Could Fox be behind the undoing of Air America Radio?

[Ugnmoose]

One of my friends, a business owner who advertises on the local AAR affiliate in Memphis just notified me that AAR will be leaving Memphis soon. According to his ad sales rep the reason is that Entercom which owns the station (680 AM) has been getting alot of pressure from major advertisers, including Kroger, because of the political views expressed on the station. The new format is going to be an all sports channel. And guess what - the feed is coming from Fox.

[bbgrunt]

1. that is the same thing they are doing in San Diego.

[0007]

2. Murdock and his working bucks......

[Jack Bone]

3. The airwaves are ours...

if we truly enjoy the free flow of information, we need to include ourselves in the equation. either by voicing our displeasure w/ these format turnarounds, or by starting our own stations to broadcast what we want.

last week on the Moyers show he had a conversation going about low powered FM stations. here's more info about that.

http://prometheusradio.org/low_power_radio/

[saracat]

5. But the low powered ones suck.I can't even get them on my car.

[Jack Bone]

6. Thanx for the info...I wouldn't know...

there are none in my area..I've been seriously contemplating firing one up..I've checked w/ the Prometheus project and I could get one in my area...but if they suck...why deal w/ all the hassle?

[saracat]

8. Our AAR in Phoenix is low power and it can be awful.It becomes

"why bother' and as no one can really hear it in many places?????

[Jack Bone]

9. well in Phoenix..I could see why it's hard to hear..

Low Powered FM stations usually have a range of about 5 to 10 miles, from my understanding. In Phoenix that would be a problem, as I think..just guessing here..that Phoenix prob'ly is about 80 or so square miles, if you factor in all of the suburbs. But here in Kokomo, In. 10 miles would include most of the town.

[peacetalksforall]

4. So which corporations would complain to station owners against

right wing radio and threaten to pull their ads?

The reverse is rarely true -

Left wing leaning corporations just do their work and don't make waves?
There are no left wing leaning corporatons who advertise on radio?
It does seem that the advertisors on Air America are small.
We're a real threat to the nation, we are.

Right wing odors permeate, leak, and ignite! They are on fire with loyalty.
And we are immoral.

[KamaAina]

7. Entercom pulled AAR off its New Orleans station months ago

and replaced it with time-shifted programs from its main (RW) station there, WWL. In fact, they changed the calls from WSMB to WWWL, and moved the WSMB calls to -- AM 680 in Memphis, so no other New Orleans station could use them.

Pressure from advertisers, my foot.

[Elspeth]

10. kick

:kick:

[LTR]

11. FOX Sports Radio doesn't have a whole lot to do with it

FSR is syndicated by Premiere Radio, which is owned by Clear Channel. FOX doesn't do a whole lot to run it.

And they are merely a network that provides programming. They don't have any sway when it comes to flipping individual stations.

Finally, I'm surprised WSMB has lasted this long in Memphis. Let's face it, Entercom's management there has done a crummy job in promoting the station (Their website still has Franken and Springer on it!) and nobody knows they actually exist.

For a corporation like Entercom that contributes so heavily to Democrats, they sure do a lousy job with progressive talk radio.

[LTR]

12. UPDATE: WSMB is flipping to sports tonight

http://ltradio.blogspot.com/2007/08/dont-be-cruel.html