Meanwhile in George W Bush's birthplace of New Haven CT
"Thanks to each and every one of you for being such loyal on-air/on-line listeners to the VOICE Progressive Talk Radio 1300 (theVOICE1300.com). Effective Monday, February 5th, 2007, WAVZ-AM's program format will switch to sports as ESPN Radio 1300 (espnradio1300.com).
"You're also invited to tune in to News/Talk960WELI (960WELI.com) for Local New Haven News, Traffic, Weather, & Sports... plus local information & coverage of events in your community on the News/Talk960WELI Morning Show with Jerry Kristafer, weekdays from 5:30-9 a.m. Again thank you for your support of the VOICE Progressive Talk Radio 1300."
(WELI hosts include Beck, Rush, Hannity, John Gibson,
and Laura Ingraham)
buh bye Air America in Duluth & New Haven!
Air America Signing Off in Duluth MN and New Haven CT ... Will anyone notice? If a tree falls in the forest and no one hears it, does it make a sound?
What will they do without their daily dose of doom & gloom?
Turn out the lights, the party's over.
Will Al Franken be donning a Military Flightsuit and declaring: MISSION ACCOMPLISHED?
If they can't make it in ultra-left-wing Duluth, it's time to stick a fork in it.
Connecticut ping!
Please Freepmail me if you want on or off my infrequent Connecticut ping list.
HA!
A victory for conservitive talk radio!
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."