Clear Channel Hears Liberal Madison Loud and Clear

By Steve Young
Created Dec 24 2006 - 8:01am

With the holiday fill-ins and Lords of Loud wannabes manning the mikes along
with the "Best Ofs" (I get a kick from the talk radio programming logic that
believes it makes sense to give us the news of Eisenhower's golfing prowess
while we've got U.S. soldiers dying today in Iraq), there's not much
foolishness from the Right side of the world. Though Billy O'Reilly did
stick around for the week to remind us that al Quaeda was scared of him.
Normally that would just be hyperbole on my part, but damned if the
no-spinster didn't actually say that.

One of the few big boys on the Left, Ed Schultz, stuck around this week and
to celebrate. It's not news when a radio station picks up Progressive Talk,
but it is headline material to have the same station that canceled
Progressive Talk, change their mind.

Clear Channel had announced it would be replacing Madison, Wisconsin's
Progressive Talk "The Mic" at WXXM/FM 92.1 with Fox Sports Radio on Jan. 1.
Schultz and Jones Radio syndication-mate, Stephanie Miller air on the"The
Mic" along with Air America's Randi Rhodes and Al Franken. Instead of
accepting the inevitable thrill of High School Volleyball T�te-�-t�te and
hourly t-ball updates, thousands of Madison listeners signed petitions, held
rallies and got community leaders and local advertisers to speak out in
support. And management heard the voices and the dollar signs.

Schultz had been pretty vocal about the progressive pull out, believing that
it's always the number, not the ideology, that is a determinant in radio. In
Madison, if it was a numbers decision, they hadn't added up to a change.

"When I first heard about it, I thought it was a radio stunt," said Schultz.
"Because the numbers had been very good."

Both Schultz and Miller have been proving their worth. Listenership and
ratings are increasing steadily. Shultz has the biggest progressive audience
on the dial. You kind of wish Air America would bring on some of Jones Radio
management. But even at AA, Randi Rhodes and Al Franken's audiences are in
the millions and Rhodes is rated by the bible of talk radio, Talkers
Magazine, as a more important voice than Bill O'Reilly. Rhodes is rated by
the bible of talk radio, Talkers Magazine, as a more important voice than
Bill O'Reilly. I know I wrote that twice. It's just so fun to say.

So as the year ends and while we're still in the dark as to whether Franken
will return, we can ring one up for the good guys. Despite the death knells
being rung by O'Reilly and Hannity, there seems to be a growing audience for
Progressive Talk that continues to search out an alternative to
self-inflated ego that permeates the Right. And for that we should give
thanks.

Thank you, Ed. Thank you, Stephanie. Thank you, Randi. Thank you, Al. And
especially, thank you, Madison.
_______



About author Steve Young is an award-winning television writer and failed
talk-show host who authored "Great Failures of the Extremely Success"
www.greatfailure.com [1]

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"A little patience and we shall see the reign of witches pass over, their
spells dissolve, and the people recovering their true sight, restore their
government to its true principles.  It is true that in the meantime we are
suffering deeply in spirit,
and incurring the horrors of a war and long oppressions of enormous public
debt.  But if the game runs sometimes against us at home we must have
patience till luck turns, and then we shall have an opportunity of winning
back the principles we have lost, for this is a game where principles are at
stake."
-Thomas Jefferson