This Just In...

[Mark_Scott]

Our newsroom just received a news release from a group called Niagara Independent Media. They've entered into a license management agreement with Citadel to operate WHLD. Effective Feb. 13th, WHLD will begin airing Air America programming. Veteran Buffalo radio broadcaster Ray Marks is part of the effort. It appears he'll be co-hosting a morning show starting at 6am with Alex Blair, the producer of the union-backed show that has aired on many area stations, "Prospering In America." They're branding the station, "The Voice of Reason." Now my two cents. I've always had great respect for Ray Marks. His involvement brings instant credibility to this venture.

 

[ThePickleReport]

> Our newsroom just received a news release from a group
> called Niagara Independent Media.

Yep. That's the one! See my post below.

 

[SirRoxalot]

High Marks, Low Points

> I've always had great respect for Ray Marks.
> His involvement brings instant credibility to this venture.

If it provides gainful employment for Ray Marks, it can't be all bad.

You will hear a lot of bad radio from AAR. Randi Rhodes is the only broadcaster in the bunch.

That doesn't mean that the left-wingers won't welcome the change. It also means that some right-wingers will be upping their blood pressure medicine.

Somehow I doubt that the B&B Boys at 'BEN are shaking in their boots.

 

[raymond_shaw]

Re: High Marks, Low Points

> > I've always had great respect for Ray Marks.
> > His involvement brings instant credibility to this
> venture.
>
> If it provides gainful employment for Ray Marks, it can't be
> all bad.
>
> You will hear a lot of bad radio from AAR. Randi Rhodes is
> the only broadcaster in the bunch.

No, you will hear a lot of great radio from AAR. Al Franken, one of the orignal writers of SNL(he co-wrote the Final Days of Richard Nixon bit, arguably one of SNL's greatest pieces of satire) is the antithesis of fiction spewing gasbags Limbaugh, O'Reilly and Hannity. He's not a radio broadcaster? So what. My only criticism was putting Jerry Springer on. Perhaps WHLD will take a cue from WROC and substitute non AAR syndicated talk host Mary Miller(her father, William E. Miller was a Buffalo area congressman and was Barry Goldwater's running mate for President in 1964).

Hopefully this group LMA'ing WHLD will do the opposite of WROC and invest some money in promoting the format. That and a strong daytime signal could eventually get them maybe a 2.5-3.0 share of the audience.

Yes, the B&B boys have little worry about. Most of their audience probably would have little interest in AAR and vice versa.
>
> That doesn't mean that the left-wingers won't welcome the
> change. It also means that some right-wingers will be upping
> their blood pressure medicine.
>
> Somehow I doubt that the B&B Boys at 'BEN are shaking in
> their boots.
>

 

[promorobot]

Re: High Marks, Low Points

Al Franken is very entertaining. Randi Rhodes and some of the other hosts on AAR can be a bit shrill and condecending. Franken understands that you're on the air to entertain first.

PTR

> > I've always had great respect for Ray Marks.
> > His involvement brings instant credibility to this
> venture.
>
> If it provides gainful employment for Ray Marks, it can't be
> all bad.
>
> You will hear a lot of bad radio from AAR. Randi Rhodes is
> the only broadcaster in the bunch.
>
> That doesn't mean that the left-wingers won't welcome the
> change. It also means that some right-wingers will be upping
> their blood pressure medicine.
>
> Somehow I doubt that the B&B Boys at 'BEN are shaking in
> their boots.
>

 

[SirRoxalot]

Low Points

As the above posters have demonstrated, there is a market for AAR in WNY.

There are even people who enjoy Al Franken, either because of or in spite of his politics.

But it's still bad radio, which is why "eventually" getting a 2.5 - 3.0 share would be considered "acceptable".

 

[raymond_shaw]

Re: Low Points

> As the above posters have demonstrated, there is a market
> for AAR in WNY.

Yes, for those of us who, while we respect the opinons of others, nontheless find the whole neocon Bush/Cheney/Rumsfeld/Rove regime to be repugnant.

>
> There are even people who enjoy Al Franken, either because
> of or in spite of his politics.

Al Franken is a breath of fresh air for those of us who don't find idiotic shock jock humor entertaining nor do we wish to listen to right wing Bush supporting toadies(if Bush pulled an OJ, they'd support him - or blame it on the democrats). Franken has more intelligence and talent in one finger than megalomaniac O'Reilly has in his whole body. And I've never heard Franken(or anyone else on AAR) encourage terrorists to attack San Francisco.
>
> But it's still bad radio, which is why "eventually" getting
> a 2.5 - 3.0 share would be considered "acceptable".

Getting any audience on AM today when you start from sratch is very difficult. It may seem like bad radio to you because you can't understand why anyone would be a liberal - which has been made to seem like a bad word, but is really a very good word.

A 2.5 - 3.0 would be a reasonable expectation - and much younger demos than the aging full service demos.

What exactly is good radio? Generic radio? Porno radiio? Right Wing Hate Talk radio?

 

[mike704]

Re: Low Points

> What exactly is good radio? Generic radio? Porno radiio?
> Right Wing Hate Talk radio?

Good radio is ...gone! Remember the days when radio gave you both sides and were not liberal or conservative? Talk radio today is a circus, and not a very entertaining or informative one.

Marconi, Sarnoff, and Armstrong would be appaled at what radio has become.

MikeM

 

[SirRoxalot]

Point - Counterpoint

> It may seem like bad radio to you because
> you can't understand why anyone would be a liberal - which
> has been made to seem like a bad word, but is really a very
> good word.

Nope, not so. I understand very well why there are differing points of view. That's actually my point - the extremes on both sides are just that - extremes. The reality lies somewhere in the middle. You think George Bush is an extremist. Compared to Pat Robertson, he's almost moderate. You think Joe Lieberman is a right-winger. Well, I guess that would be the case if you think Al Franken is a moderate. On the other hand, if you think Al Franken is a moderate, just who's a left-wing extremist? Lenin? Trotsky? Mao?

> What exactly is good radio? Generic radio? Porno radiio?
> Right Wing Hate Talk radio?

I've heard Al Franken. If Al Franken didn't espouse your political viewpoint, you wouldn't listen to him for five minutes a month. I don't listen to Bill O'Reilley, Rush Limbaugh, Tom Bauerle, or Sandy Beach for five minutes a month either because I find them to be either poorly informed or stunningly incapable of telling the "whole story", intolerant of other viewpoints, and boring. BTW, I also find Al Franken to be either poorly informed or stunningly incapable of telling the "whole story", intolerant of other viewpoints, and boring.

At least Beach, Bauerle, O'Reilley, and Limbaugh can form coherent sentences without the continuous use of "uh". I may or may not like what they have to say, but at least they communicate it effectively. I find Mr. Franken to have an untrained voice, a monotonous delivery, and a lack of skill as both an interviewer and as an extemporaneous speaker.

None of the above are capable of acting as a host for a show that offers legitimate discussion of the various viewpoints on important topics. Of course, that probably wouldn't get the same ratings as starting a fire and throwing gasoline on it. If Sandy Beach said something nice about Hillary Clinton, or Al Franken admitted that George Bush actually did something positive, I would consider it a sign of the impending apocalypse. I'm sure that their partisans would be confused and angry, and ratings would suffer as a result.

In short, neither WBEN nor WHLD will get much of my attention. That doesn't mean that you folks who "find the whole neocon Bush/Cheney/Rumsfeld/Rove regime to be repugnant" shouldn't have your own little mean-spirited, neolib Kennedy/Kerry/Clinton/Pelosi party on the radio.

I'm betting that about 97.5% of the residents of WNY will agree with me, and ignore WHLD. Unless, of course, they become the "Official Snow Closing Station".

 

[OldAkronite]

Mary...er...Stephanie on WHLD?

> Perhaps WHLD will take a cue from WROC
> and substitute non AAR syndicated talk host Mary Miller(her
> father, William E. Miller was a Buffalo area congressman and
> was Barry Goldwater's running mate for President in 1964).

Um, perhaps you mean Stephanie Miller? (Who's Mary? )

Yes, she is a native of the area...she was born and raised in Lockport, and as I recall, got her radio start ages ago at Lockport's own WLVL.

Unfortunately, there's no sign the WHLD LMA folks will pick up Stephanie. It sounds to me like they're much more ideologically based than radio-based (aside from the involvement of Mr. Marks, a local radio news vet in the market). The group has ties to one or more of the brokered shows now airing on WHLD, and these shows would presumably continue or expand.

But I agree...Steph vs. Springer is no contest, especially with the hometown gal having an advantage...

BTW, I am sure Ms. Miller and her folks are aware of the situation in Buffalo, and I'm sure Jones Radio has probably already contacted the new WHLD operators. I'm just not sure what she does fits into what they are doing.

-OA<P ID="signature">______________
Ohio Media Watch - <a target="_blank" href=http://ohiomedia.blogspot.com>http://ohiomedia.blogspot.com</a></P>

 

[Philip_Airtime]

Re: Point - Counterpoint

Your analysis is right on, Rox. I might agree with Franken's political philosophy, but I have found his show difficult to listen to for the reasons you stated. I actually prefer Rush because he's a radio broadcaster. I might yell at the radio when he's on. But he knows how to do a radio show. Franken does not.

If WHLD gets a 2.5 to 3 share, they should be dancing in the streets. That would be phenomenal. Won't happen! If they get a 1.5, they should view it as a success. This is a station that has so few listeners that it doesn't even register in the ratings. And that's with a two year history of airing such left-leaning shows such as Democracy Now.

Plus, if they continue with some of the brokered shows, such as the NYCLU show I caught at 9 Friday morning, they're going to have to improve them. The host of the show, attorney John Curr, either had a bad mic or was possibly on the phone. He was totally overpowered by the opening music theme. Regardless of whether you agree or disagree with the content, it was not good radio. And that's true with some of the other shows I've heard in the past. They're done by a bunch of people who may be well intentioned but have no idea on how to do a radio program. That will need to change, or the station will fail!

Obviously, Ray Marks knows how to do a radio program. His presence in the morning could draw some listeners. But again, a three share is a pipe dream at this point. It didn't happen in Rochester where WROC had veteran talk radio host Alan Harris on in the mornings with local news from the TV station of the same name. He was let go last year. So, I wouldn't look for any significant numbers from WHLD.

 

[raymond_shaw]

Re: Mary...er...Stephanie on WHLD?

>
> Um, perhaps you mean Stephanie Miller? (Who's Mary? )

Ooop, my mistake. Mary Miller is Stephanie's sister and used to work for Channel 2 news back in the mid 80s and I think later went on to work for CNN.
>
> Yes, she is a native of the area...she was born and raised
> in Lockport, and as I recall, got her radio start ages ago
> at Lockport's own WLVL.
>
> Unfortunately, there's no sign the WHLD LMA folks will pick
> up Stephanie. It sounds to me like they're much more
> ideologically based than radio-based (aside from the
> involvement of Mr. Marks, a local radio news vet in the
> market). The group has ties to one or more of the brokered
> shows now airing on WHLD, and these shows would presumably
> continue or expand.
>
> But I agree...Steph vs. Springer is no contest, especially
> with the hometown gal having an advantage...
>
> BTW, I am sure Ms. Miller and her folks are aware of the
> situation in Buffalo, and I'm sure Jones Radio has probably
> already contacted the new WHLD operators. I'm just not sure
> what she does fits into what they are doing.
>
> -OA
>

 

[OldAkronite]

That Answers THAT Question!

> >
> > Um, perhaps you mean Stephanie Miller? (Who's Mary? )
>
> Ooop, my mistake. Mary Miller is Stephanie's sister and
> used to work for Channel 2 news back in the mid 80s and I
> think later went on to work for CNN.

I'd heard Stephanie mention that her sister had been/is in TV news, so that answers that question I had for a while...

-OA<P ID="signature">______________
Ohio Media Watch - <a target="_blank" href=http://ohiomedia.blogspot.com>http://ohiomedia.blogspot.com</a></P>