New Weekday Line-up Starting April 9th:

12am-2am Rachel Maddow
2am-3am Mark Riley
3am-6am The Young Turks
6am-9am KPOJ Mornings with Thom, Heidi and Carl
9am-12pm Thom Hartmann – Nationwide
12pm-3pm Ed Schultz
3pm-6pm Randi Rhodes
6pm-9pm Sam Seder
9pm-12am Mike Malloy

Thank goodness! I couldn't handle Seder twice a day and I wound up streaming Hartmann 9-noon anyway. Interesting that Malloy is back (not saying I will listen - but it is interesting that he is back; this is a huge progressive market and big deal for him to get back on in Portland).

Andrew

Will Hartmann leave his local show?

Sounds like not (yet), since the show is called "KPOJ Mornings with Thom, Heidi and Carl." But perhaps Carl will be assuming some of the duties to give Thom some more breathing room.

Andrew

The plot thickens...

Apparently, Air America will be ending Sam Seder's weekday show next Friday; he might be moving to Sunday afternoons only.

So now KPOJ has to shuffle their lineup AGAIN (probably by putting Mike Malloy live at Sam's 6 PM slot, and someone else from 9 PM-midnight).

Source: http://ltradio.blogspot.com/2007/04/seders-last-day-is-friday-13th.html

Wonder what deal he will make?

That show is trendy and well produced. There is enough value there to keep running.

(unless Sam is not interested any longer)

Well, according to the article, it sounds like Seder may not be interested anymore beause they cut his salary and his budget! (How can one's salary be cut in the radio biz? Wouldn't Seder have a contract?)

It does make sense to put Malloy on live 6-9PM now; when KPOJ first added his AAR show, they tried putting him on live 7-10PM but Majority Report fans supposedly were quite upset so they swapped MR back to its old slot and delayed Malloy til 10. Also, some listeners may consider Malloy a bit abrasive to be on that early (supposedly).

In any case, I hope Malloy is at least LIVE. The more live radio, the better, I say.

Andrew

Just got this back after a quick e-mail to the show. Dang! I really like this show. At least he's frustrated as well, meaning he will likely keep trying to stay on the air for now.


On 4/6/07, Sam Seder Show <samsedershow@gmail.com> wrote:
> afraid so, I have been offered a sunday afternoon show which I will accept,
>
> thanks for the note, i share your frustration.

Sam Seder was a working actor before his current stint on Air America. No doubt it's been frustrating for him to see his new career choice not exactly panning out, what with his show not supported by the company. So, it probably makes a lot more sense for him to make talk radio a part-time thing and go back into acting or some other career. Perhaps he has other projects in the works.

Andrew

That makes sense.

Too bad though. He is an excellent host.

Interesting...

Lebron Talker Shifts to AAR

Katy Bachman

APRIL 09, 2007 -

Talk show host Lionel, aka Michael Lebron, is changing syndicators to become part of the Air America Radio lineup, AAR announced Monday. Beginning May 14, Lionel's daily show will air 9 a.m. to Noon on the network, replacing Sam Seder, who will move to Sunday afternoons 4 to 7 p.m. ET. Lionel's show was formerly syndicated by WOR Radio Networks on 92 radio stations.

A veteran Talk show host, Lionel got his start calling into a radio station in Tampa. During his career his was the top-rated Talk host in his time period in New York.

“My goal is to garner and gather listeners,” Lionel said. “If you've got a radio, I'm your guy. Listeners want smart, funny, thoughtful, thinking, entertaining Talk radio. With that in mind, my first show for Air America will be 'Great Polkas of the 20th Century.'”

“Lionel will be an eclectic mixture of current events and off-the-wall topics infused with his special brand of humor,” said Mark Green, president of AAR. “Because he's one of the biggest named in Talk radio, Lionel will be a very important addition to our line-up and affiliate base.”

Moving to Sunday afternoons, Seder on Sunday will feature a recap and review of the Sunday morning Talk shows.

Bummer...

Yeah, I've listened to Lionel and he's not a good fit for AAR at all. Randi Rhodes must be PISSED.

But, Mark Green now owns the thing and I guess he's re-making AAR in his own image. In 2-3 years perhaps Rhodes and Hartmann will depart too and AAR won't be known as the "liberal talk network" anymore.

The question is, will KPOJ carry Lionel? Let's hope not.

Andrew

Lionel is on KPAM at the moment

You know she is POed to the max. I'm actually gonna tune for the rant. (there will be a coupla these, before it's over)

Sam is an excellent host, that the netroots, people powered politics, whatever you call it identify with. I like this movement, think it's healthy for all sides, and am seriously disappointed to see it not embodied in AAR going forward.

Oh well, there is Jones. They might see a hole to gain more share.

Lionel is a great fit for AAR. He is just as good as what is currently on there and he is on topic. You may not agree. That is normal. If you like everyone on a station or network, then they are not doing something correct.

Yep, getting me to listen less sure is a great strategy to success! I guess when all current KPOJ listeners stop listening altogether and go back to OPB then AAR will have the ideal mix, eh? At that point, might as well bring back Elvis and make 62kgw happy...

Andrew

It's headed that way. Seder was an excellent host, not easily replaced. Trendy, relevant and passionate.

The national broadcast programmers for KPOJ and affiliates are getting the message: You better be entertaining, or the audience will go elsewhere.

This explains why they now have Dennis Miller and Lionel on their air schedule.

Apparently Al Franken's schtick is more effective as sight gags and better suited to TV, a la Saturday Night Live.

Herb

I'm not sure that's true.

Also, the Sam Seder show was quite entertaining actually!

IMHO, the core confusion / difference appears to be in the messaging.

Personallly, I tune for clear positions, strong messaging and to get connected with trends, etc...

Dennis Miller is not clear in his positioning, nor is he particularly left leaning. (label it how you want) Lionel, trends more left, but is kind of a shotgun. Reminds me of Emerson more than not.

Diluting AAR in this way, is not longer term good, IMHO. If you look at conservative radio, it is anchored by highly differentiated hosts that are consistant in their messaging and overall approach.

This, to me, is a fundemental key to establishing any talk market, and these moves by AAR are counter to that. Rather than reinforce the core and build from that, this president is choosing to bend the product such that existing talents are seen as acceptable.

It's a short cut, and again that's longer term harmful.

Look at a host like Thom Hartman or Randi Rhodes. No matter what you may think of these two, they are extremely well differentiated hosts that have established track records that produce listeners.

A host like Lionel gets listeners, but it not so well differentiated. IMHO, from a business standpoint, bringing him on board is a marketshare grab. AAR wants a bigger piece of an existing pie.

Hosts like Hartmann, Seder and Rhodes, bring new listeners, not otherwise part of the equation, into the AM talk arena. That's the big nut to crack, and represents the longer term serious return.

1. Dennis Miller is not on AAR, or KPOJ. He's on 970 KCMD. As I've said here, he's leaning to the right.

2. Al Franken left to run for the Senate. Did he jump or was he pushed? We don't know.

Scratch Miller from my comment then. All still applies.

I think he jumped.

Scratch Miller from my comment, too. All still applies.

Herb

Well, I don't think Sam Seder is leaving (except for his new weekend show) due to lack of his own popularity. The guy filled the Bagdad Theatre in Portland a year ago when he was here for his "Fubar" book tour. The problem is that AAR jerked him around. They took him out of his 7-10p EST timeslot where he'd built up a following of listeners and put him instead on 9-noon EST (KPOJ kept him at about the same time slot, delayed), where he went up against Stephanie Miller in some markets. Plus, it seems that Seder simply didn't get along well with the new AAR owner, who has been trying to replace Seder since he bought the thing.

Franken left for his Senate race. Even had he wanted to leave for no other reason than he was tired of it, he could have done so without losing face - he was an established personality who simply wanted to help start a liberal talk network - and he did that. Air America would not be around today at all, I believe, had Franken not been there at the beginning.

AAR is supposed to be a POLITICAL talk network. Lionel, as I recall (I have listened to his show a few times but not in a while) does not have a political talk show - it's a "newsy/topical" show. Regardless of which way Lionel leans, his show is a departure from AAR's original mission: to put liberal political voices on the air. As I said above: if AAR continues to move away from it's original type of programming, it's not going to be a "liberal talk" network anymore and who will care? It will be just another media company.

Andrew

More changes, it great to see Rachel Maddow at 6P


Air America Cancels Sam Seder! Shakes Up KPOJ Line-Up!

When we asked you to stay tuned for a few more surprises during the KPOJ program line-up evolution, we did not expect Air America to surprise US with the cancellation of “The Sam Seder Show!” Sam is one of the original Progressive Talk Hosts on KPOJ and has had a very successful 3 year run! The final weekday Sam Seder broadcast will air this Friday evening at 6pm. All of us at AM 620 KPOJ wish Sam the best, and who knows, we may hear from him again someday! To accommodate the loss of Sam,
Rachel Maddow and Mike Malloy will shift timeslots. We also welcome Jon Elliott to late nights. So, once again, stay tuned for the on-going evolution of AM 620 KPOJ!


Weekday Line-Up Starting April 16th:

2a-3a Mark Riley
3a-6a The Young Turks
6a-9a KPOJ Mornings with Thom, Heidi and Carl
9a-12p Thom Hartmann – Nationwide
12p-3p Ed Schultz
3p-6p Randi Rhodes
6p-8p Rachel Maddow
8p-11p Mike Malloy
11p-2a Jon Elliott

Hurray for Rachel Maddow!!!! I look forward to hearing her at a reasonable hour - I will definitely be listening, even as I'll miss Seder. Thank GOODNESSS they didn't pick up Lionel! (Q: Will KPAM continue to run Lionel, now that he's with AAR??)

Now can we talk KPOJ into running that last hour of Malloy live?

I notice there was no mention of KPOJ carrying Seder's new weekend show...

Andrew

KPOJ must have been a little bit upset with Air America, after forcing them to change their schedule again.

I'm gonna ask them to carry the Seder show. I think the guy deserves some support, given his efforts and the overall quality of the program.

I'm stoked on the Maddow show too. She's a great host.

With my plea for Sam, a big THANKS for avoiding Lionel goes along too.

I always liked Lionel. He didn't seem disingenuous. He didn't play with the truth to fit any agenda except right after 9/11. He was pro-Bush Iraq war. I think he wanted to stay on the air and was as willing to lie as the Democratic congress was when they voted to give Bush the power to attack Iraq in order to save their butts in their elections.

Uh, I don't think any Democrats in the Congress "lied" about Iraq in 2002 - but we could debate that if you want on the Political side...

I didn't hear Lionel after 9/11 (or if I did, I don't recall him saying anything about Bush pro or con). I wouldn't hold a pro-Bush stand against him unless he was pro-Bush long after the invasion; even Al Franken supported the Iraq war in early 2003. Presumably he wouldn't continue to be pro-Bush today and still joining Air America...

Andrew