Greece Democratic Fundraiser and Bill Press
Well, Just returned home after the fundraiser. What a nice time. Grievous Angel, Ladkiddo and I covered the event. Frankly it was refreshing to have a national speaker rather than an elected official. Don’t get me wrong - A sitting Senator or governor is wonderful at a fundraiser but this idea was refreshing - Hats off to the Greece Democratic Committee.
It was great to see some old friends and, of course, meet some new ones.
I have video of the entire event - assuming it comes out. We interviewed Bill Press and got some clarification about WROC950 format change.
I’ll post the video as soon as I can -
I’m sure you will like the national bits and Bill’s call to arms to assert a common sense voice back into government and put it on the right track.
For us the big question was, is WROC changing its format? Yes -
950 AM WROC is changing its format by Labor day to a sports format. That means goodbye progressive talk in Rochester.
Grievous, Ladkiddo, feel free to add your thoughts.
Much more as soon as we can….
[ladkiddo here] I’m sure you will get it from the video, but the biggest “take away message” from Bill’s talk was, “Raise Hell”. Form a protest campaign and take this message to the station. Show WROC how much this progressive talk format means to you. If Madison, Wisconsin can do it, we can do it!
I wonder why Entercom hates Rochester so much. The last time we had this conversation, it was in November of 2007…when they decided to dump Brother Wease. Now they want to silence Progressives. We need to post a listing of ALL ENTERCOM HOLDINGS and then boycott all of their stations and advertisers.
Here’s the post from Rochester Turning in November: http://rochesterturning.com/2007/11/30/wcmf-media-consolidation-hits-home/
The implication is that Entercom is making a political decision instead of a business one.
Do you really believe that?
If so, buy the station (or another one), do the appropriate marketing, upgrade the broadcast strength, and put Air America back on.
I’m not worried about boycotting them– I pretty much only listen to XXI AM. Well, I used to listen to CMF on Sunday afternoons in the fall– but the Bills have moved so that isn’t an issue any more.
I found Air America to be often too loud for my taste and had way too much advertising.
NPR isn’t perfect but it has a lot of good stuff that I enjoy listening to.
Wease was a business decision. When we spoke to Wease directly he said so much.
Changing the WROC format is also a “business” decision. Trouble is, in my opinion, is is short sighted. It is easy to say - well, gosh there isn’t a market based on ratings but investigation of the ratings clearly demonstrate lack of marketing and lousy signal. So the next question is do people actually know how to build a business or are they simply going through the motions?
The progressive line-up isn’t for everyone. Lee made some comments to that effect on this or another post. I agree - for example - Randi Rhodes was too shrill for my taste. I know others that loved her.
The ultimate question is alternatives. Alternatives are good and should be provided.
In answer to “Do you really believe that?”
YES
Then put your money where your beliefs are.
Right - Put your money where your belief are.
Starting a business requires capital and we have sooooo much simply laying around,. The point here is not that a bunch of listeners need to buy a Radio station.
The point here is there is a market unserved and it will remain unserved because frankly existing radio management is using a convenient excuse to perpetuate the problem.
There is no vision or commitment and that is sad because as a result there is an unserved market.
Here’s a site that helps save progressive talk radio - maybe we can align and stop this:
http://www.nonstopradio.com/efforts.html
And here’s a list of all of their radio stations - if they take ours - we’ll boycott all of theirs AND their advertisers:
Rochester, New York
WROC 950 AM — News Talk Information
WBEE 92.5 FM — Country
WCMF 96.5 FM — Classic Rock
WPXY 97.9 FM — Contemporary Hits
WBZA 98.9 FM — Rock
Buffalo, New York
WGR 550 AM — All Sports
WBEN 930 AM — News/Talk
WWWS 1400 AM — Rhythmic Oldies
WWKB 1520 AM — Progressive Talk
WKSE 98.5 FM — Pop Contemporary Hit Radio
WTSS 102.5 FM — Hot Adult Contemporary
WLKK 107.7 FM — Progressive classic rock
Hey Jiminy — I’m already part of your boycott. I don’t listen to any Entercom stations.
Join us comrades! Together we few Davids will bring down this Goliath of mass media and force them to do our bidding.
I feel the intoxication of power, and it’s only 8 in the morning.
It was a nice time and Bill Press is such a great speaker. I’ll have my notes from his speech and our interview up a bit later.
I agree with Jiminy, ladkiddo and stlo7, Entercom is making a short-sighted business/political decision.
I happened to be at the studio this morning and overheard the reception desk attendant answering unhappy call after unhappy call about the decision to pull-the-plug on talk radio. We need to keep the steady PRESSURE on them! Flood their switchboard, publicly protest outside the studios on Commercial St., write letters and emails to the local Entercom and corporate office headquarters. They need to be overwhelmed by our outrage AND our belief in preserving fairness and balance on the airwaves.
In order to ensure ANY semblance of progressivism on the Rochester air waves, we are going to have to FIGHT for it, no question about it. If we truly intend to take back this country, we need to roll-up our sleeves and start in our own backyard.
I’m ready to do battle. Let’s get this thing rollin’!
actually more owners would be good. We need to increase media diversity
Comment by davesnyd:
Then you state:
Too much advertising…ANY radio station would call that a business dream come true!
So to answer your question:
Absolutely, and without any doubt. Thanks for making my point so clearly.
Note to self: Keep Jiminybizbo on my side.
I got’cher back Goddess