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Lying Liar doing well in Prov.? Uh...

raccoonradio

raccoonradio

Air America put an ad on a radio trade website talking about the great ratings Al Franken was getting in Providence, RI--3 times as high as before.

Guess what: he is no longer on that station (WHJJ). They just dropped him because of LOW RATINGS (and did the same to Jerry Springer).

AirAmericaLife.jpg


According to the WHJJ website:
10:00am-1pm
The Helen Glover Show

1pm-3pm
The Howie Barte Show <P ID="signature">______________
I am the REAL raccoonradio (2 c's). Accept
no substitutes!</P>
 
> Air America put an ad on a radio trade website talking about
> the great ratings Al Franken was getting in Providence,
> RI--3 times as high as before.
>
> Guess what: he is no longer on that station (WHJJ). They
> just dropped him because of LOW RATINGS (and did the same to
> Jerry Springer).
>
>
>
> According to the WHJJ website:
> 10:00am-1pm
> The Helen Glover Show
>
> 1pm-3pm
> The Howie Barte Show
>

Interesting.

Either AAR is fibbing (possible), or WHJJ made the move before the book came out (equally possible). If B, dumb move in retrospect, but many stations have done such things (dump a host--or format--before a really good book).
 
Twisted Facts

On what website did this ad appear (and when)?

The ad mentions adults 25 to 54 up 325%. The only numbers Arbitron makes public are 12+ Average Quarter Hour Share numbers. The ad does not specify whether the increase is in share or cume. Since those numbers are not public in any case, you have no basis for saying the ad is a lie.

They dropped Franken and Springer "because of LOW RATINGS:" Is that your conclusion or can you site a quotation from WHJJ or Clear Channel management for this decision? Note the station was mostly local talk radio before it picked up Springer and Franken. Two of the station's three local hosts are liberal. A case can be made that the station replaced SYNDICATED TALK with LOCAL TALK.


> Air America put an ad on a radio trade website talking about
> the great ratings Al Franken was getting in Providence,
> RI--3 times as high as before.
>
> Guess what: he is no longer on that station (WHJJ). They
> just dropped him because of LOW RATINGS (and did the same to
> Jerry Springer).
>
>
 
Re: Twisted Facts

> On what website did this ad appear (and when)?
>
> The ad mentions adults 25 to 54 up 325%. The only numbers
> Arbitron makes public are 12+ Average Quarter Hour Share
> numbers. The ad does not specify whether the increase is in
> share or cume. Since those numbers are not public in any
> case, you have no basis for saying the ad is a lie.
>
> They dropped Franken and Springer "because of LOW RATINGS:"
> Is that your conclusion or can you site a quotation from
> WHJJ or Clear Channel management for this decision? Note
> the station was mostly local talk radio before it picked up
> Springer and Franken. Two of the station's three local
> hosts are liberal. A case can be made that the station
> replaced SYNDICATED TALK with LOCAL TALK.
>

widely reported in several places, WHJJ manager told Providence paper it was low ratings. Look it up.

>
> > Air America put an ad on a radio trade website talking
> about
> > the great ratings Al Franken was getting in Providence,
> > RI--3 times as high as before.
> >
> > Guess what: he is no longer on that station (WHJJ). They
> > just dropped him because of LOW RATINGS (and did the same
> to
> > Jerry Springer).
> >
> >
>
 
> > Air America put an ad on a radio trade website talking
> about
> > the great ratings Al Franken was getting in Providence,
> > RI--3 times as high as before.
> >
> > Guess what: he is no longer on that station (WHJJ). They
> > just dropped him because of LOW RATINGS (and did the same
> to
> > Jerry Springer).
> >
> >
> >
> > According to the WHJJ website:
> > 10:00am-1pm
> > The Helen Glover Show
> >
> > 1pm-3pm
> > The Howie Barte Show
> >
>
> Interesting.
>
> Either AAR is fibbing (possible), or WHJJ made the move
> before the book came out (equally possible). If B, dumb
> move in retrospect, but many stations have done such things
> (dump a host--or format--before a really good book).
>

Maybe the point of the ad is "Hey, all you other Providence stations, pick up Al and Jerry before someone else does! Look how they did as filler on a station that was eventually going local anyway!"

Anyway, percentages don't mean much. 0.1 is infinity% higher than 0.0. :)
 
Re: Twisted Facts

The site was Radio Equalizer blog (on Oct. 6) and the ad came from
Inside Radio.
WHJJ's PD said "basically the Air America experiment is over", and that AAR
did not live up to expectations, so Glover replaced Springer. The PD
added that the Franken slot would soon be changing as well. It now has.
They still run Randi Rhodes, but also Imus and local talker
Arlene Violet. (In fact they're local from 10 am to 6 pm)

"Without noting the show's already been cancelled there, it brags about supposed ratings growth at Providence's WHJJ-AM. As previously reported here, station management indicated to the media that Air America was a disaster in Rhode Island."--Radio Eq.

> widely reported in several places, WHJJ manager told
> Providence paper it was low ratings. Look it up.
 
I'm surprised WHJJ doesn't pick up Sean Hannity, who is the second highest
rated talker in the nation. Do they want to throw on liberal hosts or
would they prefer to make money with conservative ones? I haven't
heard Glover or Barte so I don't know where they stand idealogically
(have heard Glover is to the right, though)

Unless WPRO is online to pick up Hannity. He can be heard via WTKK
in Boston though.

Admirable that they're doing local content though if they need a syndie
host or two, Hannity and a couple others not heard in RI are possibilities.

A 325 per cent increase--so they went from 0.100 to 0.325? :)
 
Re: Twisted Facts

Interesting-Darryl Parks, VP Ops of CC Cincinnati who also works with other CC properties, and does a weekend talk show on WLW, mentioned on his show that randi Rhodes wasn't long for the Providence station..especially after her producer caaled parks a liar over the WCKY transmitter fire situation. You might think twice before p**ing off the guy who can remove you pretty instantaneously.
 
Re: Twisted Facts

> The site was Radio Equalizer blog (on Oct. 6) and the ad
> came from Inside Radio.

Of course it did. Here we go again - people confusing the highly obsessed and unemployed Radio Unequalizer with actual fact-based reporting. When it comes to Brian Baloney and AAR, lying has a case for a restraining order.

> WHJJ's PD said "basically the Air America experiment is
> over", and that AAR
> did not live up to expectations, so Glover replaced
> Springer. The PD
> added that the Franken slot would soon be changing as well.
> It now has.
> They still run Randi Rhodes, but also Imus and local talker
> Arlene Violet. (In fact they're local from 10 am to 6 pm)

OK, so the experiment is not actually over if Rhodes is still on the lineup. But that doesn't make AAR's ad copy false either. Station execs can change lineup for whatever reason they want. If a station slightly increases ratings, that doesn't mean it can't still drop a format.

But that isn't what readers to the Unequalizer got. Instead, readers are told, "As previously reported here, station management indicated to the media that Air America was a disaster in Rhode Island." Oh really? Show me where anyone in the business down there called the format a disaster in RI other than this nobody? Embellishment is the only thing consistent about his blog rantings.

In another break from reality, the Unequalizer tells us that the Rhodes vs. Parshall debate on C-SPAN had Randi Rhodes doing a Courtney Love impersonation and, my favorite, attacking Rhodes for guessing at her audience numbers which Baloney dismissed with his super duper secret ratings counting formula while at the same time telling us that Parshall's claim sounds "about right" based on random assumptions of listeners to Salem Witch Trial Network stations with no numbers at all. If a Salem station had no listeners in a forest, would it make a sound? In this guy's world, it would and would also be number one.

Pointedly missing from that particular article was the glaring fact break over Parshall flubbing the Sensenbrenner question and the labor law override the Administration managed post-Katrina. Imagine that.

Your entire argument gets summary judgment and dismissal when you rely on fictional news sources to back it up.
 
IT'S ALL ABOUT LOCAL TALK RADIO

Radio Equalizer is a political blog published by a conservative former talk show host - not an industry trade publication. As such it publishes opinions, not news.

If you had read the Providence Journal articles, you would have seen that WHJJ replaced SYNDICATED progressive talk programming with LOCAL progressive talk programming. That WHJJ had been local before AAR (when a popular host left) and their competition remained local. That Providence is a market in which talk radio remains a local medium.

2/20/2005
<blockquote>WPRO program director David Berenstein said,
"I don't see the relevance of Air America for the people of Rhode Island.
"Rhode Island radio listeners want to hear -- and speak -- about local issues.
"I can get national news from a lot of different places. What I can't get is a discussion of the possibility of casinos coming to Rhode Island.
"When you run syndicated shows against local, you're crazy. Local is what makes talk radio work."
WPRO had local talk programming against WHJJ. </blockquote>
2/23/05
<blockquote>Local liberal gets Franken's spot on HJJ

It's goodbye Al Franken, hello Howie Barte on WHJJ-AM.

Who?

Barte, a retired air traffic controller living in Burrillville, takes over the 1 to 3 p.m. shift on WHJJ (920 AM), the slot previously occupied by syndicated host Al Franken.

He'll start Monday.

Barte, 57, said he owes his radio job to long-time WHJJ host Arlene Violet. He started on Violet's "Wednesday night fights" segment, a debate between a liberal and a conservative. Barte was the liberal.

Then he started substituting for Violet when she went on vacations.

When WHJJ decided to drop syndicated programming from Air America and concentrate on local talk hosts, Barte was chosen for the early-afternoon slot, which leads into Violet's 3 p.m. show.

"He's a guy who gets talk radio," said WHJJ program director Bill George. "He's a great communicator, he understands southern New England, he's got a great sense of humor."</blockquote>
2/10/2005
<blockquote>Bill George, program director for WHJJ, said the Air America experiment is essentially over.

"We tried to do something big and different," he said. "Needless to say, we were not pleased with the results . . . we are now committed to live and local talk."</blockquote>
Notice: George did not mention RATINGS (not here and not anywhere in any of the Providence Journal Articles about WHJJ and AAR).

> The site was Radio Equalizer blog (on Oct. 6) and the ad
> came from
> Inside Radio.
> WHJJ's PD said "basically the Air America experiment is
> over", and that AAR
> did not live up to expectations, so Glover replaced
> Springer. The PD
> added that the Franken slot would soon be changing as well.
> It now has.
> They still run Randi Rhodes, but also Imus and local talker
> Arlene Violet. (In fact they're local from 10 am to 6 pm)
>
> "Without noting the show's already been cancelled there, it
> brags about supposed ratings growth at Providence's WHJJ-AM.
> As previously reported here, station management indicated to
> the media that Air America was a disaster in Rhode
> Island."--Radio Eq.
>
> > widely reported in several places, WHJJ manager told
> > Providence paper it was low ratings. Look it up.
>
 
Not correct

> If you had read the Providence Journal articles, you would
> have seen that WHJJ replaced SYNDICATED progressive talk
> programming with LOCAL progressive talk programming. That
> WHJJ had been local before AAR (when a popular host left)
> and their competition remained local. That Providence is a
> market in which talk radio remains a local medium.
>
Helen Glover (other replacement) is conservative...

you leave out where WHJJ pd talks about Air America failing in the market.
 
> I'm surprised WHJJ doesn't pick up Sean Hannity, who is the
> second highest
> rated talker in the nation. Do they want to throw on liberal
> hosts or
> would they prefer to make money with conservative ones? I
> haven't
> heard Glover or Barte so I don't know where they stand
> idealogically
> (have heard Glover is to the right, though)

Barte's apparently an old-school union liberal.

And WHJJ is still an AAR affiliate (they carry Rhodes and Malloy), so picking up Hannity would seem loopy. Clear Channel must be content with running the station as a throwback to the pre-syndication days.


>
> Unless WPRO is online to pick up Hannity. He can be heard
> via WTKK
> in Boston though.
>
> Admirable that they're doing local content though if they
> need a syndie
> host or two, Hannity and a couple others not heard in RI are
> possibilities.
>
> A 325 per cent increase--so they went from 0.100 to 0.325?
> :)
>
About that. :)
 
Re: IT'S ALL ABOUT LOCAL TALK RADIO

> Radio Equalizer is a political blog published by a
> conservative former talk show host - not an industry trade
> publication. As such it publishes opinions, not news.

> "We tried to do something big and different," he said.
> "Needless to say, we were not pleased with the results . . .

Which means, not pleased with the ratings

Great that they're doing local talk, whether lib or con, but when you have
AAR saying that a show is doing well on WHJJ despite the fact that the show
_no longer airs there_, and presumably was dropped because of low ratings...
they're trying to put a shine on a sneaker here.<P ID="signature">______________
I am the REAL raccoonradio (2 c's). Accept
no substitutes!</P>
 
> Interesting.
>
> Either AAR is fibbing (possible), or WHJJ made the move
> before the book came out (equally possible). If B, dumb
> move in retrospect, but many stations have done such things
> (dump a host--or format--before a really good book).
>

Johnny, if AAR got a hold of the Arbitron book and posted the numbers, wouldnt someone say that AAR is screwing with the numbers.....that to me would not seem likely as anyone at Arbitron could put them down on that...so i doubt they are fibbing...

Now the b option makes sense that the numbers were up or whatever, but the management still decided that they wanted Local....but I still think its sad that the management there never committed to the format....

Imus to Springer to Franken to Violet to only 2 hours of randi then a crappy Geoff Charles...is not ones idea of making success in the market.

Many proposed getting rid of Imus and making a full commmitment to the format. They never did that.

For now, we still have Randi - 2 hours, Malloy, and the weekend shows Laura Flanders and Ring of Fire..so they havent completely bailed...but its very odd programming
 
Re: IT'S ALL ABOUT LOCAL TALK RADIO

It COULD mean they are not pleased with the ratings but you are drawing a conclusion not presenting facts. It could also mean they are not pleased with local sales. This station had a popular local host before AAR. Local shows TEND to do better with local advertisers. WHJJ is HISTORICALLY the number two talk station in town by a wide margin (actually they also trail a news-talk and sports-talk station from Boston). Agencies tend to concentrate their buys on the top station in the market in a given format, which makes WHJJ even more dependant on local advertising sales.

Again, you have no basis for saying WHJJ's 25 to 54 numbers did not improve with Franken. This ad appears in a trade publication. The people it is intended to reach have access to Arbitron data (agency media buyers and decision makers at potential affiliates). AAR did not run the ad to score debating points or bragging points with talk radio listeners or political junkies. Talk radio tends to skew old. Advertisers would rather reach a younger/smaller audience than a bigger/older audience. The only numbers Arbitron publishes are average figures for adults 12 and over for the entire week.

Again, three of four local hosts on this station are considered liberal or progressive. The remaining one (Helen Glover) is a local resident who refuses in interviews to be politically typed and whom the station is positioning as a "role model for middle aged women" (possibly the target audience for a late morning show). They are promoting her based on her personality and her appearance on Survivor, not her politics.

While the case can be made this is a set-back for Air America Radio, Springer and Franken (as the loss of any station would be) it is not a set-back for progressive talk radio. It is a station counter-programming syndicated conservative talk (O'Reilly and Rush) on a dominant competitor with LOCAL talk (with independent and progressive hosts).

So many political ideologues on this board (on the left AND right) are so wrapped up in AAR they can't see the forest for the trees. If stations start programming local progressive talk shows, that's good news for progressive talk (even if bad news for AAR). If stations drop an AAR program for a stronger syndicated show from another provider, that's good news for progressive talk (even if bad news for AAR). If liberals' goal is really to have liberal talk shows on the air, then whatever happens to AAR should be secondary.

It's also interesting the Clear Channel, which owns WHJJ's competitor and which owns The Rush Limbaugh Show, is not moving Rush to its own station. If these changes showed progressive talk is a failure, Clear Channel's logical move would be to put the strongest conservative host on their own station (which they have done when they acquired stations in other markets).
 
Apparently, your idea of committment to the format means taking the AAR feed 24/7. Nothing local. No other syndicated programming.



>
> Johnny, if AAR got a hold of the Arbitron book and posted
> the numbers, wouldnt someone say that AAR is screwing with
> the numbers.....that to me would not seem likely as anyone
> at Arbitron could put them down on that...so i doubt they
> are fibbing...
>
> Now the b option makes sense that the numbers were up or
> whatever, but the management still decided that they wanted
> Local....but I still think its sad that the management there
> never committed to the format....
>
> Imus to Springer to Franken to Violet to only 2 hours of
> randi then a crappy Geoff Charles...is not ones idea of
> making success in the market.
>
> Many proposed getting rid of Imus and making a full
> commmitment to the format. They never did that.
>
> For now, we still have Randi - 2 hours, Malloy, and the
> weekend shows Laura Flanders and Ring of Fire..so they
> havent completely bailed...but its very odd programming
>
 
Re: IT'S ALL ABOUT LOCAL TALK RADIO

> It's also interesting the Clear Channel, which owns WHJJ's
> competitor and which owns The Rush Limbaugh Show, is not
> moving Rush to its own station. If these changes showed
> progressive talk is a failure, Clear Channel's logical move
> would be to put the strongest conservative host on their own
> station (which they have done when they acquired stations in
> other markets).

Slight correction here: Clear Channel doesn't own WHJJ's competitor (WPRO/630), Citadel does. Clear Channel owns WHJJ itself. :D

And there must be a reason CC/Premiere keeps Rush on WPRO. For one, they don't automatically move Rush to their own station in a market. It was long assumed that they turned tech-talk KNEW/910 in the San Francisco market into a conservative talker that they'd poach Rush from ABC's KSFO/560. But long after KNEW became a talk station, Premiere renewed its Rush contract with KSFO.

-OA<P ID="signature">______________
Ohio Media Watch - <a target="_blank" href=http://ohiomedia.blogspot.com>http://ohiomedia.blogspot.com</a></P>
 
Re: IT'S ALL ABOUT LOCAL TALK RADIO

Thank you. I meant to say "owns WHJJ.

No, they don't pull Rush automatically but it does happen, most recently in Wilmington, DE (although it took Clear Channel almost a year). Various factors may be at work in such decisions. One being, several ABC-owned stations (including WABC, New York, WMAL, Washington...) clear Rush. It would not make sense for CC/Premiere Radio to p* off the ABC radio stations division.

And speaking of San Francisco: An excellent case study of a market in which LOCAL talk radio (ABC's KGO with both liberal and conservative hosts) trumps SYNDICATED talk radio (right and left).

>
> Slight correction here: Clear Channel doesn't own WHJJ's
> competitor (WPRO/630), Citadel does. Clear Channel owns
> WHJJ itself. :D
>
> And there must be a reason CC/Premiere keeps Rush on WPRO.
> For one, they don't automatically move Rush to their own
> station in a market. It was long assumed that they turned
> tech-talk KNEW/910 in the San Francisco market into a
> conservative talker that they'd poach Rush from ABC's
> KSFO/560. But long after KNEW became a talk station,
> Premiere renewed its Rush contract with KSFO.
>
> -OA
>
 
Re: IT'S ALL ABOUT LOCAL TALK RADIO

> It COULD mean they are not pleased with the ratings but you
> are drawing a conclusion not presenting facts. It could
> also mean they are not pleased with local sales.

That could be true, too--ratings aren't necessarily sales.
But while I have not seen the 25-54 ratings mentioned in the ad,
I know from the 12+ that their ratings plunged after starting AAR.
But as you say, it's the older demo that talk radio attracts so
the 12+ doesn't mean as much. Good point.

I would agree a popular local host would have higher ratings/sales

> While the case can be made this is a set-back for Air
> America Radio, Springer and Franken (as the loss of any
> station would be) it is not a set-back for progressive talk
> radio. It is a station counter-programming syndicated
> conservative talk (O'Reilly and Rush) on a dominant
> competitor with LOCAL talk (with independent and progressive
> hosts).

Yes. There's more lib talk radio than just AAR.

>
> It's also interesting the Clear Channel, which owns WHJJ's
> competitor and which owns The Rush Limbaugh Show, is not
> moving Rush to its own station. If these changes showed
> progressive talk is a failure, Clear Channel's logical move
> would be to put the strongest conservative host on their own
> station (which they have done when they acquired stations in
> other markets).

Yes, true
 
> Either AAR is fibbing (possible), or WHJJ made the move
> before the book came out (equally possible). If B, dumb
> move in retrospect, but many stations have done such things
> (dump a host--or format--before a really good book).
>
The small print in the ad says the rating period in question was W-Sp 2005.
Franken was just dumped now. So they're going by ratings 6-9 months old,
not by the most recent ratings. Kind of like people in a few months from
now saying "Boston Red Sox, World Champions!". Well, they were, last year,
but not this year. Franken may indeed have had "better" ratings but somehow
they weren't enough to keep his show on WHJJ. Or the low sales doomed him.
But those seeing the ad need to know: the station being talked about DUMPED
the show. That's how great the show was: it was cancelled.
<P ID="signature">______________
I am the REAL raccoonradio (2 c's). Accept
no substitutes!</P>
 
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