Goodbye Rochester?

A few blogs are buzzing about the fate of Rochester's progressive talk station WROC (950AM). Word has it that come August 1, the plug will be pulled and a new format installed.

WROC was an early convert to progressive talk, picking up the format four years ago when it initially added Ed Schultz and several shows from Air America Radio. Since then, the 1,000 watt station's success has been typical of other similar stations, meaning ratings averaging around a one share overall, but better than the lower-tier conservative talk format it replaced.

The station is owned by Entercom Communications, currently the fourth-largest radio station owner in the country. WROC was the company's first foray into liberal talk. Following the station's early success with the format, Entercom installed the format on its stations in New Orleans, Memphis, Sacramento and Buffalo. Of those five, only WROC and WWKB in Buffalo remain with the format. Evidently, the decision to flip those stations may or may not have anything to do with political ideology, as Entercom and its employees have donated money to Democrats over Republicans by more than a four to one margin.

Rochester Turning has provided a switchboard number for Entercom's Rochester office, (585) 423-2900.

UPDATE: Rochester Turning reports that WROC management has informed morning syndicated talker Bill Press that they are indeed flipping on August 1.

Don't be cruel

Jon Elliott claimed on his show last night, which originates from the studios of KLSD in San Diego, that things are looking up for that station, which has been rumored to be considering a flip to a sports format. Evidently, Monday's rally must have been effective.

In the midst of all this and other format flips on their progressive talk stations, Clear Channel Communications itself has taken a lot of heat, some deserved and some not. Many see this as some sort of conspiracy to remove the format from the nation's airwaves, and point to the political lean of the Mays family, founders of the company.

But it's never that simple. Over time, I've found that in the radio industry, politics often takes a backseat to pure commerce. Meaning, they don't really care what's on the air, so long as it pads the bottom line and takes next to no overhead to keep it running. How else to explain Entercom Communications, the fourth largest radio group in the United States? Now here's a major radio station owner that, ironically, actually donates heavily to Democrats. In a simplistic form of thinking, one would think progressive talk would be a slam dunk for some of their struggling AM stations. So, how have they been doing thus far in this regard? The first Entercom station to pick up the format was WROC in Rochester, NY. After three years, the station is doing modestly, given its AM dial position and rather weak signal. From there, Entercom stations in New Orleans, Sacramento, Buffalo and Memphis picked up the format.

Flash forward to 2007. WROC has been climbing in the ratings. WWKB in Buffalo occasionally does well, in spite of how badly neglected the station is. And progressive talk has been dropped in New Orleans and Sacramento. The format seems to be badly neglected in Buffalo. And now, rumors are swirling in Memphis, where it looks like WSMB (680AM) may soon flip to sports. At least that's the rumor coming out of there, as salespeople are allegedly breaking this news to their clients.

Needless to say, this doesn't sound surprising. WSMB (formerly WWTQ until they grabbed the current call letters from their defunct New Orleans progressive talker) is blessed with an amazing signal (10,000 watts day at a very low spot on the dial), rare for a progressive talk station. But they had to go and screw it all up by doing a rather half-assed job of programming and promoting it. Until today, I didn't even realize that they have rolled out a new website for the station. For a long time, it was the same old tired WWTQ site that prominently featured relics of the past such as Jerry Springer, Al Franken and Janeane Garafalo. Not very up-to-date, is it? And that's another thing. While progressive talk stations around the country have experienced some sort of success with a mix of shows from various syndicators, and even some local programming, WSMB couldn't even be bothered to program their computers to flip a satellite switch! That's right - they carry the straight Air America Radio feed. Meaning no Stephanie, no Big Eddie, no local talk. Nothing that can help a station boost their numbers and draw potential advertisers. To be fair, though, they did carry a local morning show at one time, but it was universally hated by everyone.

Keep in mind that, like at Clear Channel, format decisions for stations are made mostly at the local level. One look at the vast differences of the various stations easily prove that. WROC has been pretty aggressive, have a fairly good mix of programming, and are currently getting the best ratings the weak AM signal could possibly hope to get. Meaning that the people there are at least doing something. Not sure the same could be said about their other progressive talk stations, certainly not WSMB.

Granted, the station did add some other programming. But that programming consisted of St. Louis Cardinals games and University of Tennessee sports. It's true that locally-oriented sports programming does pull in the bucks. Even high school football on the radio can rake in a ton of loot. So when this stuff pops up on progressive talk stations, I often give it a pass. Hey, if this stuff is good enough for conservotalk stations (and many of them have sports contracts that often contribute the bulk of station revenues), then it's good enough for the liberal talk outlets.

Given the amount of neglect that progressive talk has gotten on this signal, and the increased emphasis on sports programming, it should be no surprise that liberal talk will likely soon be leaving the Memphis airwaves. And no, it's not because nobody wants to listen to it, as this ignorant pinhead seems to think. I chalk this one up to neglect. The progressive talk format is only as strong as the stations that carry it. And when it's viewed as merely cheap, latchkey programming, well, how well is that going to turn out? Weak promotion (except for a billboard or two a long time ago and some bumper stickers), poor ad sales efforts, uninspiring programming choices, and perhaps the ugliest logo in the radio industry. What aggravates me is that WSMB had so much potential, even in a market like Memphis. This station has been badly neglected.

Yes, Entercom really screwed the pooch on this one. Let's hope they know how to do sports.

UPDATE: And it looks like it's been confirmed. According to AllAccess, Entercom Memphis announced this afternoon that WSMB will become FOX Sports 680 on Saturday evening (9/1), immediately following the Cardinals/Reds game. They will carry the FOX Sports feed most of the time, save for the 11A-2P shift weekdays, Saturday mornings and whenever they run local play by play.

Turn that frown upside down and put on a happy face!

Okay, it's time to stop being so morose.

I'll admit, the most recent news entries here have been rather depressing. I've covered the deaths of people (Tom Snyder, Mike Webb), the death of a tabloid, the death of local programming on KOPT in Eugene, the death of a show (The Air Americans) and even the death of a radio network. Not to mention the I-35W bridge tragedy last week in Minneapolis. This grim focus is rather accidental. Nothing intentional. But now, the time has come to share some good news. Namely, some people got jobs. How much more upbeat can one get than that?

This past Monday, WWRL/New York added veteran radio and TV talker Richard Bey for the 8-10PM weeknight shift. Bey is best known for his old daytime TV talk show (think Jerry Springer but with more silliness, self-deprecating humor and game show-like competition). In recent years, he has worked at WABC radio (prior to the liberal purge) and has been a frequent guest host for Alex Bennett on Sirius Left. Bey will replace the Sammy and Army replay that so many listeners loved so dearly. Yes, the sarcasm is intended.

Broward County Commissioner and former Florida State Representative Stacy Ritter is debuting a new radio show this Saturday on WFTL (850AM) in West Palm Beach. Some may remember her as the legsilator who recently proposed that the county stop using WIOD (610AM) as the official station for emergency announcements, because it runs Rush Limbaugh's show. The move failed, but it received nationwide attention. Limbaugh even called here 'a babe,' surprising, since I assumed his tastes ran more towards Dominican teenage boys. Of course, with her blatant anti-Rush stance, the dittohead militia are sure to bring the torches and pitchforks. They obviously hate her for her freedom. Anyhoo, listen for her show Saturday mornings at 10:30AM ET. She'll be in (ahem) good company on the station with the likes of Bill O'Reilly, Michael Savage, Laura Ingraham and the usual gang of idiots.

After previously announcing her move into syndication, Los Angeles-based talker Leslie Marshall has finally launched her new syndicated radio show. The show is being produced by TalkUSA Radio, headed by former Air America and Democracy Radio head Tom Athans. Currently, it airs live from 7-10PM. Or is that 3-6PM? Who knows, since NOBODY THERE IS TELLING ME ANYTHING!!! I swear, some of these people have more secrets than the Illuminati. I'm not even sure if there's any affiliates yet (it's being offered to all talk formats, not just liberal talk) but allegedly, her old employer, Buffalo, NY-based WWKB (1520AM), has picked it up. However, WWKB doesn't offer a webstream anyways (and neither does the host) so nobody outside of New York can hear her. Besides, 'KB can't even maintain an accurate website. Perhaps Ms. Marshall or anyone else involved in this little endeavor could drop a line (hint, hint) and perhaps let people know her show actually exists. Remember, if a tree falls in a forest...

And finally, Enid Goldstein, late of KCTC in Sacramento, KNRC in Denver, and various other radio and TV outlets, is now a political commentator for KCRA-TV in Sacramento. She will be featured on the station's evening newscasts.

Congratulations to all the newly employed. And remember, smile, darn ya' smile!

Oh, and don't forget to pimp your news tips and press releases here.

Ratings Roundup Winter 2007: Part 3

And now we come to part three.

Today, Arbitron released ratings books for more markets, including five that have liberal talk radio stations.

In Minneapolis/St. Paul (#16), 1000 watt independently-owned suburban blaster KTNF drops a bit, from its highest-ever 1.7 to 1.1 for the Winter book. This is a tenth of a point higher than their position a year ago. They are clustered in a pack with three other talk stations: Conservotalk FM'er KTLK-FM, which rises just over a full point, Salem's WWTC and female-oriented FM talker WFMP, which they are tied with. Last fall, the station actually bested KTLK in several daypart and demographic breakdowns, particularly with Ed Schultz' show. Since then, the station moved Schultz to his new time slot, three hours earlier.

There's some interesting stuff going on in Buffalo (#52), as WWKB almost triples its ratings in one book, leaping from 0.6 to 1.7, good for 16th place in the market. They are helped somewhat by a change of formats at WHLD, which previously carried Air America Radio programming, prior to their current gospel music format (which has thus far failed to chart). Since the flip, WWKB has picked up Randi Rhodes and reorganized their schedule, to what appears to be greater success. They are also up nearly half a point from a year ago.

WPTT in Pittsburgh (#24), which carries Air America's Thom Hartmann, local talker Lynn Cullen and even FOX Noise suck-up Alan Colmes drops only a tenth of a point, from 1.2 to 1.1, the same point where they were a year ago.

Market #22 Denver's KKZN slides as well, from 1.9 to 1.3, close to where they were last winter and spring. They are still neck-and-neck with Salem conservotalker KNUS.

And finally, in the Queen City of Cincinnati (#28), WSAI, which ditched liberal talk around the beginning of the year for some weird form of Neal Boortz-anchored 'lifestyle talk' has dropped off the ratings charts. They are non-existent. Hope the Clear Channel braintrusts there who were adamant about wiping progressive talk off the local airwaves are satisfied with this little account executive throw-in special they've created.

Coming up on Friday, books for Miami, Seattle, Columbus and others will be released. Portland and Phoenix are set for Monday. I'll likely combine both days into one report, on Monday afternoon.

Ratings Roundup: Phase 2 Winter trend, part 2

Yesterday, you saw some of the early results of the second of the Winter 2006 Arbitron ratings trend reports. And today, some results from a few other markets.

This rolling trend report survey period covers this past December, January and February, and is the run-up to the official Winter ratings books, which will be released starting later this month.

In Denver and Pittsburgh, nothing exciting to note about any of the liberal talk stations there. KKZN slides a bit, and WPTT, which carries only Thom Hartmann from the Air America lineup and is as close to liberal talk as the market really gets (save for tiny WURP), drops slightly as well. However, one station makes a very impressive leap this time around. WWKB in Buffalo/Niagara Falls (#52), which recently lost a competitor when Air America-formatted WHLD flipped to gospel music, moves from a 0.6 in the Fall book, to a 1.1 in the last trend, and now to a 1.6 share, good for 15th place in the overall rankings. Like the situation in Monterey/Santa Cruz discussed yesterday, one station seemed to benefit when a rival switched formats. WWKB has also recently shuffled its schedule.

In Minneapolis/St. Paul (market #16), KTNF slides a few tenths of a point to 1.3 after their spectacular Fall book. The 1,000 watt station in the western suburb of Eden Prarie holds its own in a very heavy talk radio market that is also home to legendary top-rated middle-of-the-road talker WCCO, reformed conservotalker KSTP, underperforming 100,000 FM conservotalker KTLK-FM, female-oriented FM talker WFMP, Salem's pair of conservotalkers, and, of course, highly-rated Minnesota Public Radio flagship KNOW.

Finally, we conclude with Cincinnati, OH (#28), where WSAI is nowhere to be found after ditching liberal talk for some weird hodgepodge of lifestyle and how-to programming and lower-tier conservotalk shows. Gee, smart move, Clear Channel. Hey, at least liberal talk got ratings!

More trend reports for other markets are on the way next week. If you want to see the overall (12+) numbers for yourself, you can check them out at Radio and Records or StationRatings.com.

Leslie Marshall makes a comeback - in syndication

Only a mere few weeks following her departure from WWKB in Buffalo, Leslie Marshall is back, and will be offered for syndication, according to AllAccess.

Envision Radio Networks and Tom Athans' TalkUSA Radio are set to launch their first weekday offering, as they sign Marshall to a syndication deal. Her revived radio show air live in the 3-6PM ET slot, putting it up against Air America Radio's Randi Rhodes.

Marshall has a long history in broadcasting and media, as she had a brief stint replacing the former Tom Snyder radio show for ABC Radio Networks in 1992. She has also worked at WGR in Buffalo, WLS in Chicago, and KLAC in Los Angeles, among many others. She is also a frequent presence on cable news channels, and occasionally sits in as guest host for Alan Colmes' radio show. In addition, she has many television acting credits to her name, according to her website biography.

"Leslie is nothing short of an amazing talent. She’s got the perfect balance of charisma and experience that makes her incredibly compelling to listen to," said Athans. "What’s particularly special about Leslie is that she’s equally effective on television as she is on radio. She’ll have great crossover appeal as a frequent pundit on the news shows."

Ratings Roundup Fall 2006: Part 5

For the last of this series of Arbitron ratings reports for liberal talk radio stations across the country, we arrive in the Northeast. This one will take a look at the upper East Coast.

In New York, WWRL finally makes an appearance in its first ratings book since becoming the new flagship for Air America. Whereas the signal-challenged station rarely appeared in the rankings prior to the September flip, they now come on with a 0.8 share, tied for 26th place. WWRL also makes a first-time showing in other regional books, garnering a 0.7 share in Long Island (market #18), where they only have a partial presence, and 0.5 in Middlesex, NJ (market #39). Meanwhile, WLIB, now airing a gospel music format, drops from a 1.0 to a 0.5 share in New York City. They did not show up in other regional market surveys, where they have done well under its previous format. All in all, considering the station switch and signal limitations, WWRL did not do too badly, as they beat a few 50,000 watt stations and are even competitive with stronger, higher-profile FM stations like WFNY, airing CBS Radio's expensive "Free FM" talk format.

Upstate, in Buffalo/Niagara Falls (#52), little WHLD maintained a mid-share figure for its last ratings book before its recent flip to gospel music. Since picking up Air America and other liberal talk programming, the station has gone from a perrenial no-show to actually making a dent in the ratings book. Its final number was a 0.5. Entercom-owned rival WWKB finished just a tenth of a point ahead, with a 0.6, down from a 1.0 in the Summer. WWKB appears to be a rather neglected station, with a neglected website and a midday show rerun in the evening hours. Perhaps with WHLD's dropping of Air America, WWKB will have some new programming options. The station does have a fairly strong signal, and could be a success if they figured out how to utilize it properly. To the east, WWKB's sister station WROC in nearby Rochester (#53) made a pretty big jump, rising from a 0.9 to a 1.3, good for 15th place overall. The Arbitron book for Ithaca (#283) has been embargoed, meaning that overall ratings are not available to the public, so there's no word on how WNYY did in that market as of yet. They flipped from oldies to progressive talk last June.

In Boston (#11), the two weak signals of WKOX and WXKS maintained a half share with their recently-dropped progressive talk format. The current ratings for Central Massachusetts' trimulcast of WHMP are unknown in the Springfield (#84) ratings, since the book is under an embargo by Arbitron. In the last available ratings, from one year ago, the station held a 1.6 share, making it the #2 talk station in the market. WAVZ in New Haven (#109), armed with a weak signal and little support from owner Clear Channel, did not register overall in the current ratings book. The station switched to ESPN Radio last week. And WLVP in Portland, ME (#167) drops slightly for the fall, down from a 0.9 to 0.6 share.

Pittsburgh (#24) is the home of two Air America Radio affiliates. The stronger, more established suburban rimshot WPTT, which carries Thom Hartmann, local liberal talker Lynn Cullen and an assortment of other talkers from various sides of the political spectrum, comes in at a 1.2 share. WPTT has recently gotten the go-ahead from the FCC to swap dial positions soon, moving from 1360AM to 910AM, which will give them a stronger daytime signal, though they will cease nighttime broadcasting as a trade-off. WURP, one of Air America's newest affiliates, is a no-show in the book, mostly due to a very tiny predominantly daytime signal that doesn't really get cover much area (at night, they power down from 1000 watts to a measly 4 watts). They have a construction permit pending that will double the daytime power and move the transmitter into the city, which will give the urban areas of Pittsburgh 12 watts at night. The station has long carried The Young Turks, and recently picked up Air America programming for weekends. During the week, they run 'hot talk' personalities such as Don and Mike and Tom Leykis, as well as G. Gordon Liddy.

And finally, this analysis consists mostly of the overall numbers, ages 12+ for all time periods 6AM-Midnight, since these are the only numbers that Arbitron officially releases to the public. Therefore, these numbers do not give any substantial information in regard to daypart, age and gender breakdowns, which are highly coveted by advertisers looking to target specific audiences. Occasionally, more specific information does seep through, such as a statement on Hartmann's website, claiming that his show enjoyed massive increases in listenership in several markets, including WPTT Pittsburgh, with a 100% increase, KPHX Phoenix up 186%, KTNF Minneapolis-St. Paul up 120%, KQKE San Francisco up 100% and his hometown of Grand Rapids, where WTKG is up 114%.



The next series of Arbitron ratings reports will be coming in late March, which will take into account the ratings for this Winter.

Air America sale: What's next?

Two days have passed since the official announcement of the sale of Air America Radio to Stephen and Mark Green, as well as Al Franken's announcement of his departure from the network. Since then, many people, both inside and outside the political spectrum have weighed in, as well as quite a few in the industry.

The wingnut bloggers have been sounding the same silliness, questioning why anyone would want to invest in a 'failing' network. Which is ironic, since quite a few conservative media ventures have had far less success and lost way more money. The irony seems to be that these so-called 'conservative' critics don't really understand the way business works, or that they really aren't champions of entreprenural achievement. Or they're incapable of looking at the color of their own pot. In their eyes, free enterprise is only acceptable for people named Weyrich, Scaife or Murdoch. Not surprising.

People in the industry are also chiming in about the sale. Paul Woodhull, speaking to the New York Daily News, gave his assessment. "I hope they can make it viable," says Woodhull, president of Washington-based Media Syndication Services, which creates and produces radio shows. "But it won't happen unless Mr. Green listens to people who understand how radio works."

Air America's original network plan, says Woodhull, "was based on the idea they could control programs 24 hours a day, seven days a week, on someone else's station. That's just not the way it works."

"The idea that Air America is a 'network' is a myth anyway," says Michael Harrison, editor of the trade magazine Talkers. "As a syndicator, it could work."

What radio insiders don't realize though is that Air America could be considered comparable to full-service syndicators like ESPN Radio, FOX Sports Radio and Talk Radio Network, all of which offer a full schedule of programming around the clock, but allow individual affiliates to pick and choose programming, or just leave it running full-time. In essence, they help fill out station lineups. Think of it as the radio equivalent of 'Hamburger Helper.' Since signing on almost three years ago, Air America, which had initially tried to force affiliates to carry the entire slate of programming, has since given much more leeway to affiliates in structuring their schedules, even allowing some of them to drop Al Franken's show for Thom Hartmann, or to carry programming from other syndicators. Several Air America affiliates even carry programming from conservative talkers such as Rush Limbaugh, Neal Boortz and Bill O'Reilly.

Both Woodhull and Harrison agree that the programming has to be worth listening to. Woodhull agrees that progressive talk is no different than any other type of talk radio programming, in that it has to actually be good. "It has to be entertaining and compelling. It can't start with a political agenda. It can't start by trying to get somebody elected," says Woodhull.

Harrison thinks there is a niche for liberal talk, and there will always be. He also disagrees with the notion that talk radio is dominated by conservatives. "It's not," claims Harrison. "Conservatives have a niche, and it's a very profitable niche — but it's still a niche. You also have NPR, you have 'shock jocks,' you have sports talk. There's room for all of it.

"None of those shows succeed because the hosts are well-intentioned. They succeed because they work as a business."

Air America will need to strengthen it's affiliate base, which is chock full of many weak and non-supportive stations, as well. "To build a radio network you need to start from a solid base and then expand," says Andrew Ettinger, media supervisor at EarthQuake Media in New York, speaking to Media Life Magazine. "Rush Limbaugh, Dr. Laura, Sean Hannity, etc. did not appear overnight as dominant radio personalities. Rather, they built their following one station at a time, one market at a time. By doing so they grew from strength, not artificial station clearances."

In the other big Air America story, Franken's retirement from radio has gotten the predictable snide reaction from the wingnut media. Some say he's giving up, or that he's jumping off a sinking ship. Keep in mind that Franken never intended to do radio forever, as he initially signed a one year contract with then-owner Progress Media (as they were working under the provisional name Central Air), and had previously hinted at not making radio his life's work. Considering his other jobs such as writing, comedy and soon, possibly politics, his departure is no surprise. And his official announcement and the network's immediate naming of Hartmann as his successor should remove quite a bit of distraction from their operations.

In regard to his future plans, rumored to include a 2008 run for the Senate from his home state of Minnesota, Franken and his people have been mum about it. Franken has admitted that he is strongly considering challenging Norm Coleman for the seat, and has hinted that he could formally announce his intentions on-air in the runup to the end of his show February 14.

Some of Air America's affiliates have already announced their intentions for life after Franken. KTNF, fresh off a rather remarkable Fall ratings book, was the first, as they announced yesterday the move of Hartmann from the station's evening delay to the afternoon slot being vacated. In his place, KTNF will expand it's local "Minnesota Matters" show by an hour (to be 5-7PM) and add Air America's Rachel Maddow to evenings, 7-9PM. Entercom-owned WROC in Rochester, NY will give Ed Schultz a live clearance, moving him in to the 12-3PM slot, and soliciting listener opinions to fill the 3-6PM shift.

Meanwhile, up the road at WROC's sister station WWKB, the schedule on their recently updated website is a bit vague. At this time, the on-air schedule for this week omits local midday host Leslie Marshall and shows two daily airings of the syndicated shows from Stephanie Miller and Ed Schultz. Whether this will be permanent remains to be seen. Previously, the station aired a rerun of Marshall's show in the evenings. WWKB recently lost a competitor when Air America affiliate WHLD switched to gospel, so there are indeed more programming options available from which the station could choose from.

KPTK in Seattle sent out an email to listeners enlisting their help in making adjustments to the daily lineup. WCPT in Chicago will announce their intentions shortly. Other stations have yet to announce their replacements for Franken, though it's expected that many will just continue with Hartmann, such as KYNS in San Luis Obispo, CA. In the past few months, some stations already have already moved Hartmann into the slot. Some stations that currently carry only Franken, including WMLB in Atlanta and WWWI in Brainerd, MN could possibly pass on replacing him with any other Air America offering.

And no word from Air America on how they'll handle overnight and weekend replays of Franken's show.

Speaking of KYNS, in an unrelated move, they will add Mike Malloy to their schedule, airing it on delay from 8-11PM starting next Monday.

WHLD/Niagara Falls drops liberal talk

"The Voice of Reason" has been silenced.

The group that runs WHLD in Niagara Falls, NY, has flipped the station to a format consisting mostly of gospel music and brokered shows, effective today.

Brian Brown-Cashdollar, WHLD's president and general manager, said the station's ratings were "respectable" for a start-up station and advertising revenue shot up "tenfold" during the 10-month effort. But ultimately, it was not enough to satisfy investors concerned about cash flow.

"We went from 3,600 to about 20,000 listeners by the end of September. By all indications, we would have continued to grow," Brown-Cashdollar said.

"We've done a lot of things right, but in the end we fell short. We had a business opportunity to protect the shareholders, so we took it," Brown-Cashdollar said.

The station's license is owned by Citadel Broadcasting Corp. and will continue to be operated by Niagara Independent Media. Brown-Cashdollar said there will be layoffs but could not yet say how many.

WHLD's left-of-center format evolved out of an effort in January 2004 by the Buffalo Coalition for Progressive Media that brought Pacifica's "Democracy Now," hosted by Amy Goodman, to Buffalo. It was the first time the nationally syndicated program landed on a commercial station. At the time, much of WHLD's programming came via time brokered programming.

Eventually, the station built around the Pacifica programming, adding shows from Air America Radio, as the small AM station became a full-time progressive talk outlet. They added more locally produced shows, such as "The Newsroom," which aired mornings with Joe Schmidbauer and Grady Hawkins," "Radio Civil Liberties," "The Einach Report" and "Speakeasy radio." Schmidbauer said his abrupt dismissal came "with about five minutes notice," and expressed disappointment for "all the people whose hopes and dreams rode with us."

The station competed with another local station, Entercom-owned WWKB in neighboring Buffalo, which airs a mostly syndicated talk format consisting of hosts such as Stephanie Miller, Bill Press, Ed Schultz and Lionel. Brown-Cashdollar, in a statement on the station's homepage, encourages his former listeners to support WWKB.

"Democracy Now" will still air, for the time being, on WHLD, but will eventually move to WBBF (1120AM), which is also owned by Niagara Independent Media and carries a gospel format.

In related news comes word that KTXX-FM, located outside of San Antonio, has flipped it's format from liberal talk to a Spanish-language music format. The station is owned by Border Media Partners, which previously operated the Texas Progressive Network, and aired programming over stations in San Antonio, Dallas and Austin. The group sold Dallas affiliate KXEB in September. The sole remaining Texas Pro affiliate, KOKE in Austin, will still carry liberal talk programming. The flip of KTXX is not surprising, since they really aren't a San Antonio station, as their signal is located too far outside the city to really make an impact in the local ratings. Basically, KTXX hits a lot of Texas ranch land. The flip to a Spanish language format does make sense, in this case.

Meanwhile, reports out of El Paso say that KHRO, a newcomer of sorts to the format, has dropped liberal talk for an undisclosed format. KHRO was never a player in the El Paso market, who's demographic makeup is roughly 80% Mexican origin, and it doesn't appear that they did a whole lot to promote the mostly automated format (though, rumor has it, they did allegedly carry at least one local show). As proof of their lack of promotion, the station's rather pathetic website has, since their sign-on earlier this year, consisted of a blank page, with only a solitary link to Air America Radio's website. And they expected this to be a success? Can't wait to see what their format will be next month, and the month after that, and so on and so on...

Liberal talk radio stations shuffle lineups

UPDATED 9/18. All times local.

In response to recent lineup changes at Air America Radio, several affiliates have announced their own schedule changes.

First, Clear Channel-owned KTLK in Los Angeles has adjusted its on-air roster, picking up Rachel Maddow's new evening show for 6-8PM and picking up WOR Radio Network's Lionel for 10PM-1AM. Cary Harrison's local show moves up the schedule to the 8-10PM slot.

Further north, after conducting an online vote on their updated lineup, KQKE in San Francisco, also owned by Clear Channel, adds Stephanie Miller to weekdays, airing an hour of her show from 6-7AM, displacing the locally-produced "The Progressive News Hour". The Quake will air the last two hours of Al Franken's midday show from 10AM-12PM followed by Ed Schultz live, add "EcoTalk" in the 6-7PM slot. Thom Hartmann's show, which has experienced great success in West Coast markets, will air delayed from 7-10PM, and Lionel comes to the station for the 10PM-2AM shift, including a repeat of one hour of the three hour show. Mark Riley's one hour show will follow at 2AM, and Bill Press is added live 3-6AM. Air America's new morning show, The Young Turks, will not be picked up by the station.

Entercom-owned KCTC in Sacramento lists Peter Werbe in the live 7-9PM slot, followed by a replay of Franken's show from 9PM-12AM. Press will air live 3-5:30AM, followed by the local morning show, "The Morning Retort", hosted by Scott & Sims.

And CBS Radio's KPTK in Seattle also shuffles it's schedule, The new weekday lineup adds The Young Turks (who had been on weekends) to weekdays live 3-6AM PT and Rachel Maddow live 3-5PM. KPTK moves Al Franken's delayed show to 5-8PM and Randi Rhodes 8-11PM.

Dave McDonald, senior vice president and market manager for CBS Radio's Seattle stations, said he's pleased to be able to add Maddow's show to the lineup. The new lineup also helps KPTK shift more of its programming to live, he added.

KPTK listeners have also expressed their disappointment over the loss of Mike Malloy, whose show was dropped by Air America, McDonald said.

In Portland, KPOJ substitutes live airings of Riley and The Young Turks for the current Air America Mornings bloc from 2-6AM. Seder's new show will air on delay around the time of the Majority Report's former shift, from 6-9PM. And following the success of Hartmann's local morning show, KPOJ adds his national show to evenings, delayed to 9PM-12AM, and taking over Malloy's former shift. Maddow follows from 12-2AM.

Meanwhile, on the opposite coast, WINZ in Miami picks up Maddow for 9-11PM and moves Sam Seder from overnights to the 11PM-2AM shift. The rest of the schedule remains unchanged, except for the shortening of Rhodes' show.

At WXXM in Madison, Maddow, "Politically Direct" with David Bender, and "EcoTalk" with Betsy Rosenberg will be added, along with a few other changes.

KTNF in Minneapolis/St. Paul adds Press for mornings, following Riley. Hartmann's show is also added, airing from 6-9PM, bumping Rhodes to 9Pm-12AM. Seder's show airs on delay from 12-2AM. The station does seem to remain open to Malloy's return, if he indeed does.

KKZN in Denver/Boulder CO adds Maddow from 7-9PM, followed by EcoTalk 9-10PM, Politically Direct 10-11PM, Werbe 11-1AM, and a replay of Franken from 1-3AM. Riley airs live from 3-4AM and The Young Turks air 4-6AM, followed by local host Jay Marvin. The rest of the schedule remains the same.

As reported earlier, KRFT in St. Louis, currently airing Franken's show, adds Randi Rhodes to the 3-6PM shift. St. Louis listeners can see Franken as he does a live broadcast from St. Louis on Tuesday 9/19.

KLSD in San Diego updated their own schedule, picking up Maddow for 6-7PM, sending Jon Elliott back to weekends and airing Werbe evenings 7-9PM. A Franken replay airs from 9-10PM, followed by The Lionel Show. Mark Riley and The Young Turks air live during the early morning hours. Seder's show will air on weekends as 'best-of' programming.

In Columbus, WTPG picks up The Young Turks for mornings. Maddow gets the 6-8 shift, followed by Politically Direct and EcoTalk. Fans of Rhodes will be disappointed, as her show moves to overnight hours (3-5AM) in a surprise move.

WXKS/WKOX in Boston adds Riley and The Young Turks for mornings and EcoTalk from 9-10PM. The 10PM-12AM shift is undetermined, but for now, Werbe will have the shift.

The WHMP trimulcast in central Massachusetts is also altering its lineup, moving Maddow to evenings. Stephanie Miller debuts on the station and picks up Maddow's previous timeslot, 10AM-12PM.

KPHX in Phoenix will air the straight Air America feed live for much of the day, outside of Mike Newcomb's morning show. Hartmann will air from 9PM-12AM in delay.

In the Buffalo/Niagara Falls area, WHLD adds Seder to mornings and will also air Franken, Rhodes and one hour of Maddow live. Democracy Now follows at 7PM, followed by various non-commercial shows, including Flashpoints, Building Bridges, Uprising Radio, Counterspin and others on a daily rotating basis.

Chicago's WCPT switches out morning shows, adding Bill Press. Jerry Springer remains in his mid-morning shift. The station is a Class D AM station, meaning it signs off the air from sunset to sunrise.

WRVC in Huntington, WV adds a second Air America show to the lineup, as they bring in The Young Turks for morning drive. The station currently carries Franken, as well as Ed Schultz. The rest of the schedule is heavy with local programming and ESPN Radio and other sports programming.

And syndicated host Lionel picks up a few new affiliates, including the aforementioned KTLK and KQKE. He also lands on WKJK in Louisville KY, WWKB in Buffalo NY, WHNZ in Tampa FL and WCRN in Worcester MA weekdays and WOND in Atlantic City NJ, KTLK-FM in Minneapolis MN on weekends. It should be noted that WKJK, WHNZ, WCRN and KTLK-FM air predominantly conservative talk shows.

And what about Jerry Springer? The bankruptcy rumors this week claimed that Air America and Springer have parted ways. It looks like the previous story about Springer being taken off the main Air America feed and shuffled to their syndication arm is actually correct, at least according to Springer's Cincinnati sales team in The Cincinnati Post, who claim that almost all their 50-some affiliates are staying with the show, while Springer will be dropped at the New York affiliate in favor of Seder. Whether Springer actually has 50 affiliates (I count twenty or so at most, and this is a very old list) is probably something that can be debated. Nonetheless, Jerry is still out there, plugging away, and will likely stay at WSAI in Cincy.
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