All Access: WLIB Leaning Toward Syndication One

[fred flintstone]

All Access reports New York's Inner City Broadcasting Corp, owners of 1190 WLIB, is "seriously considering" Radio One and Tom Joyner's Syndication One Urban Talk network to replace their LMA with Air America Radio.
ICBC is a Black-owned company and a Black-targeted talk format has been described as a natural fit. ICBC management, headed by former Manhattan Borough President Percy Sutton and his son, was criticized in the Black community for dropping it's prior format in favor of AAR's programming for "White liberals."

Syndication One currently airs:
10 am to 1 pm Michael Eric Dyson from Detroit
1 pm to 4 pm The Rev Al Sharpton (who already does a weekend local show on WLIB)
4 pm to 7 pm The Two Live Stews sports talk from Atlanta

No word on morning drive or evening programming on WLIB after AAR leaves (after August 31).

ICBC was previously reported in talks with Randy Michaels' P1 (producer of the Ed Schultz Program) but those talks ended earlier this week, leaving ICBC scrambling to fill WLIB's schedule.

 

[OhioMediaWatch]

It'd certainly fit, and the Syndication One programming would be a natural for WLIB...not to mention with its own weekender and high-profile voice Al Sharpton being a lynchpin of it.

Does this portend, perhaps, Mark Riley breaking from AAR and going back to local morning drive? That (or something similar) is the only way this'll really work. Sharpton is a quasi-local name show, but they do need to go live and local in AM drive. Of course, I always believed they needed to do it with the liberal talk format, too.

I'm not sure of Riley's future with AAR, but it sounds like he loses his NYC flagship when AAR moves over to WWRL...which is keeping its existing morning drive talk show from all indications (Sam Greenfield/Armstrong Williams). And the morning show's carriage outside of WLIB is very, very spotty.

 

[fred flintstone]

OA, I've been wondering about Mr. Reilly myself. It has seemed all along that he came to AAR as part of the deal with WLIB - part legacy and part affirmative action.

If Reilly stays with AAR and AAR stays with the split morning show, WWRL could take one-hour of Reilly - but apparently the deal between WWRL and AAR is for 12pm to 12am (which would mean Malloy's third hour would still be blacked out in New York, as it was on WLIB).

Still no word on who gets 10 am to 12 pm on WWRL. WWRL has two local hosts getting bumped for AAR's evening programming. WWRL is in the same bind ICBC was two and half years ago when they dropped their Black-targeted programming for AAR. This could tip the balance toward WWRL's current (Black) hosts. But AAR may insist on putting an albatross on WWRL's neck (Jerry! Jerry!).

The morning show on WWRL is currently Black-targeted, as well. It's been pointed out that the hosts could try to broaden the show's appeal to the AAR crowd but then the Black community will object to losing "a voice." If WWRL goes with Black-targeted or Urban Talk before noon and AAR after noon, AAR runs the risk of the same kind of failure AAR had when they tried to do that in Philly.

I have listened to the Syndication One line-up online. Sharpton, as a talk show, was not as good as I expected. I've covered him and he's probably the best pulpit-pounder I've ever heard but his talk show sounds phoned in. If WLIB tries to play up Sharpton as the "lynchpin" based on his local connection, it could be analogous to Clear Channel using Jerry as the progressive talk lynchpin in Cincinnati. On the other had, I was VERY impressed with Dyson: Informed, articulate and handles callers very well. The guy is a writer, professor and preacher and combines the best qualities of all three.

For the record: I don't much like Maloney. But giving the devil his due, he pretty much has called it on AAR/WLIB. Sorry, Phil. The guy can't stop grinding his axe but he is not always wrong.

 

[dampier]

For the record: I don't much like Maloney. But giving the devil his due, he pretty much has called it on AAR/WLIB. Sorry, Phil. The guy can't stop grinding his axe but he is not always wrong.

Uh, how did he "call it?" He was telling us a few months ago that AAR was folding up its tent in NY altogether, and has said on O'Reilly not less than four times since 2004 that AAR was going off the air imminently. These generic predictions are less useful than a call to the psychic hotline.

I predict that in 2006, at least one station in your market is going to change format. I also predict that your favorite radio station will be changing its format according to insider information that I have in my hands right now (like this list of Communists in the State Department). And you know, I'll be proven 100% correct, not because I have any inside knowledge, but because I can predict that change in inevitable. And for the Unequalizer, who knows all to well that change can put an end to a talk radio career, where is the downside of just predicting common events in the radio industry and then use those to make sweeping statements about the things he hopes and wishes were true?

After all, nobody who belongs to his Dream Team of rabid anti-liberal talk fans is ever going to call him on his failed predictions (Majority Report off the air by the second week of July, indictments against Franken, et al are imminent, federal criminal investigations are underway...).

The most unfortunate effect this has is the outing of the low credibility of those who use his "reports" here and actually believe they are accurate. It shows us all too well who we can dismiss around here.

And by the way, like a stopped clock that is always correct twice daily, my prediction of your favorite radio station changing format? My inside sources tell me it could happen at any time (next hour, day, week... year....) And when it happens, you must believe everything else I have written because I was right about that... me and my secret sources.

 

[kaufcom]

For the record: I don't much like Maloney. But giving the devil his due, he pretty much has called it on AAR/WLIB. Sorry, Phil. The guy can't stop grinding his axe but he is not always wrong.

Even a stopped clock is right twice a day.

 

[fred flintstone]

I predict that in 2006, at least one station in your market is going to change format.

Actually, two stations changed format this week.

In the immortal words of Ed McMahon: "You are a correct, oh Great One!"

 

[tombetz]

Does this portend, perhaps, Mark Riley breaking from AAR and going back to local morning drive?

Mark Riley (and Wayne..........Gilman) are staying with Inner City. They must have lifetime employment arrangements with Percy Sutton.

AAR has a wholesale re-arrangement of its schedule in the works. Rachel Maddow announced this morning that she's moving to PM drive. Sounds like Randi Rhodes is moving to evenings (which is where most AAR affiliates air her, anyway -- now she'll be live more places), leaving Sam Seder out in the cold.

 

[evnlee]

For the record: I don't much like Maloney. But giving the devil his due, he pretty much has called it on AAR/WLIB. Sorry, Phil. The guy can't stop grinding his axe but he is not always wrong.

Like all things media, both Maloney and his fans and Phil and his crew were right and wrong.

Maloney reports in march that AAR is losing thier flagship station. He sets a date that is incorrect.

The AAR apologists immediately proclaim 'not true! we are not losing our flagship station!!'

When the incorrect date comes and goes, and comes and goes again, the AAR apologists scream " See! See! Why believe this moron! He can't get his dates right! "

Then, when the real story comes out, AAR does lose it's flagship station,like he predicted.

But, to be fair, Maloney has made a bunch of predictions that also did not come true.

He claimed they will not continue broadcasting in NYC. He has claimed AAR would fold a number of times. He has said they lack the funds to continue.

Both sides have been right in the past, and both sides have been wrong in the past.

What reasonable people have to do is look at Phil AND Maloney, realize that the truth lies somewhere in between, and make a judgement based on that.

 

[fred flintstone]

What reasonable people have to do is look at Phil AND Maloney, realize that the truth lies somewhere in between, and make a judgement based on that.

Wow! A moderate! One of those "the truth is always in the middle," "compromise is a virtue" people. :

AAR got an extension on their lease in late March. What's strange is what happened with P1 and Randy Michaels that he did not get his act together to take over the beginning of April and then walked away last week?

But, to be fair, Maloney has made a bunch of predictions that also did not come true.

Unless he says something will happen on or by a specific date, it would be more correct to say "have not come true." He has not said they lack funds. He has said they are not making money and have gotten infusions of cash from their backers. Of course, abut 10 percent of what he says is actual reporting and the rest his axe grinding and venting.

Mark Riley (and Wayne..........Gilman) are staying with Inner City. They must have lifetime employment arrangements with Percy Sutton.

Even Black solidarity does not explain keeping those two on the payroll. There are, after all, many more qualified Black broadcasters AAR or ICBC could have hired. Maybe they know where Percy buried the bodies. :

In response to a recent thread, I spot checked schedules on local PT stations in different markets. I hadn't done this in a while and I was surprised at how many stations now carry Steph instead of Jerry. The Reilly-Maddow show has lost markets, too. It's hard to explain AAR's infatuation with Rachel Maddow (maybe everybody else on-air is straight and they need one token gay). Two shows on AAR and both fizzle. Now they stick her in PM drive against Big Ed and All Things Considered - a sure prescription for failure. Given AAR's poor performance in AM drive and late morning, they might as well just save some money and not open the store until noon. AM drive may be prime time for most stations, but apparently not for PT stations (and this is not entirely due to poor product in AM drive). What's interesting is Bill Press has picked up some stations and his shown isn't all that good, either.

 

[evnlee]

Unless he says something will happen on or by a specific date, it would be more correct to say "have not come true." He has not said they lack funds. He has said they are not making money and have gotten infusions of cash from their backers.

*ahem* here's just ONE of the multiple times he has said they 'lack the funds to continue':

Taking marching orders from RealNetworks CEO Rob Glaser, who also oversees and often funds Air America parent Piquant LLC, interim head Jim Wiggett is in a surprisingly tough position.

If at least $5 million can't be sliced away soon, it could finally be curtains for Franken & Co.

http://radioequalizer.blogspot.com/2006/05/air-america-budget-cuts-al-franken-jim.html

Now, he did use the word 'could'. But the implication is clear: if they can't cut the budget, they will not have the $$$ to continue. That means they dont have the $$$ to continue operating with the new contracts. Clearly FALSE. That was waaaay back in May.

 

[FightingIrish]

First off, Maloney should concentrate on getting his own radio career back on track instead of sticking pins in his AAR voodoo doll. Not their fault he can't compete.

And it looks like Rachel Maddow will move to 6-8PM ET come September (she announced it on her show). This will shorten Randi Rhodes' show by an hour (as has been rumored). As for 8-10PM, I imagine they'll keep Seder, leading into Malloy. This would be much less upsetting to the affiliates.

Mark Riley will reportedly stay with WLIB come September 1.

This leaves a morning slot to fill. Not sure what they will do here.

Let's keep this thread on topic and leave out the spam, okay?

 

[OhioMediaWatch]

Thanks, Irish. Where are you getting this from?

It certainly makes more sense to see Maddow 6-8 PM instead of bumping Randi Rhodes out of PM drive...even if her show gets delayed by a number of mostly-CC owned PTers into evenings ET/afternoon drive PT.

 

[FightingIrish]

Thanks, Irish. Where are you getting this from?

It certainly makes more sense to see Maddow 6-8 PM instead of bumping Randi Rhodes out of PM drive...even if her show gets delayed by a number of mostly-CC owned PTers into evenings ET/afternoon drive PT.

Maddow announced on her show this morning that she was moving to 6-8. This would shorten Rhodes' show. And I've heard that Riley wanted to remain at WLIB (where he originally came from). The rest is my speculation.

As far as mornings go, I assume they'll do something, even though WWRL in New York is doing their own thing for that shift. And no, AAR will not syndicate WWRL's Armstrong Williams.

 

[fred flintstone]

Re-arrange the deck chairs but don't dump any

AAR seems to program by "the wisdom of Solomon."

Unfiltered crashes and burns. Give Maddow a pre-morning show.
Mark Maron leaves. Split the show between his co-host and Rachel Maddow, two hours each.
The Morning Show loses New York (and may be discontinued), take an from Randi and an hour from Majority Report and put Rachel in there.
Always add, never subtract.
If this keeps up, AAR's daily schedule will be 72 15 minute shows.

Some radio managers are too quick to fire people - even fire everybody - but sometimes you have to make decisions on talent. AAR is political radio in more ways than one apparently.

 

[FightingIrish]

Re: Re-arrange the deck chairs but don't dump any

AAR seems to program by "the wisdom of Solomon."

Unfiltered crashes and burns. Give Maddow a pre-morning show.
Mark Maron leaves. Split the show between his co-host and Rachel Maddow, two hours each.
The Morning Show loses New York (and may be discontinued), take an from Randi and an hour from Majority Report and put Rachel in there.
Always add, never subtract.
If this keeps up, AAR's daily schedule will be 72 15 minute shows.

Some radio managers are too quick to fire people - even fire everybody - but sometimes you have to make decisions on talent. AAR is political radio in more ways than one apparently.

'Unfiltered' was not a very good show, IMO. Plus, Winstead left and Chuck D. wanted to devote time to his other projects (like music). Then Springer was available. Networks shuffle, drop and add programs all the time, so this is nothing unusual. I still haven't forgiven ESPN Radio for dropping the excellent Tony Kornheiser Show for that horrible 'Herd' guy.

I'm still not sure why AAR dropped Maron. I thought he was pretty good.

Here's what I've heard.

Randi wanted to cut back to three hours (or somebody wanted her to). Smart move. Four hours is pretty grueling, especially for a show like hers. Three hours is average for many talk shows (unless your name is Howard Stern).

'Majority Report' has gotten the fewest amount of clearances on affiliates, most likely due to many stations airing Schultz and delaying Rhodes into the evening hours, prior to the late night shift filled either by Malloy, Lionel or Colmes. MR was weakened when Jeanine left. I still predict Seder will remain on from 8-10, since this will make it easier on affiliates that air Malloy live. Plus, with a couple two-hour shows in the evening, it may make it easier for affiliates to work around. I notice that a relatively new syndicated evening show, the conservative Mark Levin, is only two hours.

Sliding Maddow into a higher profile slot makes sense. She is one of the network's rising stars.

Mornings are a question mark. I assume they'll drop the 5-6 ET hour and go with a three hour show. Maybe Laura Flanders will have something to do with this, as her stock has risen lately. I don't see them dropping mornings altogether. There's quite a few affiliates out there that air AAR's morning shows (though the problem here is that it's only a morning drive show for the eastern half of the country).

All in all, AAR is adapting to its environment. I don't see any foretelling of doom (though I know you desperately want them to fail).

 

[fred flintstone]

All in all, AAR is adapting to its environment. I don't see any foretelling of doom (though I know you desperately want them to fail).

Wrong. You may think like a political groupie. I don't. They are incompetents. They deserve to fail. (Read Darwin.) AAR is holding back progressive talk radio. Because of AAR's bumbling, the format can not be taken seriously in many quarters in the radio industry.

 

[FightingIrish]

All in all, AAR is adapting to its environment. I don't see any foretelling of doom (though I know you desperately want them to fail).

Wrong. You may think like a political groupie. I don't. They are incompetents. They deserve to fail. (Read Darwin.) AAR is holding back progressive talk radio. Because of AAR's bumbling, the format can not be taken seriously in many quarters in the radio industry.

I think you're the one holding an ideological grudge. I'm sorry that you think they're doomed to failure because they don't have 300+ affiliates and an obscene amount of revenue. What do you expect a startup to be doing?

If you want an example of a startup 'network' that's making a particular segment look bad, here's one: "Free FM". Yeah, how about that one? Much of the programming is terrible (even with radio legend David Lee Roth given the unenviable task of replacing Howard Stern). How bad is Free FM? They had to crawl back to Opie and Anthony, two years after firing them and practically destroying a heritage FM station in New York, and beg them to come back to the fold. Elsewhere on the schedule, they've been reshuffling like mad. Some stations have had 1-2 month turnovers for staffers.

Oh, and AAR's not the only one using shorter shows. Free FM gives Penn Jillette one hour each weekday.

And guess what? In some markets, Free FM stations are getting beaten by AAR affiliates! Look at Chicago - WCPT, a little rimshot AM station that signs off at sunset, is ahead of monster FM station WCKG! They're getting virtually no ratings in San Francisco, where CBS reportedly paid around $70 million for that station. But I don't see you demanding they give it all up. Wonder why...

How 'bout another network? Ever hear of Radio Disney? Well, they got so widespread because they stole the idea from a smaller company, infiltrated them and destroyed them. They've got some great AM real estate all over the country. And NO FREAKING RATINGS!!! They should go tits-up because they're killing childrens' radio! But I have yet to see a rightwinger trash Radio Disney.

Yeah, I know. Just because you think they suck means they shouldn't exist. And I know it's an ideological thing with you because you and everyone of your previous sock puppets (mwebster, bierkenstock, etc.) has had a rather unhealthy obsession with these guys, moreso than any other crappy radio network. Hell, I don't like everything on the network, but I'm realistic in the fact that as a young network, they are going to stumble. They're going into somewhat uncharted territory. Give 'em at least a little chance, okay?

Considering how much you and many others obsess over AAR, I'd have to say that they obviously must be somewhat successful. Even the people that hate them can't stop talking about them. And who gives a rat's ass what some unemployed guy with an unhealthy obsession (hello Brian Maloney) thinks about it?

 

[FightingIrish]

Another example? How about another network specializing in political talk?

Salem has been rolling out their talk network (unofficially called "The Patriot") on many of their AM signals across the country. Targeting people who don't think there's quite enough conservative talk on AM radio, they've built a network of sorts out of radio legends like boring gambler and virtues-monger Bill Bennett, the whiney failed movie critic Michael Medved, and relative nobodys like Dennis Prager and Mike Gallagher. The result? A fight for the almighty one share.

FOX News is trying to enter the radio talk show game as well. Alan Colmes has had moderate success, but he's been doing radio forever and knows his stuff. But somehow, FOX seems to think there's a high demand out there to hear three hours of John Gibson every day. No wonder Tony Snow left his radio juggernaut to take a temporary government job.

 

[Radio_Realist]

The thing is, no start-up radio network, regardless of the programming format it carries, is going to succeed unless it offers extremely compelling content and it advertises itself to potential listeners big time.

So far, none of the start-up radio networks have done either of those two critical things. And doing only one of them isn't enough. Having the greatest show in the history of broadcasting doesn't mean squat if you expect listeners to discover it by accident. You have to promote and promote heavily.

Likewise, no amount of heavy promotion will save a program that isn't very good.

I think I said this before, and every time I have, some yahoo will respond with "but so-and-so spent a gazillion dollars on promotion and failed", ignoring the fact that so-and-so's show stunk. Or they'll point to some legendary pillar of radio broadcasting who failed because of no promotion and they'll say "But this pillar of broadcasting failed, so that proves that the entire format won't work".

Forget formats. Forget political ideology, or whether to call it "progressive or liberal", "conservative or libertarian".

The news/talk format will succeed or fail based on individual news/talk hosts. Those who are interesting, genuine, and most of all entertaining will succeed if adequately promoted. The rest will fail.

Local content can go a long way to making a program more interesting and entertaining, but that's not an automatic given. Just because a host is sitting in a chair in the city where his transmitter is located doesn't mean his show will be better than one coming in over a satellite feed. Being able to talk about topics of local interest gives a host a greater potential for being interesting to his local listeners, but if a host fails to exploit that local interest potential, then he might as well be flying in from a big bird in the sky.

Then there's the other thing to consider. Profit is income minus expense. If a station can reduce its expenses by a larger amount than the action to reduce expenses costs them in revenue, that means bigger profits. Fire a local host whose show costs $50,000 a year to produce and only lose $30,000 in billing revenues means a net gain of $20,000. Substitute any specific numbers you want, the principle remains the same.

Better yet, fire an on-air talent and use the money to hire a really good airtime salesman, and a station can boost profits even higher. The big time, big market stations might be able to sit back and wait for agency buyers to beat a path to their doors. Down in the smaller scale trenches, it's a different world. The local gun shop isn't looking at Arbitron numbers when they sponsor a right-wing talk show. They're looking to reach a small, select audience of 2nd Amendment fanatics who buy lots of guns and ammunition. The local organic food store buys time on the local liberal talk show because they know it reaches the sandal wearing tree-huggers* who'll pay double for "fair-trade" coffee beans.

* As I type this, I am wearing sandals and drinking extremely strong Columbian coffee made from beans that were probably picked by exploited peasants.

 

[fred flintstone]

I think you're the one holding an ideological grudge. I'm sorry that you think they're doomed to failure because they don't have 300+ affiliates and an obscene amount of revenue. What do you expect a startup to be doing?

You think? Clearly not. But nobody expects thinking out of the South Bend factory for jocks and mouth breathers.

AAR does bad radio and makes stupid business decisions. That's why they deserve to fail.

Your reply is to talk about Salem, Fox, Radio Disney. Apparently, incompetence is OK as long as incompetence has company.

Political ideologues aren't worth hating. Only the truely evil are worth hating. Like the evil cult which funds Notre Dame. They know how to deal with people who think. Burn them at the stake.