More Air America programming PRE-EMPTED tonight by KQKE San Francisco

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If you've got XM, right now you're listening to Steve Earl interview Janis Ian about how she was influenced by greats like Pete Seeger and Bob Dylan.

Meanwhile in San Francisco, our local affiliate KQKE has pre-empted Earl's show so they could broadcast an analysis of the song "There's a Sucker Born Every Minute" from the Broadway musical "Barnum."

I kid you not.

It almost feels like Clear Channel is taunting the Air America audience on weekends--as if the local station manager has decided to run "America's Show Tunes" along with hours and hours of infomercials as revenge for having to carry Randi Rhodes and Mike Malloy during the week.

Every time local affiliates do stuff like this, the phones at XM and Sirius start ringing. Ten years from now after all radio programming has moved to satellite, maybe Clear Channel executives will look back on stupid decisions like this that killed local radio and wonder what their predecessors were thinking.

[Pale Blue Dot]

1. That's the whole reason I bought XM radio.

And now I listen to nothing else. In fact, I just remembered that I left the XM reciever in my fiancee's van and now I won't have anything to listen to on the way into work tomorrow! :cry:

Clear Channel's day is coming....

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2. Exactly, Finnfan. Can't go anywhere without that XM receiver.

Even if it's only a ten minute trip across town. Can't go anywhere without it.