READER COMMENTS ON

"Clear Channel to Remove L.A. and San Francisco's Only Commercial Progressive Talk Radio Stations, Replace Them with More Rightwing Talk"

(37 Responses so far...)





COMMENT #1 [Permalink]

... TheOtherWA said on 12/5/2013 @ 3:35 pm PT...





Damn it. The bastards never stop do they? As much as they want to kill liberal voices, there are too many ways to stream stations or podcasts. They'll never shut everyone down.

COMMENT #2 [Permalink]

... TheOtherWA said on 12/5/2013 @ 3:37 pm PT...





Except that isn't even the point. The public airwaves need to serve the public, and only having one side of an argument for the public to hear doesn't serve democracy at all.

COMMENT #3 [Permalink]

... Howard Hoffman said on 12/5/2013 @ 6:06 pm PT...





Please know that I'm a progressive and a former listener to KTLK which I lived in L.A. until a year ago. And I'm a radio veteran of over four decades, so hear me out on this. The sad truth is, due to a bad signal, zero publicity and waning quality of the available product, KTLK fell out being a contender a long time ago. They pulled a 0.3 this past month after a 0.2 and a 0.4 the previous 2 months. However, what's fascinating about this move is that Libaugh is being taken off the (literally, not corporately) clear channel KFI, whose 50,000 non-directional signal gets into Las Vegas in the daytime and into most of the western U.S. via skip waves at night. Here's the coverage map. Compare that to the anemic signal of KTLK: Here's that map. It doesn't go south of Long Beach...OC is where the conservative audience is, but the signal is iffy down there. Between the two other 24/7 right wing stations, KABC (0.7) and KRLA (0.3), the total audience is right at a 1 share, meaning 99% of the available audience does NOT listen to conservative talk radio, despite the bluster and bravado. Rush being taken off KFI's signal on 640AM and shoved up into the upper end of the AM dial at 1150AM is the radio equivalent of being put in the naughty corner. And yes, Rush's ratings have taken a hit on KFI since the "slut" incident. So while this is bad news for progressive talk, the fact that Beck, Rush and Hannity will be confined to a bad signal on a bad dial location is cause for concern in right wing circles. Believe it.

COMMENT #4 [Permalink]

... Brad Friedman said on 12/5/2013 @ 6:38 pm PT...





Good points, Howard.

COMMENT #5 [Permalink]

... David said on 12/5/2013 @ 8:15 pm PT...





Even though I consider myself a hardcore conservative, I am actually bothered by this myself. As a conservative, the US constitution is something very sacred to me. The 1st amendment of our bill of rights clearly states that we are entitled to freedom of speech. When a single entity (Clear Channel) dominates the airwaves (essentially establishing a monopoly on broadcast media) and begins to use their power to eliminate anyone on their stations who they do not agree with, it is a blatant violation of the 1st amendment. This is nothing short of fascism. Fascism is unconstitutional, un-American and has no place in this great nation. While I certainly do not agree with over 90% of the drivel that these progressives spew, I fully support their right to spew it. After all, without true conservatives like myself, liberals could not exist in our beautiful, free society in the first place. To any of my fellow conservatives reading this, please remember the values that we stand for. Our disdain for the leftist fools should never hinder our devotion to these values. We can not win the battle against (modern) liberalism by silencing our opponents. This is a battle that can only be won through honest and open debate. Trying to silence our opposition would make us no better than the left-wing scum who terrorized the people of Soviet Russia, East Germany, Cuba, North Korea, China and every other wretched communist regime in the history of the world. As conservatives, we should never stoop so low lest we become the very thing we are trying to defeat!

COMMENT #6 [Permalink]

... Lew said on 12/5/2013 @ 8:20 pm PT...





I have been writing and phoning my Sens, rep and the white house for years about the issues of fairness and balance when it comes to the airwaves.

Nothing has been done.

What can we do?

COMMENT #7 [Permalink]

... KINGFISH said on 12/5/2013 @ 8:58 pm PT...





WOW ! That explains why Stephanie Millers

Voice was shot today !

COMMENT #8 [Permalink]

... Ralph Dratman said on 12/5/2013 @ 9:02 pm PT...





This is, of course, depressing, but it is also a sign of change. There are clearly underserved progressive audiences in LA and SF. If radio radio is not reaching that audience, it is probably because most progressives now use the internet instead of the old, one-way broadcast media such as radio and TV. After 40 years of fury about right-wing garbage on the air, I am more firmly convinced than ever that we will see a genuine turnaround over the next few years. Why? Because the Right's electronic strategy relies on the use of obsolete broadcast media. The time for that kind of one-way attitude has come to an end.

COMMENT #9 [Permalink]

... Irwin Mainway said on 12/5/2013 @ 11:53 pm PT...





Former KLOS radio host Joe Walsh in an interview maybe 13 years ago on St. Louis's KMOX, proclaimed: "Radio is Dead" while doing the dishes. The radio interview ended shortly. What exactly is the FCC doing about that, since finally after 4.75 years it has 5 of 5 Obama Commissioners even though some must be Republiscum by law?

COMMENT #10 [Permalink]

... Andy Harmon said on 12/6/2013 @ 7:27 am PT...





Instead of "The Patriot" shouldn't we just start calling KTLK "The Racist" or "The Misogynist" or "The Oxycontin & Viagara-ist"?

COMMENT #11 [Permalink]

... Howard Hoffman said on 12/6/2013 @ 8:54 am PT...





One more point is how the loss of progressive talk radio on the AM band isn't very surprising, nor should it be troubling. Most progressives are web savvy and get their fix from the internet. In fact, one thing that's scaring the daylights out of the industry is the prospect of auto manufacturers completely dumping traditional radio from their cars. Read an example of the panic here. Radio's worst enemy is itself. As an entertainment medium, it's ridiculously short on entertainment.

COMMENT #12 [Permalink]

... Bob N said on 12/6/2013 @ 9:42 am PT...





KTLK was getting a 0.2 in the ratings. Clear Channel is billions in debt. Their move is to make KFI a locally oriented station and put the conservative syndie show on 1150 KTLK. Now, KTLK isn't as weak a signal as some claim, though it's prob not as good as 640 KFI. Still, they are looking out for themselves in the business sense. CC ran liberal talk on 1200 in Boston for a couple years but it failed. Admittedly their "Rush Radio" experiment on the same station (with a slightly better signal) also didn't fly, and Rush wound up back at WRKO there. In New England there are select few cities that run prog talk including Bangor ME (thanks Stephen King), Greenfield & Northampton MA, and Brattleboro VT. Boston? Nope. Not unless you count NPR affiliates WBUR and WGBH.

COMMENT #13 [Permalink]

... Bob N said on 12/6/2013 @ 9:47 am PT...





Both the Left and the Right do access political talk shows on more than just terrestrial radio. There's satellite radio, web streaming, smartphone apps like TuneIn, etc. That being said, Rush made $59 million last year. What prog talk host makes that kind of dough? Meanwhile, NPR tilts left (a Fairness Doctrine might actually put a few conservative voices on there for a change! But it violates Freedom of Speech and Freedom of the Press--a government FORCING opinions on privately owned stations) and George Soros gave $1 million to NPR to hire reporters. One could guess their ideaological tilt. NPR even gets govt funding through CPB. Rush, etc do it the old fashioned way: Capitalism.

Providing views that are an alternative to the left leaning media. As he himself puts it,

"I _AM_ equal time." $59 mil per yr and about 600 affiliates. Not bad.

--

Flashback, 2004: "In 5 years we'll be on 600

stations"--Jon Sinton, Air America Radio

COMMENT #14 [Permalink]

... Brad Friedman said on 12/6/2013 @ 11:22 am PT...





"Bob N" said @ 12 & 13: Clear Channel is billions in debt. Right. Remember that comment in a moment... KTLK isn't as weak a signal as some claim, though it's prob not as good as 640 KFI. "Probably" not as good? KFI can be heard, especially at night, in about a dozen states, and all the way to Los Vegas. It is a 50,000 watt (small "c") clear channel blowtorch. On the other hand, you're lucky if you can pick up KTLK --- Rush's new home in the nation's largest media market as of January --- outside of the parking garage beneath the Clear Channel building in Burbank. (See Howard Hoffman's comment @ 3 above, if you need actual maps, though I'm not sure you're big on independently verifiable facts and data and stuff.) Still, they are looking out for themselves in the business sense. Right, and using government largess and potentially blatant violations of (crony capitalist unenforced) anti-trust laws to do it. But, hey, "capitalism", right? Both the Left and the Right do access political talk shows on more than just terrestrial radio. Correct. But only the Right has FREE access to their favorite shows over our public airwaves. The non-Right has to pay money to hear anything but RW radio/corporatist radio. (Somehow, I suspect you wouldn't be so cavalier about it if the government-owned airwaves were used to air only progressive talk show hosts in virtually every major city city in the nation, as is the case for RWers now. As a matter of fact, I bet folks on the Right would be in the streets over the abuse of the public airwaves, as would be appropriate, frankly.) That being said, Rush made $59 million last year. What prog talk host makes that kind of dough? What "prog host" does as much propaganda for its vertically integrated corporate owners, even though those owners are taking a loss, as you noted in the first line I quoted above. Yes, Rush may have "made $59 million last year", but he cost the corporations that pay him millions. One example you highlighted yourself: "Clear Channel is billions in debt." CC, of course, owns Premiere Networks, which must pay Limbaugh some $40 million per year, whether they make money on him or not. Do they make money on him? Not based on what the Cumulus says about Rush losing millions of dollars for the company in 2012. (That would be "last year", the year your describe all the money Rush "made", if you have trouble keeping track of actual data, facts and details and stuff.) Meanwhile, NPR tilts left (a Fairness Doctrine might actually put a few conservative voices on there for a change! That's hilarious. Uh, don't listen much to NPR, eh? You're adorable. George Soros gave $1 million to NPR to hire reporters. One could guess their ideaological tilt. Uh, yeah...I don't know how much or if Soros gave anything. That said, if he gave $1m, his contribution is dwarfed by money given to NPR from the fossil fuel industry, the banking industry, the health care industry, etc. You may wish to consider getting your information from something other than Limbaugh propaganda organs. Or you may not. NPR even gets govt funding through CPB. Okay. Not sure what that has to do with anything, but whatevs. Clear Channel gets ALL of its stations thanks to generous tax-payer subsidized leases of our public airwaves, so not sure what your point is at all, frankly. Rush, etc do it the old fashioned way: Capitalism. Heheh...If by "capitalism", you mean free (or virtually free) leases of our public airwaves to a tiny handful of vertically integrated (monopolistic) corporations who fail to serve the public interest, which is the only thing they are asked to do in exchange for that free government largess. Is that what you mean by "Capitalism"? If so, yeah, he did it the old fashioned way, with government sanctioned and subsidized corporate cronyism, which you appear to be cool with.

COMMENT #15 [Permalink]

... Wes Brown said on 12/6/2013 @ 11:28 am PT...





Bob N - Monopolies like Clear Channel actually squash competition, which is the point of this post. I understand you can argue monopolies are the result of pure capitalism, and you're right. But once oligarchs or monopolies reach a certain level in their industries, free market ceases to exist. You then get depressed wages, stagnant innovation, and a slow economy because it entry and start up costs are exorbitant to compete with the oligarchs. Anti-trust laws including the old fairness doctrine in broadcasting were meant to prevent monopolistic capitalism because in addition to the above problems, you also have drastic income inequality. Sound familiar? Finally, don't forget that the airwaves are GIVEN to Clear Channel and the rest with only a promise - that is government support of business like the railroads, internet and major r & d. Rush Limbaugh does do his craft well, but it is not just capitalism that made him succeed, it was government and anti- free market that has propped him up. Finally, many of his stations don't earn money, but Clear Channel runs him anyway because he supports them. THAT is crony capitalism and monopolistic anti-capitalism. Just an FYI. I am Wes Brown of The Wes Brown Show on 1340 AM KBBR, Coos Bay streaming live on 1340kbbr.com. Sundays, 1p - 3p PST. Bi Coastal Media owns KBBR and it is the only pure progressive channel left in Oregon. I do my show for free. The signal is very weak. I'm trying to build an audience to earn a living at this, but if they won't carry my message cause I say they should pay taxes, then I am screwed and denied my chance at market entry, which is not free market. Wes Brown

COMMENT #16 [Permalink]

... Wes Brown said on 12/6/2013 @ 11:35 am PT...





One more thing - You're free market explanation failed to mention that many progressive shows are cancelled and replaced with sports, even though they have higher ratings. That is also not free market and is capitalism at its worst, which in the end will ruin itself because it alienates so many people and denies them good wages. You really should drill down, just a little because the corporatists are not telling you the whole truth. Voila! That is the danger and point, a misinformed public is an unproductive public, et al. Wes Brown

COMMENT #17 [Permalink]

... allin said on 12/6/2013 @ 12:24 pm PT...





Don't be fooled into thinking that progressive stations are being taken off the air because they had low ratings; they were run into the ground by right wingers --- I knew of someone who was trying to buy ad time on progressive radio years ago and Clear Channel would not sell it. It's the usual MO of these people --- same thing they're trying to do with ACA, Detroit, the Postal Service, etc. etc.

COMMENT #18 [Permalink]

... Sue Wilson said on 12/6/2013 @ 12:25 pm PT...





A couple of thoughts here. First, KTLK also has a 50,000 watt signal, but most of it goes out over the Pacific Ocean, where sailors and dolphins are tuning in. It's still not a bad signal, it's not like they put Rush on a 1,000 watt signal. Second, regarding this statement: "Meanwhile, NPR tilts left (a Fairness Doctrine might actually put a few conservative voices on there for a change!)" Because of public funding, NPR still operates under rules similar to the Fairness Doctrine. If you do not hear balance on your local NPR station, just call the station manager and start making noise. Bottom line: progressive thought is still being shut out of the discourse on the airwaves all we the people own.

COMMENT #19 [Permalink]

... Paul said on 12/6/2013 @ 12:29 pm PT...





Bob N unknowingly reveals much in his comments. I have suspected for years that media corporations were running right-wing programming at a loss to propagate the conservative-corporate propaganda. It is no big surprise Clear Channel is losing money on their radio empire. They own other media such as billboards. Remember the Florida billboard they contributed with a picture of George W. Bush with the simple message, "Our Leader"? Media loves to use the old, false argument that they only provides the programming the viewers or listeners want. I have never gotten to vote for what goes on our public airwaves, have you? As corporate conservatives are proving state by state, they will instituted their "values" by force. Federal law may provide individual rights for women, but individual states can undermine the liberty of women and voters to express their free will. They will take what they cannot win. Thom Hartmann is my favorite progressive voice and despite his program being available in various markets on radio and cable, his show cannot be found on Verizon cable that eliminated RT and never carried Free Speech TV so I have gladly subscribed to his Podcast for years. Progressive voices are being kept off our once public airwaves that --- like most industries, including election systems --- have been delivered to conservative corporate ownership. In an unregulated free market, a corporation can pay Limbaugh millions that he's not worth and lose money in the process. Then, people like Bob N. can falsely claim that Limbaugh must be worth what the market is paying him. That kind of manipulation is the difference between a free market and a fair market that allows real competition rather than the dictatorial collusion of a handful of corporation in any given industry. America is in the grips of corporate fascism. Corporations control politicians here and abroad. If corporations are people, they only have allegiance to money --- not nations. Freedom of speech must be curtailed where it threatens the corporate stronghold. That is why progressive voices must be stifled. Just like we don't get to vote on TV and radio programming (a word that also applies to brainwashing and election systems), we have no vote on the information that is fed to us.

COMMENT #20 [Permalink]

... patricia gisler said on 12/6/2013 @ 12:45 pm PT...





I will not be listening to ktlk come Jan.!!

COMMENT #21 [Permalink]

... allin said on 12/6/2013 @ 12:55 pm PT...





you can file a complaint with the FCC here: http://www.fcc.gov/ click on "take action"

COMMENT #22 [Permalink]

... Howard Hoffman said on 12/6/2013 @ 2:02 pm PT...





I'm still amazed that people in our business still rail about NPR. Dude, ANYONE with a checkbook can donate to NPR. I'm shocked that the Kochs haven't though of it. But commercial radio is run by corporations, plain and simple...and we know the political leanings of corporations. No...there is no liberal commercial media. Even MSNBC is owned by Comcast, and if anyone steps out of line, they're gone. Martin Bashir and Alec Baldwin know. But for some reason, right wing personalities who say more outlandish things get to keep their jobs. It's so easy to say NPR is a bunch of lefties, especially if you don't listen to NPR. If you actually did, you'd be shocked at how apolitical they really are. NPR usually gets lumped in with Pacifica (hi, Brad!) because they're all clustered in that 88.1-91.9 part of the FM band. The difference, though, is enormous.

COMMENT #23 [Permalink]

... Costanza said on 12/6/2013 @ 2:17 pm PT...





So just hang on a second - Beck, Limbaugh and Hannity moving to a weakling station in LA - is this connected to free market forces or not? Was Limbaugh a big ad earner for KFI?

Was Hannity a big ad earner for KABC?

COMMENT #24 [Permalink]

... C Lawrence said on 12/6/2013 @ 3:20 pm PT...





Let's not forget that just here on the west coast we've lost stations in Seattle, Portland, San Luis Obispo Cty, San Diego. I don't have ilnternet in my car so have lost progressive programming for 2 hours a day. (and I can't afford it anyway.) My county has TWO Lush Rimjob stations. My little town has one station, with the RW hate radio blaring from local businesses all day. Owners I talk with complain "but that's all that's on." Charlie

Paso Robles

COMMENT #25 [Permalink]

... Brad Friedman said on 12/6/2013 @ 5:06 pm PT...





Wes Brown @ 16 said: many progressive shows are cancelled and replaced with sports, even though they have higher ratings. In many cases, Wes, those stations flipping from progressive talk to sports are flipping to sports nets syndicated by syndication companies they own. That's the vertifical integration I was talking about in the U.S. v. Paramount case I cited in the original article above. See, for example, CBS flipping the progressive Seattle station to their own syndicated CBS Sports network, and Clear Channel flipping progressive Portland station to Fox Sports, which is syndicated by Premiere. I discussed that when it happened at the end of last year back here. That's exactly what happened in San Francisco at the end of 2011 when Stephanie Miller got replaced on the Clear Channel progressive station by Glenn Beck (syndicated by Premiere) and what appears to be happening now on both KTLK in L.A. and KNEW in San Fran. They are leveraging their status as station owners to help out their corporate subsidiaries. That seems the very definition of vertical integration, and when we used to enforce laws against corporations in this country, it used to be illegal, as per the Paramount case, which resulted in busting up the major studio system and the theater chains they owned. None of that is a Right/Left political issue. It's a right/wrong legal issue. Period. P.S. How'd your interview with Randi go? Got LINK?

COMMENT #26 [Permalink]

... Brad Friedman said on 12/6/2013 @ 5:14 pm PT...





Howard Hoffman said @ 22: But for some reason, right wing personalities who say more outlandish things get to keep their jobs. Get to keep their jobs?! Dude, they get promotions for that! As they say, that ain't a bug in Rightwing Media, it's a feature! NPR usually gets lumped in with Pacifica (hi, Brad!) because they're all clustered in that 88.1-91.9 part of the FM band. The difference, though, is enormous. Yup. (and hi, Howard!)

COMMENT #27 [Permalink]

... Howard Hoffman said on 12/6/2013 @ 5:51 pm PT...





Skip back to what I said in Comment 22: "...there is no liberal commercial media. Even MSNBC is owned by Comcast, and if anyone steps out of line, they're gone. Martin Bashir and Alec Baldwin know. But for some reason, right wing personalities who say more outlandish things get to keep their jobs." And Brad's response of "Dude, they get promotions for that!" Here's today's living proof. An apology is all a right winger needs to keep his job. Left wingers apologize and still get canned. Period.

COMMENT #28 [Permalink]

... Brad Friedman said on 12/6/2013 @ 7:58 pm PT...





Howard Hoffman said @ 27: An apology is all a right winger needs to keep his job. Left wingers apologize and still get canned. Period. You're wrong, Howard. Actual "Left wingers" are not hired or put on the air in the first place. (Except maybe at Pacifica. And that too is really just a maybe.) ...But I take your larger point.

COMMENT #29 [Permalink]

... Sophie said on 12/8/2013 @ 12:41 pm PT...





RE-David

"As conservatives, we should never stoop so low lest we become the very thing we are trying to defeat!"

My, my, that is just so pathetic. I'm afraid the joke is on "hardcore conservatives" since the lot of them ALREADY have become a stinking pile of fascist sycophants. Right wing gaslighting and it's believers are the end result when the media is taken over by right wingers--as in Clear Channel and their corporate loving strategy to eliminate progressive voices. I have a lot of experience dealing with the type of insanity that has become the right wing echo chamber--my brothers were FUX pod-napped some time ago. No amount of reason or something called the TRUTH will permeate the right wing pod-napped. Hate, bigotry, and outright lies resound all over this country, with barely a rebuttal. And, right wingers appear to have a serious cognitive dissonance problem regarding what is "leftist" and what is not. Turn OFF the right wing echo chamber.

COMMENT #30 [Permalink]

... Ruth S said on 12/9/2013 @ 2:41 pm PT...





I just heard two commercials on San Francisco's 960knew.com that Randi Rhodes is moving to sister station talk910.com on 1/2/14 starting at 1:00pm.

COMMENT #31 [Permalink]

... Enrique Arteaga said on 12/10/2013 @ 11:38 am PT...





The death of KTLK happened a long time ago when they got rid of Malloy on weeknights and have gawd awful local programming 9-12 am rather than Ed Shultz. Now, more than ever, is when people have to start supporting podcasts like Majority Report with Sam Seder. I am a member, been one for about 8 months, and can't live without the quality discussions he is having in lieu of "fart jokes." There are scores of other great podcasts, and as terrestrial radio slowly circles the bowl, we need to increase the quality of progressive voices.

COMMENT #32 [Permalink]

... addie said on 12/10/2013 @ 2:59 pm PT...





It almost feels like we (progressives) have to go underground to listen to anything other than the right-wing hatemongers.

KTLK will be removed from my presets on 12/31.

COMMENT #33 [Permalink]

... John Maguire said on 12/10/2013 @ 10:45 pm PT...





I've given upon terrestrial radio. Streaming is still using the radio waves, but its much more selective and better quality. I don't miss the AM fade or FM multi-path problems.

The future is streaming. I use Tune-In which is the best app for progressives. I have not used iHeart for years and don't miss it one bit. As a statement of protest, I just now deleted it off my phone. Good Bye Clear Channel! Imagine, if everyone deleted the iHeart app, would Mitt loose money? I hope so.

COMMENT #34 [Permalink]

... Ernest A. Canning said on 12/11/2013 @ 11:06 am PT...





Re John Maquire @33. The First Amendment was never intended solely to protect the tech savvy. All citizens should be afforded access to a wide arrange of thoughts, discussions and information. Radio, both AM and FM, reaches millions of commuters, traveling to and from work and elsewhere, via their car radios, nationwide. They should be entitled to access beyond that which can be offered by a Rush Limbaugh.

COMMENT #35 [Permalink]

... Irwin Mainway said on 12/11/2013 @ 8:51 pm PT...





Radio, both AM and FM, reaches millions of commuters, traveling to and from work and elsewhere, via their car radios, nationwide. They should be entitled to access beyond that which can be offered by a Rush Limbaugh. Hopefully not taken for granted in Chicagoland, home of powerhouse WCPT AM/FM.

COMMENT #36 [Permalink]

... Fred Swift said on 12/13/2013 @ 11:49 am PT...





I have lived in OC most of my 48 years, and I drive all over and never ever had a problem with hearing or getting KTLK's signal. The market share definately went down, but that was after Air America faded and personalities like Thom Hartman, Ed Schultz, Rachel Maddow were dropped.

COMMENT #37 [Permalink]

... Robert Getsla said on 12/13/2013 @ 10:31 pm PT...

