N
nwebster
Guest
As I reported here last January, Atlanta's progressive talk station WWAA 1690 has been sold to a local broadcaster who currently operates an "ecletic" music station in town. WWAA is in the expanded band so only newer radios can receive it. It is automated and just plugs into the AAR feed without local programming (or sales to speak of). It competes with Salem's local talk outlet for the cellar in the 12+ Arbitron numbers.
The guy who bought the station is apparently able to run radio stations as a hobby and to play what he wants. He has given absolutely no indication he wants to flip WAAA but Atlanta liberals haven't been this panicked since the Klan had their big rally on Stone Mountain in 1915. Nobody is asking for donations yet but the Atlanta alternative newspaper is asking people to call or write local radio stations to get them to carry progressive talk.
Creative Loafing:
<blockquote>Two-year-old WWAA-AM (1690), the local affiliate of progressive radio network Air America, was sold to JW Broadcasting for $12 million in late January from Intermart, a Scottsdale-based broadcasting company. Intermart says the sale was always part of their plan.
"The station's stockholders wanted to sell the station from the beginning," says Bill Brown, a spokesman for Intermart. "There have been several offers since the station has been on air. The right opportunity just came along."
But it's unknown what the new owner will do with the signal. ...
Joe Weber, president of JW Broadcasting, won't disclose plans for his new purchase. Weber's company currently operates WMLB-AM (1160), an eclectic mix of opera, R&B, poetry and jazz. ...
The sale of one of the only liberal radio talk stations in town raises the question of what's happening to media voices in Atlanta. Local favorites such as libertarian Neal Boortz on WSB-AM (750) and right-winger Martha Zoller on WDUN-AM (550) pander to the conservative radio market. Just last week, Fred Toucher, the seven-year veteran and morning-show host of WNNX-FM (99.7-99X), left after new ownership decided he wasn't a good fit for the station. And until 2004, liberal Atlanta-based talker and Air America host Mike Malloy couldn't find a home after he left WSB-AM. ...
While Weber decides whether to keep Air America programming ... the network will shop its programming around Atlanta. ...
GET INVOLVED: To help Air America find a potential new home in Atlanta, write letters to and call local radio stations to ask them to consider Air America programming. </blockquote>
http://atlanta.creativeloafing.com/gyrobase/Content?oid=oid:39651
The article includes quotes from former AAR programming head Jon Sinton giving inflated ratings numbers for progressive talk stations in Portland, LA, Denver and Miami. These stations are among the more successful progressive talk outlets but the article failed to mention they are all owned by Clear Channel and include local and Jones Radio programming in their schedule. Then Sinton, now an Atlanta-based consultant, says increasingly people are listening to satellite radio or mp3 players anyway. He appears to be saying that terrestrial radio needs to offer the audience something it can't get elsewhere but apparently that's not the spin the writer was looking for. The writer is pushing to keep syndicated programming (also available online and on XM Satellite Radio) on local AM radio in Atlanta. Sinton makes a good point, however. AM stations with poor signals, automated, with syndicated shows (including liberal or conservative talk - AAR or Salem) don't justify the existance of terrestrial radio.
The guy who bought the station is apparently able to run radio stations as a hobby and to play what he wants. He has given absolutely no indication he wants to flip WAAA but Atlanta liberals haven't been this panicked since the Klan had their big rally on Stone Mountain in 1915. Nobody is asking for donations yet but the Atlanta alternative newspaper is asking people to call or write local radio stations to get them to carry progressive talk.
Creative Loafing:
<blockquote>Two-year-old WWAA-AM (1690), the local affiliate of progressive radio network Air America, was sold to JW Broadcasting for $12 million in late January from Intermart, a Scottsdale-based broadcasting company. Intermart says the sale was always part of their plan.
"The station's stockholders wanted to sell the station from the beginning," says Bill Brown, a spokesman for Intermart. "There have been several offers since the station has been on air. The right opportunity just came along."
But it's unknown what the new owner will do with the signal. ...
Joe Weber, president of JW Broadcasting, won't disclose plans for his new purchase. Weber's company currently operates WMLB-AM (1160), an eclectic mix of opera, R&B, poetry and jazz. ...
The sale of one of the only liberal radio talk stations in town raises the question of what's happening to media voices in Atlanta. Local favorites such as libertarian Neal Boortz on WSB-AM (750) and right-winger Martha Zoller on WDUN-AM (550) pander to the conservative radio market. Just last week, Fred Toucher, the seven-year veteran and morning-show host of WNNX-FM (99.7-99X), left after new ownership decided he wasn't a good fit for the station. And until 2004, liberal Atlanta-based talker and Air America host Mike Malloy couldn't find a home after he left WSB-AM. ...
While Weber decides whether to keep Air America programming ... the network will shop its programming around Atlanta. ...
GET INVOLVED: To help Air America find a potential new home in Atlanta, write letters to and call local radio stations to ask them to consider Air America programming. </blockquote>
http://atlanta.creativeloafing.com/gyrobase/Content?oid=oid:39651
The article includes quotes from former AAR programming head Jon Sinton giving inflated ratings numbers for progressive talk stations in Portland, LA, Denver and Miami. These stations are among the more successful progressive talk outlets but the article failed to mention they are all owned by Clear Channel and include local and Jones Radio programming in their schedule. Then Sinton, now an Atlanta-based consultant, says increasingly people are listening to satellite radio or mp3 players anyway. He appears to be saying that terrestrial radio needs to offer the audience something it can't get elsewhere but apparently that's not the spin the writer was looking for. The writer is pushing to keep syndicated programming (also available online and on XM Satellite Radio) on local AM radio in Atlanta. Sinton makes a good point, however. AM stations with poor signals, automated, with syndicated shows (including liberal or conservative talk - AAR or Salem) don't justify the existance of terrestrial radio.