Is Air America Off The Air in Washington DC?

[Leopolds Ghost]

I turned on Ed Schultz and got ESPN Radio instead. What the hell?

I flipped around looking and got some "conservative" talk radio guy ranting about how Congress needs to lose power and interviewing Richard Viguerie (still on) one of those paleo-cons who helped elect Reagan, saying that Republicans were immoral, used "religion for an immoral purpose, to win 2004 election" and said liberals and conservatives should get together and form a third party but "it's exceedingly difficult because the Democrats and the Republicans have the system engineered in a way that would be illegal in the business world." On the other hand, he doesn't think George Allen is racist -- he says all those guys including him were "called" racists in the 1960s -- though the host DOES think George Allen is a racist.

[madinmaryland]

1. I noticed that when I came back from lunch.

I didn't see anything on their web site, so I assume they must be picking up some of the espn coverages. They also carry the womens local wnba team. espn does not have a major station in dc as dan snyder has bought out several stations and fox sports took over the local espn station (am980).

[Pirate Smile]

2. Is it a local game? Many affiliates play local games live.

[LTR]

3. Site is still up

http://www.progressivetalk1260.com/main.html

You can check the stream (registration required).

It could be some signal skip. I do know that WWRC has some serious signal flaws, due to decrepit equipment (they do have a decent signal if they could figure out how to utilize it). AM waves can act funny at times.

[Leopolds Ghost]

5. Are you in DC? Maybe ESPN just bought the band next door and

intends to drown out WRC, figuring nobody listens to it anyway.

WTOP did this with its sister station WGMS, Washington's only remaining classical station, which is opposite WRC on the FM dial. Switched it around so WTOP (conservative talk) drowns out neighboring WGMS (non-conservative classical music lovers).

[LTR]

14. I'm not in DC

But I know that radio stations can't just move in with the intent of drowning out other stations.

And interference issues may depend on where you are listening to the station. The DC/Baltimore corridor is crowded with stations, and some probably step over each other a little outside their city-grade broadcast areas.

Here's a little about the stations, including maps of estimated signal reaches and tower locations:

WGMS 104.1 (rimshot signal SE of DC):

http://www.radio-locator.com/cgi-bin/pat?call=WGMS&service=FM&status=L&hours=U

WTOP-FM 103.5 (city-grade signal all over the area):

http://www.radio-locator.com/cgi-bin/pat?call=WTOP&service=FM&status=L&hours=U

WTOP may drown out WGMS if you are to the north or west of DC, near WTOP's tower (most likely), or if you're downtown where large buildings may cause interference,

WWRC 1260:

Day: http://www.radio-locator.com/cgi-bin/pat?call=WWRC&service=AM&status=L&hours=D
Night: http://www.radio-locator.com/cgi-bin/pat?call=WWRC&service=AM&status=L&hours=N

You can plug other stations in there as well, to get an idea of signal reach. It's not 100% accurate, but it gives a pretty good idea.

[Leopolds Ghost]

4. Could they be testing out a format change -- droping AAR

from the nations' capital??

WRC (WWRC AM 1260) used to be sports talk.

Washington Post said that in 2005, Arbitron
recorded a listenership rating of ZERO for
Air America in DC. I knew DC wasn't a very
progressive town -- full of fake liberals,
like certain other Northeastern states that
vote Dem mostly out of antipathy towards
Southern fundies -- but does anyone actually
believe that?

[LaPera]

10. AAR can't afford to lose Wash DC - where the legislators are!

[LTR]

11. DC looks like a tough town for talk radio

There's a ton of conservotalk stations, combined with a few all-news stations (including the new Washington Post AM/FM combo), WFED (geared toward gov't employees), Pacifica and public radio. Add to that a mostly black population in DC itself that probably doesn't listen to any of that. That's a tough market to crack, though I hear Stephanie Miller is doing decently there.

[Leopolds Ghost]

6. Conservative talk guy lamenting no "honor culture" in America

Says Congress will always reflect the depravity of America.

Is he talking about "honor culture" in Pakistan?

On the other hand, now accusing Americans of being greedy
and materialistic... no involvement in civic life... we are
collectively going bankrupt...

[Leopolds Ghost]

8. OK, the guy's name is Jerry Doyle. Still no word on AAR.

I'm beginning to think the ratings truly must be dismal, only one DC listener besides me has noticed this here on DU?

[11 Bravo]

7. I listened to Stephanie Miller on Progressive Talk 1260 this morning.

The station regularly pre-empts regular programming for sporting events.

[Leopolds Ghost]

9. Never heard them do it before. It's the Twins for god's sake.

Who in DC gives a damn about the Twins? They f*ed us over big time in the 1960s, as I recall, because of a racist owner, if I remember correctly.

[SaveElmer]

12. My guess is...

Both stations are owned by Clear Channel I believe. I think during baseball playoffs and I think Wizards games they have to broadcast those. That station used to be a sports station and my guess is they still have some contractual obligations.

[LTR]

13. That's a common arrangement

If a sister station has conflicts, some sports programming may be shuffled off to their station.

And previous contracts do come into play. LA's progressive talker, KTLK, carried the Clippers last season. This year, the team is moving completely to another station. And in Cincy, WCKY last year carried U of Kentucky sports.

This is a common arrangement with AM talk stations.