a message from air america phoenix

[TrueAmerican]

I don't think this is copyrighted....


a message from air america phoenix
February 28th, 2006
Dear Friends of Air America Phoenix,

Thank you to the staff, the listeners and the clients for all you’ve done in the past 17 months.

You helped take an unrated, unprofitable AM radio station and pushed it to a tie for 3rd place out of 25 AM stations in Phoenix. You took that same AM station and made it profitable in less than a year and even after the sale was announced you stood by Air America Phoenix and we kept on making money even when our future was in doubt and we didn’t know when our “plug” was going to be pulled. In fact, the last month we were on the air was the 3rd best month we’ve had financially!

Air America Phoenix has now disappeared into the ether and Phoenix is left with multiple Christian formats, some in English and others in Spanish, several “brokered’ time stations (you know the radio stations selling you vitamins, good bowel movements and financial advice) a bagful of right wing “Conservative Talk stations” featuring Rush, Sean, Laura, Bill Bennett, Savage, Medved and all of their local imitators, three “Sports Talk” stations that live off the largess of their sister stations in the big corporate clusters that dominate the dial in Phoenix. Is anyone enjoying Tony Snow on KTAR…did anyone ask for him? And there are 3 “nostalgia” stations on AM and another on the FM dial. (The inside radio joke on nostalgia is that listeners are “dying” for it!) CBS’ new “Free” FM is another station loaded with sophomoric chatter, but without the interruption of overplayed songs! Free FM is a continuous loop of bad FM morning show humor 24 hours a day! CBS should have stood by Howard Stern and they will regret the day they didn’t!

Phoenix has 60 odd radio signals on the AM and FM dial and the best of those signals are owned by four companies; CBS, Clear Channel, Bonneville and Sandusky, they play it safe and considering the level of investment, it is certainly understandable. Innovation and change has to come from the smaller clusters and the one and two station owners. Will they innovate? Take a chance like we did with KXXT? Probably not, they never have and they never will, like the classic definition of insanity they “continue to do the same thing over and over expecting different results”! Only a special company like James Crystal would let me take the chance, Thanks, Jim!

Over the past 4 months I have tried to raise the money to buy a new station for Air America Phoenix. We made offers on 2 stations; one didn’t have an adequate signal to insure success and the other was laughably over priced. I have talked to more BS artists and rich guys who pretend they want to get “involved” and “progressive” venture firms that live in the world of “new media” and think that good old terrestrial radio, the kind that everyone has access to and is free 24/7, is so “over”! When I finally put together the right banker and the right investors, we were out of time! I’m mad at myself for wasting time with the charlatans, the BS artists and the dreamers. I’m also worn out and I have to publicly apologize to the love of my life, Jan, for being so damn grumpy and short since last fall. Baby, you have been just great, thank you!

I need to thank all the great network people; Al, Mike, Stephanie, Sam and Jeanine. And of course my friend Ed Schultz who was the first on and signed! And Randi…I always love you more!

This has been the single best experience I’ve had in broadcasting, better than being number one in Boston! KXXT has simply been the best. The people I’ve worked with at AA Phoenix have been the most dedicated, hard working and they wouldn’t leave when I tried (twice) to throw them out of the building. I love you all and as Jan says we are a family!

Thank you for all you’ve done!

Robert J Christy
General Manager,
Air America Phoenix, 1010 Talk KXXT

PS the new GM of KXXT is Jess Spurgin

http://www.1010kxxt.com/

[marmar]

1. What happened?

Why was the plug pulled?

[NMDemDist2]

3. the owner of KXXT and another no name station in FL sold the stations

to a religious broadcast company

:argh:

[NMDemDist2]

2. son of a

BEETCH!!!!!!


I am so glad my 50 minute commute ended today, the day the free speech died in Phoenix

:cry:

:banghead:

[marmar]

4. That's a downer...

Considering that liberal radio is definitely on the rise elsewhere, despite the opposition of corporate America.

[Radio_Lady]

6. Gee, we just visited there and were thrilled when we accidentally got

Air America on AM search.

Now, just a few weeks later, it's gone.

Too bad.

Phoenix folks, you can still get it on your computer. I know it's not the same, but what can you do?

In peace,

Radio_Lady

[zulchzulu]

5. Would Jesus shut down an Air America channel?

No.

[Wheezy]

7. What tha...

So Bob is just resigning?? Right???

I mean, I didn't listen today, but what is he saying?

Disappeared into the ether? Can you explain what this means? Thanks.

[Radio_Lady]

8. Gee, we just visited there and were thrilled when we accidentally got

Air America at 1010 AM. That was in late January and early February when we visited the Sunterra resort in Scottsdale.

We listened to the station with relish and thought it was great (as usual).

To think it would be off the air by the end of February!

Phoenix folks, don't be disheartened. Keep listening on your computer.

Good formats come around again.

http://airamericaradio.com/

http://620kpoj.com/main.html

In peace,

Radio_Lady in Portland, Oregon

[high density]

9. I'm convinced that CBS/Clear Channel/Nassau/et al...

all want us to become satellite radio customers. It's clear in the shitty programming they offer. It's the same crap across the nation from these stations with horrid canned music play lists that can't even fill 8 hours without repeating crap and a bunch of non-music programming that's worthless to 80% of the population.

I also can't believe there's supposedly a bigger demand for sports talk radio than there is for Air America. My local market has a tiny AM station that does "sports talk" and it's not worth the electrical power used to operate it. All It does is muck up half the AM band at night.

[pstokely]

19. Kansas City has low rated sports station (610) wasting powerful signal

that would go good for Air America.

[readermostly]

10. This is a sad day for Democrats and Progressives here in Phoenix.

Every talk station here is all GOP all the time - from local talk, to Rush, Hannity, Tony Snow, etc., etc. Air America Phoenix was such a breath of fresh air for those looking for a different voice that we could relate to.

[Stinky The Clown]

11. I was listening to our Air America out of DC and heard Shultz talking

about this.

It seems the station owner got an offer he couldn't refuse ..... from some Xtian group. So the former AA afflliate on Phoenix will now be Radio God 24/7. As if we need more Xtian radio in this country.

Here's the back story ..... the AA statio was doing too well. The 06 and 08 elections are coming. They don't want the Great Unwashed to hear anything but RW and Xtian spew. So, when your competition gets too strong, you simply buy them out.

My question ...... who's backing the buyers. This has GOT to be some RW nutjobmotherfucker like Sciafe who's backing these creeps.

[Nikki Stone 1]

12. I bet you are right

I also like your spelling of Xtian.

[satya]

13. How many of our tax $ have been sent to "faith-based organizations"

that, coincidentally, want to buy out the progressive channels?

I would love to see an audit.

[SoCalDem]

22. Every tax dollar they get for "faith based" crap, just frees up THEIR

dollar for this kind of advocacy..

Wolves in sheeps clothing..that's all they are.. THIS is how they have ruled for all these yera..(yes even during Clinton's term, they called the shots)..

Goldwater's trouncing humiliated them...Nixon's resignation made them mean and nasty and it's been their crusade even since to control the media..They have the money,they are patient, and they will buy anyting they can just to keep a competitor from having access.

[bobbieinok]

14. Malloy was kicked off WLS in Chicago before the 2000 selection

although he had the highest rating in the city in his time slot

before the 2002 election, an am station in Tulsa that had been country music for 60 years with a wide range after dusk became a RW talk show station; we already had an am RW talk show station with Rush and a religious right am station

both WLS and the Tulsa station have a very large listening range after dusk (I listened to Mike from OK).......and major changes in the political content of each station occurred before a national election

makes ya wonder, right??????

[NMDemDist2]

23. here's the scoop....

In October of 2005, James Crystal Enterprises sold KXXT in Phoenix to Communicom Broadcasting, owned by Rich Kylberg of Denver, Colorado.

http://billboardradiomonitor.com/radiomonitor/news/business/top_news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1001306191

and here's a little ditty about the owners

:puke:

http://www.westword.com/issues/2004-04-29/news/feature.html

[smartvoter]

15. Damn. So long AAR and Charles Goyette, who is one of the best. nt

[lady lib]

16. They just switched over a few minutes ago.

They played the last KXXT commercials and then went to "This is family values radio 1280 KXEG."

My family values truth, liberty, and free speech. AAR is going to be back in Phoenix. I'm keeping the faith!

[ClayZ]

17. I bet the fundies are out buying up radio stations like they were

candy bars.

[byronius]

18. Tears in my eyes.

I went to high school in Tempe, and ASU. I have an enormous emotional connection to Air America, having never heard anything like it in the American Air before. I live in California now, sometimes streaming, sometimes AM 1320. It is truly a learning channel. High-powered everything. It may never die.
I wonder, isn't it legal to broadcast local AM within a certain radius? And wouldn't it be a good thing for people in Phoenix to stream and rebroadcast in little pods? Probably illegal.
Sooner or later, it has to happen. The market for it is strong, mostly because fact is a commodity. Whatever offers fact is valuable; whatever leads one over the cliff is not. I find AAR incredibly addictive, and I've NEVER listened to talk radio in my life. But if I don't hear Randi, I'm out of the loop.
For right wingers to remain competitive in the face of ANY open liberal dialogue radio or television, they must shut it down. Thus the CACI lawsuit.

I think CACI should be denied all federal contracts, in perpetuity. Criminals, all.

Good luck, Phoenix. You've got Joe Arpaio to deal with, and gangs of roaming rednecks here and there. Now that sucks. But I also remember a great underground art scene, and I remember pockets of good people everywhere, especially at ASU.

Democracy is coming to the USA. I swear it.

[Greyhound]

20. That's it, it changed at midnight...

crap.

[Zinfandel]

21. Phoenix is just the beginning, this is their way of getting rid of all

liberal radio...the wealthy corporate conservative right-wing fascist will just continue to buy up more and more stations...