January 13, 2005
Radio, Radio
Big news on both the AM and the FM dials today, courtesy of two stories that tell us a good deal about the health of the airwaves.
First, the bombshell from D.C. today: WHFS, a longtime part of the D.C. cultural firmament, kicked the bucket today and went Spanish. Format changes happen all the time, but this one deserves attention, because HFS — more than all but a handful of stations out there — pioneered the alternative movement that dominated the pop culture landscape for a time in the late ’80s and early ’90s. From the sixties forward, they embodied a spirit of experimentation that you couldn't get in most cities — let alone most stations — and not only created the mold for the alternative stations you hear in every city now, but really became a part of the D.C. culture. From the HFStival every summer to the shows at the 9:30 Club, they were, for a time, the source in the Washington region for new music.
Of course, like so many stations, they tilted pretty hard toward the "active rock" once the alternative music scene started running on fumes. The last few years saw the station playing way too much nü metal and aggro rock for my taste, and the takeover by the Infinity Broadcasting division of Viacom — hello, media consolidation! — hardly helped. Still, given the place HFS once held, if losing any station would qualify as the end of an era — well, this would have to rank right up there.
So what's the turning point here? For whom does the bell toll?
Alternative radio, for sure — moribund for years, and now missing completely from a market where it was pioneered. Stations like Indie 103.1 in L.A. and 99x in Atlanta have tried to reinvent the model, to modest effect, but this change sends a thunderclap sounding — people in the industry will notice it, and some in other markets will see this and give themselves license to follow suit.
Reading the talk about HFS on the blogs, though, I have to wonder whether terrestrial radio has — for a healthy segment of the local populace — killed itself off. Two conglomerates, Viacom and Clear Channel, compete here for listeners in one of America's top markets, yet thousands of listeners have just been left stranded.
"Tough," you say? Fair enough, but when you remember that Washington ranks with the best educated, wealthiest regions in the country, doesn't it stand to reason that the listeners up for grabs know about other choices — such as internet radio and satellite radio? Does anyone honestly think orphaned listeners plan to sit tight en masse and wait for another corporate chain to fill the gap, even though XM and KEXP — to name only two options — offer replacements here and now?
Speaking for myself: no, I won't wait. Hasta luego, Clear Channel; I may not miss what HFS became, but whatever comes down the pike next, I expect to be worse. So, no thanks — satellite radio, here I come ...
On the bright side — hey, someone needs to be Mr. Bright Side, now that HFS can't — read this news from Vermont:
BRATTLEBORO -- After years of airing conservative radio talk shows, program directors at a local AM station have decided to spin the dial towards the left.
Starting next week, listeners tuning into WKVT-AM 1490 will hear an all-new lineup of daytime programming taken from Air America Radio, a progressive talk network.
"This is basically going exactly from the right to the left," said Peter Case, the station's program director.
Ushered out the door will be the Rush Limbaugh Show, Bill O'Reilly's Radio Factor, the Howie Carr Show, the Clark Howard Show and the Lars Larson Show.
"We're in a liberal area and here you've got all these right wingers on the air," Case said about the shakeup. "It was just something we felt needed to be done."
In their places will be the Al Franken Show, the Ed Schultz Show, Unfiltered News with Rachel Maddow, the Majority Report with Janeane Garafalo and Sam Seider and the Randi Rhodes Show. Alan Colmes will round out the new lineup with a news-based program, Case said.
With the exception of Colmes, all of the new shows come from Air America, which was launched in March 2003 as an alternative to conservative dominated AM talk radio.
In two years, Air America has incorporated 41 affiliates across the nation and two satellite radio stations. In the Northeast, the network broadcasts on nine stations, including WTWK-AM in St. Albans.
Case said the idea to bring on a lineup of shows from the network was being considered by the station late last year.
Ironically, on the morning that station officials were mulling the switch, he received an e-mail from Christian Arvard, a graduate student at the School for International Training, who put in a request for the Air America programs.
"I just thought given the environment here in Brattleboro, that this is something that people would want to listen too," Arvard said.
Arvard then contacted several local activist groups about the programming, urging them to write similar requests to the station to balance out the conservative viewpoints.
"In the e-mail, I said we had abandoned the airwaves to the right and now let's take it back."
A short time later, Case said he received a veritable barrage of e-mails and phone calls requesting Air America, prompting the change in programming sooner than originally anticipated.
"Since we made the announcement, we've received probably 120 e-mails thanking us for making the switch," he said.
Well, well, well — the first switch of many, I hope.
Posted by Greg Greene at January 13, 2005 1:45 AM
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Comments
In what realm is Clark Howard on the right?
He's gives consumer advice and doesn't discuss politics.
Posted by: RW at January 13, 2005 1:19 PM
Oh, I don't think so — I mean, he contributes to Cathy Woolard's campaigns all the time. (Shhhhh -- don't say nuthin’!) Guess he just got mixed up in this as an innocent victim.
Posted by: Greg Greene at January 13, 2005 2:07 PM
You're right--radio is kind of depressing right now. I'm sometimes tempted to go to satellite,but am not in the car enough to justify that.
Mostly, I listen to NPR...and while WABE isn't the best NPR affiliate in the world, it't not horrible. That station along with Air America and 88.5 means I almost never have to listen to corporate radio these days.
When I do listen to corporate radio, I get kind of sad. I came of age with alternative rock on KROQ in LA. The music then seemed fresh and exciting. Now, everything I hear on 99x (even the old stuff) sounds overplayed and derivative. I think that format just got too conservative and then ran out of ideas. I think it's just a matter of time before alternative dies completely. ...or maybe I'm just getting old.
Posted by: Joseph G at January 14, 2005 12:30 AM
The best case scenario, and not a far-fetched one, is that Satellite kills corporate radio profits by siphoning off many of the ears and almost all of the good advertizing demographics (after all, if you're a radio listener, and you won't kick in 10 bucks a month for far superior and more diverse satellite programming, what the hell WILL you buy?).
Then, FM radio may become dominated by the nonprofits and college stations. If you can put up with the occasional rendition of some 19 year-old's-roommate's poetry, it'll be great.
Unfortunately, once commercial competititors dry up on FM, the godawful rantings of the political guys will creep in to some of the vacated space. (remember, the're on AM because they can't compete commercially with the current FM stations.)
But, that notwithstanding, the bleak prospects of Commercial FM Radio warm this old WREK DJ's heart.
Posted by: emcee fleshy at January 19, 2005 6:14 PM
my rock station went spanish too; it blows
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Posted by: peter at January 26, 2005 10:11 PM
E tu whfs? I've been listening to kexp for a few months now, and am thrilled (and funny, discovered through itunes). Plus, in the early hours at work, when I'm just tuning in, it's still the wee hours out west, and the music tends to be a bit more esoteric. With ill-functioning radios everywhere I turn, the rest of my time is filled with back episodes of This American Life, thanks to their awesome archiving and availability of every episode in streaming audio. Thank god for small things.
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