Globe: Rumba debuts Thu. at noon

[raccoonradio]

I have the hard copy of the paper in front of me here at 4:30 am and will give you a link if the article is up.
But basically Clea Simon says in today's Globe that WKOX 1200 and WXKS 1430 will switch to Rumba tomorrow at noon.

Also: they plan to hire local DJs (ironically enough, having local talent is one thing they DIDN'T do, except
for Jeff Santos late in the game, as Boston's Prog. Talk) and it's said that after the WKOX upgrade,
WXKS will be given its own "undetermined" format.

OK:
http://www.boston.com/news/globe/li...tions_make_switch_to_latino_music_1166582426/

 

[MarcB]

I think it's great RUMBA will have DJs. Maybe they'll hire some of the former jocks from MEGA. DJs make a station sound alive.

 

[Varulven]

well...they did such a (four letter word begins with P)-poor job of programming AM 1430 "Boston's Regressive Talk" that I can now put another station on my pre-set. Looks like I'll be tuning in on the computer for Ed & Randi until they get a new home here in Boston.

 

[raccoonradio]

Would have been interesting if, say, the prog. talk format would have debuted on 10/4/06, rather than 10/4/04,
and then with the power boost coming in August of next year, maybe they could have gotten some better
ratings/more "visibility", etc. (And add local hosts, etc.)

An entire prog-talk station may eventually come back or poss. their shows
could move to another talk station (prob. not WBZ which only has 8 pm-5 am, and they do local)

 

[JustinT]

Would have been interesting if, say, the prog. talk format would have debuted on 10/4/06, rather than 10/4/04,
and then with the power boost coming in August of next year, maybe they could have gotten some better
ratings/more "visibility", etc. (And add local hosts, etc.)

I seem to recall that the power boost was said to be only a year or so away when WKOXKS launched its liberal talk format. It is very interesting, though, that the station will have a real airstaff when you consider how long it took WKOXKS to get any form of local programming.

As others have said, the talk format had plenty of faults, ranging from no local talent to poor programming to lousy signals. But when you look at how some of the market's brokered Spanish outlets are showing up in Arbitron surveys, it really is a no-brainer that CC is bringing programmed Spanish-language radio back to Boston... not to mention that it's going to be a lot easier to sell the tropical format together with WJMN and WXKS-FM than it was to sell talk. It is unfortunate that the most unique talk station will disappear from the airwaves tomorrow, but it's high time that programmed Spanish radio make its return.

 

[brightonboris]

It is unfortunate that the most unique talk station will disappear from the airwaves tomorrow, but it's high time that programmed Spanish radio make its return.

Well, if you only had bothered to listen to them once in a while they'd still be around....

Mitt Romney, Clear Channel, Mays gang, Bain and Thomas Lee are well-known Republican goons and are all pissed at losing the mid-term election. This is their way of getting back at the dems and independents. The less opposition to the Republicans is heard on the radio, the better chance they have at keeping the White House in two years.

Maybe Rumba should give idiot Menino an afternoon drive show opposite Howie and Jay. He'd go after WBCN and WBZ on his show. No one understands anything he says anyway. He'd be a perfect fit there.

 

[jacobr]

It is unfortunate that the most unique talk station will disappear from the airwaves tomorrow, but it's high time that programmed Spanish radio make its return.

Well, if you only had bothered to listen to them once in a while they'd still be around....

Mitt Romney, Clear Channel, Mays gang, Bain and Thomas Lee are well-known Republican goons and are all pissed at losing the mid-term election. This is their way of getting back at the dems and independents. The less opposition to the Republicans is heard on the radio, the better chance they have at keeping the White House in two years.

e and Jay. He'd go afMaybe Rumba should give idiot Menino an afternoon drive show opposite Howiter WBCN and WBZ on his show. No one understands anything he says anyway. He'd be a perfect fit there.

 

[jacobr]

I would understand the spanish DJ's more clearly than Menino.

 

[jacobr]

[

[It is unfortunate that the most unique talk station will disappear from the airwaves tomorrow, but it's high
Mitt Romney, Clear Channel, Mays gang, Bain and Thomas Lee are well-known Republican goons and are all pissed at losing the mid-term election. This is their way of getting back at the dems and independents. The less opposition to the Republicans is heard on the radio, the better chance they have at keeping the White House in two years.]

Naive, It was ratings not ideology.

 

[raccoonradio]

Saying there was a conspiracy to suppress Boston's Prog. Talk in the manner you say would be like
saying there was a vast Left Wing Conspiracy to deny Kerry Healey the governorship...anyway, before
this gets sent to Off the Air, be aware I'll post the format change (a link to it) here once it happens.

 

[Eli Polonsky]

Mitt Romney, Clear Channel, Mays gang, Bain and Thomas Lee are well-known Republican goons and are all pissed at losing the mid-term election. This is their way of getting back at the dems and independents. The less opposition to the Republicans is heard on the radio, the better chance they have at keeping the White House in two years.

That's ridiculous. Talk radio stations have no significant influence on elections, and they know that. Especially ones with such low ratings as WKOX/WXKS. If Mays/Clear Channel were programming by their personal ideologies, they would never have put Progressive Talk on their stations in the first place. But, they weren't. They were programming as businessmen, not ideologues. They put the format on their low rated dog stations across the country, hoping it would make better ratings and money than whatever the stations were airing before.

Don't forget that they put the format on WKOX/WXKS (and many others) just a couple of months before a Presidential election in 2004. They wouldn't have done that if they were afraid that it would have any influence on the election, and if they had been trying to protect their own conservative personal ideologies. They weren't, it was purely business. They probably hoped that during an election season would be an opportune time to try to get some ratings by launching a political talk format.

For a number of possible reasons, the format proved not to be successful in this area (and many others), and here in Boston they figure they can get better ratings and revenue with Spanish, and I'll bet they're right. It had nothing to do with the mid-term elections, it was a business decision. I predict that the Spanish format will be getting at least double, maybe triple, the ratings of Progressive Talk within just a few months, even with the poor present night signals.

Then, if they pull it off well, when WKOX finally gets the power increase next year and bombs 50 kW right into Boston's urban neighborhoods 24/7, I think it will have the potential to get some respectable numbers overall, and certainly plenty of local sponsors. Even on AM.

I'm not trying to defend any Republicans or conservative-owned broadcasting companies. My personal politics would usually be considered very left wing, and I do believe that there are a lot of conspiracies between political parties and businesses. But, in this case, I don't buy that there's a right-wing conspiracy behind the demise of Air America here in Boston. Let's be realistic, this is simply the radio business.

 

[weee]

I wouldn't cut down the "conspiracy" theory so quick...there may be something to it.

I found out, from listening to Stephanie Miller, that Madison, WI's Progressive Station was number one, in fact Stephanie's show was the highest rated (I believe, correct me if I'm wrong....) But as of the new year, they are flipping, to...guess which company??? FOX Sports.

So ratings weren't the issue here. And I'm beginning to doubt the same for Boston.

 

[NHRadio]

Ratings are not the issue here. It's profits. There are many natiuonal advertisers such as Geico, Walmart, Philips and others who will not advertise in some formats, including most "controversial" talk programs.
Also, progressive talk has been a tough sell in general. Pulling the format out of Madison, Boston, or Podunk is a business issue and nothing more. Being #1 is means absolutely nothing if you're not making money.
Example-those shop at home TV channels. Their ratings are close to zero...but they're profitable.
Those who think these are political decisions couldn't be more wrong.

 

[FPB]

My new year's wish - a HUGE spike in the sale of satellite radios. Why wait for another hand out from some other station owner. Let's give them all a nice slap in the face.

 

[brightonboris]

Saying there was a conspiracy to suppress Boston's Prog. Talk in the manner you say would be like
saying there was a vast Left Wing Conspiracy to deny Kerry Healey the governorship...anyway, before
this gets sent to Off the Air, be aware I'll post the format change (a link to it) here once it happens.

You're well known Republican sympathizer on these boards so anything you say can't be taken seriously anyway.

They killed off the format that had zero cost. How can you say it was losing money?
Use your brain. That's what is there for.

 

[brightonboris]

[/quote]

That's ridiculous. Talk radio stations have no significant influence on elections, and they know that. Especially ones with such low ratings as WKOX/WXKS. If Mays/Clear Channel were programming by their personal ideologies, they would never have put Progressive Talk on their stations in the first place. But, they weren't. They were programming as businessmen, not ideologues. They put the format on their low rated dog stations across the country, hoping it would make better ratings and money than whatever the stations were airing before.

Don't forget that they put the format on WKOX/WXKS (and many others) just a couple of months before a Presidential election in 2004. They wouldn't have done that if they were afraid that it would have any influence on the election, and if they had been trying to protect their own conservative personal ideologies. They weren't, it was purely business. They probably hoped that during an election season would be an opportune time to try to get some ratings by launching a political talk format.

For a number of possible reasons, the format proved not to be successful in this area (and many others), and here in Boston they figure they can get better ratings and revenue with Spanish, and I'll bet they're right. It had nothing to do with the mid-term elections, it was a business decision. I predict that the Spanish format will be getting at least double, maybe triple, the ratings of Progressive Talk within just a few months, even with the poor present night signals.

Then, if they pull it off well, when WKOX finally gets the power increase next year and bombs 50 kW right into Boston's urban neighborhoods 24/7, I think it will have the potential to get some respectable numbers overall, and certainly plenty of local sponsors. Even on AM.

I'm not trying to defend any Republicans or conservative-owned broadcasting companies. My personal politics would usually be considered very left wing, and I do believe that there are a lot of conspiracies between political parties and businesses. But, in this case, I don't buy that there's a right-wing conspiracy behind the demise of Air America here in Boston. Let's be realistic, this is simply the radio business.


[/quote]

They never spent money on the format. Thus, they never lost any money on it either. So how can you make money if you don't invest anything into your business?

You're just thrilled that WBUR will take those 15-20,000 listeners back, and not WTKK, WRKO or WBZ.

 

[raccoonradio]

AAR debuted on 10/4/04, a month before the election...one in which the electoral votes for Mass. would have gone to John Kerry no matter what.

>>They probably hoped that during an election season would be an opportune time to try to get some ratings by launching a political talk format.

Yes, and if they're as conservative as they're painted to be, and wanted to "influence an election", wouldn't
they have put _conservative_ talk on? Especially in such a "blue state" as Mass. You would have seen this
headline: WKOX, WXKS pick up Rush Limbaugh and Glenn Beck from Premiere...

>>better ratings and revenue with Spanish

While libtalk can have a devoted audience, so can Spanish and maybe even more so...can sell lots of ads

>>progressive talk has been a tough sell in general. Pulling the format out of Madison, Boston, or Podunk is a business issue and nothing more

As for being "Republican", I have been Unenrolled for years.
By the way I'm like Glenn Beck: more conservative than Republican. If Democrats held the opinions I did,
I'd vote for those candidates. My most recent ballot I think I voted for more Dems than Republicans;
of course, in Mass. most of those guys were unopposed....

 

[raccoonradio]

WKOXKS site still up, and it mentioned (on messageboard) a yahoo group people can join who are interested in saving progtalk
in Boston. I'd think they're better of trying to get progtalk shows on diff. stations rather than trying to convince CC to change their mind as they're probably pretty committed to Rumba. (In Madison WI, a group of 30 people conducted a "funeral" for the Mic in which
4500 signatures were presented to the CC studios; the station is due to go to Fox Sports on 1/1)

anyway: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Save_progressive_radio_boston

 

[raccoonradio]

Don't click it yet because it hasn't been uploaded yet but once the format change happens I'll record it
and send it to the following site. I'll record from 11:50 am to 12:15 pm. However if CC has changed its mind
and the change doesn't happen, then "nevermind".

if it happens:
http://wmwm.250free.com/wxksformatchange.mp3
(probably up by 12:30 or so)

 

[Eli Polonsky]

They killed off the format that had zero cost. How can you say it was losing money?
Use your brain. That's what is there for.

Radio stations cost some money to run, even if the programming is all off the bird and automated. Electric bills for a 10kW and a 5kW AM aren't cheap. Not as much as a 50 kW AM, but probably a lot more than a full-power FM, and that's only one expense. There are many other expenses inherent just in day to day operation and legalities. Radio stations can lose money even with an automated satellite format if there's virtually no revenue coming in.

Even if they were breaking even, that's not what radio, or business in general, is about. It's about making money, and Progressive Talk wasn't making (enough) money for them. I'm sure it could've done a little better with some local hosts and better promotion, but probably still not well enough. Then they would've had more expenses, and it wasn't clear whether the returns would have been worth the costs. In the situation as it was, I'm sure they will get more revenue with Spanish. That's a significant audience that has not been being served here in town by a full-time station at all.

As for my own opinions of Progressive Talk, I was very excited a couple of years ago when I heard it was going to come to Boston. I was really hoping it would provide a strong balance to commercial conservative talk radio on their format turf (not like NPR, which is a different type of programming entirely). However, it ended up suffering from many of the same faults in delivery and presentation as conservative network talk radio, even though the viewpoints were liberal. I found I often couldn't listen to it even if I agreed with it for some of the same reasons I can't listen to conservative talk radio, some of which have nothing to do with the politics. I don't know how many other potential listeners felt the same way, but it was very disappointing to me. Now I'm glad that our Spanish population will have a full-time local station again.