Yes, the hard part being getting people to willingly subject themselves to left-wing indoctrination on a network devoted exclusively to left-wing indoctrination. Remember this one: "These people just don't understand, we put this (Air America) network together to give THEM an alternative for THEIR own good, but they just don't seem to want to venture from their established choices. Our ratings really are the fault of the listeners".
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Opposition to Univision sale
- Thread starter ercjncpr
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The hard part is getting a bunch of people who all have their own ideas to come together, compromise, and agree. That's something we find it hard in this country to do.
I've always wondered how dense a screen has to be for the Faraday effect to become full. I know some people use copper screen that has the density of a Florida-proof screen door or window and that seems to work.
At WQII /WZNT in San Juan we sheeted the walls, floor and ceiling with spot welded galvanized air conditioner sheeting which was nailed with air hammers into the reinforced concrete building on the inside and then spot welded. The FM was about 150 feet above us, and could not be heard inside the shielded area.
Yes.
The two entrepreneurs are not "native Spanish speakers" as they are both later generation... one is 4th on one side and 5th on the other. The other is apparently 3rd generation. Listeners to Spanish language talk radio are predominantly first generation, with very little usage by second generation and none by the third.
The group is financed by a Soros venture capital fund, and has an agenda that is purely socio-politiical.
The interests of first generation Hispanics are monstrously different from those who are born here. A lot has to do with adaptation, not "activation". The objectives of the Soros guided groups are not even remotely synchronized with this.
And the talent, with me saying the obvious, has to be entertaining. And there has to be listener participation to encourage a sense of community belonging. This is called "tribuna" in Spanish, meaning an open forum where ideas are presented and the listeners are allowed to give opinions and to participate. Almost no shows today today do that any more (with the excuse of how bad cell phones sound on the air, I guess).
In nearly every case, the signals are highly deficient for general market coverage. Some, like Chicago and Houston, barely cover the HDHA areas and are dreadful for total market. KTNQ and WADO cover the highly Hispanic areas decently, but not much else. The Miami stations are pretty much Dade County only, and Dade is around 70% Hispanic now. The San Antonio signal has been vastly outgrown by the market (and only a small percentage of Hispanics in San Antonio are Spanish dominant today) . The Vegas signal is not adequate.
That leaves KGBT as the only decent AM signal of the batch that could be done in either English or Spanish.
Let's say they close in October. They have committed to carry Univision programming managed by Univision for the first year. So we are nearly 18 months from knowing what the long-range plan is.
And they have to eventually deal with the fact that there is no commonality between the markets.
LRGV, Fresno and San Antonio are highly Hispanic, but relatively few Hispanics speak Spanish.
Miami and New York are totally different. One is Cuban with Colombians and Venezuelans, the other is Dominicans. Very, very different.
Vegas and Houston and Dallas and Chicago and LA are mostly first generation Mexicans. Different from the highly assimilated markets and a world away from Miami or New York. You and I have more in common with Estonians than Dominicans have with Mexicans.
What I do not see among the list of management and advisors is anyone at all with successful radio programming and management experience.
You just said it all.
Air America was set up with a political goal, not a traditional radio goal of "if you entertain them, they will come".
Management was not bound by having held successful radio careers. The talent, with perhaps one exception (Randi), did not know how to do varied, fun, interesting and entertaining shows; they were more intense than an old fashioned political rally or a strike-vote union meeting.
The first 15 minutes of a show were interesting. But then, day after day, the hosts beat dead horses to a pulp with evangelistic fervor and campaign trail intensity. Listeners defected... sooner in moderate markets, after a year or so in Portland and Seattle.
They did just what you describe... made an ideology into a format.
And people with strong beliefs in their own moral superiority are like weekend hikers who challenge Mt. Everest without a Sherpa guide.
Me either. That's why I said this is where the hard part begins. The investors have to get out of the way and let the programmers do their jobs. Radio doesn't work when you have a Jerry Jones type on the sideline second guessing every move.
And here is an ultra-right-wing reaction to the sale:
Besides the excessive vitriolic attacks and anything progressive (with a lower-case "p"), they do make the point that Univision itself failed with a national radio network in Spanish. But it does point out that this is a Soros initiative aimed to be disruptive. It's likely that the deal will be worth more politically because of the media controversies it will ignite than because of any listeners who become more Progressive through hearing shows on a bunch of AM radio stations.
Besides the excessive vitriolic attacks and anything progressive (with a lower-case "p"), they do make the point that Univision itself failed with a national radio network in Spanish. But it does point out that this is a Soros initiative aimed to be disruptive. It's likely that the deal will be worth more politically because of the media controversies it will ignite than because of any listeners who become more Progressive through hearing shows on a bunch of AM radio stations.
It won't ignite ANY controversies if no one listens or cares. The job of the programmers is to get people to listen.
People don't "become more progressive" by listening to the radio. That's like saying people become gay by watching TV shows with gay characters. This "grooming" mythology promoted by evangelicals. It doesn't work that way.
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There have been three efforts outside of Univision to do national Spanish language talk networks and all have failed. The only way to do Spanish language talk is to have regional or local versions with local talent that is first generation and entertaining first.
I mean controversies and commentary in the NYT and Washington Post and the HuffPost and the like, as nobody will listen to the radio stations. But what they do can be a catalyst for greater attention. Soros has used this technique well in the past.
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How does any of that make any difference to an audience of Spanish speakers who don't spend any time in that media environment? If a tree falls in an empty forest, does it make a sound?
What is done and said on the min-network will be propelled by quotes and releases to mainstream media. Think of the network as a launching pad which by itself does nothing but without which a space shot into even another galaxy could not happen.
Soros has used catalysts in the past to trigger investment opportunities, such as Thailand and England currency "bets" during one of which he made $1 billion overnight. That could be said to be his greatest skill.
But it will have no effect. It's like Tucker Carlson. People who believe him buy everything he says. He has no new converts. It just feeds the same beast. They didn't need to spend $60 million if all they wants to do is put out press releases.
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But the more extreme or outrageous things Carlson does get broad coverage, right down to the House and Senate floors. I think Soros is the world´s greatest expert in perceiving very far reaching domino effects.
I think you're way overstating his role in this. At the end of the day, these radio stations need to retain their audience and build on them for this to succeed. This not like saying the election was stolen and everyone agrees.
You can't overstate the role of a catalyst.
Are you saying Hispanics are like dominos, and they'll fall for any line of crap fed to them? Can I quote you on that?
Actually Tucker has more self-identified Democratic viewers than MSNBC and CNN combined. Probably not the best example for the point you were trying to make.
No, I am saying that Soros creates situations where, due to his strategic involvement, bigger things happen as a result.
Soros looks for situations where a small action will yield the biggest results. Where the action is political, geopolitical, economic or social, he can apply the same techniques where a small situation or event triggers larger responses.
Sometimes these situations just happen...such as the George Floyd police-caused death. Or they are triggered such as Soros' buy / sell strategy with the Thai currency. In this case, I think he sees the opportunity to create a platform for social issues involving Hispanics which he feels need to be more broadly recognized.
There are many Hispanics who feel more and more marginalized by the attention over the last two years to Black issues. I've seen calculations on how there is a marked decrease in Hispanic lead and secondary roles in movies and TV scripted shows since then, and I hear lots of commentary of "what about us". It's likely Soros can see this as an opportunity to reunite Hispanics with progressive politics where attrition to the right is pronounced.
In that case, Soros is using his known techniques to make real Hispanic issues more visible to the rest of the population.
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