Radio vets purchase Ed Schultz; Liberal talk gains business cred

[rawstory]

RAW STORY

By John Byrne

Two radio executives who made Clear Channel and Rush Limbaugh household are to announce today they have purchased The Ed Schultz show, America’s fastest-growing talk show in the country, RAW STORY has learned.

Veteran radio execs Randy Michaels and Stu Krane purchased the show from Democracy Radio, a non-profit which helps seed progressive talk radio hosts. Michaels’ and Krane’s new company, P1 will now carry the show.

The deal puts the North Dakota talker in the driver’s seat of a burgeoning liberal radio revolution, a sign that those who made right wing radio the ubiquitous voice it is today see financial promise in liberal talk.

Michaels, formerly CEO of Clear Channel Radio, has been credited with the firm’s awesome radio growth; his critics say he has homogenized the medium on a national scale. Krane was a partner in the firm that developed Rush Limbaugh, and previously worked as Vice President for ABC and Premiere Radio.

Ed interviewed in article -- money quote: “I understand this is going to raise red flags for progressives, especially those out there on the blogosphere that have been comfortable taking shots at me from the very beginning,” Schultz said. “First they said I was owned and paid for by the Democratic Party, now they’re going to say I’m owned and paid for by people who are obviously Republicans.”

http://rawstory.com/news/2005/Radio_vets_purchase_Ed_Schultz_Liberal_talk_gains_business_0613.html

[Roland99]

1. If it gets a liberal voice to a greater audience, can it be bad?

[ls317]

2. Good Move

Personally I am not a fan of Ed schultz.. From business model its a great move

[Rainscents]

3. I think this is good, as long as Ed stop bashing Dean!

[wuushew]

4. Ed Schultz is crap

My local Air America destroyed their afternoon lineup by moving Randi to the late afternoon and putting Big (Dean Bashing) Eddy in the slot.

[0rganism]

9. I used to wonder if he was a sleeper planted to dilute liberal talk

Now I'm pretty sure that he's just what he says he is: a sportscaster who turned from hardcore conservativism to a moderate centrism. The extent to which he sounds like Limbaugh is no accident; he uses it to his advantage, and I suspect he culls quite a few truckers away from rightwing talk in the process.

There is a bright side, even if you don't like Ed: by moving Randi to late afternoon, she gets access to a substantial commuter audience.

[wuushew]

10. I would be cool with that but for one thing

I like to listen to at least some news programming during the day. By moving Randi so late in the day it cuts into All Things Considered and some of the later evening talk shows. When she was on after Franken I could listen to her instead of Talk of the Nation and Fresh Air.

[0rganism]

13. In a few months, you won't want All Things Considered anyway

The new CPB is chartered to change the show's format to "Some Things Selectively Considered From A Republican Perspective." You can already get that much on any cable news channel.

I'll agree with you on this much: by skewing the broadcasts with a tape delay, it deters calls from those markets. I think Malloy's show probably gets hit the worst, coming on at 10pm Pacific instead of 7pm.

[AllyCat]

14. Don't know that you are missing much in Nothing Considered

I mean All Things Considered.

I'm sure I listen to the same Air America broadcast as you wuushew, but I thought moving Randi to commuter time was a smart move. Actually, she and Ed are my favorite programs. Ed is not an idealogue (not that many of them are) and with his conservative background, he is able to cull the BS arguments from conservatives and liberals alike who call his show.

Having wimpy arguments is NOT going to help progressive talk. We need someone who knows the other side to help expose the holes in our own thinking so we can beat these idiots later when it might matter more.

[wuushew]

17. Daniel Shore, Walter Cronkite and state news and weather

really the commerical news on A.M. is no better than NPR.

[AllyCat]

18. Actually, I have a hard time believing ANY of the news out there.

Guess that's why I'm an internet junkie. Even the CNN news breaks on AAR are just laughable and I wonder why they even bother unless they are going to use it as fodder for the shows.

You're right about the state news though.

[Kolesar]

11. You may be on to something there

So I will withhold my criticism of Ed Schultz. For now, that is :)

[dArKeR]

12. I wonder why this guy bashes Dean too! Dean is 100% moral and honest

Where are Dean's lies?

[Danieljay]

19. Randi Rhodes loses me when she talks over everybody who

has a differing opinion. As a matter of fact, she talks over anyone expressing the SAME opinion. She's obviously well educated and speaks the truth...and in that I enjoy listening to her. However, when she interupts, tells people to go to hell, it gets annoying as hell. I was trying to introduce her show to a couple of friends the other day, very progressive, her ranting and interupting got them so frustrated they asked I turn it off.

[Judi Lynn]

5. Wouldn't it be nice to see if these guys attempt to repair the damage

they've done by destroying our radio stations? Don't hold your breath, but any change at all has to help, at this point.

From the article:

Schultz, too, believes the deal demonstrates progressive talk radio’s profitability and permanence. He says he’s looking forward to being part of the conversation in the midterm 2006 elections and the 2008 presidential race.

“I remember back in January I was on Fox News with Bill O’Reilly, and he pretty much took a shot at me, saying that we weren’t a commercial venture and that we were running our show on political money,” Schultz remarked. “And I told him we were a commercial venture.

“If O’Reilly is fair and balanced,” he added, “he’ll ask me to come back on the air—not to mention that I’m beating him in Denver.”
(snip)

Good luck to Ed Shultz.

(I'm still trying to recover from learning Sirius is going to drop Air America, leaving XM the exclusive satellite rights, when the ONLY reason I got Sirius in THE FIRST PLACE was to be able to hear Air America. God, am I steamed.)

[Norquist Nemesis]

6. I can't deny I have my doubts about Ed Schultz

Been listening to him a little bit since AAR came back to Chicago. Personally, I wish the station had picked up all of Randi Rhodes instead of Schultz, but I'll take what I can get.

Schultz SOMETIMES talks the talk, but more often it seems he's trying to hit the middle. His criticism of Dean over the last few days was strong and incessant. When callers spoke in support of Dean, he'd argue and then cut them off.

Personally, I'd like to see all of the leftofthedials just keep hammering away. No compromise and no compliments of Bush or the Republicans. Same formula as Limbaugh. If Bush does something 'good' (which is unlikely), ignore and hit another target with non-stop 'there they go again! Can you believe these people actually got elected/media time/etc.?'

*sigh*

[SoCalDem]

7. Maybe now Democracy Radio could support Guy James' Show

We should write to them and ask them to please consider it. We know they have some money, and an interest in the kind of radio he does:)


Democracy Radio, Inc,
1212 New York Avenue N.W., Suite 1050
Washington, D.C. 20005

Phone: [phone]
Fax: [phone]

Email: [e-mail]

[denverbill]

8. Well, Ed, maybe when you start criticizing conservatives

instead of criticizing Howard Dean, 'progressives on the blogosphere' will start to trust you a bit more.

[AllyCat]

15. I've missed his Dean criticism

What did he say? I usually agree with a lot of what Schultz says, but I don't think Dean deserves criticism. What was his beef?

[Rainscents]

21. He said, Dean shouldn't criticize white Christians voting for republicans.

I wonder he feel bad now, since Clark came out and supported Deans remark. Ed is Huge support of Clark's fan.

[denverbill]

22. I heard a few snippets of it on a local progressive show last week.

I don't have any exact quotes, but frankly, it sounded just like Rush Limbaugh attacking Dean.

[Nothing Without Hope]

16. This is GREAT news - bigger audience, commercially viable = good for

progressive radio. And won't O'Liely and that unspeakable Rush person be livid? Ugh, the visuals...

Recommended

[eagler]

20. This is all being done to counter the growing cry for a return to

the Fairness Doctrine which we need desparately.You gotta remember that Right wing radio is on 24/7 throughout the red states while liberal radio is mostly restricted to metropolitan areas and very selected markets. If the liberal media were as strong in this country as Rush and his cohorts would have us believe then they would be demanding a return to the Fairness Doctrine.

[Rainscents]

23. I'm curious to know, the new owner... he hasn't been in the Radio business

for few years and I'm wondering, if this guy is getting sick of what is going on in this administration is the reason why, he is starting up liberal station. He is the one who got Rush national.