Whenever I take a "mental-health" day off, I always set aside the three hours of the "Stephanie Miller Show" on WXKS/WKOX. I also call the show, and when one does so, he or she then hears the commercial schedule for KTLK, Los Angeles, Stephanie's home-base station in that market. (If by any chance you heard that broadcast, I'm the one who commented on on the Coast Guard and the Treasury Department vis-a-vis FEMA under the Homeland Security Dept. It sounds dry, but I included sufficient wit and humor to elicit a laugh from the Divine One and her producer anyway). Previous posts have commented on the numerous and annoying PSA's on WXKS/WKOX, but KTLK had nothing but PAYING spots during th two breaks I heard. True, when it's 11:15 am here, it's 8:15 there so we're dealing with morning drive. There are rumors about Air America Radio's imminent demise, and I know Steph is on the Jones net, but if SOME stations are doing ok with advertising support airing "progressive" talk, they may wish to keep on doing so!
-
Get involved.
We want your input!
Apply for Membership and join the conversations about everything related to broadcasting.
After we receive your registration, a moderator will review it. After your registration is approved, you will be permitted to post.
If you use a disposable or false email address, your registration will be rejected.
After your membership is approved, please take a minute to tell us a little bit about yourself.
https://www.radiodiscussions.com/forums/introduce-yourself.1088/
Thanks in advance and have fun!
RadioDiscussions Administrators
You are using an out of date browser. It may not display this or other websites correctly.
You should upgrade or use an alternative browser.
You should upgrade or use an alternative browser.
My Call To Stephanie Miller
- Thread starter Shellanswerman
- Start date
> Previous posts have commented on the numerous and annoying
> PSA's on WXKS/WKOX, but KTLK had nothing but PAYING spots
> during th two breaks I heard. True, when it's 11:15 am
> here, it's 8:15 there so we're dealing with morning drive.
> There are rumors about Air America Radio's imminent demise,
> and I know Steph is on the Jones net, but if SOME stations
> are doing ok with advertising support airing "progressive"
> talk, they may wish to keep on doing so!
>
It's pretty clear that if the management of CCU's Boston cluster were willing to devote some time--ANY amount of time--to WKOXKS, the stations could do better. Whether they could make money is a different issue; but it is inconceivable that the stations couldn't attract other local sponsors besides Jimmy Tingle. Heck, this is Boston, and even if no companies believe that advertising on the progressive talk station can ever be a paying proposition, there have to be a few companies that want to get out the message to potential customers that they support the progressive causes. The concept should not be altogether foreign to a lot of Greater Boston businesses--say, the ones that underwrite on WBUR and WGBH. If I were managing WKOXKS, I'd take a couple of weeks to get the names of all underwriters on the two major local public radio stations. (No need to have somebody steal the lists of underwriters from 'BUR and 'GBH; the list could be compiled by listening carefully and taking notes.) Then I'd get the sales staff to target those accounts. But, sigh, even if you taped a week of programming from each station, that effort would take nearly two person weeks, and my guess is that, over the year that the progressive talk format has existed in Boston, CCU management hasn't devoted two person minutes to the stations.
The other aspect is, of course, the 1200 and 1430 signal deficiencies. Notwithstanding KFI, KNX, KSPN, and a bunch of other 50 kW AMs, KTLK, thanks to its directional pattern and antenna efficiency, has arguably the best AM signal in the entire, huge LA market. Other markets where progressive talk has excellent signals include Seattle, Portland OR, San Diego, Denver, and Miami. In several of those markets, the format is doing quite nicely. Even if WKOX were to somehow magically overcome the objections of the Newton aldermen, the Boston station would have no better than the fourth-best AM signal in this market. Of course, that would be a HUGE improvement over the current situation--especially at night.
> PSA's on WXKS/WKOX, but KTLK had nothing but PAYING spots
> during th two breaks I heard. True, when it's 11:15 am
> here, it's 8:15 there so we're dealing with morning drive.
> There are rumors about Air America Radio's imminent demise,
> and I know Steph is on the Jones net, but if SOME stations
> are doing ok with advertising support airing "progressive"
> talk, they may wish to keep on doing so!
>
It's pretty clear that if the management of CCU's Boston cluster were willing to devote some time--ANY amount of time--to WKOXKS, the stations could do better. Whether they could make money is a different issue; but it is inconceivable that the stations couldn't attract other local sponsors besides Jimmy Tingle. Heck, this is Boston, and even if no companies believe that advertising on the progressive talk station can ever be a paying proposition, there have to be a few companies that want to get out the message to potential customers that they support the progressive causes. The concept should not be altogether foreign to a lot of Greater Boston businesses--say, the ones that underwrite on WBUR and WGBH. If I were managing WKOXKS, I'd take a couple of weeks to get the names of all underwriters on the two major local public radio stations. (No need to have somebody steal the lists of underwriters from 'BUR and 'GBH; the list could be compiled by listening carefully and taking notes.) Then I'd get the sales staff to target those accounts. But, sigh, even if you taped a week of programming from each station, that effort would take nearly two person weeks, and my guess is that, over the year that the progressive talk format has existed in Boston, CCU management hasn't devoted two person minutes to the stations.
The other aspect is, of course, the 1200 and 1430 signal deficiencies. Notwithstanding KFI, KNX, KSPN, and a bunch of other 50 kW AMs, KTLK, thanks to its directional pattern and antenna efficiency, has arguably the best AM signal in the entire, huge LA market. Other markets where progressive talk has excellent signals include Seattle, Portland OR, San Diego, Denver, and Miami. In several of those markets, the format is doing quite nicely. Even if WKOX were to somehow magically overcome the objections of the Newton aldermen, the Boston station would have no better than the fourth-best AM signal in this market. Of course, that would be a HUGE improvement over the current situation--especially at night.
M
MrAl
Guest
the signal has been bad lately... with the shorter days, especially... I can't get it in clearly until after 7 AM now and it starts to fade about 5:30...
Steph's show is hit and miss at times but I still listen.... there are some entertaining bits.
Steph's show is hit and miss at times but I still listen.... there are some entertaining bits.
> the signal has been bad lately... with the shorter days,
> especially... I can't get it in clearly until after 7 AM now
> and it starts to fade about 5:30...
>
> Steph's show is hit and miss at times but I still listen....
> there are some entertaining bits.
>
WKOX/WXKS also doesn't have the best lineup of progressive hosts, as well. On the polls on the WKOX site, listeners enjoy Stephanie Miller and Randi Rhodes, but tend to hate Ed Schultz and Jerry Springer. So why is the popular Randi Rhodes on tape-delay?
If they would can Springer and Schultz, get Randi Rhodes on live, and take firebrand Mike Malloy at nights, then they'd be making some big improvements.
I'm still sticking with the crappy signals as the reason for the awful ratings, along with the bad lineup. Two of the most liberal markets, Boston and Chicago, have AAR affiliates running all satellite programming in the below-1 share range due to awful signals; despite the presence of many potential listeners.
If the WKOX upgrade is on hold, any chance CC could get 1060 away from the new owner (Langer)? It would be fodder for conservative blogs, but would really help the station to survive in Greater Boston. The Air America trimulcast? WKOBIXKS anyone?
> especially... I can't get it in clearly until after 7 AM now
> and it starts to fade about 5:30...
>
> Steph's show is hit and miss at times but I still listen....
> there are some entertaining bits.
>
WKOX/WXKS also doesn't have the best lineup of progressive hosts, as well. On the polls on the WKOX site, listeners enjoy Stephanie Miller and Randi Rhodes, but tend to hate Ed Schultz and Jerry Springer. So why is the popular Randi Rhodes on tape-delay?
If they would can Springer and Schultz, get Randi Rhodes on live, and take firebrand Mike Malloy at nights, then they'd be making some big improvements.
I'm still sticking with the crappy signals as the reason for the awful ratings, along with the bad lineup. Two of the most liberal markets, Boston and Chicago, have AAR affiliates running all satellite programming in the below-1 share range due to awful signals; despite the presence of many potential listeners.
If the WKOX upgrade is on hold, any chance CC could get 1060 away from the new owner (Langer)? It would be fodder for conservative blogs, but would really help the station to survive in Greater Boston. The Air America trimulcast? WKOBIXKS anyone?
- Status
- This thread has been closed due to inactivity. You can create a new thread to discuss this topic.