Blue Mass Group

Reality-based commentary on politics.

No more “Boston’s Progressive Talk” radio as of Dec. 22nd

By

According to the discussion board at WKOS, Boston’s Progressive Talk, which airs Air America Radio and Jones Radio Network shows, will soon be off the air.

As of December 22nd, the station will be switching formats and dropping progressive talk radio, says a post which references a station receptionist’s response when questioned about the rumors.

While I admit the station has had low ratings, it is greatly due in part to the lack of efficient management at the station, as well as to poor signal strength (which is due to be fixed with a new antenna in 2007).

This is a horrible step to be taking, but hopefully Stephanie Miller, Randi Rhodes, Rachel Maddow and yes, even Ed Schultz will find their way to another local air wave soon.

I know in Phoenix, when their progressive station was cut, they fought back with petitions and a fund-raising drive and got in back on the air. Is that something the Boston area folk could be capable of?

Please share widely!
fb-share-icon
Tweet
0

Comments

  1. There was no media blitz/advertising in the Boston area, there were constant changes in the lineup, and the signal strength was terrible. It’s a shame-I actually looked forward to Rachel Maddow and Randi Rhodes.

  3. I can do without Stephanie Miller and Ed Schultz and can take but limited doses of Randi Rhodes, but Sam Seder was getting better and better. Al Franken and Rachel Maddow surpass anyone hosting WBUR’s news shows in intelligence. To my ears, Maddow has a pitch perfect mix of humor, intelligence, and seriousness.

    <

    p>
    But the ads. Oh my aching head. I used to recite the Verbal Advantage ad because I had heard it so many times. (“It’s so easy! You simply listen, where you want, when you want.”)  Why wasn’t the station able to develop a wider commercial base? One of my friends, a confirmed and reliable Liberal, tells me he listens to Limbaugh and such folk, that he cannot stand listening to Air America. I’m unwilling to do such anthropological field work, but maybe the Air America talent pool needs more compelling radio talent.

    • Highly entertaining, but then I love satire and snark in my talk radio…

      <

      p>
      I am pissed about this, I listen many weekdays.

      <

      p>
      And I am certain that some idiots in my area who run certain media outlets are going to use this to say “see? liberal talk isn’t viable even in a liberal state.” Feh. Of course, WCAP should KNOW about bad management…

    • WHMP in Northampton switched to Air America a year or two ago, and more recently they have dropped Rhodes and Seder (and moved Franken to 8-10 pm) to have a lineup of Miller, Hartman, Schultz, and Maddow.  They also tried and dropped Jerry Springer for a while.

      <

      p>
      I’m glad to hear Seder is getting better — he had a long way to go.  One of Air America’s problems is that they seemed to undervalue true radio professionals with the exception of Rachel.  Neither Garofalo nor Seder struck me as having any idea of how to talk on the radio, and Franken’s show got considerably less listenable when Lanpher left.

      <

      p>
      Miller and Schultz are examples of people who have succeeded as commercial radio people without the Air America brand.  So are Rhodes and Springer, I suppose, I just don’t like listening to them.  My sense of humor is still adolescent enough to find Miller funny (and her voice guy is seriously talented), and Schultz manages to make his callers come off as serious and relevant.

      <

      p>
      The national commercials are appalling and annoying, but WHMP is able to sell a lot of local ads on these shows (especially on Rachel’s — she’s a local hero) and they are considerably less bad.

      <

      p>
      You would think that someone in the Boston area could make money by broadcasting liberal talk, wouldn’t you?

  5. Sure, WKOX ratings were low compared to the market, but the numbers appeared to be growing despite an incredibly weak signal. Will the new programming really do any better? Yes, Air America may be sold shortly, but Air America doesn’t own the station.  Even if Air America goes under, their most popular hosts, like Randi Rhodes, will probably go into syndication. Plus, there’s more than enough non-Air America progressive talkers out there to fill a complete schedule anyway.

    • Cheaper, probably.

      <

      p>
      Gosh, the signal turns off (basically) after sundown and they wonder why the ratings are bad?  After daylight savings time ends, the station is unlistenable for the evening commute.

      • The same thing is happening here in Western MA. WHMP/WHNP (1400/1600 on the dial) goes off the air after dusk. Something to do with their license and how AM radio signals behave after dark. So on the drive home I have to listen to either Sports talk or Howie Carr.

        <

        p>
        WHMP has only had progressive talk radio for about a year, and I never hear them advertising it anywhere. I don’t know what their ratings are, but I’d expect them to get a good share from Northampton and Amherst. If not, then it’s their own damn fault, because the programming is top notch. I love Thom Hartman.

        • At sunset 1600 in Springfield goes off and 1240 Greenfield and 1400 Noho stay on at reduced power.  This map gives their claimed coverage area.

          <

          p>
          Licensing on AM has always divided into daytime and nighttime because of the nature of the ionosphere (i.e., technical stuff I don’t understand).  At night you are supposed to be able to listen to faraway stations.  (Just before the election I happened one night in Northfield to drive through a sweet spot for Buffalo’s progressive talk station, which had a local program repeated from that afternoon slagging on Tom Reynolds.)

          <

          p>
          I can get either 1240 or 1400 for most of my drive from Amherst to Gill after dark, but the 1240 signal is pretty bad in Northfield.  The darker circle on the map is pretty accurate as to where I get it, as far as I’ve noticed.

          <

          p>
          WHMP has a message to Randi Rhodes fans about why they replaced her with Schultz.  The message also gives an idea about how they are thinking in terms of Air America — they wish it well but are looking for stable alternatives.

  6. “POSITION TITLE: Sales Manager for WKOX-AM and WXKS-AM
    DEPARTMENT: Sales

    <

    p>
    Boston’s newest AM station format “Rumba,” aimed at Spanish speaking listeners, is looking for a seasoned professional to head up our WKOX-AM/WXKS-AM sales department.”

    <

    p>
    Perhaps if they had a “seasoned professional” in the first place, they wouldn’t be having to switch formats.

  7. The ads were for things that I would never buy, with one exception, tickets to JTOB.  What could a wimpy AM station cost anyhow, $1M?  Let’s see, re-mortgage the house, sell the cars, sell the kids… nope it still doesn’t add up to enough.  I’ll just have to buy into that XM radio thing if I want to listen in to Air America Radio at drive time. 

  8. I’ve been a listener of AAR since it’s first day, streaming it for the first 6 months until it came to Boston. Since I live in Framingham, I get a good signal and did what I could to get it in the car.

    <

    p>
    Everyone is right about the commercials. They were straight out of the Clear Channel portfolio and about 5% of the advertisers had anything that the progressive listening audience would care about. I have constantly wondered why they didn’t go after the liberal organizations and earth-friendly companies to sell them ads. A mystery unless they just didn’t want to succeed.

    <

    p>
    This sucks. So the question is, is there enough of a listenership to organize something like they did in Phoenix? How did they do it? Are there stations in the area that might want to go with this format? etc.

    <

    p>
    And where will this start? Is there a champion with connections and $$ to get the ball rolling? This is out of my realm of expertise.

  9. As someone who spends allot of time in the car and prefers listening to the radio at home, I would strongly recommend folks looking into Sirius satellite radio.  I know paying for radio is still a tough pill to swallow, like paying for TV was in the 80’s, but the content is outstanding.  The partisan talk stations, simulcast news (CNN, MSNBC, FOX ect), CSPAN and NPR can’t be beat if you’re a news junkie. The seemingly limitless music stations and Howard are just the cherry on a great package.  Best 12 dollars money can buy in a media budget.

    • I just bought XM today.

      <

      p>
      Sirius doesn’t carry Air America programming, and this was a big factor in choosing which service to purchase. I also like the music stations XM offers, as well as the other talk programs.

      <

      p>
      I used an Air America promo code on the XM site. ONe of the offers was for a free receiver, i chose to go for the $39 one, which is currently going for $149 without any discounts from XM.

      <

      p>
      It’ll be weird to listen to my talk shows without all the static or lame commercials. THe only thing I will really miss is not getting to hear Stephanie Miller anymore.

  10. This cannot stand. I listen to it everyday to and from work, even though on the way home the signal is iffy at best.

    <

    p>
    As matthew mentioned, when Phoenix lost their station, they did something about it. If Phoenix can do it, you better believe Boston can. It is flat out important that people be able to hear both sides of the story.

    <

    p>
    And this isn’t about me, I can listen to the programs online anyway at work if I wanted. But we should absolutely have choice on the airwaves. So who’s with me? Who’s willing to put some time and/or money to keep/get progressive talk back on the air?

    <

    p>
    Perhaps we can get BMG and talk to the Air America people and see what we can do.

    <

    p>
    Was it over when the Germans bombed Pearl Harbor?! 😉

    <

    p>
    Whos with me?

    <

    p>
    – Fred

    • i think in Phoenix it was more of an issue because A) their signal worked and B) the format changed from progressive to ultra-conservative.

      <

      p>
      That being said, anyone have any ideas?

      <

      p>

      • also, i just read that not only is WKOS switching formats, but it looks like WXKS will be too (Kiss 108).

        <

        p>
        what about writing/calling other stations to see if they would be willing to pick up a show or two?

    • I learned of the impending loss of our station this week in the New York Times. I’m devastated. I’ve listened since Progressive Talk came to Boston, despite the terrible signal. I knew Al Franken would probably leave to run for the Senate, but I never thought the format at the station would change! I love Stephanie and Ed, too – can’t listen after dark as there is no signal. Something must be done! NPR is no option – hardly could be described as “liberal” except by stupid Republicans.

      <

      p>
      Gail

  12. Though I live very close to Boston, these stations were almost completely worthless in terms of being able to listen to it. Even driving in 93 south, driving out of Boston, I could barely get it. I loved listening to some of it (especially people like Rhandi – in small doses – because she made me laugh), but it became too frustrating.

    <

    p>
    Now I just stick a CD in the car if I’m driving long distances. I can’t stand NPR (I read for my hard news, I don’t want to listen to people reading it for me – especially in a monotone voice). So, no talk radio for me…. and pretty much no radio at all.

  13. WBUR is a great station, but I wouldn’t call it liberal, let alone progressive.  I’d say that it may seem liberal compared to some of the far right stuff on the air, but it doesn’t make the cut.

    • The media monitoring folks (Media Matters, for example) point out that a common T.V. talking heads show consisted of 2 conservative pundits and 2 reporters — and that a simultaneous appearance by 2 liberal pundits was a rarity.

      <

      p>
      We liberals have been trained to accept table scraps, I tell you.

  14. This sucks.  I listen to this station all the time, at least when I can get decent reception.  It does appear to be poorly run (like Air America itself – c’mon, pick a morning show and give it a chance already!), but the talent was there – I particularly like Rhodes, Miller & Hartmann.

    <

    p>
    It doesn’t make any sense that progressive talk would fail in Boston.  Back to listening to college radio, I guess.

  15. I think some of us should try to do what Air America Phoenix did and start our own station so we can continue the programming.
    The signal has been so bad on 1200 & 1430 (even during the day) that alot of people I know wouldn’t listen because they could not deal with the poor quality. I am one of the few to persevere despite the horrible signal. I don’t think there’s a true idea of the listenership as many people stream or podcast, etc.

    <

    p>
    I am reluctant to go the satellite radio route. The airwaves belong to the people. And we need to reach people who are not already the choir.
    We should get help and advice from Air America Phoenix about how to go about starting our own station!

  16. This news really blows…..it’s like we’re going back to the dark ages. What are us liberals and progressives supposed to listen to now? All of my radios at home are tuned to Progressive Talk, I’ve learned so much. Even enjoy the “Young Turks”. I listen to Stephanie Miller in the car. I did get XM radio last month because they offered Air America and I was fed up with the poor signal quality in the evening. The signal is fantastic, and the shows are live. Rachel Maddow sounds great! (Music’s great too).

    <

    p>
    Fred, if you’re reading this, I’m with you. What can we do to get them back on the air? Should we contact the Phoenix station or contact local stations in Boston?

    <

    p>

Archives