New update from Green 960's John Scott about Randi

[clbuck]

He's the station's program director.

http://www.green960.com/pages/blog.html?feed=313154&article=5018001

Look at my face. That's exactly how I feel at the moment. A bit bewildered, a bit pissed, a bit focused.

I do not know if Randi Rhodes is coming back. I have spoken to Program Directors and talk hosts around the country this past weekend, and this is what I came up with:

The network is in chaos, Randi is on the bench, and this might be it.

She is fighting with them over a contractual issue, and is apparently not coming back to Nova M unless they do some stuff for her. I am not assigning blame here, but the bottom line is: The show I made a deal with Nova M for is not available. And I may be prepared to move on, friends.

I am tired of this circular firing squad I have to stand in. While Rush and Hannity and Mark Levin and Hedgecock and Savage chug along, full steam ahead, I am surrounded by drama, inconsistency, miscommunication, ego and a trail of wreckage of some very very bad decisions made by the networks who supply the shows to affiliates like Green 960, one of a precious handful in the country who are truly dedicated to advancement of progressive radio in America.

I'm sick of it, and I bet you are too.

We are going to make some bold moves in the next few days. You may love some of them, you may hate it. But I want you to talk to me on this forum: The future of your station is in the balance, and I'm going to try and do right by you.

More soon...>

[ayeshahaqqiqa]

1. How come there is so much drama

involving liberal talk show folks? Hey, maybe these folks will put Guy James on the air--that would be SUPER!!!!!

[Liberal In Texas]

2. Randi should start her own network.

That way she would develop a finer appreciation of the business end of radio.

She would have more control over who would and wouldn't be on her network and wouldn't have any disputes with the management.

And next time she gets pissed off, she could fire herself.

:evilgrin:

[Sebastian Doyle]

3. I agree with Mr. Scott's sentiments.

It's too early to say exactly what's going on at Nova M. I would like to think the Drobnys learned some lessons from their experiences at Air America, and would do better with their second network. Yet we have Mike Newcomb in, Mike Newcomb out, Jeff Farias in, Jeff Farias out, John Manzo in, John Manzo out, Mike Newcomb back in, Randi in and now apparently out - and this is all within less than one year.

Mike Malloy is the one constant at that network, and thank God for that much. But now that Thom Hartmann has signed with Dial Global (formerly Jones) it pretty much makes it hard to see Nova M as the company that would be left standing when Air America finally collapses due to what all the right wing & DLC vultures did to them.

My gut feeling is that Randi realizes this and is trying to get on the Dial Global bandwagon herself. No direct evidence of that yet, but by process of elimination, it's the only option she has left for a national show.

[mojowork_n]

5. Has anyone written up facts, details, dates, names, places?

Speaking of Air America, specifically, but maybe of "Liberal Talk Radio," in general, you suggested:

------> "...due to what all the right wing & DLC vultures did to them."

Is there a paper trail, somewhere? On one of those conspiracy websites, maybe, two clicks below stories about the 'fake moon landing' and the 'phony drug war'...?????

I'm guessing it's not a business that lends itself easily to outside examination. So the details of contracts are always confidential, as is much of the information about who makes how much from what sort of distribution/licensing agreements.

I remember once hearing that the "Michael Wiener/Savage Show is distributed contributed completely free of charge, to our metropolitan area's biggest AM station. The station pays nothing for it, and gets a cut of the ad revenue besides. How come only Sith Lords get sweetheart deals like that? Or is it actually a fairly common arrangement, with national syndication?

[Spike89]

7. Pretty standard model - free "subscriptions"

Most people don't think much about it, but the majority of magazine titles in the US are "controlled circulation" meaning they are mailed free to people in a certain demographic. Money comes from advertising. The same principle applies for most websites and for other advertising-heavy media. Even newspapers have always been subsidized on the newsstand or in the case of the smaller papers, "free".

The catch of course is that you've got to get the product in front of people for the advertising to have any value and until you can demonstrate a consistent delivery of the numbers, it is very, very hard to get advertisers interested (I'm mostly been an editorial-side guy, but I've also got years in the publisher-side). Air America bet that big names would bolster their claims to advertisers in the beginning, but although some delivered, others didn't, then defections and all the crap with ownership destroyed most of their credibility.

Credibility is everything in advertising. Hate him, or hate him, Rush has a track record and stability--when a sales rep pitches time on his show, he has a credible audience to sell. Any startup has problems, but when it is something like liberal talk radio, (which many assumed wouldn't come close to working) what are little glitches elsewhere are magnified. I think conservative talk will always dominate liberal not because more listeners are wingnuts, but because wingnuts need and want to hear other people's opinions more than liberals in general.

[bertman]

4. No wonder the left can't get a goddam thing done. We're too busy killing each other off

while the reichwing assholes spew their lies and filth.

I don't know the answer, but this has to change or we're even more screwed.

[DearAbby]

6. GET SAM SEDER!!!!!

BE BOLD!!!!

[Sebastian Doyle]

8. I would have to agree

If Nova M has to replace Randi (and that appears to be the case) then give Sam Seder the break he deserves. I know that Nancy Skinner was on the radio long before she was a politician, and that Thom Hartmann, Mike Malloy, AND President Obama all speak very well of her (and those are damn good references!) but I'm just underwhelmed considerably by her radio show, so far.

Give Sam a shot. With or without Marc Maron.