[Speed Gibson,
Tuesday August 30, 2005 at 9:33pm]
My City Was Gone - to FM
I held out a lot of hope for AM 1500 in my recent analysis in response to the reports of their poor Spring ratings. A big part of that was putting Rush back live at 11 am. It's not going to happen. Rush is moving to FM in January, followed by Sean Hannity later next year. Both shows are now tape delayed on KSTP-AM. Both will be live on KJZI-FM. I'll have to see if their 100.3 MHz signal penetrates my AM-proof workplace.
Hannity is no loss, of course, especially given his ratings plunge. But as with Jason Lewis, KSTP-AM, the house that Rush built, now has another major gap to fill at a time when it is already short on talent.
I should pity new General Manager Todd Fisher, but did he really say this?
That verb "shed" tells us a great deal, as if to suggest it's the programs' fault. But the shows he refers to really haven't changed all that much. We're just in the political dead calm of August, the calmest of the four Augusts of the Presidential election cycle. And if you think being too conservative is the problem, why is Air America struggling so? If entertainment value is king, why is Ron Rosenbaum still on the air?
Mr. Fisher sounds like he has it figured out already. The program director who went to the "Smooth Jazz" format on 101.3 FM thought he had it figured out, too.
More thoughts soon.
Hannity is no loss, of course, especially given his ratings plunge. But as with Jason Lewis, KSTP-AM, the house that Rush built, now has another major gap to fill at a time when it is already short on talent.
I should pity new General Manager Todd Fisher, but did he really say this?
KTLK's launch "does not come as a surprise to us," said KSTP general manager Todd Fisher in a memo to the station's staff, which he shared with the Star Tribune. The change "dovetailed with conversations we'd already been having about our future strategies and the state of syndication, particularly the conservative political shows that have shed much of their entertainment value," the memo said.
That verb "shed" tells us a great deal, as if to suggest it's the programs' fault. But the shows he refers to really haven't changed all that much. We're just in the political dead calm of August, the calmest of the four Augusts of the Presidential election cycle. And if you think being too conservative is the problem, why is Air America struggling so? If entertainment value is king, why is Ron Rosenbaum still on the air?
Mr. Fisher sounds like he has it figured out already. The program director who went to the "Smooth Jazz" format on 101.3 FM thought he had it figured out, too.
More thoughts soon.
As Drudge says: Developing.......