Not the Satellite Sisters; Another AAR Money Crunch?

All Access confirms Malloy will not be getting cleared in New York but not because of ABC's "The Satellite Sisters." Inner City Broadcasting, owner of WLIB, is reclaiming Malloy's hours and will be broadcasting Caribbean music. WLIB had a full-time Caribbean format (with somewhat better numbers)prior to AAR's launch and has continued to broadcast Caribbean programming during the overnight hours (AAR has leased the station from 5 am to 12 midnight). The third hour of Mallow's show has never been cleared in New York.

So, far the Satellite Sisters weekday show airs only on XM Radio (12 pm to 3 pm). An announcement of weekday syndication for terrestrial radio has been predicted but so far no announcement has been made.

Direct competitor Alan Colmes (hours two and three)airs in New York from 11 pm to 1 am on WWRL. Lionel (hours two and three) airs on WOR also from 11 pm to 1 am. Phil Hendrie is not currently cleared in New York.

Malloy has a snowball's chance of getting cleared on one of NYC's good sticks. His only shot is one of the brokered/ethnic stations at the high end of the AM band, and then only if AAR pays for clearance.

I know some of you will object to the question, but could AAR's cut-back on leased hours be a cost saving move? Matt says Malloy said AAR must show a profit in this calendar year. Or else what?

I do NOT predict AAR will disappear. I do predict the company will be sold, most likely to Jones, Premiere or another syndicator within a year. The question then becomes, if AAR changes hands again, will the new owners keep the network model and operate as a turnkey network (like Salem and ESPN) or will they go to a traditional straight syndication model?

All Access:
<blockquote>MIKE MALLOY's AIR AMERICA RADIO show will lose its live clearance on the network's flagship, INNER CITY Talk WLIB-A/NEW YORK, which will expand its overnight Caribbean programming to add MALLOY's late-night hours effective JANUARY 23. The show continues on the network and XM SATELLITE RADIO.</blockquote>

> I do NOT predict AAR will disappear. I do predict the
> company will be sold, most likely to Jones, Premiere or
> another syndicator within a year. The question then
> becomes, if AAR changes hands again, will the new owners
> keep the network model and operate as a turnkey network
> (like Salem and ESPN) or will they go to a traditional
> straight syndication model?

Salem is turnkey because they're the only ones who see value in that godawful programming. Any station that wants to clear Mike Gallagher or Michael Medved via a traditional syndication model is free to do so. But Salem stations are too lazy to do so.

ESPN isn't exactly turnkey in larger markets where it's used a fill for non-local hours; some non-CC stations affiliate with ESPN as the best sports net and then clear Rome, Bruno, et al. Air America is the same way... the reason they have 24/7 content is so lazy, cheap, poor, etc. stations can affiliate with ease. Why make it difficult to clear markets? However, you don't exactly see AAR refusing to deal with stations that only want Rhodes. I'll also bet that if a station in Portland (or wherever the market would support two libtalkers) wanted to clear whatever shows KPOJ doesn't (a small list, I believe), they would let them.

> All Access confirms Malloy will not be getting cleared in
> New York but not because of ABC's "The Satellite Sisters."
> Inner City Broadcasting, owner of WLIB, is reclaiming
> Malloy's hours and will be broadcasting Caribbean music.
> WLIB had a full-time Caribbean format (with somewhat better
> numbers)prior to AAR's launch and has continued to broadcast
> Caribbean programming during the overnight hours (AAR has
> leased the station from 5 am to 12 midnight). The third
> hour of Mallow's show has never been cleared in New York.
>
> So, far the Satellite Sisters weekday show airs only on XM
> Radio (12 pm to 3 pm). An announcement of weekday
> syndication for terrestrial radio has been predicted but so
> far no announcement has been made.
>
> Direct competitor Alan Colmes (hours two and three)airs in
> New York from 11 pm to 1 am on WWRL. Lionel (hours two and
> three) airs on WOR also from 11 pm to 1 am. Phil Hendrie is
> not currently cleared in New York.
>
> Malloy has a snowball's chance of getting cleared on one of
> NYC's good sticks. His only shot is one of the
> brokered/ethnic stations at the high end of the AM band, and
> then only if AAR pays for clearance.
>
> I know some of you will object to the question, but could
> AAR's cut-back on leased hours be a cost saving move? Matt
> says Malloy said AAR must show a profit in this calendar
> year. Or else what?
>
> I do NOT predict AAR will disappear. I do predict the
> company will be sold, most likely to Jones, Premiere or
> another syndicator within a year. The question then
> becomes, if AAR changes hands again, will the new owners
> keep the network model and operate as a turnkey network
> (like Salem and ESPN) or will they go to a traditional
> straight syndication model?
>
> All Access:
> MIKE MALLOY's AIR AMERICA RADIO show will lose its live
> clearance on the network's flagship, INNER CITY Talk
> WLIB-A/NEW YORK, which will expand its overnight Caribbean
> programming to add MALLOY's late-night hours effective
> JANUARY 23. The show continues on the network and XM
> SATELLITE RADIO.
>

Why lease from inner-city? They already have 85 other stations playing their shows and no lease in site. As soon as the lease is up they can easily look for another location for all their shows using the Barter system. They don't seem to even be "out of NY" anymore so they could find someone to broadcast nearby. Also, some of the CC people might want to throw them on one of their HD multicast channels on FM. It seems like a no-brainer that CC could find one FM multicast channel to play AAR on and AAR could find a smaller AM station interested in playing them 24/7, no strings attached or stay on WLIB, such as it is, while crosspromoting the HD station.

> All Access confirms Malloy will not be getting cleared in
> New York but not because of ABC's "The Satellite Sisters."
> Inner City Broadcasting, owner of WLIB, is reclaiming
> Malloy's hours and will be broadcasting Caribbean music.
hmmm... All Access better double check that..

Given that Clear Channel owns many Air America affiliates, should the network be put up for sale, I could see CC buying it.

If CC buys Air America, I suspect it's shows would become part of Premiere's syndication lineup, but not really as a "network". They would continue to air on CC-owned Air America affiliates.

More misinformation and wishful thinking from mwebster, who has now taken the time to post 442 times on these boards since last July, mostly to take shots at Air America. It's a myth that WLIB had "better" numbers with its previous Caribbean music format. Even if you only consider WLIB's virtually meaningless 12+ numbers, its Fall 2005 number was as good or better than the station was getting with its previous format (and of course middle and upper-middle class liberals are considered a better demographic from an advertisers' point of view than Caribbean immigrants).

And WLIB does NOT broadcast Caribbean music or any other kind of Caribbean programming during the "overnight hours." It carries a talk show, hosted by Gary Byrd.

All of which reminds me of one of mwebster's previous false claims, that Al Franken had suffered a "defeat" in Seattle because he had been "replaced" by Thom Hartmann on CBS Radio's KPTK. Mwebster then went on to predict that "more stations" would "dump" Franken "in favor of Thom," even though Franken hadn't been "dumped," but rather moved to PM drive, which, of course, is a better time slot. And since mwebster later claimed that he had said "bump" instead of "dump," here's his exact quote, from 12/22/05:

Meantime, after the fall books are out look for more stations to dump Jerry in favor of Steph (and Al in favor of Thom).

Meanwhile, and I'm sure to mwebster's dismay, Air America has added three more affiliates in the past few days: in El Paso, TX; Charlottesville,VA; and State College, PA.


> All Access confirms Malloy will not be getting cleared in
> New York but not because of ABC's "The Satellite Sisters."
> Inner City Broadcasting, owner of WLIB, is reclaiming
> Malloy's hours and will be broadcasting Caribbean music.
> WLIB had a full-time Caribbean format (with somewhat better
> numbers)prior to AAR's launch and has continued to broadcast
> Caribbean programming during the overnight hours (AAR has
> leased the station from 5 am to 12 midnight). The third
> hour of Mallow's show has never been cleared in New York.
>
> So, far the Satellite Sisters weekday show airs only on XM
> Radio (12 pm to 3 pm). An announcement of weekday
> syndication for terrestrial radio has been predicted but so
> far no announcement has been made.
>
> Direct competitor Alan Colmes (hours two and three)airs in
> New York from 11 pm to 1 am on WWRL. Lionel (hours two and
> three) airs on WOR also from 11 pm to 1 am. Phil Hendrie is
> not currently cleared in New York.
>
> Malloy has a snowball's chance of getting cleared on one of
> NYC's good sticks. His only shot is one of the
> brokered/ethnic stations at the high end of the AM band, and
> then only if AAR pays for clearance.
>
> I know some of you will object to the question, but could
> AAR's cut-back on leased hours be a cost saving move? Matt
> says Malloy said AAR must show a profit in this calendar
> year. Or else what?
>
> I do NOT predict AAR will disappear. I do predict the
> company will be sold, most likely to Jones, Premiere or
> another syndicator within a year. The question then
> becomes, if AAR changes hands again, will the new owners
> keep the network model and operate as a turnkey network
> (like Salem and ESPN) or will they go to a traditional
> straight syndication model?
>
> All Access:
> MIKE MALLOY's AIR AMERICA RADIO show will lose its live
> clearance on the network's flagship, INNER CITY Talk
> WLIB-A/NEW YORK, which will expand its overnight Caribbean
> programming to add MALLOY's late-night hours effective
> JANUARY 23. The show continues on the network and XM
> SATELLITE RADIO.
> <P ID="edit"><FONT class="small">Edited by Scribbler on 01/22/06 03:52 AM.</FONT></P>

Good point. This guy is real blowhard. I've noticed that he favorite tactic is posting three or four news items in one day. Then he mindlessly attacks other posters. For example, I reported that Randi Rhodes had claimed to beat Hannity in New York in the Fall Arbitrons. Since she didn't give too many specifics, I restated her claim, looking for some comments. Here's what Webster had to say:

> Go away, kid, you are bothering people.

> Once again, you either don't know what you are talking about or you are
> willing to twist facts to fit how you want things to be. You come on here
> treating what you think you maybe heard Randi say as fact - but you can't
> even get that straight ("I don't recall" ... "I assume").

> I will concede that maybe Randi or someone else at AAR went
> into Maximi$er and either found or established some "demo"
> in which Randy beat Hannity (i.e., 35 to 44 year old Jewish
> males in Greenwich Village who drive Volvos). But if she
> had "beaten" Hannity in any commonly used and significant
> demo, the trade press would be all over it (and AAR would be
> taking out ads).


Well as it turned out, another poster who had access to Maximzer confirmed that Randi did beat Hannity in the important demo Men 25-54.

Strangely Mr. Webster never came back on the string to apologize to me for his insult and anti-semitic remark.


> More misinformation and wishful thinking from mwebster, who
> has now taken the time to post 442 times on these boards
> since last July, mostly to take shots at Air America. It's a
> myth that WLIB had "better" numbers with its previous
> Caribbean music format. Even if you only consider WLIB's
> virtually meaningless 12+ numbers, its Fall 2005 number was
> as good or better than the station was getting with its
> previous format (and of course middle and upper-middle class
> liberals are considered a better demographic from an
> advertisers' point of view than Caribbean immigrants).
>
> And WLIB does NOT broadcast Caribbean music during the
> "overnight hours." It carries a talk show, hosted by Carlos
> Russell.
>
> All of which reminds me of one of mwebster's previous false
> claims, that Al Franken had suffered a "defeat" in Seattle
> because he had been "replaced" by Thom Hartmann on CBS
> Radio's KPTK. Mwebster then went on to predict that "more
> stations" would "dump" Franken "in favor of Thom," even
> though Franken hadn't been "dumped," but rather moved to PM
> drive, which, of course, is a better time slot. And since
> mwebster later claimed that he had said "bump" instead of
> "dump," here's his exact quote, from 12/22/05:
>
> Meantime, after the fall books are out look for more
> stations to dump Jerry in favor of Steph (and Al in favor of
> Thom).
>
> Meanwhile, and I'm sure to mwebster's dismay, Air America
> has added three more affiliates in the past few days: in El
> Paso, TX; Charlottesville,VA; and State College, PA.
>
>
>
>
> > All Access confirms Malloy will not be getting cleared in
> > New York but not because of ABC's "The Satellite Sisters."
>
> > Inner City Broadcasting, owner of WLIB, is reclaiming
> > Malloy's hours and will be broadcasting Caribbean music.
> > WLIB had a full-time Caribbean format (with somewhat
> better
> > numbers)prior to AAR's launch and has continued to
> broadcast
> > Caribbean programming during the overnight hours (AAR has
> > leased the station from 5 am to 12 midnight). The third
> > hour of Mallow's show has never been cleared in New York.
> >
> > So, far the Satellite Sisters weekday show airs only on XM
>
> > Radio (12 pm to 3 pm). An announcement of weekday
> > syndication for terrestrial radio has been predicted but
> so
> > far no announcement has been made.
> >
> > Direct competitor Alan Colmes (hours two and three)airs in
>
> > New York from 11 pm to 1 am on WWRL. Lionel (hours two
> and
> > three) airs on WOR also from 11 pm to 1 am. Phil Hendrie
> is
> > not currently cleared in New York.
> >
> > Malloy has a snowball's chance of getting cleared on one
> of
> > NYC's good sticks. His only shot is one of the
> > brokered/ethnic stations at the high end of the AM band,
> and
> > then only if AAR pays for clearance.
> >
> > I know some of you will object to the question, but could
> > AAR's cut-back on leased hours be a cost saving move?
> Matt
> > says Malloy said AAR must show a profit in this calendar
> > year. Or else what?
> >
> > I do NOT predict AAR will disappear. I do predict the
> > company will be sold, most likely to Jones, Premiere or
> > another syndicator within a year. The question then
> > becomes, if AAR changes hands again, will the new owners
> > keep the network model and operate as a turnkey network
> > (like Salem and ESPN) or will they go to a traditional
> > straight syndication model?
> >
> > All Access:
> > MIKE MALLOY's AIR AMERICA RADIO show will lose its live
> > clearance on the network's flagship, INNER CITY Talk
> > WLIB-A/NEW YORK, which will expand its overnight Caribbean
>
> > programming to add MALLOY's late-night hours effective
> > JANUARY 23. The show continues on the network and XM
> > SATELLITE RADIO.
> >
>


<P ID="signature">______________
http://talkingradio.blogspot.com/</P>

To set the record straight:

Here is the post to which Scribbler refers:
http://www.radio-info.com/mods/board?Post=614435&Board=newstalk

Here is the relevant passage:
<blockquote>More significant is the uptick for PT without AAR "network" programming mornings and middays. With these results from Seattle, it will be interesting to see if other markets dump or bump Franken for Hatmann. AAR's signing of Hartmann may save the company's sorry butt (put another way, the tail may rescue the dog). </blockquote>
Nowhere did I say the Seattle station "dumped" Franken. The fact is Hartmann was and is cleared live in Seattle. Franken is delayed (or "bumped"). However, the main point here is if Hartmann does well in markets in which he is cleared live, other stations may pick up his show (which would mean either delaying or dropping Franken). I fail to understand Scribbler's animus toward Hartmann since both Franken and Hartmann are progressive talk hosts and both programs are distributed by the same company. IMHO Hartmann, an experienced and professional radio broadcaster, does a better show than Franken, a comedy writer .

Yes, 12+ AQH numbers don't mean much but they are all we have. Go back and check WLIB's numbers pre-AAR. They had, as I said, "somewhat" better numbers (not a lot better, somewhat better). And you are wrong in your assumption that major radio advertisers consider affluent liberals a better demographic. This is why there are so many Urban and Hispanic formatted stations. WLIB's Caribbean format included music and some talk, all targeting a specific ethnic group.

AAR CLAIMS new affiliates on low power marginal AM stations in markets 76, 231 and 254. Not exactly reason to break out the champagne (check back when a Class A or B station in a top 50 market flips to progressive talk). And as has been pointed out by others on this board, AAR has posted "new affiliates" before without a done deal. None of these three stations has a website and one is not on the air yet (according to R-L)so we don't know exactly what any of them is clearing. AAR counts as "affiliates" stations that clear only Hartmann and stations that take Springer through Clear Channel.

Excuse me. Were you making a point about something I posted in THIS thread? If so, I missed it.

> Nowhere did I say the Seattle station "dumped" Franken.

Huh? After claiming that Franken had suffered a "defeat" in Seattle, you predicted that "more stations" would "dump" Franken.

You heard it here first: AAR's political backers will hold on until after the mid-term elections. They will claim victory and then sell and fold (most likely to Jones or Premiere). Meantime, after the fall books are out look for more stations to dump Jerry in favor of Steph (and Al in favor of Thom).

>The fact is Hartmann was and is cleared live in Seattle.
> Franken is delayed (or "bumped").

Hey, any time a major market, 50,000 watt, CBS-owned station wants to "bump" me into PM drive, I'll take that as a victory, not a "defeat."

> I fail to
> understand Scribbler's animus toward Hartmann since both
> Franken and Hartmann are progressive talk hosts and both
> programs are distributed by the same company.

I have absolutely no animus toward Hartmann. I listen to his KPOJ show and his national show regularly, but doubt that he's ever going to make it nationally. My animus is toward people who seem to have made it their mission in life to post blizzards of anti-AAR posts on these boards. Why are you so bitter? Did they turn you down for a job?

> Yes, 12+ AQH numbers don't mean much but they are all we
> have.

No, that's all YOU have.

Go back and check WLIB's numbers pre-AAR. They had,
> as I said, "somewhat" better numbers (not a lot better,
> somewhat better).

No, WLIB's 25-54 numbers are now better than they were under the old format and the 12+ numbers are about the same.

>And you are wrong in your assumption that major radio advertisers consider >affluent liberals a better demographic.

Wrong again.

> None of these three
> stations has a website and one is not on the air yet
> (according to R-L)so we don't know exactly what any of them
> is clearing.

Not being as obsessive about Air America as mwebster, I haven't checked "R-L," which is notoriously slow to pick up on changes. And, as I remember it, it does say somthing about its information being for "entertainment only." I do know that one of the local stations in my area (WKZE-AM, licensed to Sharon, CT) is carrying nothing but Air America programming from sign-on to sign-off, but is not listed on Air America's affilate list or on the outdated WKZE web site.
>

> Excuse me. Were you making a point about something I posted
> in THIS thread? If so, I missed it.

Since you start about three or four new threads each day, I guess I kind of lost track.
<P ID="signature">______________
http://talkingradio.blogspot.com/</P>

>
> My animus is
> toward people who seem to have made it their mission in life
> to post blizzards of anti-AAR posts on these boards. Why are
> you so bitter? Did they turn you down for a job?
>

That's almost as bad as your earlier attempts to claim I am various other posters on this board.

I only seek employment from organizations I admire and respect. I thought you could do better than falling back on the old any-criticism-of-anything-in-radio must-mean-somebody-got-turned-down-for-a-job. You apparently believe radio is so perfect and the people in it so wonderful that they are beyond all critcism (unless one disagrees with them politically).

Why are you so defensive of AAR? Did they give you a job?

> >
> > My animus is
> > toward people who seem to have made it their mission in
> life
> > to post blizzards of anti-AAR posts on these boards. Why
> are
> > you so bitter? Did they turn you down for a job?
> >
>
> That's almost as bad as your earlier attempts to claim I am
> various other posters on this board.

I've never claimed that you were "various other posters on this board." I did find it a little too coincidental that almost immediately after a poster with an identical M.O. was kicked off these boards, you signed on for the first time and began flooding the boards with your obsessive attacks on AAR.
>
> You
> apparently believe radio is so perfect and the people in it
> so wonderful that they are beyond all critcism (unless one
> disagrees with them politically).

Huh? I've worked in broadcasting for many years and have yet to find (or hear) a radio operation that's even close to "perfect." And as far as radio people are concerned, a few are "wonderful" but nobody's beyond criticism. But you seem to have made it your mission in life to trash AAR and that seems....peculiar.

> Why are you so defensive of AAR? Did they give you a job?

No I've never asked for one, although I do know a couple of people there (having worked with them elsewhere).

Rhodes On Live In El Paso & Charlottesvile

Hate to break the bad news to mwebster, but according to Randi Rhodes' web site (http://www.therandirhodesshow.com/), all four hours of her show are being carried live by KHRO in El Paso and WVAX in Charlottesville.

> AAR has posted "new
> affiliates" before without a done deal. None of these three
> stations has a website and one is not on the air yet
> (according to R-L)so we don't know exactly what any of them
> is clearing. AAR counts as "affiliates" stations that clear
> only Hartmann and stations that take Springer through Clear
> Channel.
>

Re: Rhodes On Live In El Paso & Charlottesvile

> Hate to break the bad news to mwebster, but according to
> Randi Rhodes' web site (http://www.therandirhodesshow.com/),
> all four hours of her show are being carried live by KHRO in
> El Paso and WVAX in Charlottesville.

It must be a real strain on Mr. Webster to be so consistently proven wrong.

The Charlotte Daily Progress has a story on WVAX's transformation, and KHRO's web site makes it pretty clear what's going on there.<P ID="signature">______________
also known as tombetz.</P>

Re: Mike Malloy Speaks

> All Access confirms Malloy will not be getting cleared in
> New York but not because of ABC's "The Satellite Sisters."
> Inner City Broadcasting, owner of WLIB, is reclaiming
> Malloy's hours and will be broadcasting Caribbean music.
> WLIB had a full-time Caribbean format (with somewhat better
> numbers)prior to AAR's launch and has continued to broadcast
> Caribbean programming during the overnight hours (AAR has
> leased the station from 5 am to 12 midnight). The third
> hour of Mallow's show has never been cleared in New York.

The information from Mike Malloy to listeners is that ABC Radio has apparently paid a launch bonus and, potentially, ongoing cash in return for WLIB giving live clearance to Satellite Sisters, who are trying to launch a weekday broadcast show instead of just living on XM (and apparently cleared on weekends in some markets). In order to help with the launch support, they want to have some good affiliate deals in place for the promotional efforts.

The unanswered question is who gets the money. Is AAR getting paid here or WLIB? If AAR has a leased time agreement in place, it sounds like AAR should be getting the check.

If AAR gets the check, my speculation here is that the launch bonus and ongoing cash being offered is greater than the current ad revenue AAR gets from local clearances in NYC during Malloy's show.

AAR claims they are committed to finding and/or paying another station in the area to clear Malloy in NYC. If they pay, will it end up on some Korean language AM'er? Will -anyone- ever find it?

Satellite Sisters has been off my radar since it launched, so I have no idea about the appeal of the show, although its name certainly doesn't inspire me. From what I have seen online, they seem to fit more into the "lifestyle talk" concept. That's going to come as a shock to the average Malloy listener, who is about as hardcore left as one can get.

Why ABC wants to launch this on WLIB/AAR is another mystery to me. It's obviously a paid-for transaction in any case.

I can't see anything here that warrants the claims that this represents an AAR money crunch because we aren't even certain who is getting paid here. If this was a deal with WLIB permitted under the contract with AAR, Air America may not have even had a choice. Even if AAR is getting paid, it's one show in one market. If they do place Malloy elsewhere in NY, it's going to eliminate/reduce any earnings they get from selling time to ABC.

>
> Why are you so defensive of AAR? Did they give you a job?
>

Naaaaa. He bought into the associates program and is proud of his err amerika Bumper sticker he paid $50 for. :[D
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> Given that Clear Channel owns many Air America affiliates,
> should the network be put up for sale, I could see CC buying
> it.
>

Not even... Air America will BK out of their contracts with the on air talent. This will make Al Qaeda Rhodes and et al free agents to sign with CC if they choose. The stations are privately owned and will either pay CC for the programming or go in what direction they want. CC wants to shed the "conservative only broadcasting" label once and for all. The problem is that some of it's stations are on welfare, like san diego's KLSD 1360. CC would prefer it be self sufficient like Salem, even though they are low rent operations.<P ID="signature">______________
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>
> Yes, 12+ AQH numbers don't mean much but they are all we
> have. Go back and check WLIB's numbers pre-AAR. They had,
> as I said, "somewhat" better numbers (not a lot better,
> somewhat better).

Actually, the 25-54 numbers are truly better, and the format is more salable given the cume is probably unduplicated on WABC and WOR.

in 35'54, the improvement is about 50% over the old Caribbean programming.