I actually spoke to Jim once back around 1991. WLS at the time gave an on-air phone number to call the News Department. He had read a press release from the City Garbage department patting itself on the back on all garbage they had removed from the Taste of Chicago. A quick calculation would have meant about 200 pounds of garbage for every person who lives in Chicago, suggesting the number was pounds, not tons.
So I dialed the number for the big city “news department”, and Jim answered the phone. I stated my correction and he had an “aha!” moment. I did as well, realizing the “News Department” wasn’t a room full of reporters, but one person.
I like him. He is just one more casualty as Cumulus Radio tells people when existing contracts run out they have to work for minimum wage if they want to keep their jobs.
I don’t know anything of Jim Johnson and certainly everyone makes mistakes. I do know a little bit about news and it seems to be a lot of reading press releases quoting people at press conferences, and asking fluff questions. (Why did you change your hairstyle? Who do you think will win the March Madness? etc.)
The days when you had to check the fax machine in Chicago for press announcements is long over. Anyone can get them delivered by email or checking on the web- there is less of a need for people in each city.
Even in the 1980s, stations in Florida banded together and formed the Florida News Network so they would not need as many administrative people.
The consolidation train has left the station.
North Carolina has a similar statewide radio network. There is a long tortured history of Associated Press (owned by newspapers) wanting radio stations to not read their news. It wasn’t that radio wasn’t willing to pay – just that radio and newspapers were direct competitors for the same advertisers. Those swap shop shows on radio were radio trying to undermine the classified ad revenue of their newspaper competitors.
Since radio started becoming important, newspapers were barred from owning radio stations in major markets (and vice versa) – the exceptions are those that were grandfathered – WGN in Chicago (Tribune), WSB in Atlanta (Cox), WISN in Milwaukee. That created the problem if those newspapers who contributed their stories to AP then couldn’t read their own story on their radio stations.
Eventually AP lost the fight and then radio stations could pay for the AP news feed and read the copy without having to rewrite it to hide the source and try to skirt copyright claims.
If I really want hard radio news in the car, WBBM owns the radio news business. The news guy turned into the guy the talk hosts would talk to about current news events. That steered news toward things that would be good fodder for talk radio, not discussions about the throw weights of ICBMs
I remember the Philadelphia newspaper strike in the early 1970s. WMMR, then home to Bill Vitka, David Dye, Ed Shokey, Micheal Tierson, and others now know nationally would read the comic strips so listeners wouldn’t miss what was happening in their world.
While I listen to Rush between 6 to 10 hours out his total 12 hours per week, his topics are almost 100% in response to the ‘news-of-the-day’. So, while Rush generally produces an interesting show I want a lot more information about what’s going on in the world.
‘Offshore’ news outlets do a better job reporting on what is going on in America. Hells Bells, by and large the American media either ignore, or more likely, are providing cover for the criminal class. Russia Today does a good job reporting on world events and their reporting is far less biased than almost anything in the New York Times or seen on ABC, CBS, NBC, CNN or the others.
J.D. Hayworth is filling in for Savage today and it is 100% about Ben Gazie. I think this story needs to be covered more and more because it is about the only the story that the low-information-voter can actually understand with regard the true cancer in the current regime.
The domestic “news” outlets don’t want to say anything that would anger the criminal class- otherwise, they will not be called on at the next news conference or get the next story first. They also depend on the criminal class to use your taxpayer money to enforce their copyrighted movie studio content, so they can not afford to lose favor.
Russia Today needs none of that. In fact, Putin controls them and they go out of their way to report bad news on the United States. That doesn’t make them inaccurate, just know their motivation.
Have a listen to Al Jazeera too – they have hired a lot of journalists from Australia, Canada, UK and US and do a decent job as well.
Don’t trust any one source and always consider the agenda of the source when reading the content.
I agree 100% with your post. Knowing and understanding the underlying bias of the news source is the 1st consideration.
Correction to my post above, Rush has 15 hours of weekly broadcast time.
And three hours of “best of”! A week, and don’t forget the morning minutes
I stand corrected again, thanks!
John Batchelor covered the Ben Gazie flare-up tonight. Could BetrayUs be behind this outbreak in real news?
FWIW- John Batchelor shows are available as free podcasts if you miss them. Also, KLIF streams them all night until around sunrise.
Limbaugh may leave Cumulus!
http://www.politico.com/blogs/media/2013/05/rush-limbaugh-may-leave-cumulus-163282.html
Politico cites no sources. Everyone knows Rush is going to WOR in New York. I have no real sense of how the money flows, other than Lew Dickey wants to cut every last expense – he probably doesn’t even let employees make personal phone calls.
Rush has to be one of the largest single expenses he has (ignore the revenue side!). It may be Clear Channel would welcome an early end to the contract, but Rush probably also has a say.
Let’s see if I can scrounge up a list – I vaguely remember doing this before
+------------+-------------------+-------+
| WABC AM | New York | NY |
| WLS AM | Chicago | IL |
| WBAP AM | Fort Worth | TX |
| WMAL AM | Washington | DC |
| WJR AM | Detroit | MI |
| WBCK FM | Battle Creek | MI |
| KKOB AM | Albuquerque | NM |
| WOKI FM | Oliver Springs | TN |
| KARN FM/HD | Sheridan | AR |
| KVOR AM/HD | Colorado Springs | CO |
| WJCW AM | Johnson City | TN |
| WSBA AM | York | PA |
| WGOW AM | Chattanooga | TN |
| KBOI AM/HD | Boise | ID |
| WVNN AM | Athens | AL |
| WJIM AM | Lansing | MI |
| WCOA AM | Pensacola | FL |
| KKOH AM | Reno | NV |
| WWCK AM | Flint | MI |
| WFNC AM | Fayetteville | NC |
| WOSH AM | Oshkosh | WI |
| WROK AM | Rockford | IL |
| WMAC AM | Macon | GA |
| WAAV AM | Leland | NC |
| WXLM AM | Groton | CT |
| WKMI AM | Kalamazoo | MI |
| KMAJ AM | Topeka | KS |
| WFTW AM | Fort Walton Beach | FL |
| KAOK AM | Lake Charles | LA |
| KFRU AM | Columbia | MO |
| WALG AM | Albany | GA |
| KFAY AM | Farmington | AR |
+------------+-------------------+-------+
I can envision Rush talking with Sirius/XM and even The Blaze.
There is some bad blood between Rush and Beck. It’s been deliberately vague back when they were sharing facilities in New York. Beck has made vague references to someone who could really only have been Rush about the big guy mistreating Beck’s staff. My guess is Rush thought Stu was an intern and asked him to get him a snapple.
Sirius is more likely – as I’ve written, I don’t expect Bob Pittman to offer Rush a good contract – then the ball is in Rush’s court. By then, Rush will be pushing retirement age anyhow. Maybe Premiere will offer a lot less cash and give Rush back minutes for Rush to sell his own national ads
There is a huge gap between the former ABC and the former Citadel and Cumulus stations.
There are only 5 on the list that matter. WOR in New York is a given. WGN in Chicago seems likely unless Cumulus wants to sell WLS-AM. I wouldn’t rule that out.
Dallas would likely be KLIF which is independently owned.
in Washington DC, the Aloha divestiture trust still owns WFMD. the local land use board made a stink that they didn’t want conservative talk radio in their town until the FCC explained how improper it is for land use planners to deny a radio station access to its tower based on the political views on its programs. Hubbard might be interestrd, but not on WTOP. [BTW, Talkers Magazine heavy hitter Joe Madison is gine frim WOL]
Detroit is a small problem. Salem has sleepy WDTK, but I don’t think Salem carries Rush on any stations. Clear Channel owns WDFN-AM, currently running Fox Sports. it’s a 50k/10k Class B on 1130. back in the good old days it was WWWW, run by Chancelor Media, who cashed out during the 1996 land rush.
Rush has outlasted virtually all of his competition and retained a core of friendly talk show hosts. If, for whatever reason, a syndicator wants to be rid of Rush, they may just be cutting their own throats. For those who doubt what Rush may be planning, just recount to them the story of Brier Rabbit, and if they don’t understand the underlying psychology then they deserve whatever happens to them financially speaking.
Covering the other part, Rush is already on these clear channel major market stations
KFI – Los Angeles
KKSF – Bay Area
KTRH – Houston
WIOD – Miami
KTCN – Minneapolis
KOGO – San Diego
WFLA – Tampa
KOA – Denver
WPGB-FM – Pittsburgh
KEX – Portland OR
WTAM -Cleveland
KFBK – Sacramento
WKRC – Cincinnati
Filling in the major markets that aren’t Cumulus or Clear Channel
WWIQ – Philadelphia (Merlin)
WSB – Atlanta (Cox)
WRKO – Boston (Entercom)
KTTH – Seattle (Bonneville)
KMOX – St Louis (CBS)
WCBM – Baltimore
KMBZ – Kansas City (Entercom)
WOR would upset the Philadelphia market.
Rush is on WWIQ in Camden, WILM in Wilmington (30 miles south of Philadelphia) and WAEB in Allentown (50 miles north).
50,000 on the low frequency of 710 goes quite far, and WOR is in NJ with a very directional antenna focusing much of its power directly toward Philadelphia – so much so that the Philadelphia newspapers would list radio stations, they listed those in the immediate Philadelphia area and only one from the NYC area – WOR.
WOR was at least as strong in New Haven as WABC – fringe coverage but quite workable in a car radio, less so on portable radios
It’s interesting to read the left wing echo chamber repeating this story over and over. The entire story is based on an anonymous source “close to Limbugh”.
This week is when several radio owners reported earnings. Clear Channel’s earnings were down, which Obama’s media stooges are connecting to Limbaugh. However, radio’s revenues were up and costs were down. It’s Clear Channel’s investments in European bus stops that took a hit. I expect they also had to write down their Jumbotron billboards in Los Angeles
Northern Philadelphia is in the “local” daytime signal area, Wilmington, and Allentown just beyond it in the “distant” daytime signal area. Baltimore and parts of Washington are in the “fringe” daytime area.
Most interesting is the effect of water, especially salt water, on the propagation of low band AM signals.
http://rbr.com/wp-content/uploads/ia_chart1_081312.jpg