Posted on 02/03/2007 7:16:44 PM PST by raccoonradio
KQDS/Duluth drops liberal talk
Listeners in the Twin Ports got a rude awakening this morning when they turned on the radio expecting to hear Sam Seder, but instead heard golden oldies. In a surprise move, KQDS in Duluth-Superior, which had been airing Ed Schultz and programs from Air America Radio for the past year and a half, has dropped liberal talk for oldies music...There was one rumor claiming that oldies was only temporary, and that a FOX 'News'-style conservative talk format would be the permanent format, but nothing else out there would give credibility to this rumor...
As for the reason for the switch, “We’ve had some calls claiming we did this for political reasons,” Red Rock general manager Shawn Skramstad said. “There was no political motive. This was strictly a business decision. We didn’t see the advertising dollars we need.” Skramstad said Red Rock received “a fair number of calls” from listeners disappointed with the decision to pull the liberal talk programming.
(I am assuming the #1 is someone using the name of
the writer who was killed in the Pentagon crash
on 9/11, though it was spelled "Olson" I believe...
though it could just be someone named Barb Olsen...)
from a libtalk site, the Talking Radio blog. Note how many stations have switched from liberal talk to something more
profitable in the past 2 months or so!!
>># LIB STATION FLIP STATUS REPORT
# Date: 2-3-07
# Total flipped: 19
# Flipped since 11-1-06: 13
I love it!
If they can't make it in ultra-left-wing Duluth, it's time to stick a fork in it.
LOL.. great news! I didn't even realize Air Amerika was on in New Haven, CT. And they're telling their listeners to tune into WELI? I don't know about morning guy Jerry Kristafer, but pretty much the rest of WELI's programming is conservative, as you noted above. Perhaps a few libs in the New Haven area will wake up out of their (probably drug-induced) fog and see the light...
Connecticut ping!
Please Freepmail me if you want on or off my infrequent Connecticut ping list.
Well the former AAR station is owned by the same people
who own WELI.
In one place--Columbus, OH--the same company owned one station that ran conservative talk and the other had Air America.
Lousy ratings led to AAR being dumped on the "other" station
and it was replaced by mostly MORE conservative talk! :)
>>And they're telling their listeners to tune into WELI?
A "bring progressive talkradio back to Boston" site had a link to WAVZ so people could hear the streamcast. Now that WAVZ is all sports they'll probably take that link off.
I guess WAVZ had Air America for awhile but it never
really did well and was on a fairly weak signal.
HA!
A victory for conservitive talk radio!
I didn't realize that there was any other radio station in New Haven besides WTNH.
If they cant make it here where Demos usually get elected by at least 3-1 margins then they might as well not bother existing anymore.
Local radio guy Jerry Kristafer, who is also the program director for the station where AA got dumped, says he is getting messages from lefties with lots of obscenities. Gee, why am I not surprised. What class acts these people on the left are.
(WELI hosts include Beck, Rush, Hannity, John Gibson, and Laura Ingraham)
And THAT is what the Marketplace of IdeasTM is all about. God Bless America!
(WELI hosts include Beck, Rush, Hannity, John Gibson, and Laura Ingraham)
I forgot to initially write the ROTFLMAO that I did when I read that!
New Haven Register:
Radio station abruptly drops liberal talk, adds sports
Joe Amarante, TV and Radio Editor
02/07/2007
Clear Channel Radio changed the content of WAVZ-AM (1300) this week, from the likes of Al Franken and "The Voice" progressive talk to Dan Patrick and ESPN Radio sports talk. And some listeners are expressing dismay that the format was changed without on-air notice.
The station has had previous stints in sports talk, nostalgic music and (way back) Top 40 music, but for the past two-plus years featured political material from a rare vantage point on AM radio — left of center.
The station’s ratings weren’t very good, but some who enjoyed recent programming of the 1,000-watt station — operated out of Clear Channel’s Radio Towers Park in Hamden — are speaking up to protest the change. The station carried satellite-fed shows of the financially troubled Air America network, featuring the liberal voices of Stephanie Miller (who did shows from New Haven’s Omni New Haven Hotel at Yale in 2005), Ed Schultz and (outgoing) Franken.
In response to the change this week, radio broadcaster and professor Steve Kalb, who was recently laid off from WAVZ sister station, WELI, wondered, "Will there be an outcry over the disappearance of ‘The Voice’ on 1300, as there’s been over the end of progressive talk in Boston, Madison (Wis.) and other markets? Clear Channel kept this format change more low-key than previous flips, and so far we’re not hearing about much in the way of protests."
Jerry Kristafer, the WELI morning host who is also program director of WELI and WAVZ, said the move was made because Clear Channel’s Hartford station, WPOP-1410, is successful with the format.
"It’s business, that’s what we’re here for. ... We think the stations will complement each other," Kristafer said. "ESPN is a brand everyone recognizes. It’s a branding thing. You just have to say those four letters and people know what to expect."
A news item about the change on a Register reporter’s blog has brought responses from listeners who noticed the changeover on Super Bowl Sunday.
Reader Marianne Breeding, who has listened to Air America for a few years, wrote, "I ... had been a fan of Al Franken’s show and wanted to tune in to his last show on Feb. 14, now I won’t be able to. Last night I was going through the stations and heard about three with Michael Savage, there are numerous Rush Limbaugh and Laura Ingraham, but no progressive programming."
Reader Kay Torre has another view, however, writing, "AA would have been dead long ago if not artificially propped up financially by (George) Soros, et al. ... The reason for the proliferation and success of (conservative shows such as) Bill O’Reilly and Sean Hannity ... is because what they have to say resonates with greater masses."
Those would be the masses who re-elected George W. Bush to a second term before his job approval rating plunged, say liberals, who had found a radio home for their point of view in Air America.
Listener John Shanley of Hamden said there didn’t seem to be advertising support of the format.
Kristafer said just word of the change to ESPN sent station advertisers lining up to buy spots. "From a business model," he said, "it’s already successful."
Shanley wished WAVZ had been more local. "It would have been nice to have some local content," Shanley writes, "but I suppose that’s too much work for the folks down at Radio Towers Park, who prefer to just link up to the satellite feed."
A local voice heard on the new format, George "Coach" DeMaio, is doing local sports reports mornings on the new format, called ESPN Radio 1300, when he’s not on Kristafer’s show. WAVZ’s previous sports incarnation was as "The Zone, Fox Sports Radio 1300."
Just found out that you can kiss Air America goodbye in Sacramento. Entercom is dropping it and going with ESPN Radio. Dumb move, but better than AA.
Entercom owns 6 stations in Sacto, one of which had the stupid WII promotion in which the woman died two weeks ago.
Yes, had heard that...fewer and fewer stations. Supposedly they need emergency injections of cash from the new owner to stay afloat (some kind of deadline in the next couple
days)...this despite the fact that a lot of the money they owe is being "forgiven" by bankruptcy courts (for now...)
Jerry Kristafer is a local legend in Connecticut. He is up there with the likes of Brad Davis (WDRC) and the late Bob Steele (WTIC).
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