Is there a chance we will EVER get some progressive radio in Kansas City?

Look.
This is going to be a long post, because I don't know where I am going with this.
I listen to a lot of Air America at work when I am not listening to music or the Royals on 810.
Is there a chance someone like Randi Rhodes or Mike Malloy could be broadcast in Kansas City without people storming the building?

Let's start by taking a look at the current landscape.
Maybe, I will make some sense.
Probably not, but who cares?

The sad (but true) landscape of Kansas City radio.

610 / KCSP-AM / Sports / Entercomm
710 / KCMO-AM / Talk / FOX
760 / KCCV-AM / Bible / Jesus
810 / KSHB-AM / Sports / Union Broadcasting
890 / KGGN-AM / Bible / Morton Broadcasting
980 / KMBZ-AM / Talk / Entercomm
1030 / KCWJ-AM / Bible / Jesus
1090 / KEXS-AM / Catholic / GOD
1190 / KPHN-AM / Kiddies / Disney
1510 / KCTE-AM / Hot Talk / Union Broadcasting
1590 / KPRT-AM / Gospel / Carter Broadcasting

OK.

This is what we have to choose from.
And, it's a sad, sad lot.
I have limited the list to AM (FM is dead save for KCUR/KKFI) and stations I can easily pick up in my car as I drive to work, home, the office, and around town.
I don't listen to a lot of music in my car.
It's just my preference.
As a sports fan and news junkie, most of the time I am listening to NPR or one of the AM sports talk shows.

I take a perverse enjoyment in listening to the agony of Chief fans, and their delusional expectations of greatness.
I share in the futile hope that one day the Royals (and I like the Royals, I consider myself a reluctant fan) will return to their winning ways.
But, listening to Chief fans heads explode after yet another year of no playoffs and no hope, THAT is what I call good radio.

I remember when KMBZ had that guy Tom Becka on in the morning.
Most of the time, it was hit or miss.
But his "mad middle" format of seeing all sides of an issue, made for some pretty good listening.
Especially when he pissed off the fundies.
I recall one show he did where he was discussing something that had to do with the bible, or maybe it was when BUSH first addressed the stem cell issue.
Fundies were calling in spewing fire and venom and scripture, and I almost drove off the road I was laughing so hard.
Exit Tom Becka to Nebraska, and enter Darla J.

So, lets explore the menu shall we?
I'm not saying this is 100% accurate, but you get the message.

610 Sports "The Football Channel" offers us The DA show.
Then we get No neck, beer keg head, Bronco hating loser and former Chief semi-great (hah!) Tim Grunhard.
The Doghouse with Neal Jones (a closet wing nut) and then drum roll please, JT "The Brick" a notorious FOX butt-hole, who loves the Raiders, the troops, and "Dubya".

710 KCMO a FOX Nazi Network.
Luminaries include the now axed Dr. Laura, who is a hateful condescending homophobe, and infamous legs spread wide hairy internet nude model.
Sean Hannity also leaves his fetid droppings on this stellar network.

810 Sports radio - mostly ESPN radio (all ESPN radio on the weekends) but during the day you get Frank Boal then Soren Petro, who I actually like because of his knowledge and love of the Royals and baseball.
Kevin Kietzman I know I would hate in person, but I can take him in small doses.
I listen to 810 because here is where the Royals play.

980 KMBZ
Right wing hate radio at it's "finest".
Let's start with Darla J (I'm not kidding) who honed her talk skills doing the afternoon show on WVNN in Huntsville, Alabama so you know what game she plays.
What a repulsive beast of a woman.

Now on to their heavy hitters.

The drugged out vile, diseased, viagra chomping, Dominican Republic sex tourist lying Pig-Boy himself, dominates the afternoon.
Rush Limbaugh.
Need I say more?
Excellence in Broadcasting indeed.
Dick Cheney likes him.
Think about that for a second.

Then we have "Bill-O" the leading candidate on any day for "The Worst Person in the World".
Bill O' Rielly spews his venom in the afternoon, right after Rush in case three hours of liberal bashing hate speak isn't enough for you.

Jerry Agar.
I don't listen to him much, but after perusing his website it's obvious where his politics are.
More "liberals are stupid" programming that's a little more subtle and local.

The good doctor Michael Savage (aka Michael Wiener) hit's you with all the subtlety of a stolen handgun.
Hateful, racist, homophobic, crazed compassionate conservative hand-job, recently declared that "liberalism is a disease, like aids" and that if he had more power he would "well I can't say what I would do with the liberals, but they would all be erased".
Nice guy, huh?
KMBZ must be so proud of this programming.

Laura Ingraham.
A graduate of Dartmouth College and University of Virginia School of Law.
She served as a law clerk to Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas and Ralph K. Winter on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit.
How can someone so educated be so dumb.
Her "Shut up and Sing" book helped to make the Dixie Chicks even more popular than they already are.
Even without the country radio assholes.
I'm sorry she got cancer.
Sometimes, karma is a bitch.

KCTE AM 1510 is part of the 810 group.
More ESPN sports programming, and early in the morning they broadcast the "Imus in the morning" show.
Since I am from New York City, I recall when Imus was snorting coke, and doing Howard Stern before Stern had pubic hair.
Sometimes very funny, sometimes not, sometimes borderline racist.

I guess it's important to mention that 610 and 980 KMBZ are also linked.
That's why most of their hosts also express right wing viewpoints.
One day I was at work, and Neal Jones (who is from Oklahoma...'nuff said) was on a rant about Barry Bonds lying to the grand jury.
Allegedly.
He was going on and on about Clinton lying, and while there was no real point to his diatribe, his message was obvious.
I hit him up with a Instant Message on the shows website.
I ripped him a new one about the Monkey lying us into a war, and his culpability in our troops dying for a "lie".
When they came out of commercial break, he acknowledged that "he had upset some people" and he dropped the Clinton bashing.

Nice.

If Randi Rhodes, or Mike Malloy were broadcast locally, it would be interesting to see what would happen.
Randi, who spends a good portion of her show each day exposing the hypocrisy and lies of Republicans, is without peer.

You notice that NO ONE ever debates her.
Ask Janet Parshall how she fared.
Randi cut her to pieces.



Every time she appears on CNN shows like Lou Dobbs, their ratings jump.
She was on Paula Zahn one evening and she eviscerated the conservative who dared challenge her.
Ex-Air Force and former truck driver, she has "street cred".
She can take you apart with the thing that right wingers fear the most.
The FACTS.

Mike Malloy is a acquired taste.
Sometimes, I need him just to know that someone out there is as mad as I am.
He is unafraid to call these people what they are.
Evil.
Pigs.
Liars.
Thieves.
The "BUSH Crime Family" is one of his many terms for these swine.

Put Mike Malloy on in this area.
Let's see what happens.
I think it would take about 24 hours before people would be marching to the station with pitchforks.
People firing bullets into the control room windows.
Am I wrong?
Remember, I'm not from here.
I've lived here now for almost 10 years off and on, but still.

Could "progressive" radio such as Air America make it in this market?
Are we more conservative as say, these "red" places who all broadcast AAR?

Asheville, North Carolina.
Chattanooga, Tennessee.
Columbia, South Carolina.
Huntington, West Virginia.
Baton Rouge, Louisiana.
Iowa City, Iowa.
Little Rock, Arkansas.
St. Louis, Missouri.
El Paso, Texas.
Sheridan, Wyoming.
Palm Beach, Florida.

These are all pretty conservative markets.
It doesn't get any more religiously insane than Chattanooga, Tennessee and Columbia, South Carolina.
Yet, they have progressive radio.
We do not.
Why?

What kind of business model is it to say "get screwed" to half of your available listening audience?
What happens when the tide changes, and people finally reject conservative ideals and go back to a more open mind-set?
Like a Democratic one?
And we know that (barring a Diebold "fix") it's going to happen.
And soon.

Conservative radio is experiencing a big time drop in ratings.
As I said, every market that Randi Rhodes is in, she is very competitive with the likes of Rush and O'Rielly, and Hannity.
If it's all about profits, then AAR should already be here.
So, why isn't it?

I ran errands all over this town yesterday.
I wore THIS T-shirt, available now from bartcop.com.



No one said anything negative to me.
Oh, I got a few stares, but I stared back.
Several folks laughed.
Someone flashed me a peace sign in the Oak Park Mall of all places.
In the City Market early Saturday morning, three people asked me where I got my T-shirt from.
If this is such a conservative insane Republican stronghold, how come no one challenged me?
Yeah, I'm 6'4" and about 235, so you have to be somewhat adventurous to get up in my face but still...
A woman close to my age actually smiled at me!
It was like having a cute puppy in the park!
Maybe I am on to something.

So, what was I talking about again?
Oh, some progressive radio in Kansas City.
Are we really as conservative and Republican as they say we are?
Or.
Is it a myth designed to make the right wingers in this town rich?


Maybe I'll make a meet-up some time.
I was going to go to the one last Sunday, it sounded like it was a lot of fun, but then I noticed it was hotter in Kansas City than the SURFACE OF THE SUN!

I think I may need to have my doctor adjust my medication again.
What do you guys think?

Take care and be well all.

I'm interested to hear what you all have to say.


:hi: :hi: :hi: :hi: :hi: :hi: :hi: :hi: :hi: :hi: :hi: :hi:
:patriot: :patriot: :patriot: :patriot: :patriot: :patriot:

Yes it sucks. I am ready; let's do something about this. There was a guy who was working on getting Air America about a year or so ago but haven't heard much about that for awhile.

Love that t-shirt. I wear my IMPEACH BUSH t-shirt a lot and get nothing but smiles and thumbs up all over town. I guess the repukes who voted for the idiot are too embarrassed to argue with me. LOL

Yes it sucks. I am ready; let's do something about this. There was a guy who was working on getting Air America about a year or so ago but haven't heard much about that for awhile.

Love that t-shirt. I wear my IMPEACH BUSH t-shirt a lot and get nothing but smiles and thumbs up all over town. I guess the repukes who voted for the idiot are too embarrassed to argue with me. LOL

Might make up a few boycott posters...

Car dealers (Jay Wolfe), home improvment related businesses (Amazing Siding, Champion Windows), loan shark type businesses, insurance agents (like this guy http://www.lowcostlifeinsurance.com/)

They have a station that airs Al Fraken but that's it.

1510 and 610 have low ratings. They couldn't get any lower with AAR.

If we can figure out which station has the worst ratings then we should think about starting a campaign to convince them to switch to being an AAR carrier. I know I hate being tied to the internet to listen. I'd love to get satellite radio but I know that's not an option for now. Besides, I rather AAR be broadcast over the radio waves so that more people can hear it.

check out www.gatewaycityradio.com

...and become an AAR affiliate, they could add one or two liberal/progressive programs. AAR can be a reach for some, because it's a complete format change, but even adding say Thom Hartman, or even Democracy Now! to an existing lineup would be a start.

Who knows, it might start a trend....we all know that there isn't that big of a radical RW base out there and there is about 50% of the population that is looking for some new ideas.


My 2 cents, anyway. :)

90.1 FM
8:00 every morning

I live three hours west from from KC, so I really don't get to listen to the local stations.

90.1 is KHCC here. (Radio Kansas)

I was just reaching for an example of an independant, liberal program seperate from AAR, and I guess Amy's show wasn't a real good example for my point.

Glad to hear it's on there, though. :)

We tend to vote Democrat. KKFI is the only progressive radio in town.
If someone could help me win the lottery, I'd be happy to buy one of these stations and make it an AAR affiliate. We'd do killer local ads.

Give Proud her own show...

I might put her on right after Randi. Nope, I would definitely put her on after Randi.
And thanks for the props as station manager.

I will have my agent contact you right away.

Oh my agent is kite. :)

How's a brazillion bucks sound?

but I have to check with my agent first.

She'll focus on frivolous fringe benefits, like bathroom breaks.

I want a jacuzzi in my dressing room.

Okay. But no electricity or water. They don't mix, ya know.

You obviously know nothing about radio.

BTW, do you have a business card? :)

Just as soon as I have a business.

Right? :crazy:

:freak:

I already have business cards. You know, for the business with no clients or income.

Don't make me go all Carl Peterson on ya.

:hug:

What a beautiful, precise, completely perfect post!! What more can I say? Oh, there is (or was) a group circulating petitions to get progressive radio here in KC. Not sure where they stand right now, but PM me with your email and I will forward this post and your email to a guy named Mike that I know was involved with that!! Thanks again for an absolutely glorious read!!!
:toast:

you need to learn about that amazing new addition to radio called "FM". You may need to buy a new radio to pick up "FM" stations, but it will be worth it!

Start by tuning in to 90.1 (I know, it's a little odd, the way they number "FM" stations, but trust me, you'll get used to it) with the call letters of KKFI. It's quite an amazing station. I happen to know the man who started it. He originally ran it out of the basement of his home (still has the original studio, in fact) but it's since gone on to bigger and better things. Turn it on at 8 am every morning, and you'll hear this utterly amazing show called "Democracy Now". Some days you'll wonder why all those associated with the show haven't been shipped off to Gitmo, but you'll then be glad they haven't.

There's lots of wonderful programming on that station alone. But there are others. Just cruise up and down the "FM" dial and you'll be pleased you invested in the new radio.

"I have limited the list to AM (FM is dead save for KCUR/KKFI) and stations I can easily pick up in my car as I drive to work, home, the office, and around town. "

Which is exactly why I suggested he buy a new radio.

AM is such crap. I haven't bothered to tune to an AM station in years. I personally have no interest in listening to the likes of Limbaugh or the right-wing local a-holes that are on the KC area AM stations. Why anyone else would bother always escapes me. I'm constantly amazed at how many hear listen to them. Oh, well.

(Back to trying to get Democrats elected)