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KTAR / KFYI Fail - No Live Coverage of US Government Shutdown

A

asugeorge1

Star Participant
Another sad day for local Phoenix news / talk radio. At 10:00 P.M. MST, the federal government shut down with the failure of the Senate to pass a last minute continuing resolution. But do any of the local news radio stations decide to provide us with this breaking news coverage and how it effects Arizonians? Nope! KTAR is too busy jamming Dave Ramsey reruns down our throats and 550 KFYI has tape-delayed Glenn Beck.

What local news radio source is there for people to listen to? Well for me, I had to tune to KSL News radio, 1160 AM out of Salt Lake City, Utah. That’s right, a city with a smaller population than Phoenix has a radio station, owned by the same people as KTAR, that provides continuing live and LOCAL coverage of the government shut down and how to effects people in Utah. As of 10:50 P.M., KSL is still live and local with Debbie Dujanovic and Dave Noriega. I should not have to listen to an out-of-state station to hear live coverage of the government shutdown.

What I don’t understand is this: Why does the 48th largest metropolitan area, Salt Lake City, Utah, have a news radio station in KSL that provides more live and local news programming than the 12th largest metropolitan area in Phoenix? KTAR really is a joke of a news station these days when live and local news / talk now ends at noon because Dave Ramsey airs for two hours during the middle of the work day, begins again at 2:00 P.M. with Mac and Cheese talk radio (not news, but talk), and then ends again at 6:00 P.M. when most people are still driving home from work. Meanwhile, KSL in SLC has all news in the afternoon from 3:00 - 7:00 P.M., live and local programming all day including local news and talk until 9:00 P.M. Why can’t Phoenix have a station like that? Can someone please provide the 5th largest city in the country with a real local news radio station like KSL?
 
Consider the alternative...

asugeorge1 said:
Another sad day for local Phoenix news / talk radio. At 10:00 P.M. MST, the federal government shut down with the failure of the Senate to pass a last minute continuing resolution. But do any of the local news radio stations decide to provide us with this breaking news coverage and how it effects Arizonians? Nope! KTAR is too busy jamming Dave Ramsey reruns down our throats and 550 KFYI has tape-delayed Glenn Beck.

What local news radio source is there for people to listen to? Well for me, I had to tune to KSL News radio, 1160 AM out of Salt Lake City, Utah. That’s right, a city with a smaller population than Phoenix has a radio station, owned by the same people as KTAR, that provides continuing live and LOCAL coverage of the government shut down and how to effects people in Utah. As of 10:50 P.M., KSL is still live and local with Debbie Dujanovic and Dave Noriega. I should not have to listen to an out-of-state station to hear live coverage of the government shutdown.

What I don’t understand is this: Why does the 48th largest metropolitan area, Salt Lake City, Utah, have a news radio station in KSL that provides more live and local news programming than the 12th largest metropolitan area in Phoenix? KTAR really is a joke of a news station these days when live and local news / talk now ends at noon because Dave Ramsey airs for two hours during the middle of the work day, begins again at 2:00 P.M. with Mac and Cheese talk radio (not news, but talk), and then ends again at 6:00 P.M. when most people are still driving home from work. Meanwhile, KSL in SLC has all news in the afternoon from 3:00 - 7:00 P.M., live and local programming all day including local news and talk until 9:00 P.M. Why can’t Phoenix have a station like that? Can someone please provide the 5th largest city in the country with a real local news radio station like KSL?
Click to expand...

KJZZ at 91.5 has local and national news and is all over this story.
 
"Breaking news coverage?" Huh? Nothing's going to happen until noon. Until then, all you have is people pointing fingers. Not real news, if you ask me.

It's the weekend, most government offices are closed anyway.

You want live coverage of nothing happening? Like watching paint dry.
 
We're live on the scene of the Visitor's Center at (fill in) National Park not opening this morning.
 
Until I read this thread it didn't occur to me to think about how this might be affecting us. I haven't seen or heard news all day on any medium. So now I just did an online news search. Since there are so many "essential" employees still getting paid, it looks more like a slow down than a shut down.
 
SaltyDog said:
Until I read this thread it didn't occur to me to think about how this might be affecting us. I haven't seen or heard news all day on any medium. So now I just did an online news search. Since there are so many "essential" employees still getting paid, it looks more like a slow down than a shut down.
Click to expand...

I think that's correct. The head of OMB just briefed the press, and he said some agencies are operating using surplus funds. They referred to this more as a funding shutdown rather than government shutdown, because a lot of operations are continuing. Since it's a weekend, most of the agencies are closed anyway. Obviously Congress is open, the White House is open. There are salaried staff and hourly staff in both places. Essential and unessential staff in both places. Notices went out this morning as to who is furloughed and who is not.

I'm sure all the news stations are reporting this as it's being presented.
 
Or as the jingle I played for a paint store yesterday sang... "paint - dry ra-di-o... you're listening to the sound of paint - dry!"
 
wattsup said:
KJZZ at 91.5 has local and national news and is all over this story.
Click to expand...

They’re the last true news station in Phoenix. Sure, they’re not flashy and don’t have Detour Dan, but they don’t air four hours of Dave Ramsey a day.
 
EricStein said:
They’re the last true news station in Phoenix. Sure, they’re not flashy and don’t have Detour Dan, but they don’t air four hours of Dave Ramsey a day.
Click to expand...

No, but they air 4 hours of the BBC, at a time when few are listening.
 
asugeorge1 said:
What I don’t understand is this: Why does the 48th largest metropolitan area, Salt Lake City, Utah, have a news radio station in KSL that provides more live and local news programming than the 12th largest metropolitan area in Phoenix? KTAR really is a joke of a news station these days when live and local news / talk now ends at noon because Dave Ramsey airs for two hours during the middle of the work day, begins again at 2:00 P.M. with Mac and Cheese talk radio (not news, but talk), and then ends again at 6:00 P.M. when most people are still driving home from work. Meanwhile, KSL in SLC has all news in the afternoon from 3:00 - 7:00 P.M., live and local programming all day including local news and talk until 9:00 P.M. Why can’t Phoenix have a station like that? Can someone please provide the 5th largest city in the country with a real local news radio station like KSL?
Click to expand...

The better question to ask, which is the gist of your question, is -- why is 92.3's broadcast day essentially limited to weekdays only? Bonneville should be ashamed of themselves -- less and less "live and local," even less Digital Goddess (she gets only one measly hour? really?), and more and more Beans and Rice Radio. I realize they're running a business, not a charity, but 92.3 doesn't have any semblance of gravitas anymore and nobody takes the station seriously anymore.
 
EricStein said:
They’re the last true news station in Phoenix. Sure, they’re not flashy and don’t have Detour Dan, but they don’t air four hours of Dave Ramsey a day.
Click to expand...

Well, yes and no. Do people say "NPR" when they're referring to 91.5, or do they say "KJZZ"? The local side of 91.5 is long-overdue for a revamp -- better music, for starters. Not that Muzak-y jazz. Snooze-a-rama.
 
EricStein said:
They’re the last true news station in Phoenix. Sure, they’re not flashy and don’t have Detour Dan, but they don’t air four hours of Dave Ramsey a day.
Click to expand...

Or 20 hours of right wing anger radio
 
indieradioguy said:
Well, yes and no. Do people say "NPR" when they're referring to 91.5, or do they say "KJZZ"? The local side of 91.5 is long-overdue for a revamp -- better music, for starters. Not that Muzak-y jazz. Snooze-a-rama.
Click to expand...

The "Snooze-a-rama" was its previous incarnation as a non-comm competitor to KYOT in the mid '90s. Real jazz is not boring or "Muzak-y." Unfortunately, if you want real jazz on American radio for more than a few hours a day, you' have KKJZ in LA, WBGO Newark/NYC, and WDCB Glen Ellyn/Chicago online. KJZZ succumbed to the "We need to counteract Limbaugh and Hannity" syndrome that infected public radio over a decade ago.
 
KeithE4 said:
KJZZ succumbed to the "We need to counteract Limbaugh and Hannity" syndrome that infected public radio over a decade ago.
Click to expand...

I doubt that was the intent. If it was, there still is no NPR Limbaugh that I'm aware of.

The reason was news was out-raising jazz by a substantial amount. And the three stations you mention trail their news counterparts in the ratings and in fundraising. You can see in markets like DC, Boston, and SF, the in depth style of NPR News is very competitive with the commercial all-news stations. I'm sure that's the attraction in Phoenix as well.
 
TheBigA said:
I doubt that was the intent. If it was, there still is no NPR Limbaugh that I'm aware of.
Click to expand...

Actually, I can go back to the early '90s with WBEZ Chicago, when there was a group that was trying to do exactly that: Turn WBEZ into the "anti-WLS." I'm paraphrasing, but that's close to their exact quote. I was hearing the same rumblings about KJZZ starting the late '90s.

The reason was news was out-raising jazz by a substantial amount. And the three stations you mention trail their news counterparts in the ratings and in fundraising.
Click to expand...

Obviously they get enough donations to remain on the air.

You can see in markets like DC, Boston, and SF, the in depth style of NPR News is very competitive with the commercial all-news stations. I'm sure that's the attraction in Phoenix as well.
Click to expand...

Phoenix (and the rest of Arizona north of Tucson) is mostly deep red. DC, Boston, and SF are the bluest of blue. Apples and oranges. But there is a liberal wing here that would rather listen to the center-left NPR news and talk programming. It's a format that cannot, and did not, succeed on commercial radio.
 
KeithE4 said:
Actually, I can go back to the early '90s with WBEZ Chicago, when there was a group that was trying to do exactly that: Turn WBEZ into the "anti-WLS." I'm paraphrasing, but that's close to their exact quote. I was hearing the same rumblings about KJZZ starting the late '90s.
Click to expand...

So who's the public radio Rush? I'm not aware of anyone who compares. Looking generally at NPR's national coverage in Morning Edition or All Things Considered, the talk covers broader subjects than politics. They usually do interviews, which Rush doesn't do. Even when I looked at topics covered on The Show, the morning talk show on KJZZ, the topics cover a wider range of subjects than what are covered on the commercial stations. It's a very different approach.

KeithE4 said:
Obviously they get enough donations to remain on the air.
Click to expand...

And KJZZ still gets enough donations to keep jazz on the air at night. Which is typical for a number of NPR stations around the country, including a similar station in Seattle.


KeithE4 said:
But there is a liberal wing here that would rather listen to the center-left NPR news and talk programming. It's a format that cannot, and did not, succeed on commercial radio.
Click to expand...

If so, then they'll be disappointed, since KJZZ doesn't offer shows like Democracy Now, which is more to the left. As I said, the NPR approach is less political and more international in scope, more like the BBC or CBC. But yes, I agree there is a growing audience who has grown tired of political talk, and want to hear conversation on other subjects, like health, science, history, and literature. This is where NPR comes in, and why it's succeeding. In that way, they may be counteracting Rush & Hannity, but it's because they're talking about completely different subjects.
 
TheBigA said:
But yes, I agree there is a growing audience who has grown tired of political talk, and want to hear conversation on other subjects, like health, science, history, and literature. This is where NPR comes in, and why it's succeeding. In that way, they may be counteracting Rush & Hannity, but it's because they're talking about completely different subjects.
Click to expand...

Yup, that's it in a nutshell. And much of that can also be said about SportsTalk.

So if anyone is concerned about live coverage of the government shut down, both KTAR and KFYI will have a second chance pretty soon!
 
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