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Progressive talk appears to be gone from WWZN

D

DanStrassberg

Last night (Wednesday, 2/4/2009) at around 8:10PM, WWZN was carrying Sporting News Radio, so Peter B Collins' absence could NOT be explained by a pre-emption for play-by-play (as had been the case quite frequently in prior weeks). This morning at ~6:35AM, WWZN was again carrying Sporting News Radio. No Jeff Santos.

I had predicted that Progressive talk would not last three months on WWZN. If the programming is really gone, as it appears to be, Santos may have lasted a few weeks more than three months (I don't recall when he started), but Collins didn't last that long.
 
Local religious broadcaster Pastor Bruce Wall, who was displaced from WWZN when they started the progressive talk phase, will be back.

In a press release:
"We are going to take the station all night Monday through Friday from 12:00 Midnight to 6:00 AM.
I will also broadcast on WWZN 1510 AM radio on Sundays at 7:00 to 7:30 AM and Monday through Friday 5:00 AM to 6:00 AM."

Seems they have flipped back....
 
Well, the progtalk shows were not during those hours--they were 6-9 am and 6-9 pm (I think I briefly tuned
to WWZN last night just after midnight and it sounded like Brother Stair). Is it possible the money ran out?
The syndie show due to appear in Jan. never showed up.
Maybe Boston would be better off with one solid "alternative to WEEI" which would have local talk (at least
one show a day!) and cherry pick from ESPN and Sporting News shows; the other signal could be progtalk,
if a station owner wants to gamble their money on it (or have them pay-to-play, but the WWZN model
may not quite have worked out...?)

So far no word on what happened--if indeed it is gone--on the site put up apparently by Santos and
company:
http://revolutionboston.com/
 
Not that stations are always prompt in updating their sites, but Santos and Collins are still listed on
the WWZN sched...for now
http://www.1510thezone.com/schedule/

Maybe the board op screwed up last night and Santos couldn't make it due to a cold or a dead battery
in his car, or maybe it is indeed gone...waiting for word...
 
If you saw the headline here on Radio-Info, a Senator from Mich. says there could well be hearings into
the "imbalance" of talk radio...fairness doctrine here we come. And stations may be forced to carry
shows from diff. viewpoints (which also means libtalk stations would have to carry Hannity or Beck,
I guess...?) Or station owners could just decide not to run political talk at all. True Oldies 680, anyone?
 
raccoonradio said:
If you saw the headline here on Radio-Info, a Senator from Mich. says there could well be hearings into
the "imbalance" of talk radio...fairness doctrine here we come.
Click to expand...

Is there some reason that you are so totally paranoid about this? The Fairness Doctrine just ain't gonna return. PERIOD--probably ever!
 
raccoonradio said:
Tell that to the Senator who wants to hold hearings on "imbalance".
Click to expand...
He has a right to hold hearings. Don't confuse hearings with legislation being written, passed by both the Senate and the House, and signed into law. THAT WILL NOT HAPPEN. PERIOD!
 
raccoonradio said:
Tell that to the Senator who wants to hold hearings on "imbalance".
Click to expand...

He/she/it/they can hold all the hearings they want to, but this is a perfect example of "be careful what you wish for." A re-created Fairness Doctrine would affect Democrats just as much as it would Republicans.

However, it's all academic. With the leaders of both parties, the Congressional leadership and the President all on record against its return, the FD is dead in the water.
 
btw according to a post on Free Republic, Sen. Stabenow's husband is...a bigwig with Air America.
Ding! Ding! Ding! We have a winner in the "ulterior motive" sweepstakes! :)\

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2179071/posts

>>Sen. Debbie Stabenow's husband is Thomas Athans. Thomas Athans is the Executive Vice President of Air America radio. press release below
http://airamerica.com/node/1258 Air America radio stands to gain SIGNIFICANTLY from any bills passed on these talks of "balance"
 
Re: Santos, and I guess Collins: Robin Bergman's post on the Save Prog Radio Boston yahoo group says there are some negotation
"glitches which should be resolved shortly"
 
raccoonradio said:
Re: Santos, and I guess Collins: Robin Bergman's post on the Save Prog Radio Boston yahoo group says there are some negotation
"glitches which should be resolved shortly"
Click to expand...
Nevertheless, I think it would be prudent not to hold your breath--unless maybe your friends have told you how becoming you look with a blue complection. This probably goes right to the heart of what I have said for a long time: the only workable business model for Progressive talk is a combination of paid advertising AND NPR-style listener support. As far as I know, of all of the distributors of Progressive talk content, only Nova-M has tried this. I don't understand why others aren't also doing it.
 
raccoonradio said:
Re: Santos, and I guess Collins: Robin Bergman's post on the Save Prog Radio Boston yahoo group says there are some negotation
"glitches which should be resolved shortly"
Click to expand...

As of Monday 2/9/2009 at 7:20AM, either negoriations are ongoing or have fallen through. No Santos; Sporting News Radio is on AND a spot aired encouraging would-be sports-talkers to buy time on the station. That spot could, of course, be a (weak) negotiating ploy by station management or it could be a sign that negotiations have ended. Too early to say that Progressive talk won't return to 1510, but the chances appear to decrease with each passing day. No big surprise, I guess.
 
the "Fairness Doctrine"

The Fairness Doctrine is similar to Rent Control:
both were well-intentioned, but were ineffective as laws.
I doubt it is coming back - don't hold your breath...
 
raccoonradio said:
btw according to a post on Free Republic, Sen. Stabenow's husband is...a bigwig with Air America.
Ding! Ding! Ding! We have a winner in the "ulterior motive" sweepstakes! :)\

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2179071/posts

>>Sen. Debbie Stabenow's husband is Thomas Athans. Thomas Athans is the Executive Vice President of Air America radio. press release below
http://airamerica.com/node/1258 Air America radio stands to gain SIGNIFICANTLY from any bills passed on these talks of "balance"
Click to expand...

Athans left Air America years ago.
 
DanStrassberg said:
As of Monday 2/9/2009 at 7:20AM, either negoriations are ongoing or have fallen through. No Santos; Sporting News Radio is on AND a spot aired encouraging would-be sports-talkers to buy time on the station. That spot could, of course, be a (weak) negotiating ploy by station management or it could be a sign that negotiations have ended. Too early to say that Progressive talk won't return to 1510, but the chances appear to decrease with each passing day. No big surprise, I guess.
Click to expand...

Thursday 2/12/09: Santos was again not back this AM. Yesterday, I e-mailed Robin Bergman, the woman who founded the Save <whatever> Group, asking if she had any word that she could share on the negotiations OR even if she could report that there was no news that she could pass along. No response. The group's Yahoo Groups Web page contains no messages dated after 2/5 on the disappearance of the programming. I strongly suspect that Alan Frankel, who, last I knew, moderated the group's Yahoo list and was reportedly a major player in finding a station that would carry Santos's program, is killing attempted postings related to the apparent collapse of the deal with WWZN. Frankel is a fanatic about postings that he feels reflect badly on him or on the programming. Somehow, that attitude seems to me to make a mockery of the whole spirit of trying to bring back Progressive talk. But then, what do I know?
 
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