Liberal Talk KTLK-AM in Los Angeles to Become Conservative "The Patriot"

The drugster. Image from source, LA Times.

Well, crap. I've been listening to liberal talk radio at work since 2004, when searching for The O'Franken Factor, Al Franken's original show on the late "Air America Radio." Since those days, there have been several challenges to continue listening. We've never had liberal talk in Las Vegas (even though we voted for Barack Obama twice), so I've always had to seek out online stations to get my fix. iheartradio.com has been my solution, but I've still had to change stations here and there.

KTLK-AM out of Las Angeles has been my primary home. From that station, I can listen to The Stephanie Miller Show (highly rated in LA, by the way), and The Randi Rhodes Show. The rest of my listening day is really just filler, since I don't much care for Ed Schultz, and since The Thom Hartmann Program is on at the same time as Randi. But now that's going to change.

For some reason, KTLK is being changed to a conservative station, in liberal Los Angeles, California, which already has talk radio on KABC, KFI, KBRT (Christian talk), KOSS, and KRLA. KFI (which currently airs Rush Limbaugh and Sean Hannity) will change to all local talk. This leaves my programming up in the air again. Allegedly, this is to somehow boost KTLK's ratings, when in fact it will lose its entire current audience, and apparently absorb most of KFI's. Since both radio stations are owned by Clear Channel, I'm not sure I understand what they're doing, besides killing two stations and alienating their audiences.

Stephanie Miller is much more entertaining than a
drug-addled gas bag.

I'm sure I'll be able to find Stephanie Miller and her mooks somewhere on the dial, as long as this squeeze doesn't force them off the air altogether. But this move inspires quite a bit of frustration, irritation, and anger for me. For one thing, how does the myth of a "liberal media" persist when there is so little outlet for liberal political opinion? Where does Clear Channel get off using a circa-2002 branding of "Patriot?" Why on earth would they think killing their KFI brand is a good idea (I'm no fan of KFI, but it's a huge name in LA for conservatives)? Why yank Stephanie Miller, who is huge in the LA market?

I know that radio is a fickle business, and that KTLK has managed to stay in one format for quite a while, despite shake-ups with Air America, Nova-M, shuffling lineups caused by time-slot changes, and other issues. And I also know that every station, pretty much, has an audience that feels alienated by every format change. I think this move is for the sake of movement though. KFI is already owned by Clear Channel, and already runs the shows that are shifting to KTLK. How can bumping both sets of audiences, and then paying a whole new roster of local hosts be more cost effective and profitable?

I will be sniffing the air for whatever station picks up Stephanie Miller and Randi Rhodes. If the LA market doesn't offer a suitable alternative, I'll take my listening ears elsewhere. And you know what? If that station offers something better than LA has on from 9-noon and after 3, I might just stick around for that too. And I really hope it's not Clear Channel.

[Excerpt]

Clear Channel moving Rush Limbaugh from KFI to revamped KTLK

Rush Limbaugh's radio tirades will have a new home on Los Angeles airwaves next year. KFI-AM (640) is losing the conservative host's three-hour show, long a fixture on the station, to KTLK-AM (1150), which owner Clear Channel is hoping to pump up as an outlet exclusively dedicated to right-leaning chatter. . .

Read more at: Los Angeles Times
 

Randi Rhodes Returns to the Air Today!

After a long hiatus, and much speculation as to her whereabouts, radio host Randi Rhodes returns to the airwaves today. And now that she's being syndicated by Clear Channel (home of many a right-wing bloviator), maybe she'll get to stick around this time! As a long-time fan, I'm anxious for her return, especially for her (hopefully) explanation for all that has happened.

Now, watch. I'll have a meeting at work from Noon to 1:30 or something, and miss the return! Anyway, if you want to tune in, I know for sure that Randi will be on Green 960 and KTLK-AM, both which can be streamed online. The Randi Rhodes Show airs from 3 - 6 pm in the east, and Noon - 3 pm in the west. Get ready to bounce your boobies! Well, actually, you'll probably have to wait until Friday for that!

Randi Rhodes Web Site Returns (Sort Of)

Every other day or so, I've checked in on TheRandiRhodesShow.com, to see if there has been any update into her whereabouts. I've already reported (a couple of times) that her show will return on May 11th (on KTLK-AM for one, others can be found here). But last time I looked, her website still had up the many weeks-old message that appeared after her initial disappearance.

Before Nova M Radio collapsed, Randi's site contained daily "homework" directly from her. Unlike some other hosts (cough! Rush! cough!), Randi always encouraged her listeners to do their own reading, to make up their own minds. She said often not to believe anything or anyone you hear on the radio--herself included--without checking it out for yourself. I take the same attitude with this blog. With a much more strenuous urging, since I don't have the time to do all the research Randi does.

Also at her site was a vibrant and active message board, an entire community of listeners. Hopefully, some of that will be retrieved when Randi's show is up and running again. While it isn't there yet, I was heartened to see that there is something up now, something that indicates that Randi is coming back, for real. And here it is. . .


Source: TheRandiRhodesShow.com

Who Do We Want? Randi Rhodes! When Do We Want Her? Now!

Photo from Lawyers.com

It can't be heartening to Nancy Skinner, the liberal talker who took Randi Rhodes' time slot, that KTLK-AM is airing commercials with this headline. The clear message is, Nancy, we'll air your show, but the second Randi Rhodes comes back on the air, you're either out of here, or relegated to a time-shifted, wee hours time slot.

Randi Rhodes' radio show left the air back in February, either as the result of--or the cause of--Nova M Radio's dissolution. News has been sparse, practically non-existent. We all get that Nova M is gone. But nobody knows the details, or at least they are not being public about it.

I've been a listener of Randi Rhodes since mid-2004, when I was looking for The Al Franken Show. It took me a while to cotton to her New York honk, but once I got past that, I was an unabashed fan. Randi was always the highlight of my listening day. But she's been gone for months now, with no real explanation.

I'm a little pissed off that there has been no official word about her disappearance. All we have is rampant speculation, and hearsay. But the funny thing is, even though I'm irritated that nobody from Randi's camp letting us know what's going on, if she came back tomorrow, I'd be there. Back to #1 fan status. Don't believe the crap you might hear from detractors. Randi's the real deal, and is the best progressive/liberal talk-show host there is.

Rachel Maddow is terrific, and I'm glad she got her TV show. I'm no fan of Ed Shultz, but I'm glad he got a TV forum too. But neither can take the place of Randi Rhodes. I'm frankly surprised we haven't gotten some sort of trickle of information, even a hint, from Stephanie Miller, or from anywhere else. How long will stations like KTLK wait? Nancy Skinner is surely not burning up the airwaves. She's--at least lately--barely listenable*. But, Randi, please give us some indication of what's going on!

*UPDATE: As Nancy Skinner herself has actually commented on this blog (under a different blog post), I find it necessary to point out that I have nothing personal against her, I just took issue with her style this week. I'm quite sure she's a nice lady. It is easy to forget when writing a blog like this that I'm talking about actual people. I will try to frame my critiques in slightly less personal terms going forward. . .

Where in the World is Randi Rhodes?

After a flurry of items, it has been several days since I've posted an update on the Randi Rhodes situation. Randi's been off the air for most of February, after the implosion of Nova M Radio. What is unclear, is whether she left because of that, or if Nova M collapsed because she left.

The news has been spotty and inconclusive. Randi's message board has been missing along with her, except for a vague and not very helpful message from a few weeks ago. But there is encouraging news! Sort of.

While listening to KTLK-AM out of Los Angeles on my computer, there was a curious spot that aired during (inferior) replacement Nancy Skinner's show. It was a crowd shouting, "Who do we want? Randi! When do we want her? Now!" It went by too quickly for me to figure out what it was. A mistake? A protest?

Then, later in the day, there was an actual statement, saying "The Randi Rhodes Show. As soon as she's talking, we'll be listening." Woo hoo! This leads me to believe that a) KTLK must have some sort of information that Randi is coming back, and that b) they're going to carry her show again! Which is great news, because I miss her. This has been a big news month, and Randi's voice would really help me sort out some of this stuff.

Oh, and that image at the top of the post is in rotation on KTLK-AM's home page, so keep hoping!

UPDATE: Even though I've used the internet since about 1992 or so, it didn't occur to me to actually click the image on KTLK's site until after I posted this piece. But once I did, I got this message: "As soon as Randi is back on the 'AIR', we will have her back on KTLK!!!!" Which is awesome.

Earthquake Rattles Southern California

It wasn't the cataclysm that gay-rights foes have been crossing their fingers for (because of the same-sex marriage thingy), but southern California nonetheless got a good shaking today. Allegedly, it could be felt in Las Vegas, but in my second-story office, we didn't feel anything.

I was listening to The Thom Hartmann radio show at the time, and he lost all of his waiting phone calls when the quake hit. KTLK (the station I was streaming on my computer) is out of Los Angeles, and the on-air talent was oddly unbothered by it. Anyway, I'm glad that for such a big quake there seems to have been such little damage.

[Excerpt]

Earthquake strongly jolts "lucky" Los Angeles

An earthquake struck just east of Los Angeles on Tuesday, rocking tall buildings and rattling nerves across Southern California, but causing no serious injuries or major structural damage.
The quake hit at 11:42 a.m. local time (7: 42 p.m. BST) about 30 miles (48 km) east of Los Angeles in suburban Chino Hills and registered magnitude 5.4 -- making it the strongest seismic event centred near America's second-largest city since the 6.7-magnitude Northridge quake in 1994. . .

Read more at: Reuters