No deal between MSNBC and Rosie (Whew! That was close!)

The other day, I wrote about MSNBC and their talks with Rosie O'Donnell, about the possibility of adding her show to air after Keith Olbermann. Well, those flirtations didn't last long. It appears MSNBC backed out of the deal.

Some rumors claim that money was the dealbreaker, or that O'Donnell would not commit for more than one year. MSNBC wanted a long-term commitment. Still, one might speculate that possible media blowback from the negotiation rumors could have played a part.

On a blog post on her site, she claims that her "career as a pundit is over b4 it began." It was almost a done deal, but she attributes the collapse of the deal to comments she made publicly about it at a Miami book fair over the weekend. Obviously, spilling the beans didn't sit too cool with MSNBC brass. It appears they nixed the deal once and for all.

Why would they entertain signing her for her own news show? Well, she gets ratings. Believe it or not, The View did very well during her short stint, and fell off after she left. Plus, with the Writers Guild strike crippling the late night talk show landscape, NBC/Universal evidently needed a strike-proof Plan B. That's really the only possible explanation.

The killing of the deal is likely sad news for a possible rival, Bill O'Reilly of FOX Noise. His reaction to the possible signing? "Oh, it's on!" The constipated one started his show the other night exclaiming, "Huntley, Brinkley, Chancellor, Brokaw...and now, Rosie" under the headline "Far Left Merger." In other O'Reillyisms, he decried how NBC had "embraced the radical left agenda in pursuit of ratings" and adding his own suggested contributors ("It is not true that Sean Penn will be co-anchoring the NBC Nightly News...It is also not true that Hugo Chavez will become their chief foreign correspondent." Ho hum.

The irony is that O'Reilly was so delusional that he was trying to make as if she would be competing head-to-head with him. Ehh... not so fast, Bill-O. Your competitor is still and will always likely be Keith Olbermann. You know, the one who's name will not pass your lips? Who actually stands a legitimate chance of kicking your ass once and for all by this time next year? Yeah, that guy. But he's much more obsessed with Rosie, so in his weird little world, he's more comfortable bullying women than men.

But now we can all breathe a sigh of relief that it won't come to be. Or at least I can. And now, I can offer up my own personal opinion on the matter, which I neglected to do the other day.

Let's face it, O'Donnell would have been a terrible fit for MSNBC. Or any self-described news channel. She's a walking, talking train wreck, who seems to be more about making news herself than covering or talking about it. Her bombastic style is love-it-or-hate-it. She makes too much news herself, since the mainstream media is obsessed with the off-kilter antics of Hollywood celebrities. That's why we hear so much about Paris Hilton's criminal record and Britney Spears' divorce. And I certainly don't think either of them deserve news commentary shows on MSNBC.

We may have a few things in common politically, but I've never liked Rosie O'Donnell. Going back to her days on VH-1 in the early 90's, I thought she was one of the most obnoxious people I've ever seen on television. For a comedian, I never thought she was funny. Just irritating. I turned the channel whenever she came on. She went on to do movies that I made sure not to watch. Then there was that daytime talk show, but I don't watch daytime TV. And then The View, which I avoided like the plague anyway. If I want to watch people scream at each other, Jerry Springer is a more entertaining choice.

All in all, despite her outspoken political views, she would make a poor pundit. Sure, MSNBC would get a ton of press out of the deal. She gets that reaction out of the media. And I'm sure that's why the network teased the possibility of an O'Donnell deal, without really committing to it. But news commentators should talk about the news, not be the news. And giving her a show would absolutely kill their credibility.

There's talk about seeking out another pundit to host a show in that time slot. Some, such as Cenk Uygur of Air America's The Young Turks have their own suggestions. He offers up Air America hosts such as Rachel Maddow, who already does some work for MSNBC and would actually be a good move if MSNBC were to take a left turn, and even NBC's David Shuster, who actually would be a strong choice.

Currently, Dan Abrams' show seems to be a temporary thing, and while it is good, is not effectively holding on to the audience of red-hot lead-in Olbermann. Joe Scarborough couldn't do it before him either. And the rest of MSNBC's nightly lineup consists of prison documentaries and pedophile snaring.

But enough of the screaming pundit approach. That's played out, and it's bad enough that a channel called 'Headline News' airs Glenn Beck marathons all weekend. I have a novel solution to their quandry. How about a show featuring real news? You know, like CNN did when Ted Turner ran the joint. Or like we still see on BBC News, Nightline, the News Hour on PBS, occasionally on Anderson Cooper's CNN show, and other places? Likely, Olbermann can attribute his success to covering news stories not shown on other outlets. When has FOX Noise ever done an actual story on waterboarding? We're not talking about two pundits screaming at each other over it, we're talking about covering it as an actual story. MSNBC could tread where most cable outlets don't seem to go anymore, and most certainly not in the 9-10P ET hour with Larry King on CNN and Asshat and Doormat on FAUX. Sure, NBC might not have the global news coverage muscle that CNN and FOX have, but those guys squander it anyway, and MSNBC has more than enough to work with.

Some might say that doing real news is a ratings killer, that more people tune in to catch the latest exploits of Paris, Britney and Dog the Bounty Hunter. But the news channels need to constantly come up with new ideas. Because people will eventually tire of the TMZ approach to news, and with an important election on the horizon, and the growing woes of rising oil prices, environmental issues, international strife, shoddy health care, and a Congress that spends more time bickering with each other than getting shit done, people are going to want to find out what exactly is going on in the world. The exploits of Britney Spears, and even Rosie O'Donnell, will be the least of our concerns.

Station breaks

It's Wednesday afternoon, and I've got a few small updates. I may even add more throughout the day.

First up, I know I promised something about KLSD in San Diego, and their oft-threatened flip to sports. That's on the way, but I'm still seeking out information and working out a few things. I should have it soon.

Second, I've gotten a few emails from Washington, DC-area listeners, wondering why they were hearing Lionel this morning on WWRC (1260AM), rather than Stephanie Miller. As you read here a short while back, new talk station 3WT (1500AM, 107.7FM and 820AM, wherever you happen to be) has picked up her show, starting tonight at 7P. The good news is that each of the three signals that carry the "Left, Right and Whatever We Want" format is pretty strong (as opposed to the weak one of WWRC). The bad news is that Miller will be aired on a delay, from 7-9P weeknights. And Miller will only air when the Washington Capitals NHL team aren't playing at the time. Yes, her show will occasionally be preempted.

Meanwhile, over at WWRC, Lionel fills the late morning slot, and according to the schedule on the station's website, you'll be hearing quite a bit of him. His show also reruns from 7-10P and 3-6A (though I can't imagine this being permanent). So if you like Lionel and just can't get enough of him (and I know how much you all love the guy!), tune to WWRC. Chances are, you'll catch his show.

On the other side of the map, KKEE (1230AM) in Astoria, OR, one of the new Air America Radio affiliates announced a few weeks back, flipped to the format on Monday. And believe it or not, it's full-time progressive talker (almost). The new format displaces sports talk, and shows on the schedule include Miller, Ed Schultz, Randi Rhodes and Alan Colmes airing live, with Oregonian Thom Hartmann airing on delay in afternoon drive. The obviously non-political Dr. Dean Edell serves as 6-7P filler.

Meanwhile, at those other new Air America affiliates, WTAN (1340AM) and WDCF (1350AM) have already added Lionel, and should be adding Rhodes sometime soon. The rest of the roster is a hodgepodge of 'Music of Your Life,' brokered programming and whatever else they air. Also, KXLJ (1330AM) in Juneau, AK should be signing on in the near future.

As for the other three stations announced, nothing is known as of yet about WBDB in Ogdensburg, NY and the two Poconos stations (WVPO and WPLY).

And good news for fans of the old "Will and Willie" show, formerly on KQKE (now KKGN) in San Francisco and starring Will Durst and Willie Brown, is relaunching. This time, it won't be on radio, but rather in cyberspace. The show, also featuring producer Paul "Lobster" Wells, is available as either an audio or video podcast, and can be found at their site. Speaking of Green 960, the local eco-show "Green Seed Radio," which formerly aired on the station, has relaunched on another local talk station, KTRB (860AM). The show will now air on Saturday from 10A-noon PT.

Low power to the people

Last Tuesday, The Senate Commerce Committee voted to expand the number of Low Power FM (LPFM) stations around the country, via Senate Bill 1675, a.k.a. the Local Community Radio Act of 2007. The bill was sponsored by Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) and Sen. Maria Cantwell (D-WA). The legislation would eliminate third channel protection for full-power FM stations, allowing more LPFM stations to exist.

The bill moves on to the full Senate next. A similar bill is currently in the House of Representatives, sponsored by Reps. Mike Doyle (D-PA) and Lee Terry (R-NE), with 55 co-sponsors.

Commenting on the bill, Prometheus Radio Project technical director Pete Tridish said in a statement, "Low Power FM radio was limited back in 2000, when the big broadcasters tried to convince America that 100-watt community radio stations would interfere with the biggest stations in America's biggest cities. At Congress' demand, the FCC proved that there was plenty of room for low power FM radio. With today's vote, and with the growing momentum to expand low power FM radio in the House of Representatives, communities across the country have a reason to celebrate."

Elsewhere, FCC Chairman Kevin Martin is trying to appease people who want access to the nation's airwaves, albeit in rather peculiar ways. He endorses removal of a rule prohibiting the transfer and reassignment of LPFM licences between licensees. He also would like to see reinstatement of an original LPFM rule that required all permit holders to live in the local community, an ownership limit of one station per licensee and requirements of a physical staff presence at the station during all operation hours. At the same time, though, Martin, a Bush appointee, is trying to relax media ownership rules at the local level, which would allow major corporations like Clear Channel, CBS, Citadel and others to gobble up even more stations. The New York Times claims that Martin is secretly trying to sneak it through by Christmas, trying to repeat the same mistakes the FCC made four years ago. Won't they ever learn? Thankfully, measures to stop this insanity are gaining bipartisan support in Congress. And protests by groups such as Code Pink, who had one member dress up as a French maid for yesterday's Halloween FCC meeting, are bringing attention to this. Activists for consumer, political and minority and ethnic groups have also been rather outspoken on the issue.

But back to this LPFM thing. First off, what is it? Low-power FM broadcasting is an initiative that allows for community-based broadcasters to start up their own stations. These stations would range in power from a meager 1 watt all the way up to 250 watts. Quite a big difference compared to the big-budget commercial and noncommercial stations blasting out anywhere between 10,000 to 100,000 watts, but at least it's a step in the right direction. In theory, these LPFM stations would be run by locally-based groups such as schools, churches, independent owners with money to burn and a reason to broadcast, and other organizations.

LPFM had its start back in the 1970s, when the FCC started granting Class D licenses for nonprofit entities and community broadcasters. The National Association of Broadcasters, the Corporation for Public Broadcasting and even National Public Radio helped convince the FCC to cease this practice, citing interference concerns. The FCC was finally able to revive LPFM a few years ago This time, there would be restrictions on these stations. They would be restricted in power, were required to be noncommercial and nonprofit, locally-owned, and required to produce the majority of their own programming. They held a one-time application process for available frequencies in 2003. Currently, over 800 LPFM radio stations dot the landscape, but the effort was again curtailed by big broadcasters. Congress bowed, and a freeze on new applications was enacted.

All this bickering proved to be distracting, as the main beneficiaries of these licenses and translators have been big religious organizations such as Calvary Chapel, Educational Media Foundation, Family Radio, Radio Assist Ministries/Edgewater Broadcasting, shell subsidiaries of these groups and others. These religious organizations made a mad dash to apply for as many licenses as they could. Radio Assist Ministries alone applied for over 2400 of them. In short, the churn out FCC applications like Nigeria cranks out spam. Many of the rules designed to preserve the purity of LPFM's mission went straight out the window as small religious translators, propped up by rather unscrupulous people, began to pop up like dandelions, dotting the landscape and piping in canned programming from Idaho, California and other places (see map at right).

The shuffling of translator licenses became big business in itself. Radio Assist Ministries/Edgewater Broadcasting, headed by a former Calvary employee, has raked in over $800,000 just in the trafficking of these licenses. While LPFM was forced to wait, these groups cut in line and slapped up a translator that took a potential LPFM frequency anyway. With all this crap cluttering up the airwaves and making community broadcasting look bad, does the LPFM initiative really stand a chance? Tough to get your foot in the door when the most probably open low power frequencies are cluttered up with K-Love and Air1 repeaters.

How the hell could this happen anyway? Well, the FCC decided in 1990 to allow noncommercial broadcasters to feed programming via satellite to various FM translators. Oops!

So, how can LPFM be done right? And how can we open up more possibilities for community organizations to get involved? Well, I've got some suggestions:

1. Priority for these licenses should be locally-based groups such as high schools and colleges, well-organized concerns or local churches. No out-of-towners can own these signals. Calvary Chapel and all their little sock puppets can go pound sand.

2. To expand on the religious translator deal (can you tell this is a major pet peeve of mine?), Calvary, EMF and the rest will have a choice to make. The FCC should convert many of these translators (which by law cannot generate their own programming) into legitimate LPFM stations, and require them to either staff each and every translator with a local presence, like a true LPFM station abiding by their rules is required to do, or divest of each and every one of them, selling them to local groups for no more than the face value of the license, the cost of equipment, and perhaps a paltry sum for lawyers, bookkeepers, leases, engineers and their trouble. One current FCC proposal is to allow small daytime-only commercial AM stations to have low power FM translators. There's a sale possibility there. They could also sell their licenses back to the FCC for face value. Seems fair to me. After all, one Clear Channel is more than enough.

3. Translators are effective in many cases. They are used by commercial and noncommercial stations to fill in gaps within their primary signal contours (hindered due to terrain). They are also used to relay the signals of regional public broadcasters (i.e. statewide public radio networks) and, to be fair, perhaps even some regional interest religious stations (like KTIS in St. Paul, Minnesota, which is heavily Minnesota-oriented). Obviously, the translator loophole has been abused pretty badly. While a public radio network often carries vital statewide news and programming, to claim that a little station in Twin Falls, Idaho serves the public need is just plain foolish. The FCC needs to take charge of this dilemma once and for all, rather than encourage mini-Clear Channels.

4. Realistically, most LPFM stations will probably have problems with staffing. I know, our college radio station had a real hard time with organizing all those volunteers. With automation systems become widely available and inexpensive (to the point of some being totally free), some unstaffed operation should be allowed. I'd limit to 6-8 hours max per day. This would also allow for airing some noncommercial syndicated programming, such as Democracy Now, Counterspin, and the Praise Jesus, Send Me Money Hour. I think this seems reasonable. A time limit on this type of non-local programming was one of the things initially proposed.

5. Groups can go in with each other to purchase licenses. Granted, this would require a strong partnership between parties, lest this all turn into some sort of legal fiasco. Some stations are doing well with the co-op/time share deal, and it allows smaller groups, local churches, determined disc jockeys, etc. to access the airwaves.

6. Any group, organization, church or individual wishing to purchase a license must show that they are indeed capable of putting it on the air and making it work. Just like commercial broadcasters. Far too many LPFMs never launch, and are turned around and sold to the Cavalrys and other translator pigs of the world. If it falls apart, then a sale should be allowed. But making sure these people can pull it off from the get-go will help to minimize that, and allow LPFM licenses to get to many of the people who know what to do with it.

Aside from all the hassles, LPFM is an idea with some promise. A promise to give at least some of the airwaves back to the people.

MSNBC riding populist wave?

The New York Times has an interesting article today about MSNBC, and their attempts to build around their most successful show, "Countdown with Keith Olbermann," a program often critical of the Bush administration, much in the same way rival FOX 'News' is with Democrats and liberals.

MSNBC is increasingly seeking to beef up its nighttime viewing audience, and build around its golden calf. Chris Matthews’s "Hardball" and "Live With Dan Abrams," the two shows that surround "Countdown," regularly take shots at the White House.

And now, two NBC executives acknowledged yesterday that they were talking to Rosie O’Donnell about a prime-time show on MSNBC. Her previous show, ABC's "The View," experienced strong viewership gains during the time she was on. The Times speculates that she could get the 9PM slot, immediately following "Countdown," and go head-to-head with Larry King Live on CNN and "Asshat and Doormat", er, "Hannity and Colmes" on FAUX. "We are talking to her, but we are far from a done deal," says one executive.

Here's more from the article:

Having a prime-time lineup that tilts ever more demonstrably to the left could be risky for General Electric, MSNBC’s parent company, which is subject to legislation and regulation far afield of the cable landscape. Officials at MSNBC emphasize that they never set out to create a liberal version of Fox News.

“It happened naturally,” Phil Griffin, a senior vice president of NBC News who is the executive in charge of MSNBC, said Friday, referring specifically to the channel’s passion and point of view from 7 to 10 p.m. “There isn’t a dogma we’re putting through. There is a ‘Go for it.’”

Fox News consistently denies any political bias in its programming. But whether by design or not, MSNBC is managing to add viewers at a moment when its hosts echo the country’s disaffection with President Bush.

The channel has done so much as Fox News did beginning in 1996, when the president was Bill Clinton, a Democrat. On some nights recently, Mr. Olbermann has even come tantalizingly close to surpassing the ratings of the host he describes as his nemesis, Bill O’Reilly on Fox News, at least among viewers ages 25 to 54, which is the demographic cable news advertisers prefer. Most of the time, though, Mr. O’Reilly outdraws Mr. Olbermann by about 1.5 million viewers over all at the same hour, according to Nielsen Media Research.

Still, as its most recognizable face, MSNBC has marshaled behind Mr. Olbermann, who on July 3, in an eight-minute “special comment” at the close of his show, addressed President Bush directly and called on him to resign. Two months later, the channel chose Mr. Olbermann to serve as the principal host of its coverage of a major prime-time address by Mr. Bush.

Mr. Olbermann’s “special comments” — more than 20 in the last 12 months, and nearly all of them first-person editorials that find some fault with the administration — have helped increase the ratings of his program by 33 percent in just the last year, to about 773,000 viewers a night, according to Nielsen. With those ratings, Mr. Olbermann’s program surpassed “Paula Zahn Now” on CNN, which was canceled last summer.

Read more in the New York Times.

Rumors, soundbytes and whatnot

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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