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Ed Schultz moves to noon; to take "1 or 2 million Rush listeners"
The 'nets have been abuzz and a-twitter with the quite-possibly-true news from RawStory that Ed Schultz is moving from his current afternoon slot to the 12 noon to 3pm time slot. That puts him head-to-head against both Al Franken and Rush Limbaugh.
Curious for the backstory, I first called Judd Legum of Think Progress, who had no insight into this matter. He did call Steve Young from the Huffington Post and relayed what he said back to me. However, Young also had no insight.
Shortly after that, an anonymous caller - using a voice disguising device and calling from what appeared to be a payphone in Malaysia - called our Tip Line. This radio insider assured us that this is NOT a move by Schultz to undercut Franken. Rather, it's an attempt to... undercut Rush Limbaugh!
According to the insider, Big Dumb Ed will soon begin to "play NASCAR sounds during breaks, offer up-to-the-minute NASCAR news, and feature the Farm Report - with an emphasis on pigs, hogs, and corn - at the top of each hour." This is apparently an attempt to reach out to the "troglodytes" (his word) that listen to Rush.
As always, watch the HuffPost, ThinkProgress, and RawStory for the latest on this developing story...
UPDATE: Amy Bolton, VP/General Manager of News/Talk for Jones Radio Networks informs us:
"With the recent change in the nation's political climate, Ed Schultz is quickly proving to be the new mainstream."
Posted in Ed Schultz at 05:17 PM | Comments (2)
Air America to be bought out or go away soon
Sadly, it looks like a critical point for Air America is coming soon, as due to the legalistic requirements of their bankruptcy filing they must find a buyer soon.
All of this occurs against the backdrop of the current time of the year. Even with this unseasonably warm weather, Foliage Season is over save for the southern reaches of New England. The weather has indeed turned, with flurries of snowflakes blurring the views from Air America Radio's windows in The Big Apple. The leaves have indeed fallen onto the ground, whether maples or elms, even blowing through the Concrete Canyons of New York City. The season of candied apples - which I once enjoyed on the porch of the Mount Washington Hotel and Resort while pondering the Bretton Woods agreement and then again in Connecticut - has long passed. As has the season of roasted turkeys, roasted chestnuts, and cranberry sauce - not from a can. The season of Santa and his reindeer is soon upon us. There may be no presents - whether a tie, a pony, or simply a $178 gift certificate - for AAR this year.
Posted in Meta at 06:58 AM | Comments (3)
Al Franken: double head fake, hold cheers
Well, ain't that a kick in the shorts area! Now, via a comment from Raccoon Radio we're alerted to this interesting piece from the odious Steve Young claiming to have the thoughts of one Al Franken, saying that he's just leaving for an ISO tour of Iraq and he's "made no decision on leaving the show." However, we still are partially standing by the earlier report.
17 AUTH 5: CNVRT 2DBL GO: 843 129 32. GURER VF AB PBAFCVENPL.
Posted in StuartSmalley at 10:17 AM | Comments (3)
Al Franken leaves Air America Radio!
Congrats and candies to all doubles, triples, and quads, team leaders, operational teams and support staff. The news can finally be released: Al Franken will soon be leaving Air America Radio. While the full story cannot yet be revealed and the full complete story will never be known, think of AAR as a brick wall without any mortar and built by someone unworthy of calling themselves a mason. Brick after brick were removed from the wall until it is close - just close - to collapsing. First, the funding "issues", leading to embarassment and finally bankruptcy. The former B-movie "star" Janeane Garofalo was given a better offer; trash TV host Jerry Springer was marginalized; the semi-talented Marc Maron was shuttled off to Siberia... I mean Los Angeles. Brick after brick, until the wall will soon fall.
UPDATE: Oddly enough, the DUmmies don't appear to be discussing this matter, but our friend proudprogressiveCA is. After the perfunctory dissing of Brian Maloney - but not this site for some reason - some of the commenters weigh in.
"Gooserock" opines: "I think Ed Schultz is light-years ahead as liberal entertainment for the masses." Yes, he is indeed "bread and circuses" for the great unwashed.
"kestrel9000" says: "Franken's problem is that he built his cred as a comedic writer, so people, when listening, expect him to be funnier than he actually is. That same handicap does not impede him in terms of his books, just his radio show. People, I think on first listen, expected to be rolling in the aisles, and it just didn't happen."
"Getreal1246" reminds us that Franken frequently treated his listeners to the thoughts of Paul Krugman.
And, "sclminc" indeed has his tinfoil hat snugged down tight!
My admittedly tinfoil hat concern is that I wonder if maybe the Bush Rovies have somehow planted moles at Air America, or used the CIA, FBI or NSA to spy on Air America, or done other really creepy stuff to bring it down. You might say, "Well, Air America's stupid managers did the Bush Rovies' legwork for them." But were the managers really that stupid, or were some of them moles? And, were they really that stupid, or did they go up against a secret Bush Rovie boycott or other Bush Rovie barriers?
UPDATE 2: Al Franken is leaving Air America on Valentine's Day.
UPDATE 3: Here's my Al Franken tribute video.
Posted in StuartSmalley at 11:09 AM | Comments (2)
Janeane Garofalo narrates "Useful Idiots on Parade"
OK, it's not really called "Useful Idiots on Parade", but Janeane Garofalo is the narrator of a 2005 documentary called "The Peace Patriots". It's about all the useful idiots who participated in the "peace" movement, much of which was in fact orchestrated by Communist-linked groups. Keeping with that theme, the doc features the music of Pete Seeger and Billy Bragg among others. And, it's received rave reviews from, among other even lesser-known figures, Howard Zinn.
For those of you who even know where Fond du Lac, Wisconsin is and who've ever heard of Marian College, it will be playing there on November 20. A warning though: some of those in the audience might in fact be infiltrators. If you go, make sure that your neighbor is part of the movement and not a plant.
Posted in Janeane at 01:18 PM | Comments (0)
Jerry Springer: ashamed of his radio show?
Jerry Springer appeared on Tuesday night's Jimmy Kimmel Show, and the following is an accurate representation of his appearance:[...five minutes of blather about his appearance on Dancing with the Stars, with several references to the Jerry Springer (TV) Show...]Certainly, Jerry could have just been there to plug his new dancing career, but giving such short shrift to something he does a few hours every weekday is odd. Unless, of course, that's the only thing he's ever done that he's ashamed of.
Jimmy Kimmel: ...And you're doing a radio show...
Jerry Jerry Jerry: Yeah, every morning...
[...three minutes of blather about his appearance on Dancing with the Stars, with several references to the Jerry Springer (TV) Show...]
Posted in PureClass at 06:06 AM | Comments (0)
Comrades question Air America off in Madison (WXXM the Mic)
Comrades, sotrudniki, and Air America supporters have risen in righteous anger over Air America Radio being taken off WXXM in Madison Wisconsin in order to be replaced with sports talk from Fox Sports.
In a sharply worded Letter to the Editor of The Onion The Capital Times, AAR supporter Rosanne Ehrlich wonders "if others, as I do, find it suspicious that Air America radio in liberal Madison is being canned... Did they suddenly realize that The Mic was possibly making an ever so subtle difference in voter perceptions? Did the stunning Democratic landslide leave them with egg on their faces? Could the motive now be vengeance?"
And, Xavier Casto urges all to show "support of progressive radio now":
...Some may feel we need to return to the blissful ignorance we once had before names like Randi Rhodes, Stephanie Miller, Al Franken, Mike Malloy and Lee Rayburn greeted us with progressive thoughts and humor, but anyone who has tasted the sweet fruit of knowledge should be infuriated (or at least have a feeling of betrayal) by the corporate giant that has teased us with a droplet only to yank it from us before we realize the full strength it could give us...
Posted in Meta at 12:38 PM | Comments (0)
White powder letters sent to celebrities, media, Al Franken
Various celebrities and media sources have lately been receiving threatening letters containing a white powder which turned out upon testing to have been harmless. Oddly enough, even Air America radio has received three such letters, including one addressed to Al Franken, the NY Post reports. It is unknown whether the letters sent to AAR are related to the ones sent to David Letterman and other celebrities and media sources. It is also unknown why the letter was sent to Al Franken, who is neither.
Posted in StuartSmalley at 10:29 AM | Comments (0)
Citizen Journalist Assignment Desk: which are still AAR stations?
Calling all investigative journalists, citizen journalists, malcontents, homeless people with internet access at local lending libraries, and bloggers! Here's a fun assignment that will earn you fame and possibly even fortune.
Your assignment: find out how many of the "Air America Radio outlets" on this list are actually still broadcasting some or all of AAR's programming. (For instance, the Chattanooga station they list stopped broadcasting AAR almost three months ago.)
Since some of those stations might only be running a few hours of AAR per day, a scoring system might be useful, perhaps using icons. For instance, there could be one to five small KoolAid icons, depending on how much AAR their listeners are forced to consume. A tiny little icon of Screech could be used to indicate how much Randi Rhodes content there is; a tiny little icon of a flying chair for Al Franken; and so on.
Posted in Blog at 05:36 AM | Comments (0)
Air America off in Madison, New Orleans, Huntington, Binghampton...
Like a circus leaving town on an early morning train, Air America Radio is being taken off the air in Madison, Wisconsin and New Orleans, Louisiana.
In Madison - the beuddered version of Berkeley - WXXM (92.1 FM) aka "The Mic" is replacing them with all sports... from Fox! That station is owned by... Clear Channel!
Says AAR investor and heavy debtor Terry Kelly:
"I find it puzzling as to the timing given the election results... There is no business reason that is apparent to me (for the change), therefore, one wonders what the real reasons may be."
And, even more puzzling still, they had moved up to 11th in their market...
And, WSMB (1350 AM) in New Orleans is replacing Al, Randi and the gang with:
"The Food Show," live local gustatory gab hosted by Tom Fitzmorris... Bob DelGiorno, Monica Pierre, John "Spud" McConnell and Garland Robinette.
In more hopeful news, KCAA (1050 AM) in California's Inland Empire (somewhere out near Riverside or something) is hoping to be able to broadcast during the nighttime beginning at the start of the year.
I know this looks like some vast conspiracy considering the recent elections and all, but I can assure my liberal readers that these are just business decisions.
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UPDATE: Look, I realize that this is starting to look like some kind of conspiracy, but it isn't. Via this, we learn that AAR is also going off the air in Huntington, West Virginia (WRVC-AM) and Binghamton, New York (WYOS-AM). All four stations listed above are still on AAR's list of stations. They'll remove them in good time, perhaps around the same time they get around to deleting other stations such as Chattanooga TN, which they lost back in August.
UPDATE 2: I see that Raccoon Radio also noticed the NY change. And, Wally Pike brings the news that the WV station was reportedly "flipped" with WCMI (1340 AM) out of Ashland, Kentucky. WCMI is a massive local powerhouse with a whopping 700 Watts of power. Meaning that Huntington residents might be able to continue to hear AAR just so long as no one in town is using their microwave oven.
Posted in Meta at 06:10 AM | Comments (4)
Air America blacklist; "offensive programming"?
As previously discussed, mysterious forces have encouraged around one hundred very large advertisers to avoid advertising on Air America Radio. Tin-foil hat wearers claim this is a "blacklist" and is part of a "conspiracy", despite Jim's Bunch disclaiming all responsibility (XE83-371P).
Now, the MSM - in the person of the free Pasadena Weekly - has dug into this story. According to them, AAR flack Jamie Horn says:
"This is nothing new. We have been dealing with this since we launched two years ago. It is unfortunate that some advertisers are afraid of supporting the progressive voice in this country."
A Navy spokesman says:
"The US Navy employs a media strategy to leverage programming that effectively reaches the Navy's target market -- potential recruits -- and that type of programming typically does not include 'All News,' 'All Talk' or 'News/Talk' radio formats."
Nestle says:
"It is our policy to ensure communications are associated with neutral positions. Our policy does not single out Air America, but applies to political programming in general."
And, Hewlett-Packard responds titularly:
"Media relationships are chosen to extend HP's reach to certain target audiences and not based on media content. The relationships should not be construed in any way as endorsements of such content. As a general practice, HP strives whenever possible to avoid ad rotations that include offensive programming."
ABC told the PW that such blacklists are common, but didn't provide them with any similar lists for Sean Hannity or Larry Elder. Note, of course, that the original memo was apparently smuggled out of somehwere.
The PW couldn't reach eHarmony for comment, and we didn't even bother trying.
Posted in Meta at 07:17 AM | Comments (0)
Details on Air America's role in the Big Democratic Win
Posted in Meta at 10:07 PM | Comments (4)
Air America Radio smear reporter detained (George Allen)
As if taking a "loan" from a Boys & Girls Club wasn't bad enough, Air America Radio has apparently been trying to reach a new low by employing sleazy "liberal" blogger Mike Stark as a "reporter". Stark is the person who tried to ask Virginia senatorial candidate George Allen a despicable question earlier in the week and ended up being wrestled to the ground. However, that appears to have taken place after Stark had pushed past an Allen supporter. The pictures at the last link make it look like Stark is a physical threat to the candidate rather than the sympathetic victim that he's been portrayed as.Now, he's been detained, handcuffed, and released after allegedly pushing an Allen supporter to the ground. And, this time he claims he was a reporter for the Young Turks.
On Saturday, Allen supporters formed a human wall to block Stark's access to the senator, who is in a tight election race with Democrat Jim Webb. As Stark tried to sidestep the wall, he brushed the side of a supporter, who fell. A deputy sheriff grabbed Stark, put his arm behind his back and led him away to the cheers of about 100 Allen supporters.This is truly "reporting", Air America Radio style. This isn't real reporting in any way, shape or form. It might be therapy for Stark and other "progressives", but is not a real debate about issues.
Stark said that he had little contact with the man and that he overheard him tell another supporter that he planned to "take a dive."
The supporter who fell refused to give his name or talk about the incident.
Senatorial aide Dan Allen said his boss was concerned by Stark's presence because his daughter, a student at nearby James Madison University, was at the event and "he wanted to make sure she was safe."
"He's hoping authorities can handle it, and he's not going to allow incidents like these to distract him from discussing the issues that matter most to him," the aide said...
Allen supporters could respond by going to Webb appearances and using signs, flyers, and shouting if necessary to peacefully ask Webb tough policy questions. If they ask the right questions, that might show up both Webb's policies as well as Stark's smear attempts.
On a lighter note, Cenk Uygur of the Turks announced the hiring on the HuffPost, and one of the comments says:
Well, since it's Air America Radio...the first tough question Mike should ask is....
"Am I going to get paid anytime soon?!?!?!"
Posted in Meta at 07:47 PM | Comments (4)
"Air America hopeful of finding buyer"
From the AP:
Air America Radio is talking to several parties about a possible sale and is hopeful of reaching a deal before Thanksgiving, a lawyer for the liberal talk radio network told a bankruptcy hearing Tuesday... ...Under the agreement finalized Tuesday, the company needs to have a deal in place with a buyer and have filed a motion with the court by Nov. 22 seeking approval of the sale to guarantee that financing continue that date.
There's always this:
Posted in Meta at 05:30 AM | Comments (3)
