It's OFFICIAL, 1230 drops Air America

[Inventor989]

I'm glad to see Quinn in town, as he is an old friend and compadre at three stations in Pittsburgh over the years. And it figures that they'd bring Savage in minutes after I left town. I used to have fits trying to catch him in Gahanna. I think he is a captivating speaker.

And before you bash me, liberalistas, two very good friends of mine were inside the Air America debacle from the beginning and another close friend of mine was an advisor to the Drobnys at its infancy. I will tell you what I told them at the time: 1) Al Franken will be the death of the network; 2) Al Franken will be the death of the network, and 3) Al Franken forced them to ditch the original name of the network, the incredibly clever "Central Air", insisting that he wouldn't go work for them unless they named it the incredibly bland and nondescript "Air America". That should be enough to tell you to MOVE ON from Al Franken. He's poison.

If they had launched as Central Air, with Stephanie Miller and Ed Schultz as their banner acts, maybe they'd still be here now.

Hate to say I told ya so, but...

 

[CBusDave]

1) Al Franken will be the death of the network; 2) Al Franken will be the death of the network, and 3) Al Franken forced them to ditch the original name of the network, the incredibly clever "Central Air", insisting that he wouldn't go work for them unless they named it the incredibly bland and nondescript "Air America". That should be enough to tell you to MOVE ON from Al Franken. He's poison.

If they had launched as Central Air, with Stephanie Miller and Ed Schultz as their banner acts, maybe they'd still be here now.

Funny thing is, I agree with this completely (being a liberal to boot). I like Al Franken as an author but listening to his radio show was p.a.i.n.f.u.l.

Schultz and Miller are 10x the talent that Franken is. The only thing he brought to the table was a recognizable household name.

 

[ajhenderson]

Schultz and Miller are 10x the talent that Franken is. The only thing he brought to the table was a recognizable household name.

He is? Not if you're targeting people under 35 or 40, like they wanted to.

 

[Nu_Roo_2]

And it figures that they'd bring Savage in minutes after I left town.

Where did you move to?

 

[CBusDave]

Schultz and Miller are 10x the talent that Franken is. The only thing he brought to the table was a recognizable household name.

He is? Not if you're targeting people under 35 or 40, like they wanted to.

Absolutely. I am 33 and couldn't bear to listen to him. Bad radio. His "skits" were unfunny and his whole production was very poorly executed. There is more to being a radio talent than a head full of ideas and opinions.

 

[gabigley1]

Ed Schultz is mad about the impending loss of Progressive Talk 1230-AM . The following audio clips are from his show. He blames management for the loss of the station.

Audio From The Ed Schultz Show - 12/27/2006

Dave From Columbus (Gahanna Actually) Calls The Ed Schultz Show And Talks With Fill In Host
Norman Goldman About The Upcoming Loss Of Progressive Radio In Columbus, Ohio.

Ed Schultz Calls In To His Own Show And Discusses The Columbus Progressive Radio Situation.

Click here and scroll down to the very bottom to listen/download these two audio clips: http://www.ohiomajorityradio.com/

 

[Inventor989]

NuRoo: We moved back to Cincinnati last month. Sharon is from here and found her "dream home". My work can be done from anywhere and her employer transferred her to Mason, so we made the move.

I think it's sad about Air America. I grew up on talk radio where all sides had their voices...on the same station, even. Radio is entertainment first and foremost, and that is where AAR dropped the ball. There were good radio people in there trying to get it done; unfortunately, they were overrun by idealogues that had other motives and no radio experience.

 

[CBusDave]

Ed Schultz is mad about the impending loss of Progressive Talk 1230-AM . The following audio clips are from his show. He blames management for the loss of the station.

Audio From The Ed Schultz Show - 12/27/2006

An interesting, if somewhat biased, listen. It did seem to me that Jim Rome was kind of the odd man out in the new lineup and Schultz brings up a good point that if you are going to mix sports and talk, someone that actually discusses sports on his talk show is a pretty darn good fit. Schultz does sprinkle in sports with his show. It would have been nice to retain Schultz even if you want to overhaul the station.

I however disagree that it's some sort of political agenda that pulled him off the air. I think it's completely economically driven. I fail to believe there is a huge conspiracy trying to make progressive talk radio fail. I think that 1230 is just a throwaway signal and Clear Channel is in the process of trying to cut costs and increase profits before the sale.

 

[ajhenderson]

No conspiracy. And keeping Schultz might make sense; too bad he's not syndicated by the CC umbrella that includes Premiere. If Cbus' AM dial wasn't so small, there might be another sports station. But Ed needs to quit complaining about how unfair it is that he's getting the boot (esp. since he didn't the last time he assailed CC, in Madison). It's unprofessional and beneath him, considering how right he's been on the demise of past PT stations, like here in Phoenix.

Speaking of the CC umbrella that includes Premiere, here's the form response clap trap from WTVN PD Bruce Collins...

Thank you very much for caring to write and for listening to 610WTVN.
Your comments and suggestions will be evaluated. Thank you once again.
Unfortunately nothing could be arranged between Glenn's network and
Clear Channel Columbus to continue to carry the show live......

Bruce Collins
News Radio 610 WTVN/Progressive Talk AM 1230 Program Director
2323 West 5th Ave, Suite 200
Columbus, OH 43204
dir #: 614.487.2476
fax #: 614.487.2559

You mean the network your company owns?

 

[del_griffith]

I am not a fan of liberal talk radio in general, but Big Eddie was an exception. There is a point to keeping his show. I think the clearance of Rome in the market was made at other levels.

 

[CBusDave]

Speaking of the CC umbrella that includes Premiere, here's the form response clap trap from WTVN PD Bruce Collins...

Thank you very much for caring to write and for listening to 610WTVN.
Your comments and suggestions will be evaluated. Thank you once again.
Unfortunately nothing could be arranged between Glenn's network and
Clear Channel Columbus to continue to carry the show live......


You mean the network your company owns?

Collins continues to show that he is fairly spineless with little accountability. If you mix things up because of a particular reason and you are afraid of pissing off the listeners, face the music. Tell the truth. Who cares if you upset some people? Eventually they will get over it and everyone will get on with their lives.

Case in point, Pat Pagano. Bruce gets on the air to announce they are dropping Pat and goes on to say Pat is totally on board with the decision. Then Pat comes out and says he did everything in his power to keep the contract. You drop Beck and claim you couldn't work anything out with the network... umm... you own the network.

Don't play the BS political game to save face, be a man and stand behind your actions. You know if 1230's ratings skyrocket he'll be right there claiming all the credit.

Man that's aggravating. I would have a lot more respect for someone if they came out and said, "You know what? It is a smarter economical decision for us to go in this direction. We got a better deal from 10TV than we did from Pat. We are trying to cut costs and increase profitability." Anyone that argues with that has never run a business or balanced their checkbook. You might be upset about the change but it's hard to argue it. These transparent excuses insult a listener's intelligence.

 

[Kahuna1]

great comment about CC and spineless actions!!

Also, I hate to keep beating a dead horse about satillite radio, but Ed Schultz is on every afternoon from 3p to 6p on Sirius Left 146, as are most all the other well produced liberal talk hosts in this country.

The investment was small (less than $50) and the monthly fee becomes more and more worth it everyday as I listen to over 150 channels of most anything you could want. (sorry, this is starting to sound like a commercial) If you really want to take a swing a CC, go either Sirius or XM and when you get an arbitron diary in mail, don't list any local radio listening. If it happens enough in enough places, somebodies got to sit up and notice.

 

[ajhenderson]

Kahuna, I had XM for talk (I listen to little music, although that Chill channel was pretty good) and got sick of it. They dropped most of the good shows.

Despite Beck's strong performance on 610, I'm not saying he shouldn't have been shuttled off, but moving him to 1230 would make sense. Actually, it would make a lot of sense given their need to go local from 9-noon on 'TVN; put a strong show on 1230 and hike rates for that daypart, and put a likely lesser rated show on the station where rates are always high because of the quality of the station as a whole. Putting Ingraham, an unknown and untested commodity in the market, is a bit silly. She did poorly in Cincinnati until TRN force fed her to KRC, which is what they're doing here. What ABCRN (forcing Levin on 610) and TRN don't understand is, unless this other rumor about a new c-talk station comes true, Columbus is one of a half dozen or so markets in the top 100 with no real talk competition. Where are Hannity or Savage going to go w/o CC? The same place they were before. Uncleared.

 

[FightingIrish]

Kahuna, I had XM for talk (I listen to little music, although that Chill channel was pretty good) and got sick of it. They dropped most of the good shows.

Despite Beck's strong performance on 610, I'm not saying he shouldn't have been shuttled off, but moving him to 1230 would make sense. Actually, it would make a lot of sense given their need to go local from 9-noon on 'TVN; put a strong show on 1230 and hike rates for that daypart, and put a likely lesser rated show on the station where rates are always high because of the quality of the station as a whole. Putting Ingraham, an unknown and untested commodity in the market, is a bit silly. She did poorly in Cincinnati until TRN force fed her to KRC, which is what they're doing here. What ABCRN (forcing Levin on 610) and TRN don't understand is, unless this other rumor about a new c-talk station comes true, Columbus is one of a half dozen or so markets in the top 100 with no real talk competition. Where are Hannity or Savage going to go w/o CC? The same place they were before. Uncleared.

The story I heard was Beck was going to be moved to 1230 and he rejected it. Hence, he will not be on either station.

As he's been dropped by quite a few stations, he should be thankful for whatever station he's got.

 

[ajhenderson]

The story I heard was Beck was going to be moved to 1230 and he rejected it. Hence, he will not be on either station.

As he's been dropped by quite a few stations, he should be thankful for whatever station he's got.

Please state what these "quite a few" stations are. I'd say not counting the TV show, 2006 has been a net gain for radio clearances, and certainly in terms of markets. Los Angeles and Minneapolis are more important Columbus, which is similar to Providence, just added.

BTW, hosts don't typically get to pick which stations they're on, other than perhaps their flagship (like Savage, who can only decide his SF affil). Premiere decides for Beck. That's why you'll see shows like Hannity and Savage go from good stations to mediocre or crappy ones because the ladder picks up the syndicator's other shows. Do you think Hannity would rather be on WPRO or WHJJ in Providence? How about WTKK or WTTT in Boston?

 

[gabigley1]

Click here for the rest of the story:

http://toledoblade.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20061230/NEWS24/612300395/-1/NEWS

Article published December 30, 2006

Columbus station going conservative as key state positions turn Democratic
Radio switches dial from left to right

By RYAN E. SMITH
BLADE STAFF WRITER

ust about the time the Democrats take their places in the highest positions of state government in Columbus, their liberal voice is leaving talk radio in that part of the state.

WTPG-AM (1230) is turning in its "progressive talk," featuring the likes of Al Franken, and trading it for conservatives like Michael Savage and Laura Ingraham. It changed its call letters to WYTS recently and will begin its new programming Jan. 9.

The move to the other end of the political spectrum at the Clear Channel station is purely about good business, program manager Bruce Collins said.

"The reason for the change is just due to lack of ratings performance by the radio station," he said.

In the Arbitron ratings data for the summer period, the station did not finish among the top 20 stations in the Columbus market while another Clear Channel talk radio station, WTVN-AM (610), which airs conservatives like Rush Limbaugh, tied for second place overall.

Mr. Collins said WTPG's new format will complement the other station and will also include other things like sports.

 

[Trick_Magnet]

Click here for the rest of the story:

http://toledoblade.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20061230/NEWS24/612300395/-1/NEWS

Article published December 30, 2006

Columbus station going conservative as key state positions turn Democratic
Radio switches dial from left to right

By RYAN E. SMITH
BLADE STAFF WRITER

ust about the time the Democrats take their places in the highest positions of state government in Columbus, their liberal voice is leaving talk radio in that part of the state.

WTPG-AM (1230) is turning in its "progressive talk," featuring the likes of Al Franken, and trading it for conservatives like Michael Savage and Laura Ingraham. It changed its call letters to WYTS recently and will begin its new programming Jan. 9.

The move to the other end of the political spectrum at the Clear Channel station is purely about good business, program manager Bruce Collins said.

"The reason for the change is just due to lack of ratings performance by the radio station," he said.

In the Arbitron ratings data for the summer period, the station did not finish among the top 20 stations in the Columbus market while another Clear Channel talk radio station, WTVN-AM (610), which airs conservatives like Rush Limbaugh, tied for second place overall.

Mr. Collins said WTPG's new format will complement the other station and will also include other things like sports.

A few points:
1) A radio station is not going to change people's opinion, just attract those who agree with it.
2) For whatever reason, conservatives tune in to radio programming which appeals to them in good numbers (which is mostly point #1).
3) Air America was boring. (Ed Shultz wasn't so much because he's actually entertaining).
4) Because of point #3, the network ended up catering to the most diehard of ideologues which translates to a small audience.

The way to build a network is not to load up a bunch of hosts but build an audience from a great local talent and then grow them beyond. Limbaugh didn't start over night if my memory serves me correctly.

 

[Trick_Magnet]

Oh, and I know of several people that are glad that Rome is returning. Most of them are female. Who knew?

 

[del_griffith]

Limbaugh didn't start over night if my memory serves me correctly.

Limbaugh I believe started with 33 stations left over from ABC's Talkradio format demise. There were times very early on that he almost lost most of the remaining 33. I worked to help syndicate a program in the early 90's. I spoke to many of the early Rush affils. Several recalled Rush personally calling and begging them not to cancel the program. One I remember specifically was in Missouri. It was a mom pop shop. Mom was torqued because Rush begged them to keep him when the intended to cancel, then when his star began to shine, dumped them in favor of a larger station. Part of his spiel to keep him was they would never be obligated to a contract and for their loyalty, he would always be loyal to them. I forget the station. It wasn't a large market. But for a young guy working to build stations, it quickly taught me a lesson on loyalty.

 

[Frogger1]

The original 1230 lineup had Glenn Beck on from 9a-12n and the rest of the schedule was built around him.

From what I hear Beck threw a fit at not being on 610, called his friends in San Antonio and basically said if I'm not on 610 than I'm not on at all in Columbus and that's that.

He had the choice. It is frustrating to hear him talk about Columbus "dropping" him when that was not the way it had to be. He could still be on in C-bus, he just feels he is too big for 1230. I think Collins is hoping that it will eventually work out and Beck will be on 1230.