Mark Riley returns to WWRL

Former Air America talker Mark Riley has returned to radio with a new Saturday afternoon show on WWRL (1600AM), New York titled "Working New York", a show focusing on people "who are working, looking for work, and people who have worked all their lives and are now retired."

WWRL is also undergoing further weekend changes, days after renewing their deal with Air America. The station is harking back to its earlier roots by adding some Caribbean-oriented talk programming to weekends, both local and syndicated.

Air America stays with WWRL

After reports of some differences between the two parties, Air America decided to stay with WWRL for the forseeable future.

Here's the presser:

NEW YORK – Air America Media has extended its agreement with WWRL 1600 AM for Air America programming to be carried in the New York market. Under terms of the deal, WWRL will continue to carry "The Rachel Maddow Show" weekdays from 5-6am, "Montel Across America" weekdays from 3-6pm and "The Ron Reagan Show" weekdays from 6-8pm.

"Making sure our listeners in the New York area continue to have access to their favorite Air America programming was a key goal of our conversations with our friends at WWRL," said Bill Hess, senior vice president of programming, Air America Media. "’The Ron Reagan Show’s’ growth in New York has been explosive, and the opportunities to continue the success of both Montel and Rachel make this a strong package for both the network and WWRL."

Air America, WWRL deal up in the air

Will Air America programming stay on WWRL in the future? This is what both sides are trying to determine.

Air America, and their nominal New York flagship station, WWRL (1600AM) are currently engaged in discussions that could determine whether or not the network opts to keep its programming on the station, according to David Hinckley of the Daily News.

The deal between the two parties is set to expire soon, and Air America CEO Bennett Zier says, "As our contract is winding down, we are in negotiations with WWRL about extending the agreement."

Zier declined further comment, but reports have been circulating that the agreement may be allowed to expire, leaving Air America in search of another station.

However, finding another available station in the New York area could be a bit of a challenge. Few strong-signaled stations in the New York area make significant amounts of airtime available for lease, and Air America likely doesn't have the resources to purchase or lease a whole station outright in the nation's largest media market.

Part of the problem between the two parties is the lack of Air America programming carried by the station. As it stands, only the shows of Montel Williams and Ron Reagan are carried in daytime slots. Other programming airs in overnight hours. This is why well-known New York personalities employed by Air America, such as Ron Kuby and Lionel, have never had much presence on WWRL.

The station airs Ed Schultz in afternoons (WWRL's owner, Access.1 Communications, is part-owner of his show), as well as Stephanie Miller and various local and syndicated shows and paid programming. This doesn't leave much time available for lease by Air America, and the network has been concerned about this for awhile, even making noises about looking for other area affiliates.

But, as explained before, that's easier said than done. Which is why Air America has been promoting their web presence more, hoping that the increased ability to receive the network's programming through computers and mobile devices will allow them to bypass the terrestrial hassles.

Air America programming has aired on WWRL since September 2006, when they moved from original affiliate WLIB.

Another Tuesday newsday

Here's what's the haps for today...

More Randi on the radio

As kind of an update to last week's entry, a couple more affiliates have added Randi Rhodes, both owned by Clear Channel, which syndicates her show. WXXM Madison, after not being able to agree with her on a suitable time slot, has compromised with a little shuffling. Her show will air on 92.1 The Mic weeknights 6-9P (CT) starting May 26. Mike Malloy has been shifted to 9P-12A, followed by Ron Reagan 12-3A.

In Denver, KKZN adds her to the 7-10P (MT) shift, replacing Ron Kuby.

And if you don't mind staying up late, Ohio Majority Radio, which offers its own streaming station, is webcasting her show in the 1-4A ET time slot.

WWR(e)Location time

With the shuffling of Air America's talent lineup, 'flagship' station WWRL in New York has done some minor tweaking. Montel Williams is now airing in the 3-6P ET time slot in place of Ron Kuby. Also the station has added the third hour of Stephanie Miller's show in the 11A-12P slot, following the station's two-hour mid-morning infomercial juggernaut.

In case you missed it, Kuby moved his show to the vacant 12-3P slot, and Air America is currently airing a replay of Williams' late-morning show in the (now vacant) 3-6P slot.

And Jon Elliot is no longer at Air America, having taken over afternoons at XEPE in San Diego. You can hear his show streamed 3-6P PT (6-9P ET) here.

No further word on any network replacements thus far.

More radio mayhem

They say that radio programming runs in waves. Some formats become the flavor of the month, while others become audio pariahs. The latest dying format appears to be smooth jazz, which has just been nuked in two of America's biggest markets. In San Francisco, KKSF dropped the format after a more than two decade run, switching to classic rock. And in Chicago, WNUA, another long-running smooth jazz outlet, is reportedly reaching for the handle. Both stations are owned by Clear Channel, which appears to make all their programming decisions in bulk.

Granted, perhaps only a scant few will shed tears over the slow demise of smooth jazz. The mix of bland funk and elevator music really can't be considered 'jazz' (I call it 'supermarket jazz'), particularly when the likes of Dave Brubeck, Miles Davis, John Coltrane and other true 'jazz' geniuses (which, incidentally never get played on a smooth 'jazz' outlet) are weighed in on the mix. Rather, the increasingly watered-down 'fuzak' format features unspontaneous light jazzers like Kenny G (who is to jazz what Nickleback is to grunge) mixed with dreary lite-rock fare like Phil Collins, a recipe for an audio valium tablet. I briefly did a smooth jazz format myself and found it quite dreadful, but perhaps that's just me.

Granted 'real' jazz is an even deader format on the nation's airwaves (save for a few non-commercial outlets and some really good streaming services), but maybe, just maybe, a pending death of smooth 'jazz' will help return the term 'jazz' to it's proper place.

Steel Town shakedown

Here's an added update for Wednesday. Sheridan Broadcasting is selling three of its Pittsburgh stations, including WAMO-AM/FM and WPGR to a religious broadcaster. For local listeners, that means that the city's only urban contemporary-formatted station, the venerable WAMO-FM, will soon be gone, and along with it a strong community voice and employer of African-Americans in on-air and management positions.

What it means to liberal talk listeners in the city is that local talk fixture Lynn Cullen will soon be out of a job again. She started working at WAMO's AM outlet only a few months ago. Also gone will be the syndicated Bev Smith. Cullen is pondering retirement, as she refuses to leave Pittsburgh and her on-air options there are very limited.

KMNY shuffles lineup

Here's another Wednesday item. KMNY (1360AM) Dallas ("Rational Radio") is not adding Randi Rhodes at this time (as far as I can tell). However, they are replacing Ron Kuby with a popular local duo. Pugs & Kelly (a.k.a. John Myron and Kelly Mohr) will air from 1-4P CT, taking over Kuby's 2-4P shift, and cutting off the last hour of Thom Hartmann's show.

Pugs & Kelly have worked at three local stations in the past year, with a long stint on the now-defunct FM hot-talker KLLI (Live 105.3), and briefly at KDBN ("The Bone").

The station airs a healthy amount of local programming compared to other similar stations.

WWRL owner purchases stake in Schultz' show

The Ed Schultz Show is under new management.

Radio-Info.com is reporting that Randy Michaels and Stu Krane's syndication group, Product 1st, has apparently sold its ownership interest to Access.1 Communications and its SupeRadio syndication division.

Access.1 also owns radio stations, including WWRL (1600AM) in New York, which acts as the default 'flagship' station for Air America Radio. WWRL recently added Schultz' show to it's lineup, and the station also carries another SupeRadio offering, the Al Sharpton Show.

The company recently reached an agreement to sell their Atlantic City group, including progressive talker WTAA.

Schultz' show will still air noon-3P weekdays, and its ad sales and some distribution will continue to be handled by Jones MediaAmerica.

SuperRadio is a general market syndication company which distributes 40 radio programs in various types of formats to more than 725 radio stations nationwide. Michaels, the former Clear Channel executive that co-owned the show, is now the Chief Operations Officer of the Tribune Company media empire.

Shakeups in New York, Sacramento and Palm Springs

In my month-long sabbatical from LTR, I was surprised that I didn't really miss a whole heck of a lot. I noticed that comparable blogs, on both sides, have been rather quiet as well. So, I guess I picked the perfect time to be burnt out.

There are a few situations to catch up on, just to keep y'all in the know. First in New York, WWRL (1600AM) has been undergoing some radical changes as of late. First, morning man Richard Bey left the station, due to what has been cited as a 'personal situation.' And now, the flagship station of Air America Radio has suddenly found itself with a whole lot less Air America. First, hometown host Lionel is gone, replaced by infomercials. Thom Hartmann has now been replaced by Ed Schultz. And Clout has been replaced by Al Sharpton's syndicated show. All that's left really of Air America on the station is Randi Rhodes and Rachel Maddow.

Air America is said to be looking for another New York station that could be more of a full flagship. Meanwhile, a more limited agreement will keep some Air America programs where they are.

And while Hartmann is no longer on WWRL, he has picked up four affiliates. WINZ (940AM) in Miami (where he replaces Ed Schultz), WZNZ (1460AM) in Jacksonville, WNWF (1120AM) in Destin, FL and KBAI (930AM) in Bellingham, WA are now carrying his show.

In Sacramento, progressive talk and Air America are gone for good, as KSAC (1240AM) has pulled the plug, flipping last Friday to gospel music as KRJY. "It's not a ratings thing - we have plenty of listeners," said nighttime host Mike Malloy on his show. "KSAC is experiencing what most other liberal talk show format stations are experiencing - it's not a lack of audience, it's a lack of business support." Meaning that the station isn't selling much in the way of advertising. Of course, selling advertising time on a station with no sales staff is a challenge in itself.

Owner/GM Paula Nelson said that she's happy with her decision."I was ready for this change - I just wasn't having fun anymore," Nelson says. "The whole political thing has gotten nasty, dirty and contentious."

And it didn't help that major political companies didn't support the station during its four years as a liberal talk radio station, she says.

"There are all these Sacramento Democratic organizations that haven't spent a dime on (advertising) for our station," Nelson says. "To them I say, 'You did this - you were complicit, you shut us down.'

"If you're not sending us the marketing dollars, then you're part of the problem."

Malloy said that his network, Nova M Radio, is currently searching for a new home for his show.

In Palm Springs, some listeners of KPTR (1340AM) have been a little worried about some developments at their owner, RR Broadcasting. In a complicated set of transactions, the company is buying the station's former FM sister, KWXY, and selling one of their stations to a Spanish-language broadcaster, which plans to move the station closer to the Riverside/San Bernadino area. KWXY's easy listening format will move to its former home at 1340AM, displacing progressive talk. But not to worry - progressive talk will survive. The format will move to 1450, replacing mostly-wingnut talker KGAM. The move is expected to take place in the next few months.

Holiday soundbytes

If you've all been wondering where the rest of the previously promised end-of-the-year Top 10 lists are, they're coming. I came down with a brief yet nasty case of the flu right after Christmas and didn't feel the urge to do anything but attempt to sleep and watch TV (mostly DVDs and Benazhir Bhutto). The rest is forthcoming, most notably the Top 10 Liberal Talkers of 2007. Stay tuned.

Turning back to the present tense, there's still a little bit going on. First is good news for fans of the late KLSD in San Diego. Stacy Taylor, the former morning show host on that station, was offered a position at another Clear Channel-owned station. But when all was said and done, he opted to part ways with them and has instead taken the afternoon (4-7PM PT) shift on XEPE (1700AM) starting January 3, 2008. He'll be sandwiched in between investment shows and local and syndicated conservojocks that garner the station little in the way of ratings. Perhaps Taylor, who actually did get decent ratings on KLSD, will deliver a shot in the arm to this border blaster.

Another programming change also rings in the new year. The Chicago Sun-Times reports that WWRL in New York will be getting a new morning show co-host next Wednesday in the guise of Chicago's Coz Carson, formerly of urban talk-formatted WVON. Whether he is joining the relatively new duo of Richard Bey and Mark Riley or replacing one or both people is unknown. I guess we'll see on Wednesday January 2.

UPDATE: Looks like Riley is heading back to WLIB, where he's worked off and on over the years. Carson will pair up with Bey on WWRL's morning show, according to FishbowlNY (disregard the various errors in that posting).

The guy Bey and Riley replaced, Sam Greenfield, just got a new gig. "Mornings With Sammy" will debut on January 7 and air 7-9A ET weekdays at WVNJ (1160AM) in Oakland, NJ. The Northern New Jersey station has a decent signal that also targets areas to the north and east of New York City. The station's on-air lineup is nothing to really get excited about, unless you like infomercials. Nonetheless, a longtime New York liberal talker gets a new gig, sans the excess baggage that was Armstrong Williams.

And finally, Sirius Left host Alex Bennett is hitting the road. No, he's not leaving his radio gig. He's taking it across the country next week, covering the 2008 Iowa Caucuses and the 2008 New Hampshire primary (yes, they're coming up). Bennett and company will deliver breaking election news, get voter reaction, and analysis straight from the epicenter of the beginning of the madness that is the 2008 Presidential Election.

According to the press release, according to All Access, Bennett will take listeners "inside" two actual Iowa Caucuses, "bringing a firsthand account of the debate, discussion, and procedure by which America’s first political choices are made for the 2008 presidential campaign." Look for him there January 3-4. On January 8 and 9, Bennett will broadcast his show live from the iconic Red Arrow Diner, a focal point for many presidential candidates, in Manchester.

Speaking of the 2008 Election, I have finally thrown my support behind a candidate in the race, after holding out for quite some time. Perhaps in the next few days or so, after I sort out this year-end stuff, I'll even share it with all of you. Until then, have a happy, safe and prosperous 2008.

Morning shakeup at WWRL

"Sammy and Army" are history.

Sam Greenfield and Armstrong Williams, the morning show hosts at WWRL (1600AM) in New York, exit the station, in a programming overhaul. The two hosted their last show yesterday.

Former Air America Radio personality Mark Riley and current WWRL nighttime host Richard Bey will take over mornings effective Monday. Program director Rennie Bishop calls the move a "creative redirection."

Both Riley and Bey are New York radio veterans. Riley was a longtime personality at WLIB prior to joining Air America, from their debut in March 2004 until this past August. Bey was formerly at WABC radio until starting at WWRL in August. He has also done fill-in work at Sirius Left. And yes, he did host that talk show back in the 90s.

The "Sammy and Army" show was often controversial among Air America fans. Listeners mostly took exception to the 'conservative half' of the duo, Armstrong Williams, who was most notably caught in a scam involving some suspect dealings with the Bush administration. Williams had to fork over $34,000 to settle his case with the Department of Justice when it was discovered that he accepted $240,000 in payments from the Bush administration to tout their 'No Child Left Behind' act on his TV and radio shows. According to USA Today, Williams was hired "to promote the law... and to urge other black journalists to do the same." When the whole matter was disclosed, he lost his TV show and the White House turned its back on him. Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington claimed the deal was illegal, as the federal government is forbidden from funding propaganda broadcast within the United States.

Turn that frown upside down and put on a happy face!

Okay, it's time to stop being so morose.

I'll admit, the most recent news entries here have been rather depressing. I've covered the deaths of people (Tom Snyder, Mike Webb), the death of a tabloid, the death of local programming on KOPT in Eugene, the death of a show (The Air Americans) and even the death of a radio network. Not to mention the I-35W bridge tragedy last week in Minneapolis. This grim focus is rather accidental. Nothing intentional. But now, the time has come to share some good news. Namely, some people got jobs. How much more upbeat can one get than that?

This past Monday, WWRL/New York added veteran radio and TV talker Richard Bey for the 8-10PM weeknight shift. Bey is best known for his old daytime TV talk show (think Jerry Springer but with more silliness, self-deprecating humor and game show-like competition). In recent years, he has worked at WABC radio (prior to the liberal purge) and has been a frequent guest host for Alex Bennett on Sirius Left. Bey will replace the Sammy and Army replay that so many listeners loved so dearly. Yes, the sarcasm is intended.

Broward County Commissioner and former Florida State Representative Stacy Ritter is debuting a new radio show this Saturday on WFTL (850AM) in West Palm Beach. Some may remember her as the legsilator who recently proposed that the county stop using WIOD (610AM) as the official station for emergency announcements, because it runs Rush Limbaugh's show. The move failed, but it received nationwide attention. Limbaugh even called here 'a babe,' surprising, since I assumed his tastes ran more towards Dominican teenage boys. Of course, with her blatant anti-Rush stance, the dittohead militia are sure to bring the torches and pitchforks. They obviously hate her for her freedom. Anyhoo, listen for her show Saturday mornings at 10:30AM ET. She'll be in (ahem) good company on the station with the likes of Bill O'Reilly, Michael Savage, Laura Ingraham and the usual gang of idiots.

After previously announcing her move into syndication, Los Angeles-based talker Leslie Marshall has finally launched her new syndicated radio show. The show is being produced by TalkUSA Radio, headed by former Air America and Democracy Radio head Tom Athans. Currently, it airs live from 7-10PM. Or is that 3-6PM? Who knows, since NOBODY THERE IS TELLING ME ANYTHING!!! I swear, some of these people have more secrets than the Illuminati. I'm not even sure if there's any affiliates yet (it's being offered to all talk formats, not just liberal talk) but allegedly, her old employer, Buffalo, NY-based WWKB (1520AM), has picked it up. However, WWKB doesn't offer a webstream anyways (and neither does the host) so nobody outside of New York can hear her. Besides, 'KB can't even maintain an accurate website. Perhaps Ms. Marshall or anyone else involved in this little endeavor could drop a line (hint, hint) and perhaps let people know her show actually exists. Remember, if a tree falls in a forest...

And finally, Enid Goldstein, late of KCTC in Sacramento, KNRC in Denver, and various other radio and TV outlets, is now a political commentator for KCRA-TV in Sacramento. She will be featured on the station's evening newscasts.

Congratulations to all the newly employed. And remember, smile, darn ya' smile!

Oh, and don't forget to pimp your news tips and press releases here.

Rumor: Air America adding 6-7 new affiliates

Geez, it's been so long since I did one of these types of posts that I damn near forgot how.

All kidding aside, the hot rumor in liberal talk appears to be the rumored pending arrival of new stations to the format. Last night on his show, Jon Elliott claimed that his employer, Air America Radio is adding 6-7 new affiliates in the next few weeks.

Now, we don't know where these stations are located, but Elliott did throw us a bone, claiming that one would be in Atlantic City, NJ. As far as affiliate possibilities go, the most logical station would seem to be WTAA (1490AM), which is owned by Access.1 Communications (owner of Air America's New York affiliate WWRL). Currently, this little 400 watt wonder is simulcasting the oldies sounds of its sister FM station, WTKU ("Kool 98.3"). Sure, 400 watts ain't much, but local AM stations in the Atlantic City market are pretty weak. They don't have to cover much ground, and they blast half their signal out into the ocean anyway. Incidentally, the WTAA call sign was just picked up in the last week or so.

As for the other rumored markets, nothing is known. One that could be the subject of speculation (namely my own) could be WVKO (1580AM) in Columbus, OH, which is close to returning to the air, after building a new broadcast transmission facility. Obviously, the station needs a format (their preference is brokered programming, but that stuff doesn't happen overnight), and the owner knows that local interest is there for progressive talk, after the format was dropped by WTPG in December. Again, this isn't even close to rumor status, just mere speculation on my part. So keep that in mind before you all go around spreading this stuff.

There's no word on what any of these stations will run outside of Air America programming, if anything, whether it be local shows or stuff from other syndicators.

Nonetheless, keep checking back here for more info. And if anyone reading this owns or works for one of the aforementioned rumored stations (and I know you're reading this), drop me a line and fill me in.

Air America 2.0: But will it float?

Over the last week or so, there's been a lot of talk about the 'new and improved' Air America Radio. With a new web presence, new personalities and shows, and a new lineup, they obviously expect great thing to come of it.

Yesterday was a good start, as they launched the new website and logo with a press release, and even featured an in-studio chat between New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg and former rival Mark Green, now president of Air America. The meeting of the former political foes was packed with New York-area reporters, and will air sometime next week.

But the question lingers in the back of everyones' minds: Is this whole 2.0 thing really going to work?

Lionel was the first addition, and a very controversial one at that. After a fairly successful run at late night radio syndication via WOR Networks, he moved his show over to Air America and late mornings. The goal obviously was to help the network gain new affiliates, or even bump time slot rival Stephanie Miller from a few. Less than a week into it, the results have been disappointing. Not only has Lionel not gained many fresh affiliates, he lost roughly a half dozen that carried Seder on delay. The only station he seems to have been added to is WINZ in Miami, on delay from 6-9P ET. Lots of stations still list him on their website schedules for his former show, but it is unknown if they are still running his new Air America show in those time slots. And judging by the response on various blogs, message boards and even Air America's own site, listeners are very vocal about "The Lionel Show."

Of course, time will tell if the show will grow and expand, and its up to Scott Ellberg and David Bernstein to make this happen. Particularly since predecessor Sam Seder actually improved his ratings on flagship station WWRL in the most recent Arbitron book.

In regard to the other changes, so far the only one that seems to be working is the move of Jon Elliott to three hours later. This was one move that made sense on paper, since it carves out a new shift for the network (Midnight-3A), gets him out of the way of Mike Malloy's 9-Midnight show, and many of Elliott's affiliates delay him to a later time slot anyway. In essence, Elliott's new shift is nearly competition-free, since Lionel is now gone from late nights and FOX News Radio's Alan Colmes wraps up his show an hour into Elliott's.

As a result, Elliott's flagship station, KLSD in San Diego, will now carry his entire show live, immediately following Malloy's, which gets a full three hour clearance starting Monday. Elliott has also been picked up by KQKE in San Francisco, KKZN in Denver, KPHX in Phoenix (ironically), KPTK in Seattle, KPOJ in Portland, KRXA in Monterey/Santa Cruz (which carries the straight Air America feed in overnights anyway), and other stations.

"The Air Americans" is the other new show coming to Air America. Basically, the Mark Riley-anchored show is a hodge-podge of various hosts at the station, including correspondents Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., Mike Papantonio, David Bender and Laura Flanders. The four hour show essentially replaces two cancelled ones: "Politically Direct" (who's host Bender stays with the new show) and "EcoTalk" (which was going to die anyway). Thus far, no affiliate has announced their intentions of picking up "The Air Americans" and rumor has it not many people in the building are optimistic about its chances. Furthermore, there's a chance that WWRL may not even carry it, which in effect would kill the show, given that Air America all too often seems to be a bit too New Yorkish. Buzz about "The Air Americans" is not good. Nonetheless, they will promote the hell out of it, and even have some strong guests lined up.

For the weekends, the network has said very little about the changes and new shows that will debut. The only one we've really heard anything about is Seder's new Sunday show, but that's due to obvious reasons.

So, will Air America 2.0 be a success, or will it be yet another bit of bad luck for the much-beleaguered network? Only time will tell. Should be an interesting few weeks, so stay tuned.

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.

Returning Air America show is all about the money

"Green America" is coming back.

No, it's not a show about the environment. Not that kind of green. In this case, it's about money green.

Air America Radio is returning progressive financial planner Marc Sussman’s personal finance call-in program "Green America" to their schedule next month, starting Saturday, May 19, at 9AM ET.

Sussman is a long-time veteran of the financial services industry, with 29 years under his belt. Today, he runs a financial planning business. "Green America" was on Air America and former flagship station WLIB from September 2005 to last October. The show apparently didn't have much of a national presence on the network, and was relegated mostly to WLIB. Since then, he has continued the show, via the internet as well as recently on current Air America flagship station WWRL. As it appears, this time it will actually be a full-fledged part of Air America's lineup and will also be on their XM channel. Good thing, since Air America could use some good financial advice (okay, I had to say it!).

According to his official bio, a few years back, Sussman had an epiphany of sorts, and discovered the importance of taking a socially responsible approach to investing. “ We have to live with integrity, and demand the same from the people we do business with. What we stand for as people, and where we place our investment dollars should be consistent,” says Sussman. His objective is financial strategies that are profitable and have social integrity. And he advocates putting the “common good” ahead of corporate gain and thinks that investors can “raise their own financial standards in ways that are both ethical and personally enriching.” While most radio finance shows are about profits at any cost, Sussman's show will be quite different.

Likely, thick-headed conservodorks will scoff at this type of programming, assuming that they own that field and liberals shouldn't be giving advice on how to manage money. Obviously, they disregard how the Bush Administration turned Clinton's record surplus into a record deficit. Or how conservative media ventures such as the Washington Times, the New York Post and the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review hemmhorage millions and millions of dollars yearly. But I'm going off topic. Just a little preemptive strike to swat away the comment trolls.

Hey, if there can be a progressive radio show dedicated to taking back faith and spirituality from radical Christian conservatives, such as "State of Belief," why not a pro-capitalism show dedicated to progressive and ethical investing and economicsa? I say take it back, since the other side is obviously failing with it.

"Green America" starts Saturday May 19 at 9AM on Air America. In the meantime, you can check out archives of previous shows at Progressive Radio Network.

Ratings Roundup: Phase 2 Winter trend, part 1

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

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

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

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

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

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

A special note to Air America Radio stream listeners

No doubt many people who listen to Air America Radio via their various webstreams are frustrated, as they often seem to be non-functioning as of late.

Is it due to the new ownership? Too many listeners maxing out the bandwidth? Did they forget to pay the bill? Is it Karl Rove's fault? I highly doubt any of those are the reason, but what it all comes down to is, the streams just ain't working sometimes.

Keep in mind that it is still possible to listen to Air America on the web, even with all the streaming issues. Looking at the top of the left-hand side of the page, you may notice a rather large list of shows and streaming links. Looks something like this:

Sam Seder 9A-12P

So, what is all this mumbojumbo? Well, the name (in this case the one belonging to Mr. Seder) is a link to his site, the times he's live on the air (in eastern time, to minimize confusion for all) and a whole bunch of cute little icons. These are not just icons, however. They are clickable links. And by clicking these, you will pull up either a real live stream or a page with stream links. The Air America shows listed all have the official feed links, for Windows Media Player, Real Player and Winamp/iTunes. But what if they're down? Well, I just added an outside link to the Air America shows. The second is a direct link to an embedded RealPlayer webstream from WWRL/New York, which is certainly better than pulling up that dreaded RealPlayer, right? The second icon denotes a direct link to the Windows Media stream for WWRL (though it may open up in another media player, such as Winamp, depending on your own computer's settings). These streams operate independently of Air America. And you can hear all of the network's shows live on that station, excluding The Young Turks. For their show, I'll add a link for WURP/Pittsburgh's mp3 stream. You can also listen to TYT live on other stations, including WXXM/Madison.

I plan on adding a few more links for other station streams. In the meantime, you can also check the various affiliates further down the page. Many of them stream live.

UPDATE: Sunshine informed me in comments that WWRL is also having streaming issues. Gee, must suck to be so popular, huh? Anyways, I added a few more live links (including some of the more stable CBS and Clear Channel webstreams), which you can check out to your left. Here are a few:

Sam Seder: KEUN Lafayette, LA, WPYR Baton Rouge (recommended stable stream!!!)
Randi Rhodes: WCPT Chicago, KTLK Los Angeles, KPHX Phoenix, Nova M Radio
Rachel Maddow: KPTK Seattle
Jon Elliot: KLSD San Diego

You'll also notice a new addition - weekend streaming links of various live shows. Enjoy!

Update 3/12 - Most of the inquiries received here have been from Seder fans. I discovered a new stream carrying him live - WPYR in Baton Rouge. It's a Clear Channel station, meaning that the stream is excellent. Highly recommended, and probably more stable than WWRL and KEUN. Here's the direct stream link.

Update 3/20: Air America has changed streaming hosts. Click here for new streaming links.

Ratings Roundup Fall 2006: Part 5

For the last of this series of Arbitron ratings reports for liberal talk radio stations across the country, we arrive in the Northeast. This one will take a look at the upper East Coast.

In New York, WWRL finally makes an appearance in its first ratings book since becoming the new flagship for Air America. Whereas the signal-challenged station rarely appeared in the rankings prior to the September flip, they now come on with a 0.8 share, tied for 26th place. WWRL also makes a first-time showing in other regional books, garnering a 0.7 share in Long Island (market #18), where they only have a partial presence, and 0.5 in Middlesex, NJ (market #39). Meanwhile, WLIB, now airing a gospel music format, drops from a 1.0 to a 0.5 share in New York City. They did not show up in other regional market surveys, where they have done well under its previous format. All in all, considering the station switch and signal limitations, WWRL did not do too badly, as they beat a few 50,000 watt stations and are even competitive with stronger, higher-profile FM stations like WFNY, airing CBS Radio's expensive "Free FM" talk format.

Upstate, in Buffalo/Niagara Falls (#52), little WHLD maintained a mid-share figure for its last ratings book before its recent flip to gospel music. Since picking up Air America and other liberal talk programming, the station has gone from a perrenial no-show to actually making a dent in the ratings book. Its final number was a 0.5. Entercom-owned rival WWKB finished just a tenth of a point ahead, with a 0.6, down from a 1.0 in the Summer. WWKB appears to be a rather neglected station, with a neglected website and a midday show rerun in the evening hours. Perhaps with WHLD's dropping of Air America, WWKB will have some new programming options. The station does have a fairly strong signal, and could be a success if they figured out how to utilize it properly. To the east, WWKB's sister station WROC in nearby Rochester (#53) made a pretty big jump, rising from a 0.9 to a 1.3, good for 15th place overall. The Arbitron book for Ithaca (#283) has been embargoed, meaning that overall ratings are not available to the public, so there's no word on how WNYY did in that market as of yet. They flipped from oldies to progressive talk last June.

In Boston (#11), the two weak signals of WKOX and WXKS maintained a half share with their recently-dropped progressive talk format. The current ratings for Central Massachusetts' trimulcast of WHMP are unknown in the Springfield (#84) ratings, since the book is under an embargo by Arbitron. In the last available ratings, from one year ago, the station held a 1.6 share, making it the #2 talk station in the market. WAVZ in New Haven (#109), armed with a weak signal and little support from owner Clear Channel, did not register overall in the current ratings book. The station switched to ESPN Radio last week. And WLVP in Portland, ME (#167) drops slightly for the fall, down from a 0.9 to 0.6 share.

Pittsburgh (#24) is the home of two Air America Radio affiliates. The stronger, more established suburban rimshot WPTT, which carries Thom Hartmann, local liberal talker Lynn Cullen and an assortment of other talkers from various sides of the political spectrum, comes in at a 1.2 share. WPTT has recently gotten the go-ahead from the FCC to swap dial positions soon, moving from 1360AM to 910AM, which will give them a stronger daytime signal, though they will cease nighttime broadcasting as a trade-off. WURP, one of Air America's newest affiliates, is a no-show in the book, mostly due to a very tiny predominantly daytime signal that doesn't really get cover much area (at night, they power down from 1000 watts to a measly 4 watts). They have a construction permit pending that will double the daytime power and move the transmitter into the city, which will give the urban areas of Pittsburgh 12 watts at night. The station has long carried The Young Turks, and recently picked up Air America programming for weekends. During the week, they run 'hot talk' personalities such as Don and Mike and Tom Leykis, as well as G. Gordon Liddy.

And finally, this analysis consists mostly of the overall numbers, ages 12+ for all time periods 6AM-Midnight, since these are the only numbers that Arbitron officially releases to the public. Therefore, these numbers do not give any substantial information in regard to daypart, age and gender breakdowns, which are highly coveted by advertisers looking to target specific audiences. Occasionally, more specific information does seep through, such as a statement on Hartmann's website, claiming that his show enjoyed massive increases in listenership in several markets, including WPTT Pittsburgh, with a 100% increase, KPHX Phoenix up 186%, KTNF Minneapolis-St. Paul up 120%, KQKE San Francisco up 100% and his hometown of Grand Rapids, where WTKG is up 114%.



The next series of Arbitron ratings reports will be coming in late March, which will take into account the ratings for this Winter.

WWRL: Seder out, Stephanie in

In retaliation for comments made about morning co-host and Republican propagandist Armstrong Williams, Sam Seder's mid-morning show has been taken off New York's WWRL, effective this morning.

Yesterday, Seder ripped into Williams for incorrect comments he made about a run-in President Bush had with Senator Jim Webb (D-VA) a month or so ago. WWRL management took exception to Seder's bashing of Williams and yanked his show off their airwaves. As of this morning, WWRL is airing Stephanie Miller's show in the timeslot.

Across the internet, many of Seder's hardcore fans are enraged, with some blaming the move on his syndicator, Air America Radio. This move, however, was made by WWRL. Whether it affects the affiliation agreement between Air America and the station is unknown at this time.

Nonetheless, Seder is gone from WWRL, Miller gains a New York affiliate and Williams is still waking up New York with his more liberal cohost Sam Greenfield. However, Williams is no longer being paid by the White House to suck up to them.

UPDATE 1/25: It appears Seder is back on WWRL this morning. Whether the station decided to threaten carriage of his show to keep him in line (re: keep from dissing WWRL's personalities) or whether Air America stepped in and held them to the contract is unknown. I guess Steph was a one day thing.

Air America's day in court

Perhaps tomorrow will be the day that we find out more about the fate of Air America Radio. Or, it could just be some court paper shuffling. We shall see.

The court hearing for Air America's next move in their bankruptcy proceedings has been moved up to Thursday at 10AM ET. The matter was listed earlier this week on the court calendar for Friday but now appears that the matter will be moved up one day.

Included in the matters to be heard are objections to motions in the case and a Motion for Relief From Stay filed by AAR flagship WWRL/New York licensee Access.1 Communications. This seems to be a routine move for bankruptcy creditors.

The All Access article does not mention whether an announcement of a buyer will be made, or when.

As if there weren't enough sharks left to jump

After alienating many of their listeners after firing Mike Malloy and suffering through some badly mangled PR related to their financial issues and upper management squabbles, Air America Radio might trump all of that with a new rumored move.

The Hill, by way of Wonkette, is floating a rumor that Air America is considering syndication of right-wing radio flack and former Bush Administration paid propagandist Armstrong Williams, currently toiling away with liberal co-host Sam Greenfield in morning drive at their New York City affiliate WWRL.

Air America struck a deal this summer to move its New York home from WLIB to WWRL. The source said that as part of the deal, WWRL wants the Sammy and Army show syndicated on Air America radio. Such a deal would bring in more cash to WWRL, and word is that Air America is on board. But Air American does not want to syndicate the Williams show before the elections, which would presumably rile its liberal listeners (gee, you think?).

WWRL Program Director Rennie Bishop was mum on the topic. Asked when he would comment, Bishop said, “Call me after the elections.”

Williams, recently paid $34,000 to settle his case with the Department of Justice on his controversial payments from the Bush administration for touting the No Child Left Behind law, basically because he didn't peddle enough propaganda, said, “I keep hearing the rumor it’s coming and it couldn’t come any sooner because they need a little diversity there.”

Williams’s business card has “Air America radio” already on it because of his affiliation with WWRL (oh, the irony!).

Air America spokeswoman Jaime Horn said, “We have no plans to syndicate Armstrong Williams at any time.” Well, I guess we'll just have to wait and see what happens.

Of course, it's likely that if AAR were to, in fact, syndicate Army and Greeny (or whatever they call themselves), it would be dumped on their secondary syndication feed along with Jerry Springer and Thom Hartmann.

Where's Jerry?

Well, the whole Air America Radio bankruptcy is behind us (for now), and the wingnut vultures have stopped circling the expected corpse.

Since the whole bankruptcy thing was sooo last week, and AAR's schedule is finally set (except for that late night shift - why don't they just bring back Mike Malloy and be done with it?), there's not a whole lot of stuff to write about. But Ohio Media Watch chimes in with a very interesting topic, and one I'm sure is keeping many up late at night.

Namely, where's Jerry Springer?

In case you haven't been keeping up, or just didn't really care, Springer is still around (contrary to the bankruptcy story last week). And he's still being carried by Air America. Sort of. With the new schedule in place, Sam Seder will now take Springer's spot on the official network feed, as Jerry is sent off to the syndicated feed with Thom Hartmann. Affiliates (or at least the ones that haven't opted for Stephanie Miller or a local show instead) now have the option of taking either Seder or Springer.

In the fallout, it looks like Seder picked up a few affiliates (though many of them delayed) including flagship station WWRL in New York. Jerry's whereabouts are yet to be fully determined, though Jerry's people remain fairly optimistic. I reported last week that Jerry could be lost in this whole linup shuffle, as affiliates were likely to go in other directions. It was a given that WSAI in Cincinnati would carry him (as Cincy is Jerry's old stomping grounds, and WSAI considers him the closest thing to a local show that they really see fit to spend money on). And WCPT in Chicago (Jerry's current stomping grounds) was also a likely affiliate. But what about the rest?

Allegedly, Springer is still on WWWW (which still refers to itself by its former call letters WDTW - don't ask) in Detroit. They unveiled their new schedule that appears to carry the entire Air America lineup. As I do not live in Detroit, I have no idea how accurate this thing is. It almost appears that the webmaster got lazy, or just plain doesn't give a shit, and just cut and pasted the AAR lineup. I had even heard that Miller is on that station, but I'm really not sure (any Detroit listeners out there that can set me straight?) Furthermore, is Ed Schultz really gone from that station? Hmmm...

"WDTW"'s nearby sister station, WLBY in Ann Arbor, has more or less been a carbon copy of its Detroit sister, and it's obvious they haven't updated their site in a while. They do appear to be airing Miller's show. Again, help set me straight!

The listing of stations on Jerry's site, which is extremely out of date and chock full of errors, are as follows:

Cincinnati, Ohio: 1360 WSAI - a given
Detroit, Michigan: 1310 WXDX - Two call letter changes later...
South Florida: 940 WINZ - Dropped Jerry long ago
San Antonio, Texas: 925 KRPT - Now playing "Texas Music" a.k.a. country
Sarasota & Bradenton, Florida: 1450 WSRQ - just flipped to adult standards Monday, also dropped Hannity
Boston, Massachusetts: 1200/1430 WKOX/WXKS - Switched to Stephanie Miller a while ago
San Diego, California: 1360 KLSD - live and local in the morning
Memphis, Tennessee: 680 WWTQ - Ugliest website of all affiliates. Did Entercom really OK this?
Albuquerque, New Mexico: 1350 KABQ - I doubt they even know. This station's site is always slow to update.

New Haven, Connecticut: 1300 WAVZ - Updated schedule. Miller has the mid-morning shift
St. Albans, Vermont: 1070 WTWK - I'm not really sure this station still exists, but they have Miller on.
Ann Arbor, Michigan: 1290 WLBY - Miller has the shift
Key West, Florida: 1500 WKIZ - Out-of-date website
Northampton, Massachusetts: 1200/1400/1600 WHMP - Very up-to-date site. Miller affiliate.
Willamette Valley, Oregon: 990 KRKT - out-of-date site
Brattleboro, Vermont: 1490 WKVT - not updated yet
New York, NY: 1190 WLIB - Umm... HELLO?
Dallas-F. Worth, TX: 910 KXEB - Springer affiliate, but site needs updating
Philadelphia, PA: 1340 WHAT - Dropped AAR a long time ago
Detroit, MI: 1310 WDTW - Deja vu? This is listed further up the page!
San Antonio, TX: 92.5 WHTY - Ditto.
Austin, TX: 1600 KOKE - Runs same programming as KXEB in Dallas
Akron, OH: 1540 WJMP - Affiliation went to WARF a long time ago. Currently FOX Sports.
Burlington, VT & Plattsburg, NY: 1070 WTWK - More deja vu. Already listed.
Corpus Christi, TX: 1150 WCCT - Who knows?
Eugene, OR: 1450 KKXO - Now KOPT. Runs local programming in mornings.
Portland, ME: 870 WMTW - Has been WLVP for awhile. Runs straight AAR schedule, including Seder in the 9-12 slot.
San Luis Obispo, CA: 1340 KYNS - Unknown. Site has been down for awhile.
Sante Fe, NM: 1260 KTRC - No website.
Chapel Hill, NC: 1360 WCHL - Miller affiliate.

And no, WCPT in Chicago is not listed.

Now, keep in mind, this listing is straight from Springer's AAR site. And it is horribly out of date and full of errors. Of course, there is nothing wrong with Springer being on only two affiliates (though there may be more). Being on the air in Chicago and Cincy is a pretty nice gig for most shows. The mid-morning shift is highly competitive, with the red-hot Stephanie Miller show being the most popular option and Seder's AAR show. Factor in the west coast stations running local morning shows, and it's plain to see that Springer is in a fight for any affiliates.

Who is the power behind Springer's show? It's more or less a Clear Channel show, having started out on WCKY in Cincy (since moved to WSAI). But instead of being syndicated by Clear Channel's syndication arm, Premiere, it's distributed by Air America.

In the beginning, I was surprised that Premiere did not jump on liberal talk. Given that they have some very strong talk show hosts in their massive cluster, such as Jay Marvin, Cary Harrison, Jon Elliott, and Will and Willie, and the fact that they own quite a few 'progressive talk' stations as well, it is somewhat baffling that they did not try to corner the market on syndicated liberal talk. Keep in mind that Ed Schult, Randi Rhodes, Stephanie Miller and Bill Press started out on Clear Channel stations, but went with other syndicators instead.

I have heard rumors in the past about Premiere's 800 lb. gorilla, Rush Limbaugh, forbidding Premiere from doing anything resembling left-leaning talk, but it's an old rumor, and seeing as Rush is a radio business guy first, would likely encourage it (plus give him more ammo for his drug-fueled three hour bloviation fest). The fact that Clear Channel/Premiere is notorious for foisting ridiculous programming concepts on the masses does make one wonder why they didn't go for progressive talk, which would have been an obvious choice for them.

In ThinkProgress' (since retracted) story about Air America's alleged bankruptcy and financial reorganization last week, the Center for American Progress (which runs thinkprogress.org) is teaming up with Clear Channel and MSS Inc. to conduct a nationwide search for the next "Progressive Talk Radio Star". Whether this means Premiere is finally getting serious about syndicating liberal talk, or is looking to put more local programming on their stations (a very good idea, IMO), remains to be seen.