Actually, it's a story about talk radio, a format I have ignored for the past few years. Brad Friedman has published an interesting story about the end of two progressive radio stations, Portland's KPOJ and Seattle's KPTK. The former, owned by Clear Channel, went to the Fox Sports format, "while leaving their two "competing" Clear Channel-owned Rightwing stations in the same market intact." KPTK, owned by CBS, is also expected to flip to a sports format -- even though the market already has more sports talk than listeners want.
Portland and Seattle are two of the most liberal cities in the nation. By what logic does Portland need two right-wing talk stations and no progressive outlets? From a pure business standpoint, that decision makes no sense.
As Daniel Hopsicker likes to say: "If it doesn't make business sense, it has to make some other kind of sense."
Here's the kicker: Clear Channel is owned by none other than Bain Capital. In a few previous posts, we've seen that there has always been something "spooky" about Bain.
Consider this: In San Francisco, Clear Channel owns a prog radio station called Green960, where the Stephanie Miller show -- very popular in that market -- was canned last year. The replacement: Glenn Beck. This move has not been popular, to say the least. According to Friedman, Beck has received far less impressive ratings, just as one might expect. Selling Glenn Beck to San Franciscans makes about as much sense as giving a cell phone to a mollusk.
Beck pretends to expose conspiracies of all sorts. Looks to me as though he's really the beneficiary of a conspiracy. As Friedman noted in an earlier story:
In many of those cities, the progressive station is usually carried on a weaker signal and broadcasters and their syndicators have pointed out that there is often little, if any, marketing done to promote the progressive stations. Such was the case on San Francisco's Green960 prior to last week's announcement, according to a number of insiders who spoke to The BRAD BLOG off record.Of course replacing Miller with Beck in that market was done for reasons that have nothing to do with profit and everything to do with propaganda. Anyone who argues otherwise is trying to snooker you.
If it doesn't make business sense, it has to make some other kind of sense.
10 comments:
Thankfully SF has several very good, very liberal public radio stations--when I lived therre I never bothered listening to corporate radio. Public radio music and programming was miles above corporate radio.
But they too have had to fight very hard to maintain a "community" radio station.
http://dbacon.igc.org/PJust/16RecoveringPacifica.htm
AM radio has never been a "progressive" place on the dial-anywhere really, so I am not really surprised. But to clarify, Miller still is on 960- in the evening slot. Beck has the morning drive time slot. A coveted position to cultivate the crazy. I guess they figure conspiracy crazy is a good way to tap into the coveted cruise in the am. Oh well - they can afford to lose. Like Fox did for years building their market.
I really have no reason to listen to radio as long as we have CLEAR channel...I wish someone would tackle the
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Telecommunications_Act_of_1996
Serious amendments to this law are needed.
kc
How much has to do with advertizing audience?
Is there a market in the Liberal Community for gold, or snake oil stiffy pills?
"Progressive" talk shows are mostly a Democrat Party-cheerleading sham, since the overwhelming majority of their "star hosts" HARDLY EVER question the official government excuses for political assassinations, invasions, and terror attacks.
The Amy Goodman-Thom Hartmann crowd are far too friendly with the spook-controlled "non-profit foundations" to ever tug on their velvet leashes very hard.
@Andy Tyme,
Because we all know that 'progressives', 'liberals', 'democrats', 'leftists' and 'hippies' are behind every political assassination, military/police invasion, terrorist attack and conspiracy EVER. Yup. You really hit the nail on the head with that one. That'll show those goddamn liberals, who as you and I both know are really COMMUNISTS. Fuckin crypto-communist pieces of shit that have conspired against us god-fearing conservatives to establish a New World Order that doesn't include Our Lord Jesus Christos, a shadow government with Satan as head honcho! Herp a fuckin derp. One thing I notice about conspiracy theories and conspiracy theorists, other than nearly all of them having their roots in the John Birch Society and/or Christian Patriotism, is that almost always, in other words more than 95%, those spewing conspiracy theories are themselves crypto-fascists who support ultra-ultra-ultra-ultra-fucking Right Wing ideologies. It's a woot here in conspiratoid world (Above Top Secret, Godlike Productions, Coast to Coast, you name it) where all conspiracy theorists are hardcore (and I do mean fucking hardcore) 'conservatives'. What the fuck do conservatives conserve? Why are they called conservatives when all they seek to conserve is their own hateful psychosis? I wish they would leave Barack Obama alone and never mention him again and instead focus their attacks on me, it would make more sense considering I am openly sympathetic towards communists, socialists (and yes, there is a difference between the two), syndicalists, and anarchists.
Sincerely,
Jay
Jay
A complete non sequiter.
But I would like to know if Goodman and Maddow have attacked Obama's drone bombing and general war hawkishness, as wasting thousands more lives in Afghanistan sufficiently.
Did they present third party alternatives adequately?
Folks, I would say that the prog media was pretty happy to critique Obama on all sorts of grounds -- as was I, as am I. That kind of changed when they got a look at the GOP line-up in the primaries, and it changed some more when everyone took a good look at Romney, who turned you to be even worse than expected.
The progs will bash Obama again soon, I think. Right now, they are waiting to see if the next administration will be better.
Thanks Jay- I was just now explaining conspiracy and the JBS on another forum, so it is refreshing to read it here now heh.
I think we have a serious issue with the whole Benghazi issue- in that they won't let it go. It's similar to the war on Clinton in his second term. I hope and pray that Obama has a few tricks up his sleeve, and until that time becomes apparent, I have a feeling that the "progressive" media will not be attacking Obama. The Obama Admin definitely has to nip this in the bud pronto. Then we can all get back to hating on the centrist ;-)
kc
Hi. Mike Malloy, progressive, who is now on 960 am in SF at 1 AN, has been talking about the clearly fascist channel corporation and bain capital. He is trying to move to any internet radio broadcasting which currently cannot be interfered with by right-wing powers...
If you get DISH tv, a satellite service, go to channel 280, RT News. They frequently talk about the evils of Obama's drone murder machines...
cheers.
James
Joseph, despite his repeated promise to return to criticizing Obama, is actually the one who taught me to like Obama and embrace him. So I have, and I continually defend him from his detractors. I did rant about how terrible and evil Obama is, yatta yatta yatta, but having taken a look at the other side, I now realise that I was inadvertently helping Republicans and I myself was coming across as a Republican. The sheer infinite horror in that had me running directly into Obama's arms whilst sucking on my thumb and whimpering. Yes, Republicans terrify me that much, it's breakaway splinter factions such as the Constitution Party, America's Party, American Third Position Party, Christian Liberty Party, American Conservative Party, Alaskan Independence Party, and so many others. Overshadowing all of them, including the Republican Party, is the less consolidated and not as united or monolithic, Tea Party movement. In my discussions about conspiracy theorists, I forgot to mention a father and rabid popularizer who very directly is the JBS in the 21st century, that person is Alex Jones and his cohorts. Alex Jones fiercely hates Obama and all liberals and his cohorts have called the Southern Poverty Law Center a 'hardcore liberal hate group'. Their insanity and the Tea Party has me literally hiding behind Obama for cover and safety. I do not look forward to Joseph's forthcoming attacks on Obama, which will only serve to fuel his opponents and make us all look like something we are not. For all Obama's faults, including the outrageous murder of a 16 year old boy, he's a saint compared to the GOP/Tea Party and co. civilization.
Jay.
Carl WOlfson on KPOJ Mornings and Thom Hartmann who hosted the show before him are absolutely the best in the business. This was about prepping the way for 2016, with no alternative voices but the right wing hatetalk.
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