’)Another Dan Snyder mistake.
President Obama may be riding high in Washington, but OBAMA 1260 is not.
The area’s only progressive talk station is changing formats, dropping such syndicated liberal hosts as Ed Schultz, Stephanie Miller and Bill Press in favor of financial news, starting next week.
The move by Redskins owner Dan Snyder, who purchased the station, WWRC, and others in Washington last summer, leaves the city without a liberal radio outlet. Program Director Greg Tantum says he thought the station could work because of enthusiasm over Obama, but that ratings collapsed to a level that could not be measured after the election.
But ratings nearly doubled, he says, at Snyder’s conservative station, WTNT, which features Laura Ingraham and Bill Bennett. Tantum said he will move Schultz to WTNT to give him another shot.
The major problem with this station was not its liberalism but the fact that most of the content was horrible. It ran the gamut from Ed Schultz, who I like, to just lame stuff like some program called “Clout” which was just the sort of NPR-lite programming too often put on liberal talk stations. People want hot talk, not a lecture without phone calls.
But even worse was the fact that the station management clearly didn’t care about the station. There was not a single bit of local programming on the air, not even a morning show! To succeed in talk radio you can’t just jam in syndicated stuff.
And EVEN WORSE, because they ran the station “automatically”, there were whole nights where the signal went off the air or an audible, loud beep just droned on. Nobody was paying attention.
Changing the call sign to “Obama 1260″ was a last desperate move of a lame station that should have died long ago.
So I guess the inference is that the successful conservative Dan Snyder radio show is not a joke.
The con station is run better. The ideology isn’t relevant.
Ed Schultz is liberal?
Stephanie Miller = Funny (and I know Funny). DC’s loss.
Ah, you cons go get ‘em. You’ve got no power to speak of, you can have the radio.
NPR lite? Yeah, I guess so. Heaven forbid they try to dig into an issue rather than take 20-second phone calls delivering ignorant and oversimplified opinions. Gotta draw in the Maury Povich audience.
That’s a lot like what happened to Boston’s Air America station. There was limited “local” content (mainly traffic reports and some weather) and the station was a fringe station that had to cut its power a dusk, so you couldn’t get the station at all in most places during the evening drive time and when most of the good content was on. So of course the station died.
This was, of course, pointed to by the rightwingnuts as proof that progressive radio couldn’t even succeed in a blue state like Massachusetts. I’d really like to see Air America return to Boston on a full-powered AM station, but I doubt that will ever happen now.
I live in the DC area and I was delighted to have a liberal talk radio station in the area, however the transmission range was about 10 feet on a clear day. Hope someone buys a station with an antenna to replace it.
I have listened to it for years, but would give up on it for long stretches due to the poor management. The signal was extremely weak, failing to reach even the entirety of the region inside Beltway, and the long stretches of dead air were far too frequent. I especially loathed the fact that the bumps would ALWAYS overlap–and then repeat–over content. Very professional!
I got used to listening to Miller and Schultz on my computer at home, usually from a station in another town (or directly from the shows’ websites), at least then I could count on actually getting to hear the programs, rather than all that dead air.
I’ve said it a million times…i’ll state it again. Progressives will have a hard time being successful long-term if they don’t have a solid media apparatus. Progressives will have to start matching the Conservative media machine (or they at least should be competitive) if they want to get their message out to the American people… unfiltered. They will have to be able to rebut Right wing propaganda….because if it is not answered… Americans end up taking that nonsense at face value (this is how Republicans controlled the narrative on Iraq & other issues for so long… fooling an entire nation).
Being able to control the airwaves has been a huge advantage for Republicans… Ever since Nixon… they have relied on it and have used it well… and it works well for them…. even in down years. It helped them with Reagan… it helped them again in the 90’s when they took over Congress….and my guess is… it will help them once again under Obama.
Progressives have yet to catch up…. and remain outnumbered 3-1 when it comes to having a voice on the airwaves. Why Progressives refuse to establish a solid media apparatus is a mystery to me…
If it wasn’t for NYT and Washington Post reporters…and NPR…. Progressives would have nothing. And even with that… Progressives are always left to respond (reactive) to Conservatives who drive media…control the narrative, etc. Progressives have not been proactive…in driving the news.
Prepare to be under media attack by Conservatives for at least the next 4 years… and they love this position. This is how the Conservative media got to be so big…. by having the Republican Party in the minority. If Progressives were smart… they would have an answer for the Republican media machine… and they might be able to keep the Right in the minority.
But we’ll likely see a resurgence like we saw in the 90’s…spurred on my Conservative media. The cycle will keep repeating… until Progressives decide to get off their asses.
If it wasn’t for NYT and Washington Post reporters…and NPR…. Progressives would have nothing.
You mean like David Brooks, Charles Krauthammer, and Juan Willimas?
If it wasn’t for NYT and Washington Post reporters…and NPR…. Progressives would have nothing.
I disagree. Progressives have the web. It’s not exclusive to progresives, but it works. I also like what I see happening at whitehouse.gov. It’s having fits and starts, but if they can gather up some momentum momentum, it could be a great bully pulpit that doesn’t suffer the media filter.
You know I listen to and watch progressive broadcasters, and quite frankly it gets old fast. Before the election and inauguration they helped me keep up to speed, but it’s starting to sound a bit like droning now. I find myself switching away from Randi Rhodes after one segment, and Bill Press after one minute. Meanwhile, PRI puts out a quality morning show in The Takeaway with John Hockenberry, and while he’s not a partisan (if so, I’m not hearing it) it’s informative and interesting.
The one thing I don’t “get” is how rush and his ilk continue to attract listeners after all these years. Maybe it’s that they incite, and that keeps listeners coming back. I used to tune in occasionally, but it’s just such nonsense I don’t even bother anymore.
Parthenon you dumb, ignorant slut!!!!!!!!!
I’m devastated, especially by the timing — I and two friends just spent $75 apiece to attend the Obama Radio Nation on Jan. 18th that was covered by CSpan. The audience was filled with rapturous Stephanie and Randi male stalkers. The reception afterwards was jammed. Several people here have made great points about poor station management and competition from enduring grassroots listener-supported WPFW and the more reliable internet. Here in the DC area there is another overlooked competitor — CSpan radio which probably grabs Democrats who must listen to hearings and press conferences FOR THEIR JOBS. I switch between all of them. Much of the imbalance problem is station ownership monopolies by conservatives. At the Radio Nation event, various speakers described outright sabotage of would-be advertisers who were rebuffed by station personnel when they tried to place ads. I believe Rove has armies of moles who get such key jobs so Rethugs can falsely claim there’s no financial backing of liberal talk. Also, the rating systems are run and rigged by conservatives. A few years ago, 1050 AM briefly blessedly broadcast conservative Bush-basher Alex Jones and his other fabulous 9/11 Truth network hosts who sent me to the internet when the station dropped them. I was impressed when one of Air America’s Green brother owners bravely aired a Clout series on 9/11 Truthers. 1260 needed to keep Tom Hartmann in the afternoon and Mike Malloy at night. It would be great if other stations mixed their line-up by picking up one or more of these liberal hosts. It’s an insulting fascist assault to have to keep turning the station dial and only hearing bigots like Limpball and Ingraham. The long term solution is breaking up the dishonest conservative monopolies and sending drug thug sexual hypocrites like Limpball to jail.
M Mueller – your hate-filled diatribe misses the point of a free market. If you have a show with listeners, advertising dollars will follow, revenue will flow, that revenue will be used to hire better hosts and improved infrastructure, more listeners will come, more advertising dollars flow, etc… it actually works in practice in the real world.
I tried listening to Air America, and it was bland, boring, drivel. WWRC was apparently so bad that, according to the article, they had ratings that were not measurable.
I support having two sides in the debate of public policy. Unfortunately liberal radio hasn’t brought its “A game” to the fight.
Back to my intial point, calling Mr. Limbaugh names doesn’t advance your point, it merely makes you sound like an 8 year old. And I love your excuse for the failure of liberalism on the airwaves – Democrats are listening to CSpan, it’s their job. Yeah, whatever…
The problem with liberal talk from my perspective is that they simply can’t defend their ideology when questioned. If an opposing call comes in, they usually revert to calling them names. Say what you want about conservatives talk hosts, but by and large, they put opposing calls on the air first so they can debate them.
Oh, and conservative talk is veryy entertaining – which bring listeners, advertising dollars, infrastructure, yada yada yada. ‘Obama radio’ is a victim of economic darwinism.
Tim, have you specifically listened to Obama 1260 AM in Washington, DC or only Air America ONLINE?–because there is a difference, not that you would notice or care. 1260 carries many non-Air America talent like gorgeous comedian Stephanie Miller as well. Unfortunately, its signal is so weak, most listeners give up and listen online or download podcasts like me. When liberal shows are given stations with strong signals, they scarily beat out conservatives. Check out today’s Bill Press’s Washington Post letter “Another Right-Wing Conspiracy in Washington?” for some real facts. Moreover, I and my friends have noticed that while 1260 AM commercials loudly air, the programs in between often don’t air at all–as if some Rove mole technician hijacked the signal. Who would listen to 15 minutes of dead air? You also completely ignored what I learned from the hosts at Obama Radio Nation who recounted outright sabotage of would-be advertisers. Moreover, liberal hosts like brainy Tom Hartmann have a zillion painful facts to back up their arguments which is probably why you turned them off. Hartmann regularly has on and cheerfully flattens conservatives with his facts. But they come back on his and other liberal shows regularly because they are well treated. I’ve called into many conservative shows, but was always cut off and then cruelly libeled for mentioning inconvenient facts. I could flatten you too on ANY SOCIAL ISSUE. I work in DC and know plenty of political wonks, liberal and conservative who follow CSpan for their job assignments and personal interests. Do YOU work in DC and listen to DC-oriented shows? What sounds reasonable and entertaining to you would probably sound hateful, misogynist and fascist to me because I have been abused at previous jobs and in life by bigot hypocrite womanizers like Limpball. For the record, I work at a conservative publication in DC that is staffed by mostly white and black DEMOCRATS, Independants, and DISGUSTED ex-Republicans WHO VOTED FOR OBAMA. My co-workers REJOICED when he won! Obama’s win FELT LIKE D-DAY! Obama radio is a victim of REPUBLICAN owner Dan Snyder, a weak signal, and OTHER OLDER LOCAL COMPETING POPULAR LIBERAL stations. Even if 1260 loses the programming battle, DEMOCRATS STILL WON THE WAR!
Dan Snyder would become An Hero for this move.
But seriously, O-Dub – you would rather liberal radio be completely absent than have one last remaining bastion simply because it’s “weak”?
Some enterprising entrepreneur should buy out a high-power station and put Steph and Thom and the rest of the gang back in DC. Until then, I’ll be in the corner curled up, crying over losing my Stephy again.
I’d rather good liberal radio or no radio. And I don’t like Stephanie Miller or Thom Hartmann.
Also, according to the ratings boards, WTNT (The Hyde to WWRC’s Jekyll) isn’t doing that much better either. It’s got a lot to do with signal strength.