I am deeply concerned and somewhat discouraged by the recent loss of progressive talk radio to the Boston market. We live in the the most progressive, liberal part of the country and it can’t survive here????? B___S___ It’s all a part of the conservative conspiracy to solidify their fascist grip on America. There are 2 plausable explanations: 1.) they planned this all along. Let me explain. A strong negative sentiment rising after the 2004 election lead them to try to find a way to pacify the dissenters. Open a number of underfunded, low powered radio stations featuring left-leaning talk. Wah Lah, now the dissenters are happy. This will help them feel like they’ve won something, then allow the voting machines to give them enough of a margin to gain a slim majority in the Congress, afterall it’s only for 2 years! Then when the stations don’t make it (due to poor management and funding) say “See noone really cares” and shut the stations down. Next, fix the next election and really seize power. How will they get away with this.
They’ll say: “Look you won the election and then couldn’t do anything to fix ‘the problem’,(ignoring the fact that 2 yrs with a slim majority is ‘gridlock’) your ‘liberal talk’ radio couldn’t make it, you obviously the people want us, so step out of the way or we’ll call you Enemy Combatants and hold you without charges.” The “Righting” of America will have occurred. Goodbye Bill of Right, Goodbye Constitution, Hello Dictator Bush
Or 2.) they really thought that this wouldn’t work and when it did they are doing this to make sure that NO dissenting voice will be heard. Interesting timing on all this …right after the elections …BEFORE Congress convenes!
THEY are secret reactionaries plotting to silence liberal voices? Mr. Soros was the source of the start up funding. Of couse, Al Franken signed off on the note stealing money from the Gloria Wiese Boys & Girl’s Club, and then claimed they had ‘escrowed’ they money to repay them. Wonder how THAT’s going to work out.
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I expressed amazement earlier that Boston couldn’t support Air America, but it’s true. No Jordan’s Furniture, Dean & DeLucca or other liberal-owned store bought advertising.
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No, what happened was that Arbitron, the Nielsen Ratings of the airwaves, were so DISMAL that even the BuyBlue corporations like Trader Joes didn’t advertise – no desire to put their money where their mouth was.
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As far as no dissenting voice being heard – hey! I just heard YOU, didn’t I?
There was no marketing/advertising in the Boston area, there were constant changes in the lineup, and the signal strength was terrible. I could barely receive Air America in Cambridge after sunset. They didn’t advertise like they have in other metro areas. Did you ever see a billboard or taxi ad like in NYC? Some of my most liberal friends didn’t know they existed. Early on, Clear Channel decided not to support progressive radio and try to make AM 1200 and 1430 viable. Someone like Randi Rhodes could have dominated the 3-6PM slot, but not with a shitty signal and no marketing. I’ll really miss Stephanie Miller in the mornings!
in Cambridge when they first started up, for what it’s worth.
My earlier point is that the right-wing ownership of Clear Channel had NO intention of making progressive radio a viable option in Boston. It was done to try and silence the voices saying that only one point of view was being broadcast. They did it! Now they can say they tried but noone wanted it as they couldn’t get the Arbitron ratings to attract advertisers, who need to make money from their advertising and marketing efforts. I, like many others, did support many of the advertisers that did advertise but it was never enough.
Clear Channel needed to mass-market the station, boost the signal and Promote, Promote , Promote. They did none of this because they never intended for this station to be viable, it was just done to placate the opposition voices by being able to say; “we tried that and it didn’t work.” Well they are right about one thing, it didn’t work. But they are very wrong about another, they didn’t try, they just pretended.
I say we fight for a “REAL” radio station, one with good management, ability and will to promote and market the station and one that can be heard by everyone who can now hear the other big Boston stations.
There are a number of stations that are struggling to find a format, one is the old WBAQ on the North Shore. They have a good FM signal but are struggling find a format that works. Another is WPLM in Plymouth, strong FM signal and an AM signal. I don’t know if these stations are available or have any interest but there a number of stations that seem to be hunting for a winning format. With the right management, promo etc as said before, a progressive talk station could flourish. Just look at the interest on this site alone!!!