Air America Radio loses Chattanooga affiliate WDOD

Our speculation was correct and it's official: Air America Radio has lost their affiliate in Chattanooga Tennessee.

The decision to drop Air America talk show programming grew out of the format's failure to attract adequate advertiser support, [Danny Howard, director of programming and operations for WDEF and WDOD] said.

The fact that Air America is only a few years old and has been through some tumultuous times made it more difficult to attract advertisers and listeners, he said.

"I think they will continue to do well in some markets, but we thought it was time to try something else here," he said.

Their new format is described in a letter to the editor:

Late yesterday afternoon my wife returned from running errands and asked, "What's the deal with WDOD? They are playing good music this afternoon." Since I haven't listened to WDOD in many weeks, I was pleasantly surprised to tune into some very nice music.

Far be it from me to even hint of "I told you so" along with dozens of others last year when the format was rumored to be changed, but I think it was mentioned that the liberal talk format would be a financial disaster in this radio market, and far worse would mean the elimination of the peaceful, tuneful, harmonic music of the big bands, great pop soloists and choral groups from the local airways...

If you know anyone who owns a radio station and could help Air America, please call 212-871-8100. Please.

Posted in Meta at August 23, 2006 11:37 PM

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