Progressive Talk Dream Team

[mwebster]

OK. You are the program director of a progressive talk station in your home market. (Maybe you are also the PD of a co-owned conservative talk station, too.) Your mission (should you decide to accept it) is to pick the best mix of progressive talk programs/hosts for your market. Feel free to add local programming (describe), delayed national programs, play by play sports (which), or any off-format shows on the weekend which you think will strengthen the station's appeal to your core target audience. Please say for which market you are programming. Don't include programming not currently available (in your market or in national syndication).

Here's the menu:

MORNING DRIVE
Rachel Maddow (AAR)
Morning Sedition (AAR)
Bill Press
Doug Stephan
Imus in the Morning (WW1)

MID-MORNING
Jerry Springer (AAR)
Stephanie Miller (DR)

MIDDAY
Al Franken (AAR)
Thom Hartmann (AAR)

PM DRIVE
Randi Rhodes (AAR)
Ed Schultz (DR)

EVENING
Majority Report (AAR)
Phil Hendrie (Premiere)
Mike Malloy (AAR)
Lionel (WOR)

 

[kdavies5]

> MORNING DRIVE

> Morning Sedition (AAR)

>
> MID-MORNING

> Stephanie Miller (DR)

> MIDDAY

> Thom Hartmann (AAR)

> PM DRIVE
> Randi Rhodes (AAR)

> EVENING

> Mike Malloy (AAR)

just my personal prerogative
Columbus (WTPG) needs to get rid of the baseball, drop franken for Hartmann, carry Randi full and Malloy full. one step at a time I suppose since CC Columbus got a new PD (who is on air mid days for the country station) fun things could happen.

 

[clichemoth]

> OK. You are the program director of a progressive talk
> station in your home market. (Maybe you are also the PD of
> a co-owned conservative talk station, too.) Your mission
> (should you decide to accept it) is to pick the best mix of
> progressive talk programs/hosts for your market. Feel free
> to add local programming (describe), delayed national
> programs, play by play sports (which), or any off-format
> shows on the weekend which you think will strengthen the
> station's appeal to your core target audience. Please say
> for which market you are programming. Don't include
> programming not currently available (in your market or in
> national syndication).
>
> Here's the menu:
>
> MORNING DRIVE
> Rachel Maddow (AAR)
> Morning Sedition (AAR)
> Bill Press
> Doug Stephan
> Imus in the Morning (WW1)
>
> MID-MORNING
> Jerry Springer (AAR)
> Stephanie Miller (DR)
>
> MIDDAY
> Al Franken (AAR)
> Thom Hartmann (AAR)
>
> PM DRIVE
> Randi Rhodes (AAR)
> Ed Schultz (DR)
>
> EVENING
> Majority Report (AAR)
> Phil Hendrie (Premiere)
> Mike Malloy (AAR)
> Lionel (WOR)
>

The market in question would be Birmingham (most likely some fringe graveyard station in the boondocks, because nobody would ever have the stones to put it on a good signal.)

Morning Drive: Local, most likely geared to the African-American segment of the audience. I can think of several current and former area politicians who could probably do a damn fine job.
Mid-Morning: Springer, because he has name value, although Miller has a better show.
Midday: Hartmann, just much better radio and was on in the area in the past when 810 in Jacksonville was owned by ie America.
PM Drive: I like both shows. The one I didn't air live would be tape-delayed in overnights. I'll say Schultz would be live because he's the more red-state friendly of the two.
Then Hendrie live (although I'm sure everyone would continue to listen to him on WDAK instead, and he'd be pre-empted for baseball* a lot anyway) into Malloy, who was also on here previously.

*Namely, the White Sox, the parent organization of the Birmingham Barons. They get more coverage around here than any MLB team other than the Braves due to those local ties and might do well.

Not sure about weekends. Probably some AAR stuff, Peter Werbe's Sunday night show if it's syndicated outside Detroit, some local public affairs stuff, and the usual home improvement shows and junk. Does anyone listen to a talker on the weekends unless it's for sports anyway?

 

[radiophile]

Philadelphia (let's forget for a moment that one station clears just two AAR shows)
> MORNING DRIVE

> Bill Press

>
> MID-MORNING

> Stephanie Miller (DR)
>
> MIDDAY
> Al Franken (AAR)

>
> PM DRIVE

> Ed Schultz (DR)
>
> EVENING
Two hours of > Randi Rhodes 6-8pm
Two hours of > Majority Report (AAR) 8-10 pm

> Lionel (WOR)10p-1am
Overnights: Thom Hartman and an unaired hour of Randi.

 

[gr8oldies]

Hard to say, but none of the syndicated morning options are that good. I'd really look for a local show. Stephanie Miller in middays, I'd probably keep Franken for marquee value..can't comment on Hartmann, haven't heard him. I'd do Shultz in PM Drive and Rhodes evenings..probably Malloy. Wekends..may end up doing some service shows. (Clark Howard..or maybe Bob Brinker since he's supposed to be a liberal now).<P ID="signature">______________
Greetings from Ohio-where the governor wants everyone to know he's sorry.</P>

 

[FMRadio1]

The Boston stations have a decent lineup..Maddow, Morning Sedition, Miller, Franken, Schultz, Rhodes (all 4 hours on tape delay) then Springer on tape delay late nights. I would try to put a local morning show on if possible. Morning Sedition isn't that bad, it's ok as an interim show during a start up phase, but they're too New York centered to be a long term solution. I would also dump Springer and pick up Malloy live. I've heard Hartman's show online before and he seems solid. If Franken was ever to leave to run for public office as has been rumored, I'd have no problem plugging Hartmann into his slot, but I would explore local options first.

Mike Thomas

> Hard to say, but none of the syndicated morning options are
> that good. I'd really look for a local show. Stephanie
> Miller in middays, I'd probably keep Franken for marquee
> value..can't comment on Hartmann, haven't heard him. I'd do
> Shultz in PM Drive and Rhodes evenings..probably Malloy.
> Wekends..may end up doing some service shows. (Clark
> Howard..or maybe Bob Brinker since he's supposed to be a
> liberal now).
>

 

[Nate Wesley]

> OK. You are the program director of a progressive talk
> station in your home market. (Maybe you are also the PD of
> a co-owned conservative talk station, too.) Your mission
> (should you decide to accept it) is to pick the best mix of
> progressive talk programs/hosts for your market. Feel free
> to add local programming (describe), delayed national
> programs, play by play sports (which), or any off-format
> shows on the weekend which you think will strengthen the
> station's appeal to your core target audience. Please say
> for which market you are programming. Don't include
> programming not currently available (in your market or in
> national syndication).

Although the closest market to me is Mobile, allow me the liberty to pick Birmingham as my 'home' market (where I plan to return for school and work in 2006). Allow me to pick a station too; the current WZZK 1320 which a classic country format that draws flies. It's a 5kw daytimer (111 watts at night), but I'll still give it a go.

Mornings: I'm going to try my damnest to get a good local show from 6-9am. If I can't, I'm willing to give Morning Sedition a fair shot 5-8 AM, then air "Rachael Maddow" tape-delayed until 9.

Mid Mornings: I haven't heard either Stephanie Miller nor Jerry Springer, but I'll pick Springer, 9-11 AM.

Midday: Thom Hartmann, hands down. Franken's show isn't as bad as some say, but Hartmann's show is just that much better IMO. I might experiment with Hartmann 11AM-1PM, followed by the last hour of Franken until 2pm.

PM Drive: I'm tempted to pipe in "The 2 Live Stews" from Atlanta's WQXI '790 The Zone'. But the thread author says that's a no-no, since they aren't actually syndicated. Damn. I'll clear Ed Schultz 2-5pm, chocked full of traffic updates and news.

I'd like to do something locally 5-6pm, but I might just go with the last hour of Randi Rhodes.

Evening: What, no love for Bev Smith? I'm plugging her show in from 6-9pm CT (I think that what time she's on nationally).

Late Evening: Mike freakin' Malloy, 9pm to midnight. Call him crazy, but don't call him boring.

I'd pimp inner-city high school football on Friday nights, despite the night signal. Weekends, I'll go with a mix of local shows and off-da-bird programming from AAR and Sporting News Radio--national news provided by CBS Radio News.

<P ID="signature">______________
"Not fixing [New Orleans'] levees before Katrina struck will now cost us untold billions. Not resolving the nation's issues of race and class has and will cost us so much more."
--Wynton Marsalis
</P>

 

[mwebster]

Since you all have gotten this off to such a good start, I'll put my oar in:

MORNING DRIVE
Local (I have somebody in mind. In the market; not currently working.

MIDMORNING
Jerry, Jerry! (If only he'd drop the TV gig.)

MIDDAY
Thom Hartmann (Much strong show than Franken; even if Franken were not making noises about leaving.)

AFTERNOON DRIVE
Ed Schultz

EVENING
Democracy Now (Pacifica) (Sorry, not on my original menu. Thought of it later.)
Phil Hendrie

LATE NIGHT/OVERNIGHT AND WEEKENDS
"Progressive Oldies" Mostly 60's and 70's. Skewed toward hippie freak, anti-war demonstrator music. Folk rock, folk, progressive rock (stuff not often on Oldies playlists). Music to do a joint by. If I can afford it, somebody like Dick Summer via voice tracking.

PLUS
Some local college sports

 

[clichemoth]

> > OK. You are the program director of a progressive talk
> > station in your home market. (Maybe you are also the PD
> of
> > a co-owned conservative talk station, too.) Your mission
> > (should you decide to accept it) is to pick the best mix
> of
> > progressive talk programs/hosts for your market. Feel
> free
> > to add local programming (describe), delayed national
> > programs, play by play sports (which), or any off-format
> > shows on the weekend which you think will strengthen the
> > station's appeal to your core target audience. Please say
>
> > for which market you are programming. Don't include
> > programming not currently available (in your market or in
> > national syndication).
>
> Although the closest market to me is Mobile, allow me the
> liberty to pick Birmingham as my 'home' market (where I plan
> to return for school and work in 2006). Allow me to pick a
> station too; the current WZZK 1320 which a classic country
> format that draws flies. It's a 5kw daytimer (111 watts at
> night), but I'll still give it a go.

Heh. I was thinking either La Mexicana 1450 or New Country 97.3, Cox's other two wastes of bandwidth.

>
> Mornings: I'm going to try my damnest to get a good local
> show from 6-9am. If I can't, I'm willing to give Morning
> Sedition a fair shot 5-8 AM, then air "Rachael Maddow"
> tape-delayed until 9.
>
> Mid Mornings: I haven't heard either Stephanie Miller nor
> Jerry Springer, but I'll pick Springer, 9-11 AM.
>
> Midday: Thom Hartmann, hands down. Franken's show isn't as
> bad as some say, but Hartmann's show is just that much
> better IMO. I might experiment with Hartmann 11AM-1PM,
> followed by the last hour of Franken until 2pm.
>
> PM Drive: I'm tempted to pipe in "The 2 Live Stews" from
> Atlanta's WQXI '790 The Zone'. But the thread author says
> that's a no-no, since they aren't actually syndicated.

Aren't they? I thought they were on a couple of other stations in Georgia and South Carolina in addition to 790?

Damn.
> I'll clear Ed Schultz 2-5pm, chocked full of traffic updates
> and news.
>
> I'd like to do something locally 5-6pm, but I might just go
> with the last hour of Randi Rhodes.
>
> Evening: What, no love for Bev Smith? I'm plugging her show
> in from 6-9pm CT (I think that what time she's on
> nationally).
>
> Late Evening: Mike freakin' Malloy, 9pm to midnight. Call
> him crazy, but don't call him boring.
>
> I'd pimp inner-city high school football on Friday nights,
> despite the night signal. Weekends, I'll go with a mix of
> local shows and off-da-bird programming from AAR and
> Sporting News Radio--national news provided by CBS Radio
> News.
>
SNR . . . That's another thing B'ham (and I think North/Central Alabama altogether) doesn't have yet. I'm surprised one of the aforementioned Cox dogs hasn't been flipped to it and become the new home of Auburn or UAB to put a dent in WJOX.

Sports Radio 97.3, PT1450, and La Mexicana 1320 would make too much sense to actually happen, though.

 

[ajhenderson]

> Music to do a joint by.
Would that be the positioner?

 

[Nate Wesley]

>
> Heh. I was thinking either La Mexicana 1450 or New Country
> 97.3, Cox's other two wastes of bandwidth.
>
***I didn't know Cox owned 1450. I think Birmingham needs one Spanish-language format that covers the city somewhat, so I'd hesitate to call it a total waste. And I don't think Cox-Birmingham would be 'progressive' enough to try any talk format on 97.3, much less a liberal one. So I went with 1320, figuring it had the least to lose (relatively speaking, of course).
> >
> > Mornings: I'm going to try my damnest to get a good local
> > show from 6-9am. If I can't, I'm willing to give Morning
> > Sedition a fair shot 5-8 AM, then air "Rachael Maddow"
> > tape-delayed until 9.
> >
> > Mid Mornings: I haven't heard either Stephanie Miller nor
> > Jerry Springer, but I'll pick Springer, 9-11 AM.
> >
***Allow me to change my mind here: I'm going with Stephanie Miller. I podcasted her show Thursday and Friday, and it's great. Very slickly produced, and actually quite funny.
>

> >
> > PM Drive: I'm tempted to pipe in "The 2 Live Stews" from
> > Atlanta's WQXI '790 The Zone'. But the thread author says
> > that's a no-no, since they aren't actually syndicated.
>
> Aren't they? I thought they were on a couple of other
> stations in Georgia and South Carolina in addition to 790?

***AFAIK, they aren't (though I could easily be wrong). I know their show was carried on Sirius when it had a midday slot.
>

> >
> SNR . . . That's another thing B'ham (and I think
> North/Central Alabama altogether) doesn't have yet. I'm
> surprised one of the aforementioned Cox dogs hasn't been
> flipped to it and become the new home of Auburn or UAB to
> put a dent in WJOX.
>
> Sports Radio 97.3, PT1450, and La Mexicana 1320 would make
> too much sense to actually happen, though.

***I think a second fulltime sports talker could work on 97.3, but they'd need to establish some new local peronalities [Ben Cook, Scott Griffin, and one/some of the Fox 6 sports guys maybe]and gain a few pro/college affiliations[Braves baseball and maybe steal UAB football/basketball, if both stay fairly good]. But I doubt Cox would be willing to put the time in to do it.

I forgot 1320 was very briefly Regional Mexican.

<P ID="signature">______________
"Not fixing [New Orleans'] levees before Katrina struck will now cost us untold billions. Not resolving the nation's issues of race and class has and will cost us so much more."
--Wynton Marsalis
</P>

 

[clichemoth]

> >
> > Heh. I was thinking either La Mexicana 1450 or New
> Country
> > 97.3, Cox's other two wastes of bandwidth.
> >
> ***I didn't know Cox owned 1450.

They may have sold it outright to the people running Spanish on it (the same group who were operating 1320 at night for a brief while), but prior to that it was a extra-low-rent talker (and I think B/EZ for a while also) and part of the Cox cluster.

I think Birmingham needs
> one Spanish-language format that covers the city somewhat,
> so I'd hesitate to call it a total waste. And I don't think
> Cox-Birmingham would be 'progressive' enough to try any talk
> format on 97.3, much less a liberal one. So I went with
> 1320, figuring it had the least to lose (relatively
> speaking, of course).
> > >
> > > Mornings: I'm going to try my damnest to get a good
> local
> > > show from 6-9am. If I can't, I'm willing to give Morning
>
> > > Sedition a fair shot 5-8 AM, then air "Rachael Maddow"
> > > tape-delayed until 9.
> > >
> > > Mid Mornings: I haven't heard either Stephanie Miller
> nor
> > > Jerry Springer, but I'll pick Springer, 9-11 AM.
> > >
> ***Allow me to change my mind here: I'm going with Stephanie
> Miller. I podcasted her show Thursday and Friday, and it's
> great. Very slickly produced, and actually quite funny.
> >

Yeah, she's great, but has no name recognition. You'd need someone people have heard of, and aside from getting a big name to do the local show, Jerry's the best choice.

>
> > >
> > > PM Drive: I'm tempted to pipe in "The 2 Live Stews" from
>
> > > Atlanta's WQXI '790 The Zone'. But the thread author
> says
> > > that's a no-no, since they aren't actually syndicated.
> >
> > Aren't they? I thought they were on a couple of other
> > stations in Georgia and South Carolina in addition to 790?
>
>
> ***AFAIK, they aren't (though I could easily be wrong). I
> know their show was carried on Sirius when it had a midday
> slot.
> >
>
> > >
> > SNR . . . That's another thing B'ham (and I think
> > North/Central Alabama altogether) doesn't have yet. I'm
> > surprised one of the aforementioned Cox dogs hasn't been
> > flipped to it and become the new home of Auburn or UAB to
> > put a dent in WJOX.
> >
> > Sports Radio 97.3, PT1450, and La Mexicana 1320 would make
>
> > too much sense to actually happen, though.
>
> ***I think a second fulltime sports talker could work on
> 97.3, but they'd need to establish some new local
> peronalities [Ben Cook, Scott Griffin, and one/some of the
> Fox 6 sports guys maybe]and gain a few pro/college
> affiliations[Braves baseball and maybe steal UAB
> football/basketball, if both stay fairly good]. But I doubt
> Cox would be willing to put the time in to do it.

Yeah, they're content with dominating the urban arena and having a heritage country station that'll do well as long as the format does (and we're in Alabama, so that would be the foreseeable future) and as such, put no effort at all into the rest of their properties.

Libtalk would be perfect for one of them because nobody really cares about what they're currently running (heck, that'd go for 106.9, too). If a station with a listener base was flipped to it, you'd have to broadcast from an undisclosed location for the first week or so.

>
> I forgot 1320 was very briefly Regional Mexican.
>

Only at night. Their regular format (still black gospel at the time, IIRC) was still on during the day.

 

[KingDaevid]

Market: La Crosse, Wisconsin/Winona, Minnesota

MORNING DRIVE
My own show 5-7
The only multi-hour on the roster on your menu I'd consider is Imus, hardly a progressive but the best of those you listed. But something simulcast on a cable network carried by the local franchise just doesn't make sense for a market the size of La Crosse.
Rachel Maddow 7-8

MID-MORNING
Stephanie Miller 8-11

MIDDAY
Al Franken 11-2
If someone offered a better show in this slot, I'd take it. Franken on the radio is just as pretentious and dull as his writing for "SNL" (which I have not laughed at since the original cast lineup left, and damned rarely before that). But he does have the recognition factor on his side, and Lanpher is recognisable from Minnesota Public Radio's satellite stations in La Crescent.

PM DRIVE
Randi Rhodes 2-6
Schultz is a moderate, not a progressive. Marketing him as progressive is a joke.

EVENING
Majority Report 6-9
Although I have to wonder how Janeane Garofalo's increasingly frequent absence (to film "The West Wing" and movies) will continue to cripple the show. Sam Seder on his own is lousy.

LATE NIGHTS
Mike Malloy 9-Midnight
Phil Hendrie a progressive? No bloody way.

Overnights I'd probably jukebox old blues records. ;-)<P ID="signature">______________
King Daevid MacKenzie
WLSU Wisconsin Public Radio, La Crosse
heard weekly on http://whiterosesociety.org
"Kill Ugly Radio." FRANK ZAPPA</P>