"Liberal network" signs Al Franken

[Dan Strassberg]

I have a theory--actually, it's a conspiracy theory--about this seemingly
bumbling and doomed-before-it-gets-off-the-ground liberal radio network. I
guess we can call it the D-bigot-G theory (from the first letters of "doomed
before it gets off the ground"). The backers of the network COULD LMA the
stations they line up in major markets. But no; they insist that they want
to buy. Meanwhile, the clock is ticking. I daresay that there simply isn't
time to close on the sale of five major-market stations (even secondary AM
signals like WNTD) before Election Day. It would require a minor miracle for
the applications for transfer to reach the FCC before Labor Day. The
D-bigot-G theory says that the backers don't want to get the network on the
air; what they want is to be able to say that the GW Bush FCC tied up their
applications in bureaucratic paperwork to prevent their views from being
heard. In other words, the backers are looking for a campaign issue, not a
network. They win by losing. Actually, they win in a couple of ways because
if the transfers don't go through, they won't take a financial bath.

--
Dan Strassberg, dan.strassberg@att.net
eFax 707-215-6367

----- Original Message -----
From: Mark Laurence <mlaurence@mindspring.com>
To: SteveOrdinetz <steveord@bit-net.com>
Cc: <boston-radio-interest@bostonradio.org>
Sent: Wednesday, January 14, 2004 11:08 AM
Subject: Re: "Liberal network" signs Al Franken


>
> On Wednesday, January 14, 2004, at 09:44  AM, SteveOrdinetz wrote:
>
> >  So many liberal hosts seem to miss this and tend to come across as
> > "blame America first"ers.  While they may have valid points at times,
> > very few people want to hear Saddam's side of the story.
>
> There are moral issues on both sides of the spectrum, and the Globe had
> a good column yesterday about how Howard Dean is making forceful
> political morality statements work for him.  Nobody but the most
> closed-minded right-winger would truly believe the liberal point of
> view is "Saddam's side of the story."
>
> But I agree with Tony that a talk show based only on liberal politics
> is doomed to failure.  Rush Limbaugh is a talented RADIO broadcaster,
> and that is more the source of his success than his politics.  How many
> times have radio stations - including here in Boston - put well-known
> celebrities on the air who know nothing about broadcasting, and
> watched, astonished, as their shows flopped?
>
> Mark
>