cindy will give me the deed to the property." Walker will also be soliciting input on what listeners think should be done with the land.

Over the Memorial Day weekend, Sheehan announced that she would be stepping away from her leadership role in the Peace Movement and planned to sell the Crawford property, which had been a gathering ground for peace activists. She had intended to sell the property on Ebay, but shortly afterwards "Moving America Forward," a group of rather obnoxious Bush supporters led by shrill San Francisco radio host Melanie Morgan, announced their intentions to try and purchase the land. Most likely to build their own shrine to President Bush. Or a shrine to Morgan's ego.

Nonetheless, congratulations to all involved.

Read more at Brad Blog.

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.

Hot talk: Ed vs. Air America in L.A.

The recent on-air shuffling by KTLK in Los Angeles has been both praised and derided. And one group angered by the moves is Ed Schultz and his local fans. And he's crying foul.

Following the departure of Al Franken from Air America Radio, KTLK took the opportunity to do a complete makeover of its on-air roster. Marc Germain, a well-known Los Angeles radio personality, was available, so the station promptly signed him for a new afternoon drive show. In addition, they opted for Thom Hartmann as Franken's replacement. With Randi Rhodes filling the slot between the two shows, well, that leaves Eddie as the odd man out.

Over the past few weeks, Schultz has accused Air America of paying money to the station to secure a six-hour midday block for their shows and bump him into a nighttime slot. In today's Los Angeles Times Calendar section, Schultz, long at odds with several of Air America's hosts, takes it even further.

"It's not a radio decision," Schultz said by phone. "It has nothing to do with ratings or sales. To say I'm upset about it is an understatement. Air America is screwing things up."

KTLK General Manager John Quinlan denies this is the case. He said no special financial arrangements have been made between KTLK and Air America as was alleged by Schultz. He also said that the station has been trying to downplay its 'Air America' identity. And recent schedule changes were KTLK's doing, not Clear Channel's.

In January, Schultz announced that he would move his show into an earlier time slot, going head-to-head with Franken and Hartmann. He also assumed that KTLK would be one of the stations to give him a live clearance. "Then Air America wrote them a check," Schultz claims.

Quinlan himself claims that his station's listeners merely preferred Hartmann over Schultz. "The response we got was convincing," he said.

He also said Schultz's show, "was the lowest-rated show on the radio station" between 6A-7P, though he acknowledged that the statistical difference in ratings between Shultz and Franken and Miller and Rhodes was insignificant. The Arbitron ratings for fall 2006 showed a growth in Schultz's weekly listenership among adults ages 25 to 54 from 44,600 to 66,100 — an increase in audience of more than 40%.

But let's be real here. Progressive talk will have a tough time growing with all of these turf gang wars that really do nothing but tear each other apart. The conservotalkers have learned to get along, for the most part. But this whole Ed vs. Air America thing will never solve anything. Between the two parties, both of them share most of the stations they're on. And no good will ever come out of this sniping. As asked back in February, "Can't we all just get along?"

Harrison back on the air - for 5 minutes

The good news: Former KTLK/Los Angeles nighttime guy Cary Harrison is back on the air.

The bad news: You'll only get him in five minute bursts.

But hey, that's still not bad.

The former "Harrison on the Edge" host can now be heard on Pacifica's KPFK in Los Angeles, starting this evening (March 27) at 6:25P (PT). He'll provide five minute commentaries for the "KPFK Evening News". Hey, five minutes is better than none, right?

In addition, he's still doing his weekly one-hour podcast, and recently did a fill-in as host of Air America Radio's "Politically Direct." Also, KPFK, like other Pacifica stations, does an amazing job of archiving shows, and you'll be able to catch "KPFK Evening News" via their show feed or Harrison's site.

Harrison lives!

After being dropped from KTLK in Los Angeles a few weeks ago as the station did a drastic overhaul of their on-air roster, Cary Harrison of "Harrison On The Edge" has certainly not gone away.

Harrison and company, with help from sponosor Aveda, have put together a new one-hour podcast to fill the gap inbetween radio gigs. And they promise a major announcement very soon that will likely please fans of the show.

Earlier, KTLK management had said that they are considering bringing back Harrison for weekends.

In the meantime, Harrison will back on the radio Tuesday night, as he guest-hosts Air America Radio's "Politically Direct", subbing for regular host David Bender.

KTLK: Harrison out, "Mr. KTLK" in

Los Angeles' KTLK shakes up its lineup starting next week as the station hires Marc Germain, the talker formerly known in previous incarnations as Mr. KABC and Mr. KFI. As a result of this, Cary Harrison's brilliant local evening show "Harrison on the Edge" has been dropped.

In addition, a few other changes have been made, including the arrival of Bill Press and Alan Colmes, the departure of Lionel, The Young Turks and Mark Riley, and delayed broadcasts of Ed Schultz and Rachel Maddow. While some media outlets, including LARadio.com claim that the station is shedding its Air America Radio branding, the station will still carry Thom Hartmann and Randi Rhodes live, in addition to Maddow. Furthermore, KTLK, like many of Air America's other affiliates, hasn't really relied heavily on the network's name for quite a while.

The new lineup will look like this:

Stephanie Miller 6-9AM live
Thom Hartmann 9-Noon live
Randi Rhodes Noon-3PM live
Marc "Mr K" Germain 3-7PM live
Ed Schultz 7-10PM
Rachel Maddow 10-Midnight
Alan Colmes Midnight - 3AM
Bill Press 3-6AM live

So far, no word on whether Germain, who in the past has used his station's call letters as his radio moniker, will adopt the 'Mr. KTLK' personna. As of now, he's just 'Mr. K', but that could change. He recently left his previous employer, KABC, when the station buckled under pressure from their corporate parent to clear more space for Mark Levin's ABC Radio-syndicated show. As a result, Mr. KABC would be banished to the post-midnight hours. Seeing as this would take valuable time away from his family, and feeling that this is a crummy way to treat a highly-rated local show, Germain decided to resign from the station and seek a new radio home. With the move to KTLK, he will be in the same building as his former station, co-owned KFI.

Germain, who describes himself as a moderate-to-liberal Democrat, takes a rather light approach toward his radio show, which consists heavily of random questions from callers. His motto is "no guests, no topics, no screeners," though he does occasionally welcome guests, mostly from the entertainment industry. This approach has helped Germain obtain very good ratings, often winning his time slot since he entered Los Angeles talk radio in the early 1990s at KFI.

As for Harrison, up until now the station's only locally-oriented weekday host (though Miller does her show from KTLK's studios), he and his crew were informed of the show's cancellation yesterday. No word on any future opportunities, but we here at LTR, being big fans of "Harrison on the Edge" will keep you posted on his whereabouts. It is likely that Clear Channel felt that it would be easier to preempt syndicated hosts such as Schultz with sports programming (KTLK is the flagship for the NHL's Los Angeles Kings) than it would be to bump a local show. According to AllAccess, Harrison is currently soliciting fill-in and fulltime gigs covering politics and pop culture.

The station's heavy weekend slate of local programming remains the same.

UPDATE 3/8: According to L.A. CityBeat, we may not have heard the last of Harrison. KTLK's program director may bring him back for weekends at some point. The article also points out a few complaints from listenters who want Harrison back, which is not surprising. Obvously, the wingnut bloggers are making serious hay and claiming that listeners are doing everything short of burning down the station. Most of the reaction I've seen has been positive, aside from Harrison's departure. They understand that Germain is a pretty big acquisition for the station, and seem cool with it.

The post-Franken shuffle, Part 2

Though yesterday was the last day of "The Al Franken Show," his individual affiliates are still adjusting their on-air rosters as they carry on toward the future.

Last week, a few stations announced their intentions as to what they would carry. Today, there's a few more.

Two stations that will not be a part of the future of liberal talk include KCTC in Sacramento, which has officially announced their pending flip to sports effective February 26. As reported earlier, KFPT in Fresno will be sold, and will likely be flipped to sports once the sale is approved in early Spring. In the interim, they will likely fill their schedule with whatever Air America Radio is offering in the time slot, which starting Monday will be Thom Hartmann.

In Rochester, WROC moves Ed Schultz and Randi Rhodes into live afternoon slots, followed by a simulcast of WROC-TV's evening news (WROC-TV is seperately owned), followed by Rachel Maddow until 8PM. The station adds Democracy Now from 8-9PM, followed by two hours of Lionel and a simulcast of WROC-TV's late news. Lionel gets a replay for the late-night hours.

Air America gains a new affiliate as WWKB in Buffalo gives Rhodes a live clearance for her afternoon show, following Schultz. Miller's morning show gets an evening replay. The station's schedule is still in a state of flux, as they seem to have four hours of airtime (currently devoted to replays) to fill. Look for more additions (hopefully) soon. Local (or at least somewhat local) talker Leslie Marshall is no longer there, due to budget cuts, and is currently exploring other opportunities.

At KPOJ in Portland, Sam Seder fans will be elated to find out that his show is added from 9AM-noon (which will likely piss off Ed Schultz, who is still on a delay from noon-3PM). Not only that, but Seder also gets a weeknight replay, from 6-9PM. This move sounds very temporary, and they're promising more changes to come. The station has been rumored to be working on a deal to pick up Mike Malloy's show, possibly for the evening timeslot.

WCHL in Chapel Hill, NC moves Schultz live to the 12-3PM shift, followed by Randi Rhodes live.

Hartmann will get a few new affiliates, as he is added to San Diego's KLSD, Denver's KKZN, Los Angeles' KTLK and WNYY in Ithaca, NY live effective today. He'll also be on Washington, DC's WWRC. KABQ in Albuquerque, and Miami's WINZ on delay, following Ed Schultz. WPEK in Asheville, NC will also add Hartmann, starting next week.

WXXM in Madison is going live with much of their new schedule. Schultz gets a live clearance, followed by Rhodes and Maddow live. Hartmann is added for nights.

Quite a few stations have not announced what they are doing, either over the air or on their websites. Actually, it looks like some stations have forgotten they even have websites, as they are horribly outdated. Unless Jerry Springer is still doing a radio show and we just don't know about it.

Finally, Armed Forces Radio will replace Franken's show with that of even more inoffensive Alan Colmes. They also air Schultz' show, or at least an hour of it (as they tend to do with most talk programming). Which begs the question - why does AFN carry talk shows in the first place? Quite frankly, if I were currently serving in the military overseas, I'd rather listen to music. But I guess that's just me.

The rise, fall and comeback of left-leaning radio

Just stumbled across a very good article in the new L.A. City Beat, which talks about how Air America Radio is still alive (despite what the moronic wingnut bloggers are saying), how the liberal talk format is growing, and even some background on Cary Harrison, aka the one-named host known as 'Harrison,' the excellent local evening host on L.A.'s KTLK. The article is pretty blunt and fair, without kissing ass. And it discusses the many troubles and hurdles of Air America's three year history. This is recommended reading for anyone interested in the format (and if you aren't, then why are you reading this blog?). Nonetheless, here are a few highlights:

• Harrison, host of the nightly Harrison on the Edge, is a self-described 'openly gay son of a neo-nazi' who sprinkles his show with news, activism, gossip, offbeat news stories, activism, education and interviews. A typical show featured a pre-recorded interview with Howard Zinn, the delivering of a rap song mocking a CNN reporter who asks gangbangers how they 'roll,' the regular 'Activism A-Go-Go' segment, and Oakland-based journalist Sarah Olson, who successfully resisted a subpoena to testify in the court martial of Iraq war critic and active soldier Lt. Ehren Watada. “You gotta have fun in life. Many of us liberals are so beaten-down, and so depressed, and so emasculated," says Harrison.
  
  
• The story also runs through Air America Radio's brief history, from the beginning when they discovered that two of the biggest so-called 'investors, Mark Walsh and Evan Cohen, are concealing the fact that they, in fact, have no money. City Beat also interviewed former CEO Danny Goldberg, who felt the whole operation was severely underfunded, making his job nearly impossible. Goldberg also pointed out that too much was made of Air America buying its way into larger markets. He says that, out of 80-plus affiliates, the network only paid its way into New York and L.A. during his tenure. The majority of stations carrying Air America did it on their own terms, particularly after the early success of Franken and Rhodes in the ratings. Many station owners were looking for distinct formats for some of their struggling stations. "The vast majority did it because they were persuaded to it [by ratings], and not because of any money changing hands."
  


• Well-known media consultant Sean Ross thinks the format can work, if properly supported and marketed. "It’s good enough that a good sales manager should be able to make it sell,” says Ross. The ratings in many major markets are very competitive, he confirms. Air America hosts Franken and Randi Rhodes do very well in a lot of towns. But it still takes skill to sell the ad space. “Whether it’s urban radio, whether it’s Spanish-language radio, whether it’s liberal talk – having the numbers and having somebody who can sell them effectively is not always the same thing." Adds fellow consultant Larry Rosin, "People sometimes confused the business problems that Air America is having, or has had, and fail to distinguish that from relatively good ratings in many cities."
  
  
• Air America certainly had its critics on the left. Marc Cooper, who was involved in the production of "Radio Nation" prior to it moving to the network, has repeatedly referred to the network as a money hole, and repeatedly assailed it via his blog. He claims that that same money could have been used to support deserving political candidates, magazine start-ups or even a serious daily newspaper.
  
  
• Goldberg points out that there are a lot of ideological media ventures in this country that lose money. He points out The New York Post, FOX 'News' and other News Corp. operations that have lost millions of dollars.
  
  
• “We had (former Dead Kennedys singer and spoken word artist) Jello Biafra on, and he said, ‘Good god, man, you’ve hijacked the AM band!’” says Harrison.

All in all, a pretty good article, especially since many in the print media tend to be rather inaccurate when it comes to the radio industry in general. Check it out.

Ratings Roundup Fall 2006: Part 2

In part one of this report, LTR analyzed how progressive talk radio stations did in in the recent Arbitron ratings book in the midwest. In this installment, you'll see how stations on the 'Left Coast' did.

KTLK in Los Angeles is still holding steady with a 0.8, up a tenth of a point from the Summer book. They are tied with Salem's conservotalk KRLA, ESPN's KSPN and KTNQ, a Spanish-language news/talk station. Los Angeles, like many other large markets, is a highly competitive market. The news/talk competition is very fierce, with even larger players such as CBS' Free FM affiliate KLSX and their two all-news stations (KCBS and KFWB) not very far ahead of KTLK. San Diego's KLSD is on the rise again after sliding a bit since last fall. In market #17, it moves up almost half a point to a 1.9 share.

Up the coast in Santa Barbara (market #211), KIST, which was recently sold to a local group, is doing very well, tied for 7th place overall with a 3.4 share. Further north, in San Luis Obispo (#172), KYNS, a well-run small market liberal talker that will soon add Mike Malloy to the lineup, holds steady tied for 16th place with a 1.7 share. KFPT in Fresno (#66), recently sold by CBS to local Peak Broadcasting, holds steady with a 1.0, no change since Summer, but more than double what they had last Fall. According to radio industry site AllAccess, KFPT could soon be sold again, with former general manager Chris Pacheco rumored as the buyer. Whether this sale will go through, or if this means a change in format remains to be seen (thanks for the tip, Jim).

In the Monterey Bay area (#80), a market whose sole dominant talk station is high-powered KGO, located roughly a hundred miles away in San Francisco, KRXA is relatively unchanged in the book, as it drops a tenth of a point to a 0.6. They are up a fifth of a point since last Fall. Low-powered KOMY, which carries a mash-up of several Air America Radio shows, infomercials, and whatever else, and recently switched to oldies, is a no-show in the book. Incidently, in response to my article from last week regarding KOMY and their format switch, I got an email from owner Michael Zwerling, which will be posted here shortly. Trust me, you don't want to miss this!

Speaking of the Bay Area, KGO maintains its two decade grip as the top overall station in the market with a rather centrist-leaning talk format. Liberal talker KQKE is tied at #26 overall in the San Francisco (#4) book, and holding at 1.1, which is just a tenth of a point lower than its conservative sister, KNEW. The Quake also has a 1.1 share in neighboring San Jose (#35). In the North Bay, the station has a very strong showing in the Santa Rosa (#119) book jumping all the way up to #12 overall, rising from a 1.0 in the Spring to a 2.5 for the Fall.

In the battle of the Sacramento (#27) liberal talk stations, KCTC, the Air America affiliate, drops slightly to a 0.8 share. KSAC, which airs a mostly liberal talk format, slides to the near bottom of the ranked stations with a 0.4.

The northwestern has been one of the strongest areas for the liberal talk format. Portland, OR (#23) is no exception. Since its debut almost three years ago, KPOJ has been one of the strongest stations in the format. Fall was especially good for them, as they rise all the way up to #5 with a gain of almost a full point, at a 3.7 share. In Seattle (#14), KPTK, a strong performer in some daypart breakdowns, holds at a 2.0 from the summer in this highly competitive talk market. They are down slightly in comparison to last fall. BlatherWatch, a Seattle talk radio blog, claims that conservotalk station KTTH got a huge boost in the recent book, thanks mostly to Rush Limbaugh, who doubled his local ratings from over a year ago (and I assume BlatherWatch's Michael Hood is using last fall as a comparison). Thom Hartmann, who had dominated the 9AM-Noon timeslot in comparison to all other area talk stations throughout the past year, dropped to #2 behind Limbaugh. Hartmann is still the most-listened to host on KPTK. Ed Schultz tied with Sean Hannity among all listeners in the recent Seattle book, though he did reportedly beat him in some demographic breakdowns. In general, conservotalk fared rather poorly in Seattle this past fall, with Limbaugh being the sole exception.

On the other side of the state, KPTQ in Spokane (#93) holds somewhat steady, rising from a 1.0 to a 1.3 share. In Eugene, OR (#150), KOPT continues its rollercoaster ride, from a 2.4 last fall to 3.4 this past spring and back down to a 1.9 for this past fall. Whether this has to do with the erratic nature of twice-yearly Arbitron ratings reports in small markets (in Duluth, MN, KQDS jumped from 0.9 to 2.1) is unknown.

In Anchorage, AK (#172), KUDO, which is owned and backed by IBEW Local 1547, comes in with a 1.3 share. KUMU in Honolulu (#63), which carries a hodgepodge of mostly delayed talk programming including Air America, Stephanie Miller, Schultz, and various non-political talk shows, rises slightly to grab a 0.7 share.

Coming soon, we'll give you the lowdown on other parts of the country. As always, stay tuned!

Liberal talk radio stations shuffle lineups

UPDATED 9/18. All times local.

In response to recent lineup changes at Air America Radio, several affiliates have announced their own schedule changes.

First, Clear Channel-owned KTLK in Los Angeles has adjusted its on-air roster, picking up Rachel Maddow's new evening show for 6-8PM and picking up WOR Radio Network's Lionel for 10PM-1AM. Cary Harrison's local show moves up the schedule to the 8-10PM slot.

Further north, after conducting an online vote on their updated lineup, KQKE in San Francisco, also owned by Clear Channel, adds Stephanie Miller to weekdays, airing an hour of her show from 6-7AM, displacing the locally-produced "The Progressive News Hour". The Quake will air the last two hours of Al Franken's midday show from 10AM-12PM followed by Ed Schultz live, add "EcoTalk" in the 6-7PM slot. Thom Hartmann's show, which has experienced great success in West Coast markets, will air delayed from 7-10PM, and Lionel comes to the station for the 10PM-2AM shift, including a repeat of one hour of the three hour show. Mark Riley's one hour show will follow at 2AM, and Bill Press is added live 3-6AM. Air America's new morning show, The Young Turks, will not be picked up by the station.

Entercom-owned KCTC in Sacramento lists Peter Werbe in the live 7-9PM slot, followed by a replay of Franken's show from 9PM-12AM. Press will air live 3-5:30AM, followed by the local morning show, "The Morning Retort", hosted by Scott & Sims.

And CBS Radio's KPTK in Seattle also shuffles it's schedule, The new weekday lineup adds The Young Turks (who had been on weekends) to weekdays live 3-6AM PT and Rachel Maddow live 3-5PM. KPTK moves Al Franken's delayed show to 5-8PM and Randi Rhodes 8-11PM.

Dave McDonald, senior vice president and market manager for CBS Radio's Seattle stations, said he's pleased to be able to add Maddow's show to the lineup. The new lineup also helps KPTK shift more of its programming to live, he added.

KPTK listeners have also expressed their disappointment over the loss of Mike Malloy, whose show was dropped by Air America, McDonald said.

In Portland, KPOJ substitutes live airings of Riley and The Young Turks for the current Air America Mornings bloc from 2-6AM. Seder's new show will air on delay around the time of the Majority Report's former shift, from 6-9PM. And following the success of Hartmann's local morning show, KPOJ adds his national show to evenings, delayed to 9PM-12AM, and taking over Malloy's former shift. Maddow follows from 12-2AM.

Meanwhile, on the opposite coast, WINZ in Miami picks up Maddow for 9-11PM and moves Sam Seder from overnights to the 11PM-2AM shift. The rest of the schedule remains unchanged, except for the shortening of Rhodes' show.

At WXXM in Madison, Maddow, "Politically Direct" with David Bender, and "EcoTalk" with Betsy Rosenberg will be added, along with a few other changes.

KTNF in Minneapolis/St. Paul adds Press for mornings, following Riley. Hartmann's show is also added, airing from 6-9PM, bumping Rhodes to 9Pm-12AM. Seder's show airs on delay from 12-2AM. The station does seem to remain open to Malloy's return, if he indeed does.

KKZN in Denver/Boulder CO adds Maddow from 7-9PM, followed by EcoTalk 9-10PM, Politically Direct 10-11PM, Werbe 11-1AM, and a replay of Franken from 1-3AM. Riley airs live from 3-4AM and The Young Turks air 4-6AM, followed by local host Jay Marvin. The rest of the schedule remains the same.

As reported earlier, KRFT in St. Louis, currently airing Franken's show, adds Randi Rhodes to the 3-6PM shift. St. Louis listeners can see Franken as he does a live broadcast from St. Louis on Tuesday 9/19.

KLSD in San Diego updated their own schedule, picking up Maddow for 6-7PM, sending Jon Elliott back to weekends and airing Werbe evenings 7-9PM. A Franken replay airs from 9-10PM, followed by The Lionel Show. Mark Riley and The Young Turks air live during the early morning hours. Seder's show will air on weekends as 'best-of' programming.

In Columbus, WTPG picks up The Young Turks for mornings. Maddow gets the 6-8 shift, followed by Politically Direct and EcoTalk. Fans of Rhodes will be disappointed, as her show moves to overnight hours (3-5AM) in a surprise move.

WXKS/WKOX in Boston adds Riley and The Young Turks for mornings and EcoTalk from 9-10PM. The 10PM-12AM shift is undetermined, but for now, Werbe will have the shift.

The WHMP trimulcast in central Massachusetts is also altering its lineup, moving Maddow to evenings. Stephanie Miller debuts on the station and picks up Maddow's previous timeslot, 10AM-12PM.

KPHX in Phoenix will air the straight Air America feed live for much of the day, outside of Mike Newcomb's morning show. Hartmann will air from 9PM-12AM in delay.

In the Buffalo/Niagara Falls area, WHLD adds Seder to mornings and will also air Franken, Rhodes and one hour of Maddow live. Democracy Now follows at 7PM, followed by various non-commercial shows, including Flashpoints, Building Bridges, Uprising Radio, Counterspin and others on a daily rotating basis.

Chicago's WCPT switches out morning shows, adding Bill Press. Jerry Springer remains in his mid-morning shift. The station is a Class D AM station, meaning it signs off the air from sunset to sunrise.

WRVC in Huntington, WV adds a second Air America show to the lineup, as they bring in The Young Turks for morning drive. The station currently carries Franken, as well as Ed Schultz. The rest of the schedule is heavy with local programming and ESPN Radio and other sports programming.

And syndicated host Lionel picks up a few new affiliates, including the aforementioned KTLK and KQKE. He also lands on WKJK in Louisville KY, WWKB in Buffalo NY, WHNZ in Tampa FL and WCRN in Worcester MA weekdays and WOND in Atlantic City NJ, KTLK-FM in Minneapolis MN on weekends. It should be noted that WKJK, WHNZ, WCRN and KTLK-FM air predominantly conservative talk shows.

And what about Jerry Springer? The bankruptcy rumors this week claimed that Air America and Springer have parted ways. It looks like the previous story about Springer being taken off the main Air America feed and shuffled to their syndication arm is actually correct, at least according to Springer's Cincinnati sales team in The Cincinnati Post, who claim that almost all their 50-some affiliates are staying with the show, while Springer will be dropped at the New York affiliate in favor of Seder. Whether Springer actually has 50 affiliates (I count twenty or so at most, and this is a very old list) is probably something that can be debated. Nonetheless, Jerry is still out there, plugging away, and will likely stay at WSAI in Cincy.
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