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WBAI's Opportunity to Become More Relevant

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TheBigA said:
Because there's no money. Most advertisers stay away from any partisan political programming. They specifically ask that their spots not run in or near any controversial programming. The only reason there's money in conservative programming is some advertisers specifically CHOOSE to support it. That doesn't happen for the other side. Even though some conservatives think it does.
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That’s why I raised the possibility of WBAI stepping up and filling the void of having no progressive talk station. As a non-profit that does not accept corporate donations, they are in a unique position to provide a daily lineup of left-leaning talk shows. This could grow the size of their audience, and the resulting donations.
I did say the station is unlikely to do this. But I do think it could be a good opportunity for them.
 
Barry said:
I did say the station is unlikely to do this. But I do think it could be a good opportunity for them.
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That's why I used the term anarchist. You can lead a horse to water, but you can't make them drink. Seems to me this was part of why Amy Goodman left Pacifica and started Democracy Now. I know several other people who did the same thing. David Isay is another who comes to mind. It's easier to do that kind of thing outside of Pacifica because they just don't care about opportunity or improving donations. Certainly the Foundation cares, but they've had their asses kicked so many times they don't try anymore.
 
WBAI certainly cared about donations not very long ago, when they were nearly booted from the 4TS tower, for nonpayment of rent.
 
Barry said:
WBAI certainly cared about donations not very long ago, when they were nearly booted from the 4TS tower, for nonpayment of rent.
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That was the foundation not the station. As I said, they're two different things. Apparently the foundation got stuck with the bill for that.

It was in the middle of that when the foundation took over the station's signal for a few weeks and led to the lawsuit from the station.

You may be aware that there are several blogs written by former employees that give insight into a lot of this.
 
Barry said:
That’s why I raised the possibility of WBAI stepping up and filling the void of having no progressive talk station. As a non-profit that does not accept corporate donations, they are in a unique position to provide a daily lineup of left-leaning talk shows. This could grow the size of their audience, and the resulting donations.
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That is not the objective of Pacifica. Speaking as one who heard their LA station do a series of Spanish language shows about how to overthrow the government of Honduras by assassinating the current president and legislature, you can't otherwise imagine how extreme some of its content is..

I did say the station is unlikely to do this. But I do think it could be a good opportunity for them.
Not "unlikely". Somewhere between "improbable" and "impossible".

Anecdotal experience: somewhere two decades ago, I was at the Thai restaurant which is next door to their studios in, of course, "Studio City" CA. When I returned to my vehicle which was parked in the street parking totally legally, a Pacifica "person" was waiting. I was told my large Nissan 4-wheel drive SUV was ruining the planet and poisoning "us".

I explained that the SUV belonged to KLVE and was used to travel to the antenna site on Mt Wilson in all kinds of weather on less-than-Freeway type roads, I got a diatribe about putting towers and junk in "parklands". I said, "the tower and building next to ours is yours and has been there even longer. When you take yours away, we will consider doing the same".

I got a righteous "you people always have an excuse" and an episode of chest puffing.
 
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TheBigA said:
That was the foundation not the station. As I said, they're two different things. Apparently the foundation got stuck with the bill for that.

It was in the middle of that when the foundation took over the station's signal for a few weeks and led to the lawsuit from the station.

You may be aware that there are several blogs written by former employees that give insight into a lot of this.
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I wanted to do a section of WorldRadioHistory about Pacifica, but realized I would have to get in contact with some of their people. I abandoned, for very obvious reasons, the idea.
 
DavidEduardo said:
NPR is not an ad supported operation. It uses underwriting, which has different rules on what can be said in messages from underwriters.

Conservative talk radio is ad supported. It has the same kind of ads that other commercial stations have, particularly those that lean towards 45 and over listeners.
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So called "Liberal" TV is of course ad supported with most of the same blather (prescription drugs, insurance, cheap gadgets, etc) as everyone else. On the occasion that I watch CNN or MSNBC, during breaks I have to hit the Mute button on the remote, as I just can't take it anymore. Honestly, I think it was more pleasant watching cigarette commercials than what's being advertised now!
 
Too bad that AM radio for liberal talk doesn't work any more...as there has been a vacant freq in LA for a long, long time. 1500 kHz. It's original Burbank based 10 kw facility served the Valley and the West Side nicely. The station could simulcast FSTV 24/7 and insert relevant local programming. The studio could be located in say, West Hollywood and produce programming focusing on the arts, and pressing social issues. But this is the stuff of dreamland. As they say the Ship has Sailed!
 
TomásEstefan said:
Too bad that AM radio for liberal talk doesn't work any more...as there has been a vacant freq in LA for a long, long time. 1500 kHz. It's original Burbank based 10 kw facility served the Valley and the West Side nicely. The station could simulcast FSTV 24/7 and insert relevant local programming. The studio could be located in say, West Hollywood and produce programming focusing on the arts, and pressing social issues. But this is the stuff of dreamland. As they say the Ship has Sailed!
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Last I heard Don Elliott was still trying to get it on the air, but I’m not sure what happened.
 
seattlesarchiebunker said:
Google “Pacifica in Exile”. That was one (of many) circulating out there. Just be careful going down the Pacifica rabbit hole!
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Yes, I'm aware of that one. Also PacificaWatch and New Day Pacifica blogs run by rival factions but none of them have been updated in quite a while.

There used to be several very active Pacifica blogs and boards, the most interesting one being the WBAI Now-Then blog run by the late 1960's WBAI GM Chris Albertson who dished a lot of fascinating gossip. There was also R. Paul Martin's Pacifica Blue Board, and some Google Groups. All long gone now, making it harder to keep up with the latest Pacifica drama.

I thought @TheBigA could have been referring to some newer or more current blogs he could share.
 
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Theater of My Mind said:
Yes, I'm aware of that one. Also PacificaWatch and New Day Pacifica blogs run by rival factions but none of them have been updated in quite a while.

There used to be several very active Pacifica blogs and boards, the most interesting one being the WBAI Now-Then blog run by the late 1960's WBAI GM Chris Albertson who dished a lot of fascinating gossip. There was also R. Paul Martin's Pacifica Blue Board, and some Google Groups. All long gone now, making it harder to keep up with the latest Pacifica drama.

I thought @TheBigA could have been referring to some newer or more current blogs he could share.
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Part of the lack of updates may have to do with the lack of drama (relatively speaking) from Pacifica itself and the LSBs. It’s been relatively quiet since the whole ESB eviction debacle.
 
If there's an alternative to conservative news-talk, it's not in liberal talk, but probably... "government watchdog talk". Think the format on Z101 in the DR or even WKAQ or WUNO in Puerto Rico. They do have their partisan personalities (very pro-statehood Luis Dávila Colón comes to mind), but most of it is equal-opportunity "power to the people" stuff.
 
Identnut said:
If there's an alternative to conservative news-talk, it's not in liberal talk, but probably... "government watchdog talk". Think the format on Z101 in the DR or even WKAQ or WUNO in Puerto Rico. They do have their partisan personalities (very pro-statehood Luis Dávila Colón comes to mind), but most of it is equal-opportunity "power to the people" stuff.
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This would work in D.C., no doubt about it.
 
As with many other formats that are unavailable on local radio, SiriusXM provides an alternative-SiriusXM Progress. As indicated in the link to the channel below, there is quite a variety of progressive programming. This helps avoid excessive repetitition. There is apparently considerable effort made to add elements of entertainment and humor along with serious discussion.

SiriusXM Progress Channel
 
Barry said:
As with many other formats that are unavailable on local radio, SiriusXM provides an alternative-SiriusXM Progress. As indicated in the link to the channel below, there is quite a variety of progressive programming. This helps avoid excessive repetitition. There is apparently considerable effort made to add elements of entertainment and humor along with serious discussion.
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It shows what's possible when advertising isn't the only source of revenue. These boards are filled with programming ideas, and in commercial radio, any programming idea begins with a discussion of how that programming will make money. At Sirius, that's not always the discussion. It's more about providing options for subscribers. So when you begin with over 30 million subscribers, that's a sellable number.

The other key thing is there is no competition. No channels at Sirius duplicate other channels by a competitor, as is the case with commercial radio. That's why I often say if there was no competition in commercial radio, you'd get more format variety. Sirius has more channels than cities have licensed stations. So you begin with more variety in a way that local radio, as its currently done, simply can't do. Some of that was the thinking behind HD Radio.
 
Identnut said:
If there's an alternative to conservative news-talk, it's not in liberal talk, but probably... "government watchdog talk". Think the format on Z101 in the DR or even WKAQ or WUNO in Puerto Rico. They do have their partisan personalities (very pro-statehood Luis Dávila Colón comes to mind), but most of it is equal-opportunity "power to the people" stuff.
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Thanks. As the creator of that kind of talk at Z-101 and then at NotiUno in PR, I appreciate the comment. However, I think that the format requires the existence of terribly inadequate local services, ranging from schools to roads to sanitation. Does that exist anywhere on the Mainland U.S.?
 
DavidEduardo said:
I think that the format requires the existence of terribly inadequate local services, ranging from schools to roads to sanitation. Does that exist anywhere on the Mainland U.S.?
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It may, once all the federal funding for all that goes away. Personally I think the congress will realize how dependent their constituents are for the services the federal government funds. My expectation is they'll want to keep the money without the bureaucracy. The problem there is it leads to corruption and waste.

Bottom line is that if the new administration follows through with it's promise to eliminate the "administrative state," that will leave a huge void in the oversight of those services, especially if the congress is just a lapdog for the president.

The traditional role for the media is to speak truth to power. But it sounds like the new administration plans to clamp down on the media and threaten any negative reporting with license revocation, along the lines of Brendan Carr & NBC. So we'll see how many media companies are willing to take that risk.
 
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