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Air America off WHAT?

R

radiophile

Guest
This from Dan Gross' column today in the Daily News:

"People Paper columnist Elmer Smith kicks off a new show for WHAT 1340 AM on Monday afternoon. Called "The Exchange," will air weekdays from 1 to 5. Smith is excited about the new gig, saying the show will be a place where ideas are shared by guests, forums, and callers and won't just be him going off with his own views."

Is Air America disappearing from WHAT? Might progressive talk land elsewhere on the Philadelphia dial next week?
 
860 would have nothing to lose and everything to gain by picking up the Air America shows that have been airing on WHAT. Despite the political leanings, WHAT alienated their core audience with white hosts.
 
> Isnt Air America going through some troubles of their own
> and may not even be around much longer?
>
There are still enough progressive shows that aren't Air America to fill a weekday daytime schedule. Press, Miller, Hartman, Schultz, Lionel.
It's time for an AM station in Philly to step up and take this format, Air America or no Air America.
 
> > Isnt Air America going through some troubles of their own
> > and may not even be around much longer?
> >
> There are still enough progressive shows that aren't Air
> America to fill a weekday daytime schedule. Press, Miller,
> Hartman, Schultz, Lionel.
> It's time for an AM station in Philly to step up and take
> this format, Air America or no Air America.
>

As I've said in other posts, WDAS AM could be a strong contender to go progressive/liberal talk. There's another successful gospel station in town now (on FM even) to serve that audience, and DAS AM have one of the better AM signals in the area (at least within city limits, I don't know about the burbs). Plus, CC would have a way to enter the Philly talk market with a format they've supported for over a year.
 
With paid religion being a contracting and no-growth format, Beasley should take what's making money on WTMR, move it over to 860, and convert WTMR to liberal talk. The station has a nighttime signal in the city and in Camden, the daytime signal ( although the engineering has gone to hell)makes the facility a full-market player in the daytime, and with the right marketing, the station and the market position can win. I've always believed that given the political landscape of Philadelphia, Liberal Talk is a prudent direction in which to move.

I disagree about the chances of the format working on WDAS-AM. WDAS-AM is a non-player as a facility; 1) they don't reach Cottman & The Boulevard day or night because of the null protecting WBCB; their nighttime doesn't reach Norristown, about 12 miles from the sticks as the crow flies. The facilitiy's coverage is even worse than WHAT's non-D 1kw signal. WWDB and WTMR have superior dial positions and coverage, and the sort of move described above would put solid commerce on both stations.
 
I would say, put AA on WURD, they have a tremendous signal day and after the night upgrade, a good signal after hours, better than HAT or DAS. Their signal can compete with the big boys who use 5kw and more. I would put Country Classics on 800 and sell it as a package with 92.5.
 
I understand what you're saying, but the idea is to put Air America on a virgin facility that does not already have a base of African American listeners. Without getting into politics and race, WURD's adherance is based on being a forum where a disdain for white people is shared, along with political ideology. Air America would do to WURD what it did to 1340. I remember walking into WHAT on Conshohocken way back when, and the first thing you see is a live size photo of Dr. King in front of a WHAT mike flag. Air America took away WHAT's " Black-ness", if you will.
 
This whole story needs some more reporting.
Michael Klein, where are you?
WHAT is owned by the same company that leases out its NYC station to Air America. It was widely thought that, since no other station in Philly would touch the Air America programming, they worked a deal with the owner of WHAT to get its two top programs on in the Delaware Valley.
So here's the question: Is WHAT pulling the programs only because they have caused ratings to go down, or is it also because Air America has found a different Philly affiliate?
So, come on you newspaper scribes: Tell us what's really going on here!
 
You are the Weakest Link. Good-bye.

> This whole story needs some more reporting.
> Michael Klein, where are you?
> WHAT is owned by the same company that leases out its NYC
> station to Air America. It was widely thought that, since no
> other station in Philly would touch the Air America
> programming, they worked a deal with the owner of WHAT to
> get its two top programs on in the Delaware Valley.
> So here's the question: Is WHAT pulling the programs only
> because they have caused ratings to go down, or is it also
> because Air America has found a different Philly affiliate?
>
> So, come on you newspaper scribes: Tell us what's really
> going on here!
>

Michael Klein is probably busy "researching" pieces on restaurants. No newspaper in or around Philly has a real radio reporter. After that, he checks this board and the station press releases and calls it reporting.

The company that owns WHAT also dropped Air America on its South Carolina station a few weeks ago. That leaves the company's station in New York where Air America leases time.

One interesting question I've seen raised online: Did Air America make a try for WPEN and get turned down? Or did they ignore the likelihood the station would flip (people were talking about that here for months)and let this chance slip away?

The best the network can hope for now is to go from a station hardly anybody can get to one almost nobody can get (and maybe one nobody at all can get at night).
For some reason, compared to other large markets, Philly seems to not have enough radio stations to go around and some formats always seem unrepresented here. And so much bandwidth here seems devoted to "urban" radio, more so than other markets, as well. It's like musical chairs and Air America Radio is standing when the music stopped.
 
> I disagree about the chances of the format working on
> WDAS-AM. WDAS-AM is a non-player as a facility; 1) they
> don't reach Cottman & The Boulevard day or night because of
> the null protecting WBCB; their nighttime doesn't reach
> Norristown, about 12 miles from the sticks as the crow
> flies. The facilitiy's coverage is even worse than WHAT's
> non-D 1kw signal. WWDB and WTMR have superior dial positions
> and coverage, and the sort of move described above would put
> solid commerce on both stations.
>
Thanks Kevin. I wasn't aware of WDAS's signal limitations.

Regardless of what station the format could land on, I would hope that the owner might give non-AA programs a try as well as AA programs. Such a move opens up options both for the individual station and the format in general.
 
Like a broken record....

> Isnt Air America going through some troubles of their own
> and may not even be around much longer?

People have been saying that since even before Air America actually got on the air. But I don't mind, because all this speculation serves as excellent free promotion for the network!

<P ID="signature">______________
noiboc.jpg
</P>
 
"Conservatives earn money and Liberals raise money." Rush Limbaugh




> This from Dan Gross' column today in the Daily News:
>
> "People Paper columnist Elmer Smith kicks off a new show for
> WHAT 1340 AM on Monday afternoon. Called "The Exchange,"
> will air weekdays from 1 to 5. Smith is excited about the
> new gig, saying the show will be a place where ideas are
> shared by guests, forums, and callers and won't just be him
> going off with his own views."
>
> Is Air America disappearing from WHAT? Might progressive
> talk land elsewhere on the Philadelphia dial next week?
>
<P ID="signature">______________
[email protected]</P>
 
WHO's on first, WHAT's on second :)

> "Conservatives earn money and Liberals raise money." Rush
> Limbaugh

Agreed! :) I was just poking fun at the thread title, since it had a question mark after the calls. "Air America's off WHAT?"

"It's off WHAT"

"That's what I said, WHAT is Air America off of?"

"It's off of WHAT. I just told you that."
THIRD BASE!
<P ID="signature">______________
I am the REAL raccoonradio (2 c's). Accept
no substitutes!</P>
 
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