Columbus loses Progressive Radio-station turns to right.

[mod mom]

Station’s format to turn right
Saturday, December 23, 2006
Tim Feran
THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH


Liberal listeners in central Ohio will lose their only radio voice next month when WTPG (1230 AM) drops its format of "progressive talk" and makes a hard right turn.

Out: Al Franken, Stephanie Miller, Ed Schultz and Randi Rhodes.

In: Michael Savage, Laura Ingraham and a mix of sports and consumer shows featuring Jim Rome and Dave Ramsey.

The station will change its call letters to WYTS on Monday; the new format will begin at 9 a.m. Jan. 9.



http://www.dispatch.com/features-story.php?story=dispatch/2006/12/23/20061223-B6-02.html

[Kolesar]

1. I hope they fall on their collective faces

Running against the tide when the country is finally abandoning the radical RW

[MeDeMax]

2. actually we may be seeing the start of the next red wave ...

they have started the groundwork for a red-recovery in 2008.

They expect the dems will be asleep at the wheel after celebrating their victory,
the churches, right wing radio and other right wing groups will do their work for
the next two years and come 2008 we'll scramble again and try to figure out when
it is all said and done, why we won or lost.

[mod mom]

4. I was listening to Sam Seder today (re-run) and he was commenting how

the R's would start trashing * to distance themselves and start the '08 positioning (Newt Gingrich was a given example). Progressive radio is just too dangerous for them-they don't want radio putting all those fancy ideas in our heads. Corporatism is alive and well in the good ole US of A.

:(

[AngryOldDem]

3. I'm so sorry to hear that

No one should have to tolerate Savage or Ingraham.

I was never able to hear Air America but I find it a damned shame that it couldn't get its act together to be an intelligent and viable counterpoint to Limbaugh, Hannity, and the rest of the right wingnuts.

[seriousstan]

5. They never were able to sell any commercial time.

[Botany]

6. They never really tried either.

no promotions and a suck ass sales staff.

Ohio just went blue big time .... that tells me that there is a
market for progressive radio in Columbus.

When I called the station to find out about an advertiser
"the sales staff" had never heard of the company. After
awhile I said the business advertisers on 1230 AM .... and
the person started laughing ...... "Oh I thought you were calling
about 610 WTVN." And then she got me the business' phone
#.

Progressive Radio & Air America were also boycotted by a lot
of businesses too ..... Always running P.S.A.s is not how to
support a radio station's format.

http://www.talkers.com/main/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=19&Itemid=44

Randi Rhodes is # 10 Nationally
Ed Schultz is # 13
Al Franken is # 18
Stephanie Miller is # 44 (morning time slot)

All of those shows pull in more than a million listeners per week .... those #s are very
good despite the fact that they are on stations w/ poor signals, far few stations broadcast
their shows, and that progressive talk is relatively young.

[mtnester]

7. OUT it goes from my pre-set list

I been meaning to get a satellite radio for my car (hubby has one already), so I guess I go today or tomorrow to get a unit.

Damn.

[LTR]

8. A grassroots effort just got started

http://www.ohiomajorityradio.com/

More about it

http://ltradio.blogspot.com/2006/12/disenfranchised-radio-listeners.html

[BillORightsMan]

10. Answered my Question!

WOW! I certainly hope they can pressure CCC to keep the format. It worked in Madison (they were going to an all-sports format but relented). In Phoenix and Atlanta it was different in that the station was SOLD (to a religious group in Phoenix and some WACKO rich guy in Atlanta who wanted to "get rid of all the anti-Semites on the air in Atlanta").

Go Ohio Majority Radio!
:applause:

[BillORightsMan]

9. WTPG is a Clear Channel Station

I wonder if there will be any outrage in COL OH like there was in Phoenix AZ (earlier this year) or in Madison WI last week?

Air America stays on air in Wisconsin
By Ryan J. Foley THE ASSOCIATED PRESS[br />
MADISON, Wis.— After a backlash from this liberal city, Clear Channel Radio is keeping its Air America affiliate on the air instead of switching the progressive talk format to sports on Jan. 1.

Citing the overwhelming negative reaction to the planned change, the nation’s largest radio station operator said it would keep The Mic 92.1 FM on the air as a progressive talk station.

Backthread someone mentioned AAR couldn't get sponsors. Wonder why?

Air America on Ad Blacklist? at FAIR
ABC document: Sponsors shun liberal network

10/31/06

An internal memo from ABC Radio Networks to its affiliates reveals scores of powerful sponsors have a standing order that their commercials never be placed on syndicated Air America programming that airs on ABC affiliates.

The October 25 memo was provided to FAIR by the Peter B. Collins Show, a syndicated radio show originating on the West Coast.

Headlined "Air America Blackout" and addressed "Dear Traffic Director"—referring to the radio station staffer who coordinates programming and advertising—the memo gives the following order to affiliates:

Please be advised that Hewlett Packard has purchased schedules with ABC Radio Networks between October 30th and December 24th, 2006. Please make sure you blackout this advertiser on your station, as they do not wish it to air on any Air America affiliate.

The directive then advises ABC Radio Network affiliates to take note of a list of other sponsors who do not want their programming to run during Air America programming.

Please see below for a complete list of all advertisers requesting that NONE of their commercials air within Air America programming...

The list, totaling 90 advertisers, includes some of largest and most well-known corporations advertising in the U.S.: Wal-Mart, GE, Exxon Mobil, Microsoft, Bank of America, Fed-Ex, Visa, Allstate, McDonald's, Sony and Johnson & Johnson. The U.S. Postal Service and the U.S. Navy are also listed as advertisers who don't want their commercials to air on Air America.

Air America's highest rated station is KPOJ in Portland, and they are also a CCC station. Having lived in COL OH for nearly a year, I can't EVER recall a McD's or Burger King or Chevy or Ford or Toyota or K-Mart or even a Kroger's ad on 1230 AM. Seems the so-called sales staff at CCC Columbus weren't very interested in even "folding" a few local spots onto 1230 AM with their other CCC station offerings.

Tune into HEAD ON Radio and Nova M via streaming. (Word on the Malloy Forum is that his Nova M show will be on Sirius Satellite Radio soon as part of "TALK LEFT", if you're looking for a satellite rcvr.)
:patriot:

[LTR]

13. The ABC Networks blacklist is way overblown

I spelled out the reasons why in this thread:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=364&topic_id=2790150

[BillORightsMan]

11. Clear Channel being SOLD!

And it's not to the Boy Scouts either.

There goes the whole damned radio dial.

at CBS...

Clear Channel Agrees To Be Acquired
Investment Group To Buy Nation's Largest Radio Station Operator For About $18.7 Billion

(AP) Clear Channel Communications Inc., the nation's biggest radio station operator, said Thursday it has agreed to be acquired for about $18.7 billion by an investment group.

The transaction would be one of the biggest deals in which a company has been taken private, and showcases the vast sums that buyout groups have been able to assemble to acquire public companies.

~snip~
Clear Channel also said it plans to sell 448 of its radio stations, all located outside the top 100 markets, as well as its 42-station television group, which also are located in smaller markets. Collectively the properties made up less than 10 percent of the company's revenues last year.

more at link...

Meet the new Boss, redder than the old Boss...
:grr:

ON EDIT: Didn't Ken Blackwell make a whole lota $$$$$ buying and selling radio stations?
:grr: :grr:

[LTR]

12. CC also has to divest some of its major market properties

The grandfather clause is over, so they have to get under the FCC limit. They'll be divesting of a few stations in many of the top 100 markets they're in.

Also, Viacom/CBS is looking to shed some stations as well.

Quite frankly, I'd like to see Salem liquidate, but that's just me.

[mod mom]

14. Blackwell did become a millionaire selling A radio station. Maybe this is a RW

ploy to funnel $ to their assholes (in blackwell's case) and to limit rogressive dialogue in the case to progressive radio. Do you know who is buying clearchannel?

Wonder if this funded it:

CIA Accused Of Bank Heist

http://www.globalresearch.ca/articles/THO308A.html

The CIA and the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) are accused by International Currency Review, the London-based journal, of mounting a joint ultra-secret operation to electronically remove an estimated $10 billion out of the Iraqi Central Bank hours before the start of Persian Gulf War II. The whereabouts of the money is not known.

“We believe it is in a secret CIA fund which will be used to mount further special services operations, such as tracking down Saddam Hussein,” said the Review’s publisher, Christopher Story.

Story is a former financial advisor to Lady Thatcher when she was Britain’s prime minister. In the past 10 years, he has testified before several congressional committees dealing with financial scandals.

DIA coordinates all intelligence for the Joint Chiefs of Staff. It is headquartered in the Pentagon.

[BillORightsMan]

15. CCC buyers

Sorry about the broken link!

According to the CBS story fixed link:

An investor group led by Thomas H. Lee Partners LP and Bain Capital Partners LLC is paying $37.60 in cash for each share of Clear Channel, a 10.2 percent premium over its closing price on Wednesday. The buyers are also assuming about $8 billion in debt.

and...
The company has until Dec. 7 to solicit competing proposals. Another bid for Clear Channel had been expected from Providence Equity Partners, the Blackstone Group and Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co.

finally...
Clear Channel said it expects to close the acquisition by the fourth quarter of next year.

That story was from Nov 16, 2006.

Here's something more recent:

Goldman's Clear Channel Gambit
By Matthew Goldstein
Wall Street Editor @ TheStreet.com
12/17/2006 9:34 AM EST

Goldman Sachs (GS - commentary - Cramer's Take - Rating) is raking in at least $40 million for advising on the $18.7 billion buyout of radio station chain Clear Channel (CCU - commentary - Cramer's Take - Rating). That's not too shabby for about three months worth of work.

But the deal payout for Wall Street's premier investment firm could have been even bigger, a recent regulatory filing shows.

Goldman Sachs twice tried to emerge as the primary financier for the big leveraged buyout, even though it was hired by Clear Channel in August to advise the company on finding a private equity buyer. The filing says Goldman Sachs offered to put together a debt financing package "to facilitate the sale process, noting that no buying group would be obligated to use Goldman Sachs as its debt financing source.''

~snip~
Thomas H. Lee Partners and Bain Capital -- the two buyout firms that emerged as the victors in the Clear Channel sweepstakes on Nov. 16 -- ultimately got $21.5 billion in debt financing from a slew of other banks. The Wall Street banks backing that debt package include Citigroup (C - commentary - Cramer's Take - Rating), Morgan Stanley (MS - commentary - Cramer's Take - Rating), Wachovia (WB - commentary - Cramer's Take - Rating) and Deutsche Bank (DB - commentary - Cramer's Take - Rating).

In all, the Clear Channel deal, in which investors will receive $37.60 a share, is valued at $26.7 billion, including the company's existing debt. The takeover is one of the largest this year and the fourth-largest LBO in U.S. history. (LBO = Leaveraged Buy-Out. -Ed.)

~snip~
Ultimately, Clear Channel's board invited T.H. Lee Partners and its group to submit a bid, after determining that the Blackstone/Providence group's bid was too low and undervalued the company. The initial bid for Clear Channel came in at $34.50 from the Blackstone and Providence group -- some $3 below the final price.

Other buyout consortiums that took a look at Clear Channel included one fronted by Apollo Management and the Carlyle Group, and a group led by Cerberus Capital. But those buyout firms never got as advanced in the process as the Blackstone or T.H. Lee groups.

At one time, Texas Pacific, another large private equity firm that has made a number of large transactions the past few months, was part of the group led by T.H. Lee and Bain that ultimately won. But Texas Pacific begged out of the process before the bid was awarded.

Looks like Ohio Majority Radio is picking up some steam, too.

:patriot: