The Radio Equalizer: Brian Maloney

23 August 2005

"Freeping" From The Left

Conservative Station Hijacked?

Liberals Claim Talk Radio Prank Success


If lefty 'net activists were to pull a stunt on a conservative talk radio station, you'd expect outrage from the Radio Equalizer, right?

And if for some reason, I wasn't furious about it, why would that be? The full moon?

Maybe it's because there simply wasn't a better way to teach Milwaukee's WISN-AM a lesson about running self-destructive contests.

It appears liberal Daily Kos readers "freeped" (I've never before heard this term applied to lefties) an online listener poll to determine which rank amateur would win a contract to host WISN's morning show.

Some managerial genius got the idea that anybody can be pulled off the street to host a successful talk show. Contest entrants got tryouts (professionals excluded) and were gradually eliminated.

Experienced programmers know it takes experience, training and skill to successfully host a radio talk show. It's a craft honed over many years and Milwaukee is not a minor league market.

Kos, considered the world's largest blog based on readership, put out a call to stuff the ballot box for the most liberal contestant: Nicole Devin, a pro-abortion Democrat. She won.

Jim Cuprisin of the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel has the story here.

Kos poster ColdFusion04, who took credit for the dubious "victory", is busy gloating about having thrown a conservative radio station off course and claims many on the right are "outraged".

Who? I don't think many on the right have even heard about it.

My only outrage: that I didn't think of this myself.

Station management says the show will be apolitical, so it won't matter. I think that's a CYA effort, since it's a conservative station, with the likes of Rush Limbaugh and Mark Belling, one of his regular fill-in hosts.

Now, it'll be like a country station playing hip-hop in morning drive.

It's amazing to watch talk radio self-destruct with profoundly stupid moves. It's like trying to sell K Cars, Yugos and AMC Pacers while the new media competition rolls out luxury models.

Just a few years ago, it was talk radio producing a superior alternative to newspapers, now it's responding to new media innovations by flushing itself down the toilet.

I'd bet the farm WISN's morning show ratings bite the dust because of this boneheaded contest.

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8 Comments:

  • It's kind of funny, though. Somebody will be going to the boardroom to explain themself...

    By Blogger muckdog, at 23 August, 2005 19:10  

  • Time it takes to switch stations: 1.2 seconds
    Time it takes for WISN management to get the next Nielsens: 4 days
    Time it takes for Devin to be shown the door: 4 days, 11 minutes.

    The 11 minutes is for the program manager to walk to HR and kick off the termination process.

    directorblue

    By Blogger directorblue, at 23 August, 2005 19:51  

  • It is now conservatives' turn to take control. Call this person armed to the teeth with facts and ask questions you know she'll never be able to answer truthfully. Then body slam her.

    By Blogger Lone Ranger, at 23 August, 2005 20:05  

  • She has a guaranteed $50,000 contract for two years...I know many people who work at WISN radio...

    Jerry Bott is the program director...and he is the only person who wanted this contest to happen...now they are going to pay for it...for two years anyway...

    By Blogger The Game, at 23 August, 2005 20:42  

  • Well, this is great. WISN will experience in a nutshell what is happening all over America. Rush and Belling will thrive; what's her name will drop back into oblivion.

    By Blogger L.N. Smithee, at 23 August, 2005 21:00  

  • Guaranteed $50,000 for two years? Somewhere, Lizz Winstead is saying, "why didn't somebody tell me?"

    By Blogger L.N. Smithee, at 23 August, 2005 21:01  

  • Are they going to come up with the $50K by embezzling it from a kids' charity?

    By Blogger Dave, at 24 August, 2005 02:42  

  • They can't win an elecetion... but they CAN win a radio contest. Impressive.

    By Blogger eLarson, at 24 August, 2005 08:37  

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