Re: Big Four AMs - or not

[mwaters@wesleyan.edu (Martin J. Waters)]

>Tony Schinella wrote:
>To start, I never mentioned WEZE. My original post, which you were responding
>to was about NO TALK PROGRAMMING in Boston during a major political event!

        Yes, I grabbed onto a reference you made about WNFT's signal with
which I did not agree and basically started another discussion.

>The
>stations I did mention was WBZ (which was airing Bruins), WRKO (which was
>airing Celtics) and WEEI (a sports station that used to have balanced
>programming doing talk, which was airing the Red Sox). I followed that with
>"Why doesn't ARS air the Sox or Celtics on WNFT," because that signal IS DOING
>NOTHING!
<snip>

        As has been discussed, the problem is that WNFT's night signal is
bogus. I was just reading some messages from 1-2 weeks ago and I'm being
kind. Steve Ordinetz said its signal is so worthless they ought to just
mail the license into M Street and save some electricity.

>My opinion, and I speak for no one else, is to question the level of
>importance regarding sports programming on radio vs. community/talk/etc.
>programming... especially during major political events, especially these days
>during such consolidation and silence of voices...  I am sorry that I am so
>very concerned about this and it seems to bother some of you out here. (btw, I
>am not the only one concerned about this in the talk business, privately, and
>publicly in some settings, there is great frustration with what is going on
>here in Boston...)
<snip>

        I share your concern over the decline and now the absence most of
the time of news/public affairs and public affairs-oriented talk on radio.
But so many things have changed -- all these news/talk cable TV channels
like MSNBC, for one thing, that I don't see it reversing. It's the same in
other markets. I don't think having a major event when sports play-by-play
happens to be on the talk stations is really the issue. Except for Brudnoy,
none of them are really going to talk about these issues anyway, so what's
the difference? And the programmers believe there's no audience for that.
So, they bring on the two chicks (who I actually find amusing, BTW, unlike
some on this group who love to blast them), not to mention the fake doctor
giving stupid advice and some guy in Nevada talking to people who claim
they just met aliens from another planet. I think I'll read a good book.

------------------------------