Sad news here in Columbus, Ohio. Our local newspaper reported on December 23rd that our local progressive radio station, WTPG 1230AM will be replacing their progressive radio shows such as Stephanie Miller and Al Franken with radio shows that feature Michael Savage and Laura Ingraham.
Liberal listeners in central Ohio will lose their only radio voice next month when WTPG (1230 AM) drops its format of "progressive talk" and makes a hard right turn.
Out: Al Franken, Stephanie Miller, Ed Schultz and Randi Rhodes.
In: Michael Savage, Laura Ingraham and a mix of sports and consumer shows featuring Jim Rome and Dave Ramsey.
The station will change its call letters to WYTS on Monday; the new format will begin at 9 a.m. Jan. 9.
Folks, I can't handle this. Over 58 percent of the voters here in Columbus, Ohio voted for the blue ticket in November's election. Please visit me over the flip to see what can be done about this.
First of all, I would greatly appreciate it if you would sign the petition to SAVE OHIO MAJORITY RADIO. You can also contact Clear Channels Program Director, Bruce Collins. I don't know if I can put a phone number here but you can also contact him via email at brucecollins at clearchannel dot com.
I have spoken with Bruce once and he told me that he has been contacting the Ohio Democratic Party and the Franklin County Ohio Democratic Party for the last year to try to get more listeners. However, one of our local progressives here have spoken to both the ODP and the FCDP and they said they have never heard from Bruce.
Have the number of listeners really fallen? Well, the 12-month period from Fall '05 to Summer '06, WTPG's market share fell by 20% (0.2 market share). These are stats for listeners 12 years old and older.
However, according to the Columbus Dispatch, May 21, 2005 article,
In the fall 2004 Arbitron ratings in Columbus, WTPG (1230 AM) earned a 1.4 share among adults 25 to 54, up from a 0.01 share in the summer of 2004 (before the format change).
Listenership jumped 14000 percent with the switch, and has now fallen about 35% from that 1.4 share. There are still many progressive listeners out here in Columbus, Ohio and the station has increased listeners dramatically since the format change to progressive radio. Please help by signing the petition here and you can also join the Ohio Majority Yahoo group here and give us more ideas on how to save Progressive Radio.