It's NOT A Rumor...

[Laurence Glavin]

It's NOT a rumor...bostonradiowatch.com reports that Jeff Santos will host a "progressive" talk show on WWZN-AM 1510 from 6:00 am untill 9:00 am starting Monday, December 1st. This will displace "religious" show and a sports-talk show in that time period.

 

[NHRadio]

Mr. Santos is paying for this time, I assume?
Tough environment to try it, but best of luck to him.

 

[dumber than a box of hair]

It's NOT a rumor...bostonradiowatch.com reports that Jeff Santos will host a "progressive" talk show on WWZN-AM 1510 from 6:00 am untill 9:00 am starting Monday, December 1st. This will displace "religious" show and a sports-talk show in that time period.

A station with no signal and no audience.

Yeah, that'll work.

 

[DJbobo]

Mr. Santos is paying for this time, I assume?
Tough environment to try it, but best of luck to him.

The guy must come as part of the same Harvard football package....

13 weeks will tell if he can stick around. I am sure he'll be on every radio alarm clock in Harvard dorms and rest of the Republic.

 

[Eli Polonsky]

A station with no signal and no audience.

It's a better signal in Boston and the metro suburbs within Route 128 than the previous progressive talk attempts on 1200 and 1430 (except for 1430 in the immediate Mystic Valley area and lower North Shore).

As for an audience, it will depend on whether he can build one for what he's doing. Beaming due east (and out to sea) from Waltham, 1510 has a decent signal in Newton, Brookline, Belmont, Watertown, Cambridge, Allston/Brighton and most of the City of Boston, some of the cities and towns most likely to have an audience for the program in the area, where the 1430 and 1200 signals were weak in the daytime and practically non-existant at night.

 

[rockcaptain]

As for an audience, it will depend on whether he can build one for what he's doing. Beaming due east (and out to sea)...

Yes, because we all know that fish are overwhelmingly liberal  ;D.

 

[Finn]

It's NOT a rumor...bostonradiowatch.com reports that Jeff Santos will host a "progressive" talk show on WWZN-AM 1510 from 6:00 am untill 9:00 am starting Monday, December 1st. This will displace "religious" show and a sports-talk show in that time period.

A station with no signal and no audience.

Yeah, that'll work.

got a better idea?

 

[ChrisNH]

It's NOT a rumor...bostonradiowatch.com reports that Jeff Santos will host a "progressive" talk show on WWZN-AM 1510 from 6:00 am untill 9:00 am starting Monday, December 1st. This will displace "religious" show and a sports-talk show in that time period.

Provided that the Fairness Doctrine comes along, and provided that this show...this host...this station...is even around when it does, I'd suggest bombarding them with demands for 'equal time' on whatever is said on the show. A Guppy in an ocean, to be sure. But the fun will come in wreaking havoc with the same people who wanted the Fairness Doctrine in the first place.

 

[DanStrassberg]

Beaming due east (and out to sea) from Waltham, 1510 has a decent signal in Newton, Brookline, Belmont, Watertown, Cambridge, Allston/Brighton and most of the City of Boston, some of the cities and towns most likely to have an audience for the program in the area, where the 1430 and 1200 signals were weak in the daytime and practically non-existant at night.

Technically, WWZN does NOT beam due east with either its daytime or CH (critical hours) patterns. The two-tower mid-day pattern is not very directional at all and is oriented at 61 degrees true--closer to northeast than to due east. The CH pattern, which uses the same two towers as the D pattern and therefore has the same orientation, is a modified cardioid that reduces radiation to the southwest to the equivalent of ~1 kW ND to protect WLAC from daytime skywave. The night pattern is, in fact, oriented pretty much due east, and restricts radiation the the west and southwest even more severely than does the CH pattern.

During January, the D pattern doesn't go on until 9:15AM so Santos will be on N pattern from 6:00 to 7:15 and on CH pattern for the remainder of his program. In December, the CH pattern is on from 7:00 to 9:00AM and from 2:15 to 4:15PM.

I wonder whether some anyonymous right-wing benefactor might not be paying for the air time on WWZN so that the righties can claim that Progressive talk does indeed air in Boston on a 50 kW commercial station and that, therefore, there is no need to resurrect the Fairness Doctrine--something the righties seem absolutely paranoid about but which President-elect Obama has stated he has no interest in doing. If I've correctly figured out the reason for and source of the funding for Santos et al, the Progressive talk will be gone from 1510 in six months for sure and quite possibly in three.

 

[almaniac27]

Apparently according to All Access, Peter B. Collins will have a show from 6pm to 9pm starting December 1 and a nationally syndicated show will come to the station in January.

 

[GenXRadio]

Peter B. does a great show, I listen to it on Sunday nights out here in Seattle on KPTK - Seattle's progressive talk.
If The Zone is bringing in progressive programming they may want to also look at Bill Press, Mike Malloy & Randi Rhodes.
BTW the Fairness Doctrine doesn't pre say apply to talk radio but rather it was brought about to have stations provide debate and commentary on controversial issues and bring in many different view points so it's more about public affairs programming rather than day to day talk radio since you can't control who calls in at any particular time to discuss an issue on talk radio.
Conservatives use the Fairness Doctrine to ghet their supporters in a frenzy to get them fired up at "those dirty liberals who want to take our airwaves away" and it works to some extent.

Apparently according to All Access, Peter B. Collins will have a show from 6pm to 9pm starting December 1 and a nationally syndicated show will come to the station in January.

 

[dumber than a box of hair]

Provided that the Fairness Doctrine comes along, and provided that this show...this host...this station...is even around when it does, I'd suggest bombarding them with demands for 'equal time' on whatever is said on the show. A Guppy in an ocean, to be sure. But the fun will come in wreaking havoc with the same people who wanted the Fairness Doctrine in the first place.

The FD is a non-starter except with right-wing talk-show hosts who, based on exactly no evidence, insist that the wibbewals have included the FD in their agenda for the new administration. Obama is against it; Reid and Pelosi, although for it, have already admitted it has no chance. Give it up already.

Besides, even when we had it, the FD did not enforce fairness within a show...only with a station's overall programming.

 

[DJbobo]

Beaming due east (and out to sea) from Waltham, 1510 has a decent signal in Newton, Brookline, Belmont, Watertown, Cambridge, Allston/Brighton and most of the City of Boston, some of the cities and towns most likely to have an audience for the program in the area, where the 1430 and 1200 signals were weak in the daytime and practically non-existant at night.

Technically, WWZN does NOT beam due east with either its daytime or CH (critical hours) patterns. The two-tower mid-day pattern is not very directional at all and is oriented at 61 degrees true--closer to northeast than to due east. The CH pattern, which uses the same two towers as the D pattern and therefore has the same orientation, is a modified cardioid that reduces radiation to the southwest to the equivalent of ~1 kW ND to protect WLAC from daytime skywave. The night pattern is, in fact, oriented pretty much due east, and restricts radiation the the west and southwest even more severely than does the CH pattern.

During January, the D pattern doesn't go on until 9:15AM so Santos will be on N pattern from 6:00 to 7:15 and on CH pattern for the remainder of his program. In December, the CH pattern is on from 7:00 to 9:00AM and from 2:15 to 4:15PM.

I wonder whether some anyonymous right-wing benefactor might not be paying for the air time on WWZN so that the righties can claim that Progressive talk does indeed air in Boston on a 50 kW commercial station and that, therefore, there is no need to resurrect the Fairness Doctrine--something the righties seem absolutely paranoid about but which President-elect Obama has stated he has no interest in doing. If I've correctly figured out the reason for and source of the funding for Santos et al, the Progressive talk will be gone from 1510 in six months for sure and quite possibly in three.

Doubt your right-wing conspiracy has any legs to stand on. Sports, politics and religion are the formats, brokered or not, that always can find the sponsors and audience even during the hard times. Blackstap Media is simply tapping into all three niches simply to make money for itself.

 

[MarcB]

Doubt your right-wing conspiracy has any legs to stand on. Sports, politics and religion are the formats, brokered or not, that always can find the sponsors and audience even during the hard times. Blackstap Media is simply tapping into all three niches simply to make money for itself.

True. Peter Davidson isn't a dummy.

 

[radioguybroadcasting]

Beaming due east (and out to sea) from Waltham, 1510 has a decent signal in Newton, Brookline, Belmont, Watertown, Cambridge, Allston/Brighton and most of the City of Boston, some of the cities and towns most likely to have an audience for the program in the area, where the 1430 and 1200 signals were weak in the daytime and practically non-existant at night.

Technically, WWZN does NOT beam due east with either its daytime or CH (critical hours) patterns. The two-tower mid-day pattern is not very directional at all and is oriented at 61 degrees true--closer to northeast than to due east. The CH pattern, which uses the same two towers as the D pattern and therefore has the same orientation, is a modified cardioid that reduces radiation to the southwest to the equivalent of ~1 kW ND to protect WLAC from daytime skywave. The night pattern is, in fact, oriented pretty much due east, and restricts radiation the the west and southwest even more severely than does the CH pattern.

During January, the D pattern doesn't go on until 9:15AM so Santos will be on N pattern from 6:00 to 7:15 and on CH pattern for the remainder of his program. In December, the CH pattern is on from 7:00 to 9:00AM and from 2:15 to 4:15PM.

I wonder whether some anyonymous right-wing benefactor might not be paying for the air time on WWZN so that the righties can claim that Progressive talk does indeed air in Boston on a 50 kW commercial station and that, therefore, there is no need to resurrect the Fairness Doctrine--something the righties seem absolutely paranoid about but which President-elect Obama has stated he has no interest in doing. If I've correctly figured out the reason for and source of the funding for Santos et al, the Progressive talk will be gone from 1510 in six months for sure and quite possibly in three.

Doubt your right-wing conspiracy has any legs to stand on. Sports, politics and religion are the formats, brokered or not, that always can find the sponsors and audience even during the hard times. Blackstap Media is simply tapping into all three niches simply to make money for itself.

Blackstrap Media/Peter Davidson isn't tapping into any niche... they're simply selling time to whoever will pay for it!

 

[DanStrassberg]

Blackstrap Media/Peter Davidson isn't tapping into any niche... they're simply selling time to whoever will pay for it!

PRECISELY! AND... the "Save Progressive Radio Boston" (or whatever) group has allegedly been trying to find a source of funds ever since CCU pulled Progressive talk off WKOXKS nearly two years ago. Now, you can make all the jokes you like (and in this case, would probably be more than justified in making) about ineffectual Liberals not being able to get out of their own way, but I find it rather strange that, after two years of not being able to find funding, the group--or someone--seems to have found the money AND has done so during the worst economic collapse in nearly 100 years. This at a time when the major driver of Progressive talk radio--the almost complete absence of representation on the radio of Progressive viewpoints--has become much less important, thanks to the Democrats having won the presidency and both houses of Congress. If it was impossible to make an economic case for Proressive talk radio two years ago, it must be an order of magnitude more impossible now! So NOW the money suddenly and mysteriously appears. Either the provider of those funds is both very rich and very stupid (or crazy) OR s/he has an agenda. I believe the agenda theory. And the agenda item that comes to mind is killing the Fairness Doctrine. If you are paranoid, you aren't going to believe that it's stone cold dead and incapable of resuscitation and if you are also wealthy, you might be willing to invest a little money--for a limited period--in stacking the deck in your favor. So far, I've heard no better explanation for the funds materializing.

 

[GovtMule1979]

I bet D&C, O&A, The Speaker, and Matty are all nervous about this powerhouse coming to town.

 

[Channel Surf]

Beaming due east (and out to sea) from Waltham, 1510 has a decent signal in Newton, Brookline, Belmont, Watertown, Cambridge, Allston/Brighton and most of the City of Boston, some of the cities and towns most likely to have an audience for the program in the area, where the 1430 and 1200 signals were weak in the daytime and practically non-existant at night.

Technically, WWZN does NOT beam due east with either its daytime or CH (critical hours) patterns. The two-tower mid-day pattern is not very directional at all and is oriented at 61 degrees true--closer to northeast than to due east. The CH pattern, which uses the same two towers as the D pattern and therefore has the same orientation, is a modified cardioid that reduces radiation to the southwest to the equivalent of ~1 kW ND to protect WLAC from daytime skywave. The night pattern is, in fact, oriented pretty much due east, and restricts radiation the the west and southwest even more severely than does the CH pattern.

During January, the D pattern doesn't go on until 9:15AM so Santos will be on N pattern from 6:00 to 7:15 and on CH pattern for the remainder of his program. In December, the CH pattern is on from 7:00 to 9:00AM and from 2:15 to 4:15PM.

So...I take it that 1510's signal has been significantly modified since the early 70s pattern of the old WMEX???

 

[Eli Polonsky]

Technically, WWZN does NOT beam due east with either its daytime or CH (critical hours) patterns. The two-tower mid-day pattern is not very directional at all and is oriented at 61 degrees true--closer to northeast than to due east. The CH pattern, which uses the same two towers as the D pattern and therefore has the same orientation, is a modified cardioid that reduces radiation to the southwest to the equivalent of ~1 kW ND to protect WLAC from daytime skywave. The night pattern is, in fact, oriented pretty much due east, and restricts radiation the the west and southwest even more severely than does the CH pattern.

So...I take it that 1510's signal has been significantly modified since the early 70s pattern of the old WMEX???

Yes, it transmits from an entirely different location than it did as WMEX.

When it was WMEX in the early '70s, the transmitter was in Quincy (south of Boston) and it was 50kW days, 5kW nights. The bulk of the signal was beamed north into downtown Boston and up the coast, and the nulls in various westerly and southerly directions caused poor reception in the west suburbs even within Route 128, especially at night, though the signal was known to have been stellar up the New England coast and into Nova Scotia.

The transmitter was moved to Waltham (west of Boston) sometime in the late '70s or early '80s with 50kW full time, and three different patterns. This was an attempt to cover the west suburbs within Route 128, where the Quincy transmitter was weak, while still covering Boston and still protecting different stations to the northwest and southwest. It reportedly had to do with improving suburban coverage to try to please the Red Sox, which were carried on 1510 for a couple of years. Eventually the Waltham site ended up with the three patterns that Dan described above.

 

[DanStrassberg]

Apparently according to All Access, Peter B. Collins will have a show from 6pm to 9pm starting December 1 and a nationally syndicated show will come to the station in January.

According to the latest Boston RadioWatch, that unnamed third progressive show will air from noon to 3:00PM starting sometime in January--if Santos hasn't run out of money by then. Noon to 3:00 Eastern is when Ed Schultz (on Jones) and Thom Hartmann (on AirAmerica) air live opposite each other. So Santos has his pick. I presume that if those are the choices, Santos will pick Schultz, as his program is the more popular of the two, though, in my opinion, Hartmann's is by far the better of the two.