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ProJo: Air America "essentially over" at WHJJ

R

Radio1968

Guest
From projo.com (9/10):

People: Radio show should fit Glover

01:00 AM EDT on Saturday, September 10, 2005

BY ANDY SMITH
Journal Television Writer

Helen Glover of Portsmouth, a contestant on Survivor: Thailand in 2002, will host her own talk show on WHJJ, 920-AM, from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m., replacing syndicated host Jerry Springer.

Glover, a former swim instructor for the Navy, starts on Tuesday.

"Right now, I'm excited and nervous," Glover said in a phone interview yesterday. "I'm like a horse in the starting gate."

Glover was among several local candidates who auditioned for WHJJ after John DePetro left last year to take a job with WRKO in Boston.

But WHJJ decided to go with a syndicated lineup from liberal talk network Air America. Ratings immediately dropped, falling 16 percent from the fall of 2003 to the fall of 2004.

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."

WHJJ is still broadcasting The Al Franken Show, Air America's showcase, from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m., but George said changes in that time slot will be announced within a few weeks.

Full atricle: http://www.projo.com/tv/content/projo_20050910_peop10.ccd123c.html
 
They woke up and smelled the ratings. Note that Franken should be gone
soon, too. Is AAR's future that of an _individual show syndicator_ rather
than a network? Will there still be stations committed to a totally
left-of-center line-up?<P ID="signature">______________
News and views about Boston and New England Radio:

http://www.livejournal.com/community/boston_radio</P>
 
I am so glad that they are getting rid of Air America. It already feels as if Rhode Island will be getting a brand new talk station within a couple of weeks. I wonder if Depetro would ever come back.


John <P ID="signature">______________
Awsome Voiceovers for your station.
JohnChartier.com
206-600-2629
</P>
 
> WHJJ is still broadcasting The Al Franken Show, Air
> America's showcase, from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m., but George said
> changes in that time slot will be announced within a few
> weeks.

And if the change is to Thom Hartmann- what is the effect then (still progressive, still AAR)? When their next experiment fails (which it probably will- a former "Survivor" to do a talk show- come on!?)...Are they going to try to take on Rush or something and become conservative? Franken is on his way out at AAR and I feel Springer is too. Since AAR is distributing Thom now (at 12-3) and Franken has discussed moving on I think the old idea that Franken is the "showcase" of AAR can be forgiven in the major media but not here on these boards.
 
> They woke up and smelled the ratings. Note that Franken
> should be gone
> soon, too. Is AAR's future that of an _individual show
> syndicator_ rather
> than a network? Will there still be stations committed to a
> totally
> left-of-center line-up?
>


Many (usually conservative talk hosts) have said that AAR is not a smashing success because "America does not buy the 'liberal agenda'". This, of course, is ridiculous since 49% of the voting public went Democratic. BTW, wait until you see the '06 elections. Between Katrina inaction and the revelation that the "constitution" that we are fighting for in Iraq is rooted in Islam so women (especially) will never have full rights, I think the tide will turn.

The real reason AAR may not be working in relationship to the percentage of people who hold similar views in the country is probably more rooted in style and available audience. Blood and thunder bluster is more natural in the chest beating, isolationist, macho-man culture of commercial right-wing radio. When AAR tries to fight bluster and name-calling with bluster and name-calling, I believe, the base Liberal audience does not feel comfortable. They are more comfortable with NPR (which is #2 right behind Limbaugh in total listenership by the way.) NPR is obviously Liberal, but talk segments nearly always feature an opposing point of view, and no one is called "a brainless idiot" by a host.

Also, look at the demos. In most cases, Rush's demos are dominantly 45+ male. And what 45+ male is out there listening to radio at noon on a weekday? Either retired, unemployed, or blue-collar worker. I am a moderate by nature, but most of my di-hard Liberal friends can't--or won't--bother with talkradio in midday.

Just my observation.

Also, and this is strange: There has been more than one conservative blog and at least one neo-con talk host who gleefully post ways to "hassle your local AAR station and get them to cancel (CANCEL!) the service". They suggest bombarding the station with calls and (direct quote) "organize your friends to write multiple letters of protest and threats to boycott sponsors"

Jeez, even radical Pacifica Radio never called for the outright cancelation of the Limbaugh or Hannity show! Remarkable.

<P ID="edit"><FONT class="small">Edited by HHH on 09/11/05 03:30 AM.</FONT></P>
 
I'm glad that WHJJ will cut down (or possibly end) its Air America affiliation. I know this idea may be disagreeable to some of you on this board, but no offense to anyone: I'd like to see replace its programming from 6pm-10pm weeknights with Sean Hannity from 6-8 and Dr. Laura from 8-10, which was the schedule at those times until Air America programming.

> I am so glad that they are getting rid of Air America. It
> already feels as if Rhode Island will be getting a brand new
> talk station within a couple of weeks. I wonder if Depetro
> would ever come back.
>
>
> John
>
 
> They are
> more comfortable with NPR (which is #2 right behind Limbaugh
> in total listenership by the way.) NPR is obviously
> Liberal, but talk segments nearly always feature an opposing
> point of view, and no one is called "a brainless idiot" by a
> host.

Politically active progressives are not comfortable with NPR. A lot of them accuse NPR and PBS of selling out to corporate underwriters. AAR is designed to be a non-elitist counterpart to conservative talk radio - brash, loud, and rallying the base. The problem with AAR ratings remain:

- it's new
- most of its shows come from non-radio people who don't provide enough entertainment
- it is very underpromoted on the local level

Improve the shows and the listeners will come.

> Also, and this is strange: There has been more than one
> conservative blog and at least one neo-con talk host who
> gleefully post ways to "hassle your local AAR station and
> get them to cancel (CANCEL!) the service". They suggest
> bombarding the station with calls and (direct quote)
> "organize your friends to write multiple letters of protest
> and threats to boycott sponsors"

There is a very real threat perceived by SOME conservatives about the very existance of AAR. They will flip out about its very existance. It's ridiculous, especially with some of the blogs.
 
The Future Of WHJJ (Was: Re: ProJo: Air America "essentially over" at WHJJ)

Given that WHJJ-920 is owned by Clear Channel, I wonder if, assuming that "Air America is essentially over", Clear Channel-owned Premiere Networks will yank Rush Limbaugh and George Noory (as well as any other Premiere-owned shows now being heard on WPRO-630) off of WPRO and give those shows to WHJJ.

My guess is that those two shows will be moved to WHJJ, and Glenn Beck will follow. Rush being on 920 will probably cause the station's overall 12-plus audience to double within the span of a single Arbitron book. That's how far WHJJ has fallen (And, if Rush is moved to WHJJ, WPRO's ratings will suffer, especially during midday hours).

If WHJJ picks up Sean Hannity, I think he may go live in afternoon drive.

Would Arlene Violet stay on??


Looks to me like there will be some major changes happening to WHJJ in the next few weeks (or months). By the time those changes end, Air America will not only be gone, but Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity, Glenn Beck and George Noory might all be heard at 920 on the AM dial.
 
Re: The Future Of WHJJ (Was: Re: ProJo: Air America "essentially over" at WHJJ)

> Given that WHJJ-920 is owned by Clear Channel, I wonder if,
> assuming that "Air America is essentially over", Clear
> Channel-owned Premiere Networks will yank Rush Limbaugh and
> George Noory (as well as any other Premiere-owned shows now
> being heard on WPRO-630) off of WPRO and give those shows to
> WHJJ.
>
> My guess is that those two shows will be moved to WHJJ, and
> Glenn Beck will follow. Rush being on 920 will probably
> cause the station's overall 12-plus audience to double
> within the span of a single Arbitron book. That's how far
> WHJJ has fallen (And, if Rush is moved to WHJJ, WPRO's
> ratings will suffer, especially during midday hours).
>
> If WHJJ picks up Sean Hannity, I think he may go live in
> afternoon drive.
>
> Would Arlene Violet stay on??
>
>
> Looks to me like there will be some major changes happening
> to WHJJ in the next few weeks (or months). By the time those
> changes end, Air America will not only be gone, but Rush
> Limbaugh, Sean Hannity, Glenn Beck and George Noory might
> all be heard at 920 on the AM dial.
>


So wait a minute

It's okay if WHJJ is all syndicated: Imus, Beck, Rush, Hannity, Dr. Laura ...
as long as it's not liberal or Air America programming?

Everyone's been complaining about the fact that WHJJ has no local programming, and now that it will be all local - you want it back to syndicated?

I'm confused.
 
Re: The Future Of WHJJ (Was: Re: ProJo: Air America "essentially over" at WHJJ)

Would syndie conservatalk be more entertaining--and get more listeners--
than syndie libtalk? Depends on who you ask; I'd think so, personally,
but ideally WHJJ should do local AND syndie stuff. When done well, they could get ratings with entertaining local hosts (be they liberal or conservative) and get some syndie hosts with good track records, and you'd have a big ratings increase.

Would they toss I-man
and put on a local morning show? They could try to get Rush and Hannity on,
yes; maybe more Violet to 6 pm or have Hannity run at 6 tape delayed.

> Everyone's been complaining about the fact that WHJJ has no
> local programming, and now that it will be all local - you
> want it back to syndicated?
>
> I'm confused.
>
<P ID="signature">______________
News and views about Boston and New England Radio:

http://www.livejournal.com/community/boston_radio</P>
 
Re: The Future Of WHJJ (Was: Re: ProJo: Air America "essentially over" at WHJJ)

I wouldn't be surprised if WHJJ-920 drops Imus and launches a local morning show.

It could end up being one of only two dayparts (or the only daypart) that's local.

Except in the largest markets, very few talk stations run local programming outside of drive times.
 
> I'm glad that WHJJ will cut down (or possibly end) its Air
> America affiliation. I know this idea may be disagreeable
> to some of you on this board, but no offense to anyone: I'd
> like to see replace its programming from 6pm-10pm weeknights
> with Sean Hannity from 6-8 and Dr. Laura from 8-10, which
> was the schedule at those times until Air America
> programming.


Yep, more Sean Hannity. That's what the radio dial needs. There is such a crying need for his point of view, which is so hard to find these days on talkradio.



<P ID="edit"><FONT class="small">Edited by HHH on 09/11/05 09:46 PM.</FONT></P>
 
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