AM 950 mostly unaffected by Air America’s demise
Thursday, January 21, 2010 at 4:53 pm
- 8 Comments
AM 950, Minnesota’s progressive talk radio station, won’t be impacted by national distributor Air America filing Chapter 7 bankruptcy Thursday. Air America is KTNF’s source for only one weekday show and a handful of weekend programs, station president Janet Robert tells the Minnesota Independent.
A statement at the Air America website blamed the economy for collapse. The distributor is “ceasing its live programming operations as of this afternoon,” the statement said.
The most immediate casualty that will be apparent on KTNF is ”The Ron Reagan Show,” which aired from 7–8 p.m. on weekdays. “Ring of Fire” is one several weekend Air America shows heard locally.
Robert said she was making calls to try to keep “Ring of Fire.” But that is the only Air America she is pursuing, she said, and she expressed doubt that most Air America programs would find new distributors.
AM 950′s locally- produced shows on the weekday schedule include “The Mark Heaney Show” and “Quick on the UpTake,” with others airing on weekends. The remainder of the station’s programming comes from Air America rival Dial Global, Robert said.
Robert said she was sorry to hear the news. “There are a lot of really nice people there,” she said. “We’re really grateful to them for having launched 24-hour progressive talk radio.”
The independently owned local station began broadcasting on a different signal in 2003 but on March 31, 2004 began carrying much of Air America’s 24-hour program schedule, including Al Franken’s program. The main exception was “The Ed Schultz Show,” distributed by Dial Global.
Over the years, AM 950 got more and more of its programs from Dial Global as popular programs left Air America for its rival distributor. Along the way, Air America filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, reorganizing under new investors.
Weekday mainstays that will continue to air as usual include shows hosted by Schultz, Bill Press, Stephanie Miller, Thom Hartmann and Mike Malloy.
Chris Steller appears weekly as a guest on “Quick on the UpTake.”
8 Comments
Comment posted January 22, 2010 @ 10:50 am
The Democratic Visions Channel on YouTube has an interesting interview with AM950 owner Janet Robert and on-air personality Two Putt Tommy Johnson. Democratic Visions is the cable and internet program I produce for DFL Senate District 42. Click my website link to get their.
Robert does not hold back when talking about KTNF’s start-up or on local conservative talkers. The Democratic Visions Channel on YouTube also features fine interview with Al and Frannni Franken and other progressive movers and shakers.
Comment posted January 22, 2010 @ 11:06 am
Another example of why Right Wing Radio needs to be reigned in through legislation. How can the American public get both sides of a story when the only stations that anyone listens to are run by Right Wing wackos?
We need our government to step in and protect us from these Bushco & Friends wanna-be’s by passing legislation that dictates fair and balanced radio time.
It really is time to bring back the Fairness Doctrine. Let’s all pull together and bring an end to Right Wing Radio!
Comment posted January 22, 2010 @ 12:45 pm
T-paw is a jerk: “We need our government to step in and protect us…” Can’t think for yourself or do you just have a problem w/those who think differently than you?
Comment posted January 22, 2010 @ 2:26 pm
Way to state it Dano!!! Fanned (there isn’t a fan tag, but I fan you).
Comment posted January 22, 2010 @ 2:49 pm
Furthermore, T-paw is a jerk, listening to only the left right paradigm leaves a lot of the story out as well. Learn about dialectic process and truth.
Comment posted January 22, 2010 @ 3:59 pm
I don’t mean to pile on T-Paw Is A Jerk, but Air America did say when they started they would regard themselves as a success if they spawned competitors, and they didn’t have a monopoly on liberal talk. KTNF isn’t losing much of their weekday programming, which probably helps explain the fate of Air America. I hate saying that since I will miss some Air America programs and I liked having a lot in one place, but the surviving hosts are carried by distribution companies that carry lots of non-liberal programs because they make money, which is a good thing in a way. Air America couldn’t make it as basically an incubator, which is what it became.
I would be with you on the fairness doctrine if we were still dependent on broadcast media, but that conservative ownership of talk radio (literally as well as market share) might be why liberals took more quickly to the Internet. So whether anyone supports the fairness doctrine or not, the best thing to do for KTNF is patronize the sponsors and let them know where you heard of them. I know I paid for probably years of Artisan Plumbing commercials.
Comment posted January 22, 2010 @ 5:07 pm
I believe the “T-Paw is a Jerk” character is very much a troll. The name should be a red flag, pardon the pun. What he said was supposed to be a caricature of a Democrat. He managed to hit all of the talking points right-wing radio loves to bring out against left-wing media arguments that are actually incredibly rare to witness in the wild. That would seem to be an obvious indicator that he’s trollbaiting.
Comment posted January 24, 2010 @ 2:33 pm
I enjoy listening to AM950 from time to time. When I’m feeling a bit down, listening to liberals cry makes me feel better.
Mark Heany(guessing on the spelling) was my favorite sniveler, but it looks like he’s cried himself out. The replacement, “2putttommy” is excellent though. We couldn’t find a more ignorant boob to amuse us if we could make one.
He’s an excellent representative of the eft.
RSS feed for comments on this post.
Sorry, the comment form is closed at this time.
