1260 AM in Washington, DC

[Bleacher Creature]

I hate to say it, but it kind of sucks. And to top it off, there was just an article in the Washington Post saying that the ratings were bad. Anyway, hate to vent but:

1) The signal is weak. What's worse is that the station that bleeds into it is the one that plays OxyRush.

2) They don't do any AAR in the morning. I like Stephanie Miller more than Springer, so it's all good, but it sucked when they didn't have Unfiltered. Plus, Imus in the Morning???

3) It's sister station is sports radio, so they constantly preempt their shows for Wizards and Orioles games. As a sports fan, I'm ok with that on rare occasions (e.g. when there are 2 games on) but they do it even when there isn't a game on the other channel.

4) They do Ed Shultz from 3-6pm, Randi from 6-8pm (the second hour is the repeat of her actual first hour).

5) No Malloy. Instead they have this guy "Lionel" who I can take for about 30 seconds.

Any other DC people out there feel the same???

[loveable liberal]

1. we're having the same problems in Minnesota too....

Not from lack of support, but lack of managerial talent it seems.

[minkyboodle]

2. I agree 100 percent

I live in Alexandria and the signal is about the weakest around. I realy wish they would just run the whole AAR feed I could do without Big Ed Head. My number one complaint would be the signal though it is anemic.

[Stinky The Clown]

5. I'm in Howard County, MD. The signal up here is near impossible

to get in the house and barely better in the car. I can only listen to it reliably when I go down to DC.

I like Steaphanie Miller and actually prefer her to either Morning Sedition or Jerry Springer (not that I dislike either in any way ... just like Miller more).

I can't for the life of me understand why DC (what ...? 90% Dem?) and Baltimore (85% Dem) can't get one solid alternative to the Nazi Fuck 'em Fest.

Sure their ratings suck ...... nobody can fucking HEAR IT!!!

[minkyboodle]

9. agreed

I can't see how fucking WMAL represents this area. it just doesn't add up :shrug:

[Donailin]

12. seriously, Ninety Percent of the district voted Kerry. nt

[diamond14]

19. you must be in the LOWER part of Alexandria...I hear it FINE up here

on the HILL....


if you're in the low wetland-filled area of Alexandria..it's no wonder you can't get any good radio signals....plus, all that crap from the airport must destroy everything around....

[onehandle]

3. I'm starting to feel lucky here in Atlanta.

Our AAR station plays the Full lineup. At first the signal was weak, but they just moved the signal to a tower more central to Atlanta that is much stronger.

Seems to me that a great Democratic city like DC deserves better.

[journalist3072]

18. Yes, DC does deserve better

And for all of my fellow DC folks, we need to start demanding better. We really do.

We need to make it clear that we want talk radio that represents our views and our interests, and if radio stations continue to ignore that, then we will ignore them.

That will get their attention.

[fairfaxvadem]

4. No signal, no good ratings...

No surprise there. I can listen fine from Vienna into the city. During the day I can keep it tuned in all the way home to Centreville. But, when I leave class in DC at night, I lose it at 66 and the Beltway, and invariably miss the rest of the Majority Report.

It's too bad about the ratings, since I haven't listened to talk radio in so long, it's nice to have SOMETHING, but if 1260 won't boost its signal and promote a decent lineup, then sure it'll fail.

Makes me wonder if it's fail on purpose, but I know that's tinfoily.

I do hate that it is pre-empted by the sporting events, I admit. And I don't like how they cut up Randi's show.

What a shame, and Fairfax County went for Kerry this time, we could use a decent alternative, and I don't even think it's advertised very well.

[laura888]

15. The Air American line-up...

...would have thousands of listeners (or millions) in the DC area.

I hear that in New York, all the cab drivers play Randi Rhodes.

I think that if 1260 fails, another station will pick it up and do a better job at it. There are dollars to be made when you have this many listeners.

[Ashy Larry]

6. I feel the exact same way

I'm in Alexandria and the signal is awful. What do expect from Clear Channel?

[minkyboodle]

8. ashy?

are you about to go from ashy to classy?? Sorry but I love that sketch :)

[minkyboodle]

7. don't mean to hijack the thread but..

since I know some DC/NOVA/MD radio listeners are in on this badboy, who here hates Chris Core like I do.... Honestly, he bugs me more than Hannity with his "reasonable act". He is a right wing whore who tries to disguise his typical arguments with a moderate cloak. How the hell did he get to be the local DC AM talk show host??
Sorry but the dude pushes my buttons.

[laura888]

10. I live in Alexandria and agree with much of what you say

1) yes - signal IS weak. For some reason, I can pick it up during the daytime in Chantilly, where I work, but not at night. I cannot recommend it to my friend who lives in Manassas - the signal is just not strong enough.

Still - there is nothing comparable to it in DC, and I am willing to put up with the static. Perhaps others feel the same?

2) Imus in the morning sucks. This is NOT "progressive radio." I cannot stress this enough.

3) Yeah, I'm NOT a sports fan and am VERY disappointed when I can't get Randi in the evenings on my drive home. I sent an email to the station complaining. Their answer was that they were tied to "contractual obligations."

4) I don't mind doing a double-take on Randi at all. My biggest complaint is Imus AND (see *)...

5) I love Malloy, but I can also take Lionel as well.

* Saturday mornings they play the "Satellite Sisters" which is NOT progressive at ALL. This morning, one of the sisters said she was excited that Mrs. Bush was going to be near where she lives. ARGH! That reminds me - I need to send an email complaint to the station...

Might be worth complaining to Air America as well... Their format is VERY ATTRACTIVE to listeners. If another station can pick up on it and do a better job than 1260 AM - then heave ho!

[Donailin]

11. Didn't even know it existed, but I live in Silver Spring MD and prefer

Pacifica which is 89.3 FM and NPR which is 88.5 FM and C-Span radio which is 90.1 FM. I listen to the radio all day and go back and forth between those three. Pacifica is good in the AM with Democracy Now and community comment and Gary Null in the afternoon, and NPR has Diane Reem at 10 AM and KOJO Namdi at 12-2 and Talk of the Nation from 2-3.

I really can't complain, it could be much worse, not too many states have pacifica or C-span radio.

[laura888]

13. Agreed that we have other choices

But c'mon now - is Kojo "progressive"?

I question whether NPR is truly un-biased. They repeatedly have guests from American Enterprise and other known republican think-tanks.

Personally, I support 89.3 FM (LOVE Ron Pinchback) - but I would NEVER send a check to NPR.

We need a solid, talk-show host format radio station in our camp. 89.3 can only take us so far. We need Ed Schultz and Randi Rhodes to show some spunk.

[Donailin]

20. What do you mean by progressive?

>>But c'mon now - is Kojo "progressive"?<<

Kojo is all manner of things, but a corporate sell out he is not. I find him to be left, carefully left. But then I don't need to hear left wing hate radio. I don't want the left brand of "Rush" -- it doesn't help me think critically. NPR is publicly supported, just like PBS. Since I 've been listening for ages, I think it is well balanced. Diane always has balanced panel discussions in her first hour. ALWAYS. And she is always biased towards the liberal POV -- EXCEPT in the run up to war, when NPR and C-span failed miserably. But then so did CBS and Dan Rather.

[laura888]

23. Do you need to listen to the American Enterprise Institute ...

...to think critically?

These folks are funded heavily by the RNC and they are aired regularly on NPR as "experts."

Plus, if NPR failed miserably at a critical moment, as you said, I would seriously consider whether they're worth listening to.

If you haven't listened to Air America yet - which I assume you haven't - then give it a shot. It'll open your eyes.

[Donailin]

28. I'm familair with all think tanks left and right

and my eyes have been open probably while you were still in middle school. Oddly, I don't feel threatened by NPR or KOJO all the same. Careful there. . you have the tone of a zealot, and that doesn't further your cause much.

[laura888]

29. sorry - you still don't address the issue of...

...NPR regularly airing the right think tanks as "experts."

And please tell me the names of the equivalent left think tanks that they're airing. Talking about your age or my age is way off-topic.

A good chunk of the U.S. is hungry for media that hasn't been touched by the RNC. This is a true statement.

[journalist3072]

14. 1260 AM in DC

Yep, I'm not that happy with their programming either.

I wish they carried Morning Sedition instead of Imus.

Now that Jerry Springer replaced Unfiltered, I'm ok w/ Stephanie Miller. But when Unfiltered was on AAR, I was mad that 1260 didn't carry them.

I'm very happy that they carry Al Franken's show--I love it.

My main beef with them is that they only carry 2 hrs of Randi Rhodes show. I would much rather hear Randi Rhodes instead of Ed Shultz. I don't want to have to wait until 6 PM to hear Randi's show.

[Bleacher Creature]

16. What's really annoying about the whole Imus thing

is that he's also on 570AM. So basically, we get Imus on 2 channels and Morning Sedition on none.

Nice.

[journalist3072]

17. Yep, that's exactly right....but I have an idea here....

Why don't we start a campaign to petition 1260 AM to change their line-up. If enough of us write to them, and express our desire for changes in their line-up, maybe they'll listen.

I plan on writing them, to ask them to please consider replacing Imus with Morning Sedition, and replacing Ed Shultz with the full 4 hours of Randi Rhodes.

How 'bout it? I think that on their website, they have a Contact Us feature we could use, to contact them.

[minkyboodle]

21. email sent

I requested morning sedition and also asked to just run the straight AAR lineup. Full Randi and Malloy in the PM.. I know I may get flamed but I could do completely without Ed. I don't think he really connects with the DC listening area.

[DaveinMD]

22. I love

the Stephanie Miller show. I think Ed Schultz is great. He is actually a guy who convert the masses. Rhodes is ok, but she is a preach to the choir type.

[journalist3072]

24. Randi

I don’t think Randi is a preach to the choir type at all. She’s just the opposite. She’s always asking Republicans to call in to her. She wants to make the point to them that the average fiscal conservative is not getting what they thought they were voting for in George Bush, b/c he’s running deficits as far as the eye can see.

And even if she was a preach to the choir type, I don’t think there’s anything wrong with that. I just finished reading this book called The Bush Survival Guide. And one of the points that the book makes is that we on the left need to STOP apologizing for preaching to the choir. It’s called energizing the base, and it’s just as important for us, as it is for those on the right.

[DaveinMD]

26. I understand what you are saying

but I think Ed's prairie populism is really great for us in appealing to middle America. Its too bad they are on at the same time. I just want Imus off that station.

[journalist3072]

27. Imus

Yep, Imus definitely needs to be off 1260. He doesn't bring anything to the dialog or conversation. I wonder what possessed them to put him on in the firs place. Must be a Clear Channel thing.

[Unforgiven]

25. Links to Coverage Maps

http://www.radio-locator.com/cgi-bin/pat?call=WWRC&service=AM&status=L&hours=D

Use =N for nite pattern

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