It is absolutely astounding to hear the outraged liberals in Columbus, and the surrounding Central Ohio area at that, commenting and speculating on the broadcasting format change that AM 1230 WTPG will be undergoing come January 9, 2007. Given that just one week before the announcement, liberal Democratic hotbed, Buckeye State Blog, was deriding Air America for having a bad business plan, their outrage is somewhat astounding. Air America, by the way, filed for bankruptcy protection earlier this year, and had been operating in the red for quite some time. As soon as the switch was announced, though, Columbus-area "progressives" took decisive action. Well, not exactly. In the online poll, also at BSB, asking what course of response should be taken, "Do Nothing" came in a close second.
What is ironic in this situation is that the oft-blamed culprit for the switch (Clear Channel and fellow media conglomerates) were, in effect, given the go-ahead to become huge conglomerates by Bill Clinton's Telecommunications Act of 1996. For once, this horde of the tin-foil hat crowd cannot blame it on George W. Bush, although that connection is probably forthcoming. It appears that the formulated response to 1230's format shakeup is to create an Internet petition (someone tell Al Gore his thank you note is in the mail) politely asking Clear Channel and AM 1230 to reconsider. So far, in a metro area of over 1 million people, just over 1,000 have signed their petition. And, a quick sampling of the zip codes offered by signers shows that a solid percentage of them are not even from Central Ohio. Bet the fine folks at Clear Channel are quaking in their boots! Even more comical though, is that conglomerate radio is being attacked here, in the midst of Clear Channel's sale of about one third of its radio stations. And, Clear Channel broadcasting Air America for nearly two years in Columbus was obviously just part of the master plan of the vast right-wing conspiracy.
Simply because there is not a demand for this product, and the ratings are lagging behind other stations, is not enough of a reason for a business to pull it from the shelves. There are calls for a return to the "Fairness Doctrine", where stations would have to be evenly split between viewpoints and give equal time to all opinions, regardless of the effects on the company running the station. These same people who decry the removal of an unpopular failing product want to see SUVs, an extremely popular product, removed from the automotive market simply because they think they are killing the environment. What about giving the consumer what they want there, huh? The hypocrisy never fails to amaze!
Just a quick observation about so-called "Progressive" radio: when the comedy skits involve killing the President, you are not going to win many listeners over. Just a guess there, but people do not generally laugh at such drivel. When that same host says that, "the difference between Hitler and Bush is that Hitler was elected," you probably don't gain much ground, either. Air America was the "New Coke" of radio. If the consumers think it is a terrible product, and aren't buying into it, then why in the heck should it be forced on people?
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Update: There are finally over 1300 signers to the OMR petition online. Let's all cheer for the Columbus-area liberals! Less than 0.1% of the region's population wants to keep Air America! Bravo, guys!
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