Open Letter to Janet Robert

May 14, 2006

Janet,

Mitch Berg here.

I know you're not having the best year over at KTNF, Air America Minnesota; your local lineup, such as it was (the plodding, orthodox, puerile Nick Coleman and the shrill, shallow Wendy Wilde) pretty much evaporated, and the network to which you're hitched is failing - and snubbing you all the way down. Your station is losing numbers (are you still in single points, or have you dropped into the sub-1-point range yet?), and after two years your "sales department" has been unable to sell your station to anyone but trade unions, Indian casinos, and vegan cafes.

The big pool is, which is going to tank first; Air America, or KTNF?

But since I know you read this blog for advice about broadcasting, I'm going to offer you a serious suggestion:

Put some local leftybloggers on the air.

Sort of like AM1280 did for the Northern Alliance - find a couple of local leftybloggers who are interested, put them on on the weekend, and plug 'em. It'd do wonders to differentiate your station from the vast, mindless mass of Air America affiliates. Let's face it, Air America's broadcast lineup isn't doing you any favors; they're dumb, and they do bad radio - but they are hideously expensive!

No, I can't tell you which local leftybloggers to ask, or even if any of them would have any aptitude for it. But John Hunt, Brian Acker and Patrick Campion at AM1280 didn't have a whole lot more to go on than that when they greenlighted the NARN two years ago, either, and yet it seems to have worked out for them fairly well.

And you'd have some advantages that AM1280 and the NARN and conservative radio in general never have. Remember when Fast Eddie Schultz was on six stations, and the Today show had him on ("the liberal answer to Rush Limbaugh?")? You know Deb Caulfield Rybak would write a fawning puff piece that'd end up on Page E-1 of the Strib before you got the first week's broadcasting done! The "Liberal Bloggers" would be hailed as the saviors of local radio long before the NARN gets a single column inch in the local dailies!

No, I'm serious, Janet - give it a shot. The only thing you'd need to invest is your valuable airtime. (Chuckle stifled).

So have your people call my people. I can point you to a couple of leftybloggers who might not sound like whiny adolescents on the air, and who might not get the FCC on your case.

Let's talk.

Sincerely,

Mitch

Posted by Mitch at May 15, 2006 05:53 AM | TrackBack